Palm Harbor, FL …
Geoff Ogilvy has recently been appointed to the Players Advisory Board at the PGA Tour and now as a member of the Board he was privileged to see before the official announcement the proposals announced recently by the R & A and USGA to the Rules of Golf.
The changes to rules, and if proposed, will come into effect on 1st January, 2019.
And Ogilvy, who captured the 2006 US Open and also tasted success in 11 other tournaments including winning the 2008 Australian PGA and the 2010 Australian Open, is for the most part delighted with the proposals with the exception of one of two of the present rules.
Geoff Ogilvy. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)
In the bigger picture the now 39-year old Australian, like many of his colleagues who have spoken on the changes, is pleased golf’s ruling bodies are proposing to do away with what he calls ‘silly’ penalties where a player is not deliberately seeking to gain an advantage.
“I haven’t really studied all the proposals in depth but on the surface some of the proposed rules changes seem good whereas some others seem odd,” he said.
“I am not to certain about the new ‘dropping rule’ that seems to me to be akin to placing the ball when it’s not.
“I do understand the principle of taking away all those silly penalties such as happened to Dustin (Johnson) at last year’s US Open last year as that was sheer nonsense. He was not cheating. No one received any advantage. No penalty so continue to play, okay.
“Penalties like when you may accidentally kick you ball when looking for it in the rough as that should not be illegal as no-one is gaining an advantage.
“There’s also that situation where Padraig Harrington was disqualified some years back in Abu Dhabi as it was shown later on TV, and unbeknown to him, he had by accident knocked his ball while picking up his marker.
“Then there is the rule when the wind may blow your ball off the greens so I completely agree those penalties need to be removed from the game.
“So, the proposals in that regard are great whereas I still don’t understand.
“Philosophically, it’s great to be able to tap down spike marks but then that is going to slow play down not speed it up.
“I also love the philosophy of finally putting some fairness into these ‘silly’ penalties I mentioned.”
Ogilvy was also asked if he thought reducing the search time for a golf ball from five minutes to three minutes was also a good proposal.
“Is golf really slow because of a five-minute rule?” he asked.
“I don’t think so! What makes golf slow is when you take 50 practice swings as that is what makes playing the game of golf slow.
“Ninety-nine per cent of the time when you are looking for your ball you find it. Really, if you are not going to find it in three minutes usually you are not going to find it within five minutes.
“So, it that sense its’ probably not going to make any difference and I don’t really mind that change.”
But then when asked is there a rule change that has not been mentioned in the recent proposals that Ogilvy would vote to alter.
“The stroke and distance penalty is far too harsh because if you hit a 300-yard drive one inch out-of-bounds and your playing partner completely misses the ball on the tee it means that the guy who hits a 300-yard drive just an inch out-of-bounds is playing his third shot from the tee, and the guy who misses hitting his ball off the tee is playing second off the tee,” said Ogilvy.
“What then is a bigger penalty in golf either hitting your ball 300-yards down the fairway and going out-of-bounds or not hitting the ball.
“So, I just think the stroke-and-distance penalty is too severe.
“Also, I would advocate that the rules be changed with regards sandy divots and if the ball lands in what is clearly a sand-filled divot you be allowed relief. We saw in the 1994 U.S. Open when Ernie Els at Oakmont as he nearly lost the tournament because his ball landed in what as a sandy divot.
“So, the specifics I don’t mind and it’s just the philosophy of making the rules that much more simple and fairer as players being penalised for technicalities if a joke, a joke. I keep singling out the Dustin Johnson fiasco and he’s a bit like the poster child for that rule.
“Also, I applaud the decision to take away people being able to phone up to report what they see as a penalty, as that’s a great proposal.”
