USGA revises 'Decisions on the Rules of Golf'

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FAR HILLS, N.J. -- Following the two-year review cycle with The R&A, Ltd., the United States Golf Association has announced 28 new Decisions, 51 revised Decisions and one withdrawn Decision for the 2010-2011 edition of "Decisions on the Rules of Golf." The changes will take effect on Jan. 1.

"Decisions on the Rules of Golf" contains more than 1,200 entries, most of which are situations posed in a question-and-answer format, to address specific circumstances under the Rules of Golf. While the Rules of Golf follow a four-year review cycle (the next revision being in 2012), the Decisions are reviewed every two years.

"The changes to the Decisions for 2010-2011 represent a fine-tuning of the solid foundation provided by the Rules," said James T. Bunch, USGA secretary and chairman of the USGA's Rules of Golf Committee.

The USGA and The R&A have also issued a joint statement of principles regarding the use of electronic devices, including distance-measuring devices. The USGA and The R&A first allowed the use of distance-measuring devices by local rule in January 2006 and are reaffirming that these devices may be used to measure only distance and must not be able to measure other conditions such as wind speed or direction, the slope of the ground or the temperature. Neither the USGA nor The R&A anticipate adopting the local rule at any of their championships.

The text of the new and revised "Decisions on the Rules of Golf," as well as the full text of the joint statement of principles, can be found in the Rules section of www.usga.org.