2023 Rules Of Golf Updates: Everything You Need To Know

In recent times, the Rules of Golf have been updated every four years, but the major modifications to the Rules that came into effect in January 2019 strayed a little from that cycle. The number of Rules was reduced from 34 to 24 and many long-established Rules changed radically, from reducing search time to three minutes and dropping from knee height to being allowed to putt with the flagstick in without fear of penalty.

Now, The R&A and USGA have reverted to the four-yearly cycle which means another update with effect from January 1, 2023, although not quite on the same scale this time, as Grant Moir, director – Rules at The R&A, explains: “It’s not quite the dramatic change of 2019, where everyone was having to completely relearn a lot of things, but we have been busy refining and hopefully improving in certain areas.”

The feeling is that, although by and large the 2019 Rules updates have proved successful (although there will no doubt be dissenters in certain quarters!), there is always room for improvement. “That’s what we’ve been trying to do these last four years,” Moir says. “Some of this is refinement in areas where, perhaps on reflection, we felt we could have done a better job and others where we’re just continuing the process of trying to make the Rules easier to understand and apply and, where possible, to relax penalties or outcomes in certain situations.”