The World Handicap System, launched in January 2020, includes safeguards designed to protect the integrity of your Handicap Index®. One of them is the playing conditions calculation (PCC). What is it ...

There is no longer a penalty for merely touching the line of play on the putting green (the term “line of play” applies everywhere on the course including the putting green, and the term “line of putt ...

New Rule: Players continue to drop a ball when taking relief, but the dropping procedure is changed in several ways as detailed in Rule 14.3: The new procedure means that there is greater consistency ...

There is no longer a penalty if a ball played from the putting green hits a flagstick left in the hole. Players are not required to putt with the flagstick in the hole; rather, they continue to have ...

Since its founding in 1920, the Green Section has led the USGA’s efforts to improve golf course playing conditions and sustainability through research, education, course consulting, technology tools ...

The resources below have been created to educate golfers on the 2024 updates to the World Handicap System, which went into effect in the United States on January 16th, 2024.

One word that is likely to come up a lot during the 123rd U.S. Open Championship at The Los Angeles Country Club is barranca. A barranca is a steep-sided ravine, gully, or gorge of varying width and ...

The shape, slope and condition of many putting greens today increase the chances that a ball at rest on the putting green might move, and it can be difficult to determine whether a player caused the ...

Learn more about the 2023 updates to the Rules of Golf below. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to the Rules Department any time at [email protected] or 908-326-1850.

Taking divots is a normal part of any round of golf. Making our best effort to repair our divots should also be a routine part of the game. Spending a little time to properly repair our divots makes a ...

2019 Rule: Under Rule 10.1a, if the player’s club accidentally hits the ball more than once during a single stroke: There will be no penalty and the ball will be played as it lies. Reasons for Change: ...

A strict prohibition on touching or moving loose impediments or touching the ground in a water hazard has never been practical, and so a series of exceptions had to be recognized in previous Rule 13-4 ...