Rules & The Game
Rule changes, the ball rollback and the business of golf — what it means for you.
317 yards, 239 microseconds, under 46 inches: the three tour-only limits due 21 October, none of them for retail
The R&A and USGA want manufacturers' views on a ball, driver-face and club-length rule for elite events from 2028. Here is each one in the notice's own words, what it moves, and why every full-size driver we stock ships at 45.5 inches or longer.
By Tom Whitaker
14 clubs between two players: the foursomes rules that change what you carry
The Presidents Cup tees off at Medinah on 24 September and club winter foursomes start the week after. Alternate shot and match play run on different rules to the medal you played all summer — including one that lets a pair carry a single composite set between them.
By Tom Whitaker
Two of the three autumn local rules aren't Rules of Golf at all — they're your club's call
Preferred lies, temporary greens and the plugged ball. Two of the three are decisions your club made rather than Rules of Golf, and almost nobody reads the card that tells them which.
By Tom Whitaker
Three drops club golfers get wrong every weekend, and two of them are costing you shots
Nobody in your fourball is cheating. They are guessing, and the guesses run in the same three directions: the wrong reference point in a penalty area, the forgotten option on an unplayable ball, and the nearest nice bit of grass instead of the nearest point of complete relief.
By Tom Whitaker
How to get a golf handicap (and why it's cheaper and easier than you think)
You no longer need a pricey club membership or a stack of medal cards. Here's the fastest route to an official Handicap Index in 2026 — and the everyday rounds that now count towards it.
By Dan Mercer
The golf-ball rollback could land for everyone in 2030 — here's what it means for you
Golf's governing bodies are weighing a single, universal rollback date. Tour players could lose 10–14 yards; for the rest of us, it's nearer nothing.
By Tom Whitaker
Is a rangefinder legal in competition? (The slope rule, simply)
Yes — usually — but one setting can disqualify you. The plain-English guide to using distance gear within the rules.
By Tom Whitaker
