The introduction this year of various new elements to the Rules of Golf have not been painless, from issues with caddie alignment to putting with the flagstick in the hole, golf’s guardians have been busy in 2019.
“I think it's fair to say that it hasn't gone as smoothly as I would have liked, but this is a big change,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said on Tuesday. “It is a change to the game, and having spent most of my life working in change projects in various different parts of the world, it's not unexpected that we were going to have some difficulties.