I won’t talk extensively about the different rules in place for the spectators, but I will write on specific rules in effect for the players. I will also guide you on certain areas of the golf course to follow closely.
The referees on site are all under the Augusta Club Rules Committee and not under the PGA Tour jurisdiction.
RULES OF GOLF
The Rules book gives the Committee a few areas where we can change the Rules of Golf. The example of Preferred lies or line of play relief for publicity banners.
The Augusta Committee wanted to ban the possibility of keeping the pin in the hole for a putt from the putting surface, but the Rules of Golf do not give that possibility to a Committee.
Some members wanted the players to play all the same ball. It would not have been a problem for the Rules of Golf, but it could be a huge legal problem. (Anti-Trust laws or others).
CADDIES
All the caddies need to wear a white overall and a green hat. Before 1983, the players were not allowed to use their own caddies. They were all supplied by the Club. Those guys were all black people chosen in the nearby population and the Committee wanted to make sure they were all wearing the same thing. Most of them were poor.
GREEN READING BOOK
The Committee has decided to ban those read reading sophisticate book. Players will have to use the Augusta book with less details and a brief description of the general slopes. We all remember DeChambeau taking more than 2 minutes, reading his book at the beginning of the year to understand a 8-foot putt… and he did not make his putt.
PENALTY AREAS (Yellow lines)
Holes # 12 and # 15
The water in front of those two greens have yellow lines. If the ball carries over the water and comes back in the water the options for the players are to play another ball from where the previous stroke was made, drop a ball on a reference line going straight back from the hole through the estimated point where the original ball last crossed the edge of the penalty area or drop a ball in the Drop Zone (DZ). The player must play again over the water.
If the ball goes in the water after a stroke from the back of the green, the player has the option of dropping a ball where he made his previous stroke or go on the other side of the water and use one of the 2 other options (back-on-the-line or Drop Zone).
