PGA Tour’s Mackenzie Hughes: Most changes to Rules of Golf ‘missed the mark’

The new-look Rules of Golf will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

But PGA Tour pro Mackenzie Hughes isn’t looking forward to most of the rule changes.

Hughes took to Twitter to voice his concerns, and while he supported a few of the changes, he said most of them “missed the mark.”

“I just went through the new rules of golf for 2019 again,” Hughes said. “I feel like a few of the changes are good (ex. caddie alignment, loose impediments in bunkers), but I feel like most of them missed the mark (ex. ball drop from knee height, damaged club, and more). Thoughts?”

The tweet sparked an interesting discussion as Hughes responded to several comments.

• On dropping the ball from knee height: “I just think dropping it from shoulder height was fine to begin with. What problem did we solve by changing it to knee height?”
• On the absence of any changes to the anchoring ban: “They had a chance to make that clear and they didn’t. Could have just said it can’t be over a certain length and can’t touch any part of your body.”
• On the new rule not allowing a damaged club to be replace mid-round: “Like if you were on 18 on Sunday and needed your 3 wood but realized the face was cracked?”

“I think they were trying to simplify the game,” Hughes said, “but after watching them explain the new rules I don’t think they accomplished that.”