NCGA Rule of the month:

March 2023 Rule of the Month:  Bunkers

Bunkers are one of the five defined areas of the course. Your ball lies in a bunker when any part of it touches the sand. So that the challenge of playing from the sand is preserved, there are a few things you are not permitted to do when your ball is in a bunker. These include testing the condition of the bunker, touching the sand right around your ball, and making a practice swing that touches the sand.
However, you can remove natural and artificial objects (loose
impediments and movable obstructions) from the bunker since those are not considered part of the challenge of playing a ball from sand. In preparing to play from a bunker, you can set your clubs down in the bunker and rake the bunker to care for the course before playing, so long as you aren’t testing the bunker or improving the conditions for your next stroke.
You get free relief in a bunker when you have interference from
an abnormal course condition (such as a drain or steps, temporary water, and ground under repair). If you want to take relief for an unplayable lie, you have the three standard one penalty stroke relief options of stroke and distance, back-on-the-line between the ball and the hole, or lateral relief within two club-lengths, except that you must drop your ball in the bunker for options two and three. Plus you have an additional fourth option, this time for two penalty strokes, that allows you to get out of the bunker by going back-on-the line between the ball and the hole as far back as you’d like.

February 2023 Rule of the Month:  Fairways and Rough

Most of your shots during a round will be made from the fairway or rough, which are part of an area of the golf course called the “general area.” This area includes everywhere on the course except bunkers, penalty areas, and the teeing area and putting green of the hole you are playing. In the general area, you will normally play your ball as it lies, but you get free relief for an embedded ball or interference by an abnormal course condition (including immovable obstructions like a cart path, temporary water, and ground under repair).
If you can’t play your ball as it lies in the general area, you can
always take unplayable ball relief. Under this Rule, you can choose between three different relief options that allow you to drop your original ball or another ball out of your original lie for one penalty stroke. The three options are: stroke and distance, back-on-the-line between your ball and the hole, or lateral relief within two club-lengths of your ball.

January 2023 Rule Changes:  Link to more details

The USGA and The R&A have unveiled a regular update to the Rules of Golf as they continue to make the Rules easier to understand and apply. The new Rules will go into effect on January 1, 2023.

Key changes include:
Modifications for Players with Disabilities: The modifications to the Rules for players with disabilities have been made part of the Rules and are in effect for all players who are classified in the categories covered in Rule 25
Handicap Usage in Stroke Play: With the continued growth of score-posting technology following the adoption of the World Handicap System™, players are no longer penalized for failing to put their handicap on their scorecard in stroke play. The committee will be responsible for ensuring the accuracy of each player’s handicap.
Club Damaged During Round: The Rule has been amended to allow a player to replace a club that is damaged during a round, provided the player did not damage it through abuse.
Ball Moved by Natural Forces: A new exception provides that a ball at rest must be replaced if it moves to another area of the course or comes to rest out of bounds after being dropped, placed or replaced.
Back-on-the-Line Relief Procedure: The back-on-the-line relief procedure, often used for penalty area and unplayable ball relief, has been simplified so that the player now drops their ball on the line, and the ball must come to rest within one club-length of where it is dropped.

July 2022, The Ball: When you can substitute, what to do if you hit the wrong ball?  Click Here 

June 2022, Penalty Areas/Stakes:  How to remember the difference between Yellow and Red Click Here