12/30/2020 - Balboa

I know that you are not allowed to mark your ball off of the green unless asked by another player (Rule 15.3-b).  But when that happens, are you allowed to clean your ball?

Per Rule 14.1-c, you are almost always allowed to clean your ball, whenever you are allowed to lift it, with just these exceptions:

• To see if the ball is cut or cracked
• To identify your ball
• Because it interferes with play
• To see if you are in a spot where you are allowed to take relief.
  

So this is one of the scenarios where you are not allowed to clean your ball. In the above scenarios, you can lift your ball, but you can't clean it, and you must re-create your previous lie as well as possible.

12/15/2020 - Torrey Pines North

My approach on #14 came up a few feet short of the green, with a couple of sprinkler heads directly between my ball and the hole.  It was close enough to the green that putting was my best option (given my lousy short game), and the group I was with was confident that I was entitled to relief.  I was very confident that the sprinklers constituted an abnormal course condition, but I was equally confident that I was not entitled to relief.  You only get relief from an abnormal course condition if it interferes with your stance or swing.  You do not get relief for interference on your line of play (unless you're on the putting green).

The USGA has a model local rule that would allow for relief in this scenario (more below).  A lot of people think this is an actual rule because the PGA Tour often plays with that local rule in effect.  But unless it's on the scorecard, it is not in effect.

Details on the model local rule from the USGA website:

F-5 Immovable Obstructions Close to Putting Greens

Purpose. When a ball lies anywhere other than on the putting green, an immovable obstruction on the player’s line of play is not, of itself, interference under Rule 16.1. Free relief is normally not allowed.

But if the aprons or fringes of putting greens are cut short enough that putting from off the green is likely to be a common choice of stroke, immovable obstructions that are close to the putting green may interfere with such strokes.

In that case, the Committee can choose to give an extra relief option under Rule 16.1 when a player’s ball lies in the general area or on the putting green and an immovable obstruction close to the putting green is on the player’s line of play.

The Committee may limit such relief to certain situations, such as only for particular holes or obstructions, or only when the ball and the obstruction are in part of the general area cut to fairway height or less.

And that brings me to another thing that Torrey does every year around this time of year (see photo below).  This is great for pace of play, but they can't arbitrarily change the rules of golf like this.  The penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance.  There are other recommended local rules that cover this.  My club plays with such a local rule.  Rather than stroke and distance, you can take two strokes and drop in the fairway.  This is a sanctioned local rule for non high-level competition.  And it keeps the pace of play going just fine.

I'm actually waiting for confirmation on this whole rant from our handicap chair, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.  Stay tuned.

 

11/27/2020 - The Match

When the commentators mentioned that the players had played a practice round prior to the event, I was pretty sure that was a violation of Rule 5.2.  You're not allowed to practice on the course prior to a competitive round.  I've written about it before, but apparently that only applies to stroke play.  Rule 5.2 reads as follows:

5.2  Practising on Course Before or Between Rounds

“Practising on the course” means playing a ball from anywhere or testing the surface of the putting green of any hole by rolling a ball or rubbing the surface.

a. Match Play
You may practise on the course before a round or between rounds of a match-play competition.
b. Stroke Play
On the day of a stroke-play competition:

    You must not practise on the course before a round, except that you may practise putting or chipping on or near your first teeing area and practise on any practice area.

    You may practise on the course after completing play of your final round for that day.

I'm just jealous that they played the round in 50 minutes.  I think my record for 18 holes is more like 1:50.  Which is still a whole lot better than the 4.5 hours plus that it usually takes around here (especially on a weekend).

Clearly the R&A was involved in writing this rule, hence "practise."

11/7/2020 - Twin Oaks

I hit my approach long on #12, and left a big ball mark in the fringe.  It wasn't in my line, but a different ball mark in the fringe was.  I repaired both without thinking about it, and then realized that I'm not allowed to do that on the fringe.  Oops, two bonus strokes.

This is covered by rule #8, which says that you cannot improve your line of play.  Rule #13 makes an exception for this on the green.  The weird exception is that if one of your playing partners playing after you leaves a ball mark in your way, you can repair it.  The damage wasn't present when your ball came to rest, so you can repair it.  But if you're not certain which ball mark is yours and which is the other player's, then you can't fix either.

It's nice to fix it after you play your shot for the next group.

11/1/2020 - Torrey Pines South

I know it's not a penalty if you're chipping onto the green and hit another ball, and it is a penalty if you are putting and hit another ball on the green.  But what if you're putting, and your ball hits a ball that is off of the green?  It didn't happen, but it almost happened.

Rule 13 covers the putting green, but I couldn't find anything about ball hitting ball in that rule.  I found it in Rule 11, which covers Ball in Motion.  Broadly, there is no penalty if your ball hits another ball.  There is an Exception to this when both balls are on the putting green prior to the stroke.  That is subject to the general penalty (2 strokes in stroke play).  So if your ball is on the green, and your putt hits another ball that is off of the green, then there is no penalty.  There you have it...

 

10/18/2020 - Balboa 9

There are several things that I often refer to as "the dumbest rule in golf."  Most often I'm referring to when you move your mark to accommodate someone else's putt, and then forget to move it back.  This is a violation of rule 13.1-d, and it's a two stroke penalty.  Very rarely would you actually benefit from it.  And the other player usually indicates which way you should move it.  I try to remind myself when I move my mark by placing it upside-down.

The other "dumbest rule in golf" actually makes some sense for high level play.  But not so much for casual rounds, or even (in my opinion) "regular" club tournaments.  Rule 10.2 says that you cannot give advice, or ask anyone for advice.  This would include giving yardage, club selection, or even commenting on the wind.  Our club does not enforce this rule very stringently, and I'll bet your club doesn't either.

Today I am referring to the rule that you can't post a solo round.  I played with three strangers yesterday, and posted my score when I was done.  The other players have no idea what I shot, what I posted, or even that I posted the round at all.  So why am I not allowed to post a round that I play solo?  When I'm counted on to call my own penalties, it makes no sense that I can't post a score from a solo round.

I had my first eagle today, and it totally doesn't count.  I was playing solo behind a foursome, so I was playing two balls.  I drove the green on the par four 6th and made the putt.  With my second ball.  At least I got a birdie with the first ball.

10/17/2020 - Boulder Oaks

I'm not sure I had ever had this happen before, but as I was putting, I noticed my ball starting to roll a tiny, TINY bit just before I hit it.  I recall that the new (2019) rules don't penalize you if your ball accidentally moves, but the wording of the rules is a little confusing, so I have pasted the relevant rule below (13.1 d).

My interpretation is that what happened falls under the Exception portion of the rule.  I had started the stroke, and the stroke was made.  So no penalty.

But I also think that it was natural forces that moved the ball.  And to further complicate things, I don't recall if I had marked my ball or not.  So if I hadn't marked my ball, then I'm fine.  But if I had, then it would be two strokes for playing the ball from the wrong spot.  But I think the fact that I played the stroke puts me in the exception category above.  The two stroke penalty would come in if I had marked the ball, didn't complete the stroke, and then didn't replace the ball back to it's original position.  I think.

Weird.

d. When Your Ball or Ball-Marker Moves on Putting Green

There is no penalty if you, your opponent or another player in stroke play accidentally move your ball or ball-marker on the putting green.

You must replace your ball on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated) or place a ball-marker to mark that original spot.

Exception – Your Ball Must Be Played as It Lies When It Begins to Move During Your Backswing or Stroke and the Stroke Is Made.

If natural forces cause your ball on the putting green to move, where you must play from next depends on whether your ball had already been lifted and replaced on its original spot:

• Ball already lifted and replaced – Your ball must be replaced on its original spot (which if not known must be estimated).

• Ball not already lifted and replaced – The ball must be played from its new spot.

10/10/2020 - Bonita

 It never came into play, but I noticed a few ant hills on the practice green, and then on the regular greens.  What's the rule?

The definition of "Loose impediment" explicitly includes ant hills.  So you can sweep away any loose dirt and tap down the mound so that it is flat if it's in the line of your putt (or chip).  Insects are also considered loose impediments, so you are free to remove any ants that come out and interfere with your line.

Rule 16-2 covers a "Dangerous Animal Condition."  That's for snakes and alligators, and I don't think it would apply here.  But the rule does explicitly include fire ants.  If they were fire ants, then the area immediately around them would be treated as ground under repair, so you would get free relief within one club of the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.

9/26/2020 - The Crossings at Carlsbad

We were playing twilight, and it was getting pretty dark when we got to the 18th tee.  I didn't see my tee shot at all, but I found it in the fairway.  If I had not found it, I probably would have just stopped there and posted with my "most likely score."  But I found it, and could see the green (sort of).  So I hit my approach shot, and I could see it going left of the green (which is where I was aiming).  When I got the green, I could not find the ball.  It was pretty dark at this point.  I was pretty certain that it was not in a hazard.  I searched for ~3 minutes and did not find it.  So what's the rule?

The only thing I could find in the rules about darkness is when "the committee" decides that play should be suspended due to darkness.  In that scenario, if you have started the hole, you have the option to complete it, or you can mark your ball and resume when it's light.  In this scenario, I don't think it's unreasonable to call myself a "committee of one."  I'm quite confident that my ball was somewhere left of the green.  So I believe that my most likely score at this point is a bogey (chip on, two-putt).  So that's what I'm going to post.

9/23/2020 - Sycuan Singing Hills Oak Glen

 I had a great front 9, and then an unbelievably bad back 9 (20 shots worse).  I was well into the train wreck when I hit my approach shot on #16.  It should be mentioned that #16 shares a green with #2 on the Oak Glen course.  I never saw my approach shot, but I heard it go through some leaves.  Based on how long the ball was in the air before I heard it hit leaves, I thought it would have been the trees up near the green.  I searched near the trees for ~3 minutes and did not find the ball.  Our club plays a local rule that allows you to take a two stroke penalty in the fairway for a lost ball (versus stroke and distance).  This helps pace of play, and I didn't want to go all the way back to where I had hit my second shot from anyway.  So just before I hit my final putt, someone playing #2 mentioned that there was an extra ball on his green.  My ball.  So I _could_ have been putting for birdie, albeit 60 feet from the wrong portion of the green.

At least one member of our foursome thought that since I hadn't finished the hole with my second ball, then I could play my original ball.  Per rule 18:

If you do not identify your ball in that reasonable time, the ball is lost. 

It had been more than three minutes, and I had already chipped and putted my second ball.  For casual play, I would have tried the 60 foot "birdie" putt, but for a tournament, I took my 8 (one of several on the back 9).

9/19/2020 - Balboa

 We've been playing with hole inserts for months now, so that the ball doesn't fall all the way to the bottom of the whole, and we don't spread the corona virus.  Today was the first time that I hit a putt that bounced out of the hole due to the hole insert.  I was stunned, and I wasn't sure what to write down for my score.

So I consulted the USGA covid guidelines here:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rulesarticles/covid-19-rules-and-handicapping-faqs.html

It is my judgement that the ball would have remained in the hole more than 50% of the time without the insert.  So I'm giving myself a par on #3.  Pars were few and far between today.  :|

I believe our club is still playing that you must hole out, so no wiggle room.  I should probably confirm that with our handicap chair before our next tourney.

9/12/2020 - Vineyard

People often mess this one up, so I thought it was worth noting - Order of play in stroke play is determined by who is further from the hole.  This means that if you're in a green-side bunker, and another player is on the green, but further from the hole, then the player on the green should play first.  People seem to think that the player in the bunker should play first, but that's not the case.  This is covered by rule 6.4.

Of course there is no penalty for playing out of turn in stroke play (it's different in match play).  And the rules explicitly acknowledge pace-of-play and ready golf.  So it probably makes more sense for player in the bunker to play first.  But that's not the rule.

I also learned something when I looked this up - If you and another player agree to play out of turn to give one of you the advantage, then you both get the general penalty (two strokes).  This is the actual context under which this came up.  I was playing terribly.  Another guy in the group had put up a great score on the front.  His ball was just inside mine on a putt that was just long enough to make you nervous (~3 feet).  He went to putt, but I intervened, indicating that it was my turn (and he might learn something from my putt and continue his good round).  Had his putt been outside mine, then we both would have been penalized.  As it was, I missed the putt, but gave him the read to make his.  But he was not able to repeat the score that he had put up on the front.

9/4/2020 - Torrey Pines North

I have heard that you're not allowed to practice during a round.  The pace was pretty slow, so this came up.  One member of our group was practicing chipping on the tee while we waited for the group in front of us to play their second shots (and while they waited for the group in front of them to get off of the green).  Is this legal?  My short game really needs the work....

So I looked it up.  This is covered under Rule #5.  Specifically, Rule 5.2 says that in stroke play, you can't play on the course prior to the round.  I was totally unaware of that.  So if you want to play a practice round before your club championship, you either need to do it the day before, or you could do it on a different course prior to the round.  It's totally fine to practice on the course before the round in match play.  Weird.

Rule 5.5 covers practice during the round.  The first line says:

While playing a hole and between two holes, you must not make a practice stroke.

 So it sounds like you would not be allowed to practice chipping on the tee box.  But the next lines of the rules say:

Exception – Between holes you may practise putting or chipping on or near the putting green of the hole you just completed and any practice green, and the teeing area of your next hole. But such practice strokes must not be made from a bunker and must not unreasonably delay play.

Kind of a weird way to construct the rule, but it looks like I am allowed to practice my chipping on the tee while I wait for the group in front of me.  That's good, because my short game really needs the work.

Also funny that they use both "practise" and "practice."  I guess the rules really are international now.

Watching match play on TV, you will often see a player re-take a putt that he missed, but you never see that in stroke play.  Based on what I read in the rules, I am not sure why this is.

8/16/2020 - Bonita Golf Course

 There were a lot of areas marked as Ground Under Repair at Bonita today.  No one was certain if that meant that you must take relief, or if it was optional.  So I looked it up.

Ground Under Repair (GUR) is an Abnormal Course Condition (rule #16).  It is free relieve to the nearest point of complete relief, but it is optional.  You may play the ball as it lies.

But can you clean it?  Per rule 14.1c, yes, you can clean the ball whenever you take relief, except when:

• you are checking to see if the ball is damaged.
   
• you are trying to identify the ball
   
• you are marking it for another player and your ball is not on the green
   
• you are checking to see if you are allowed relief
  

Some courses mark flower beds and the like as GUR, with a sign indicating that you must take relief.  I assume this is a local rule to protect their flowers.

7/5/2020 - Torrey Pines North

I was in the second group out at 5:38am.  When I got to the course, it was dark, with a full moon, complete with howling coyotes.  It was light when we teed off, but by the third hole, the fog started to roll in.  Teeing off on #3, we couldn't see the green at all.

I found that tee shot, I found my tee shot in the fairway on the next hole, and hit my approach towards the green.  I thought it was headed a bit right, and I went off in search of it.  I did not find the ball after searching for probably less than 3 minutes, but I declared the ball lost and put a new ball in play.

So what happens if you lose a ball in the fog?  Is it still a penalty?  As far as I can tell, the answer is "Yes."  There are no dispensations for fog.  The USGA recommends suspending any tournament play when visibility is limited.  But if you proceed with play, then the rules of golf say that the penalty for a lost ball is stroke and distance.  My club plays with the optional local rule that allows you to take a two stroke penalty instead (for pace of play).  So after chipping on and 3-putting, I wrote down "8" and proceeded to the next tee.

Turns out my shot didn't go to the right.  One of the members of the foursome found my ball just short of the green, but I didn't learn about that until I was on the next tee.

It wasn't a great round, but at least I got a good picture out of it.

6/28/2020 - Balboa 18

I've used the burrowing animal relief rule a few times, but rarely.  Today I ended up in a hole that could have come from a gopher, snake, or some other unidentified critter.  But it was in a bunker, which I have never had happen.  I was pretty sure that I get relief within the bunker, but I checked when I got home to make sure.  Rule 16 covers Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions), Dangerous Animal Condition, Embedded Ball.

Free relief is granted, one club length from the nearest point of relief in the bunker.  I got out and made the putt, unfortunately, I was three strokes into the bunker.

I find it amusing that the title of the rule includes "Dangerous Animal Condition."  This is when your ball comes to rake near a rattlesnake.  A rattlesnake hole is just an abnormal course condition.

4/25/2020 - The Links at Summerly

Riverside county eased their restrictions, so I was finally able to get out and play a round.  They had rules in place for Covid 19.  Masks were required (not enforced), Social Distancing was required (impossible if you're sharing a cart), and you weren't supposed to touch the flag sticks or rakes.  It was a little chaotic, being the first weekend of golf for most people in SoCal, but people were trying to do the right thing.

For numerous reasons (see below), I was not able to post my score, but if I had paid more attention to what I was doing, I probably could have posted it.

The first big thing was no rakes.  Actually, the rakes were present, but we were asked not to use them.  So I gave myself relief whenever I went into a bunker.  I did consider other options, but for pace of play, this seemed the best.  By rule, you can take a two-stroke penalty, and drop outside the bunker.  If I had tracked how many bunkers I had gone into, I could have applied this penalty after the round.  But I didn't.  I also read that some courses are recommending "raking" the bunker with your feet after you play your shot.  While that would fall within the rules of golf, I think it would lead to some pretty gnarly lies in the bunkers.

In addition to the problem with the rakes, a couple of par 4's had been shortened to par 3's, and one hole was closed.  The handicap rules allow you to adjust for un-rated yardages, and they also allow you to take your score-plus-handicap in the situation where a hole is closed.  But we didn't finish one of the shortened holes because we couldn't find it.  There was a sign on the "tee" indicating that the hole had been altered to a par 3, and the yardage was 118.  I didn't see a green (even a temporary one), or a flag stick.  I took my 9-iron and hit it in the direction of a couple of bunkers that might have been near the green.  My ball hit a cart path and was never seen again.  When we got 118 yards from the tee, we found everyone else's tee shot, but no hole, and no green (temporary or otherwise).  We saw what was probably the regular green another 150 yards further.  It did not look like the green was accessible.  So we picked up and moved to the next hole (which was the one that was closed).

And the final straw that made me not post my score was the raised cups.  I actually might have gotten an illegitimate hole-in-one.  I saw my tee shot go on the green, and when I got there, it was about six inches from the cup, and the ball mark was about six inches from that.  I wrote down a 2 and circled it, and moved on to the next hole.

Putting to the raised cups is interesting.  It certainly makes you more aggressive, because if you hit the raised cup, then it's considered holed (not by the real rules, see below).  The only hole that I 3-putted was the one hole where I picked up when I hit the max score for our club.  I wrote down 9-3 for that one.  It was not a club outing, but I usually play by our club local rules, which includes the max score, and free relief from dirt cart paths.

Turns out, the USGA has some guidelines, and you are supposed to count your putts as holed only if you believe they would have gone in to a regular cup.  There's obviously some judgement here, and I wasn't tracking which ones may not have gone in.  Hit the cup and move on.

I will attempt to follow these guidelines the next time I go out:

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rulesarticles/covid-19-rules-and-handicapping-faqs.html

3/14/2020 - Steele Canyon

I've been trying a new putting technique based on a video I saw with Phil Mickelson.  He said that take the putter back 25%, and then follow through 75% (ie 3 times as far forward as you took the putter back.

I think it's been working reasonably well, but today it resulted in a double-contact on a putt.  I knew that double-contact is no longer a penalty on "regular" shots, but is it a penalty on the putting green?

If it's not intentional (it wasn't), then there's no penalty.

3/8/2020 - The Crossings at Carlsbad

I covered a while back whether or not you can putt with the flagstick in one hand (you can).

One member of our foursome today putted with a wedge under her arm.  Is this legal?

As far as I can tell it is.  Rule 4.3 covers the usage of equipment, and it's only a penalty if you use a club in a "abnormal way."  From the text of the rule, "abnormal way" means "a way that is fundamentally different than its intended use and is not normally recognized as part of playing the game.  I would say that she wasn't really even using the club for any purpose.

I read elsewhere that this would include using a second club for balance when taking a stroke.  That makes sense.  I've never seen that (of course I had never seen someone putt with a club under their arm either.

3/7/2020 - Steele Canyon

I often hear people that there's a 2-putt max rule in effect on punched greens.  Sorry, no.

The definition of Ground Under Repair explicitly does not include aeration holes.

Rule #13 (Putting Greens) explicitly lists aeration holes as not "damage" that can be repaired.

In fact, without a local rule in place, you don't even get relief when your ball is in an aeration hole.  Model Local Rule E-4 allows you to take a ball out of an aeration hole on the green, but it does not give relief from aeration holes in the line of your putt.

2/2/2020 - Sycuan Willow Glen

Anyone who has seen Caddyshack probably knows that free relief is allowed from a whole made by a burrowing animal.  But Caddyshack came out in 1980.  Are the new rules different?

From what I have read, yes, the 2019 rules are different, and the old rules are far more entertaining.

Under current rule #16, an animal hole is considered an abnormal course condition, and the player is entitled to free relief.  An animal hole is defined as any hole dug by an animal, along with any area damaged by the animal digging the hole.  You get one club-length from the nearest point of relief, no closer to the hole.

My ball had rolled up to the base of a tree, and was in what I was pretty sure was a hole made by a burrowing animal.  I had a vague recollection of old Decision 25-1b/20, which says that if the stroke was clearly impracticable for a different reason (the tree), then no relief is granted.  I think I could have played it (though not easily) if it wasn't in the animal hole.  But old Decision 25-1b/3 clearly indicates that if relied that you are entitled to improves your line of play, then that is the players' good fortune.

Since I wasn't certain, I just took the ball out of the hole and played it more or less with the tree still in my way.  My interpretation is that I could have taken a full club-length of relief and given myself a straight shot at the green.

Some of my favorites from the old Decisions on the Rules of Golf:
23/3 - A half-eaten pear is a loose impediment
23/4 - So is a banana peel
23/5 - An ant hill is a loose impediment (insects are different than burrowing animals)
23/6.5 - A live snake is an outside agency.  A dead snake is both an outside agency and a loose impediment.
23/10 - A ball is embedded in an orange lying under an orange tree.  What is the ruling?  The player must play the ball as it lies or deem it unplayable.  Since the orange was adhering to the ball, it was not a loose impediment.
25/6 - Saliva may be considered an abnormal ground condition, or a loose impediment.
25/19.5 - The player is not allowed relief from the footprint of a burrowing animal (again, these are the old rules).

And I could have sworn that I once read that a player is not entitled to relief from a hole dug by a dog because a dog is not a burrowing animal.

1/11/2020 - Enagic Golf Club at Eastlake

First off I have to say wow, conditions at what used to be Eastlake Country Club in Chula Vista have gotten much better under the new ownership.  The greens were as fast and true as any course I've played in San Diego (or anywhere else).

During the round, we had a discussion regarding whether it is against the rules to look up the line of your opponents putt, or just bad etiquette.  A couple of members of the group were quite confident that it was a violation of the rules of golf, along the same lines as the new rules with regards to having your caddie set your alignment.

So I looked it up.  This is covered by Rule 10.2, which states:

While the stroke is being made, your caddie must not deliberately stand on or close to your line of play or do anything else (such as pointing out a spot on the putting green) to point out the line of play.

Interestingly, it doesn't say anything about your playing partner.

So it's not a violation of the rules, but it's not a good idea.  You are well within your rights as a player to ask your opponent to stand somewhere else while you are making your putt.

1/1/2020 - The New Handicap System

Here's what you need to know about the new handicap system that is in place as of today:

• The most noticeable thing about the new system is that your handicap will update after every round.  Previously, your handicap would only change twice a month.  Now it changes with every round you post.  That means that your handicap chair will need to indicate exactly when your handicap locks for a club event.
• Instead of using the old ESC Scoring, system, the max score you can post for any given hole is net double-bogey.  So if you're getting a stroke on a par 5, the highest score you can post for that hole is an 8.
• Your handicap is now based on your best 8 rounds of your last 20, instead of your best 10 rounds.  That should make your handicap go down a touch.

Here's some stuff that's new, but probably doesn't matter as much:

• The new max is 54 (previously 36).
• The handicap calculation now includes a factor for par (it didn't before).
• Weather is now a factor.  If everyone playing a particular course on a particular day shoots higher than normal, then those scores will be adjusted.  This can also be due to pin placements, or other factors, like the height of the rough (think Torrey Pines just before or after The Farmers Insurance Open).
• An exceptional score (7 strokes better than your handicap) will immediately knock a full point off of your handicap.  If you score 10 strokes better than your handicap, then it's two full points.  So if your scores vary widely (like mine), then your handicap will be impacted more by this.
• You're not going to be able to post scores for the next ~5 days while they get the new system in place.

Here are some of my thoughts:

• Everything I've read says that the difference between one set of tees and another (on the same course) is going to result in a bigger handicap differential.
• The only way in which the old system needed to be changed was when you were trying to post a score from another country.  I'm pretty sure that only accounts for about 0.000001% of the rounds that are posted.
• I think the new system will be more error-prone.  I'm pretty sure that a lot of people were not properly calculating based on ESC scoring, and the new system requires you to know which holes you are getting a stroke (or two, or now even three!) on.

Sources:
http://www.scga.org/whs-hub
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/five-keys-to-the-new-world-handicap-system
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/voices-the-flaw-in-the-new-world-handicap-system-dean-knuth

12/29/2019 - Monarch Dunes Golf Club (Old Course)

The Central Coast of California got a lot of rain on the day after Christmas.  I played a the pitch-and-putt course in Pismo Beach on the 27th, and it was a swamp.  Things had dried out a bit two days later when I played Monarch Dunes, but there was still a lot of casual water.  My drive on the eighth hole hit dry land, but trickled back into the water.  But it didn't trickle into the penalty area.  My ball was submerged, but I could see the line painted on the grass below the surface of the water, and my ball was on the good side of it.  I was pretty sure that I was entitled to free relief from casual water in this scenario.

As far as I can tell, I was right.  Penalty areas are covered by rule 17.  I didn't find anything covering my scenario there.  However, the definition of a penalty area states:

When defined by a painted line on the ground, the edge of the penalty area is the outside edge of the line, and the line itself is in the penalty area.

So I'm pretty sure that free relief from casual water was the correct call.  That's within one driver-length of the nearest point of relief (for stance and swing), no closer to the hole.