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We should be watching this one with interest. An indoor golf arena just outside of Amsterdam has been planned since 2008 , before the world economy nose dived. It was originally planned to open three years ago but it now looks as though there is new investment to go ahead with the ambitious build. Plans for the world’s largest and diverse indoor training facility with 20 pro tee simulators, 1400 square metres of synthetic grass produced by Jack Nicklaus design, a 34 bay roof top range, 28 practice bays 4 star 150 room hotel, pro shop, restaurant and business facilities with a futuristic design in the shape of a putter head. Golf is the fastest growing sport in Holland and it already has an indoor facility in the Greater Amsterdam area. It’s been a long time coming, but this could provide a European centre of excellence that would attract a large tourist trade.

The R&A and USGA released the 2016 edition of Rules of Golf today. Here are the major changes. Hope you get all this, you’ll be tested at the end.

The R&A and the United States Golf Association (USGA) today announced the publication of the 2016 edition of the Rules of Golf that takes effect on January 1, 2016. The new Rule book is the culmination of the normal four-year review cycle and is a collaborative work by The R&A and the USGA that applies worldwide to all golfers.

Among the most significant of the changes in the 2016 edition of the Rules are the following:

Withdrawal of Rule on Ball Moving After Address – Rule 18-2b (Ball Moving After Address) has been withdrawn. This means that if a ball at rest moves after the player addresses it, the player is no longer automatically deemed to have caused the ball to move. A one-stroke penalty under Rule 18-2 will be applied only when the facts show that the player has caused the ball to move.
Limited Exception to Disqualification Penalty for Submission of Incorrect Score Card – A new exception has been introduced to Rule 6-6d (Wrong Score for Hole) to provide that a player is not disqualified for returning a lower score for a hole than actually taken as a result of failing to include penalty strokes that the player did not know were incurred before returning the score card. Instead, the player incurs the penalty under the Rule that was breached and must add an additional penalty of two strokes for the score card error. In all other cases in which a player returns a score for any hole lower than actually taken, the penalty will continue to be disqualification.
Modification of Penalty for a Single Impermissible Use of Artificial Devices or Equipment – The penalty for a player’s first breach of Rule 14-3 (Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Abnormal Use of Equipment) during the round has been reduced from disqualification to loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play. The penalty for any subsequent breach of Rule 14-3 will continue to be disqualification.
Prohibition on Anchoring the Club While Making a Stroke – As announced in May 2013, the new Rule 14-1b (Anchoring the Club) prohibits anchoring the club either “directly” or by use of an “anchor point” in making a stroke. The penalty is loss of hole in match play or two strokes in stroke play.
David Rickman, Executive Director – Rules and Equipment Standards at The R&A said, “We continually look at ways we can improve and clarify the Rules of Golf. The R&A and the USGA collaborate closely and we consult with our respective national and international advisory members to produce a code of Rules that is relevant to all golfers around the world.”

Thomas Pagel, Senior Director of Rules of Golf at the USGA, said, “The objective with each four year cycle of the Rules is to monitor developments in the game and, when appropriate, to respond with changes that keep the best interests of the game in mind. The amendments for 2016 preserve and enhance the essential principles of the Rules, while at the same time ensuring that they reflect the evolution of the game.”

Additional Comments on the Principal Changes

Under Rule 18-2b, a player whose ball moved after address was automatically presumed to have caused the ball to move. In 2012, an Exception to Rule 18-2b was introduced to cover situations where it was known or virtually certain that the player had not caused the ball to move, but the application of that standard was not always clear. The withdrawal of Rule 18-2b means that there no longer will be any presumption and that the same overall test in Rule 18-2 will apply to all actions by the player: if the facts show that the player’s addressing of the ball or other actions caused the ball to move, the player will incur a one-stroke penalty.

The introduction of the new Exception under Rule 6-6d will maintain the importance of returning an accurate score card by penalising the player two strokes for the score card error in addition to the penalty for the original underlying breach of the Rules. In all other cases where a player returns a score card with a score lower than actually taken on a hole, the player will continue to be disqualified.

In addition to the revised penalty for a player’s first breach of Rule 14-3 during a round, a statement has been introduced at the beginning of Rule 14-3 to explain that the governing bodies are guided by the principle that “success should depend on the judgment, skills and abilities of the player” in determining whether use of any artificial device or item of equipment is in breach of the Rule.

The R&A and the USGA announced in 2013 that new Rule 14-1b prohibiting anchoring the club in making a stroke would take effect in the 2016 edition of the Rules. The Rule was adopted following an extensive review by both organizations. For an explanation of the reasons for adopting Rule 14-1b and for guidance on applying the Rule, see RandA.org/Anchoring.

In addition amateurs can now win prize money if it is donated to charity.

Printed copies of the Rules of Golf, which are supported by Rolex, are now available from The R&A and USGA.

It’s a phenomenon that’s growing and one thing associated with golf is becoming incredibly successful. The golf buggy is becoming increasingly used for non golf use. In a retirement village of 110,000 residents in Florida there were over 50,000 golf carts used. Customising these things has become a good business for several firms who can tune them to achieve top speeds of up to 60 mph. Check out luxurycarts,com, Global Electric Motor Cars and badassgolfcarts.com of Las Vegas who claim to make the most outrageous golf carts ever seen but who also want to see them widely used on busy city centres.

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Cheyenne Woods is competing this week in the Hero Indian Open. She says “It’s pretty normal for me to have the attention. It’s a perk. Since I was 5, I have been inspired by Tiger Woods. He is the only person in my family who plays golf. He is so successful and I used to watch him on TV, so to have that inspiration is really special. With respect to the pressure and the media attention, once I am at the golf course, I just focus on what I can control, which is the shot ahead of me. At the end of the day, I have to just go out there and play golf. When I am on the course, it’s just me and my caddie and my effort to play the game well. But yes, having the option of asking him about things here and there about the game has been quite helpful for me. I talk to him every few months and get to see him maybe once a year as we’re both extremely busy so it’s great to learn from him”.

From one Surrey club in trauma to one whose traumas are nearly over. Last week Mole Valley District Council Planning Committee approved a final revision of plans for Cherkley Court.

The owners of the 375 acre green belt site near Leatherhead which houses the former stately home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook have undergone lengthy court battles. After public opposition backed by the Campaign to Protect Rural England which led to construction being stopped in 2013, last year these reached the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court which finally gave them the go ahead to develop the site.

The 18 hole golf course is designed by Tom Watson. The house has been converted into a luxury hotel and spa. Planning permission was granted on the basis that there would be 200 new jobs created for local people and the grounds would remain open for the public to visit. The latest October meeting showed that developers Longshot had spoken with prospective members who will use the golf course and they had chosen to change focus to make the club more efficient and family orientated. The course, which is built on chalk, will have the advantage of draining easily making it open all the time for winter golf.

We live in interesting times. The new Chinese-Thai owners of Wentworth Club announced at the Annual Meeting on Tuesday a restructuring of fees which sent shockwaves through its 3,000 members. When a golf story appears on the BBC News it usually means there’s trouble at mill.

Reignwood Group are asking for a six figure membership fee from April 2017. So in addition to the annual fee, which doubles from £8,000 to £16,000 there is also a one off debenture fee of £100,000 to be paid with new joiners – by invitation only – having to pay £125,000. This will make Wentworth Club the most expensive golf club in the UK. At present the joining fee is £15,000.

This kind of membership structuring is almost unheard of in Europe though it has been tried in exclusive clubs in the United States. The bold move is an apparent step to forge a stronger relationship between the club and the residents living on the Wentworth Estate. Also to rebrand the club as an family oriented country club. Investment in upgrading the three championship courses had to be found and it has been asked of the club members themselves.

Only two members spoke directly to the press. Broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson who said it angered him that such an iconic club could be treated in such a way, and James Wyatt who said these actions amounted to a cull of the membership. Mr Wyatt said he thought it was a way for the owners to reduce the membership from 3,000 to 800 exclusive people.

“They are looking for a certain type of person, wealthy people… it is a way of making the club private. Some corporate days are already not being allowed to go ahead any more. They dont want outsiders coming in and they dont want non members using the facilities”.

New Chief Executive Stephen Gibson talked about the need to upgrade facilities with a major renovation of the West Course supported by the European Tour. There was a vision that the club should be based around families with membership passed on through generations. So this would this would make it a golfing equivalent of the Hurlingham Club in London.

This is all sad for the majority of the existing Wentworth members who will not or cannot continue their membership in 18 months time. Wentworth does have a special place in the hearts of many British golfers for its long association with the World Matchplay Championship and the PGA Championship. I wonder how long it will be before the PGA European Tour Headquarters remain there if the club is to acquire the exclusivity of Queenwood just down the road. It would send out the wrong message to be associated geographically with elitism.

However, at the end of the day this is a private matter for the owners. It is their club and their property to do with as they wish. I have been reading this book, The Forbidden Game, Golf and the Chinese Dream by Dan Washburn about golf in China. It comes as no real surprise that the week that the Chinese premier visits the UK and the month that golf was officially banned by the Communist Party in China, this has happened at Wentworth.

I would imagine that Wentworth will become a tourist destination for hundreds of wealthy Chinese visitors who want to enjoy their golf, without offending the party. So the change of focus. They will want the club to be upgraded to give these visitors a special experience, so the current corporate business will change. It will be a transformation of culture.

We have been here before in British golf during the 1980s and 1990s when Japanese investors had a yen for our golf and began investing in properties such as Old Thorns, London Club and what is now the Trump Turnberry. That era passed with the fall in their economy and Japanese golf is now in a completely different place. Once the most golf mad nation on earth, participation in the sport has dropped 40% and abandoned golf courses there are now being used to house solar panels as a source of renewable energy.

Which makes me wonder if this too will pass.

This week Golf Punk, “the magazine for the rest of us” as they call it, hired new golfer Denise Van Outen to be a video blog reporter. The first one saw her whizzing around Kingswood in a buggy driven by boyfriend Eddie not saying anything profound, hitting an odd shot, observing the customised bling on her golf shoes and making a saucy comment to the boyfriend at the end. Golf Punk have put DVO in their Swinging Sirens section alongside decorative golfing females not wearing all that much. My only reaction to this was to wonder how they can physically hit a golf ball in skyscraper heels. It’s physically impossible. I tried it once and it didn’t happen. Then my bunions began to bark and I longed to put my feet in the sand as she has done here.

I’ve come to accept that it is all about the cheesecake picture sometimes and really, so what? If it cheers some poor male golfers up, makes them less hostile to women on the course, makes her money and keeps her name in the media then go ahead. Because actually DVO is a breath of fresh air and may well be exactly what we need to make golf more appealing and shed its unsexy image. She talks about golf in a relatable way.

“If someone had said to me 10 years ago I’d take up golf I would have laughed” she said “but now I just love everything about the game. I’ve found when I’m on the course I dont think of anything else, I just concentrate on the game. We have a lot of laughs and golf is quite rock and roll. It’s sexy and full of innuendo, so that’s right up my street. You’ll find old clubbers aren’t in the night clubs, we’re all out here on the golf course. Golf brings out the devil in me, it’s really good fun”.

This is all priceless. Good work Golf Punk in bringing DVO to the fore.