Governors of the Game

Golf's Rule Book contains 34 entries.  But "clubs" take a page and a  half to describe  the specifications for the ball detail and the tests that are applied (at 73 1/2 degrees Fahrenheit) to establish its legality, including maximum velocity off the tee.  The game has had formal rules since 1774.  From the 1890's, most of the world acknowledges the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews as the final authority: in recent years, The Rules of Golf Committee, which invites representatives of the world's leading golfing nations to join it, has worked  with the United Stated Golf Association, the only other governing authority, so that there are now worldwide standards.

A Decisions Sub-Committee answers questions.  If they lead to interesting interpretations, loose-leaf revisions for the Rules of Golf are circulated around the world.  A present concern, dealt with by another committee, is that new materials and technology used in the making of clubs and balls shall not give players unfair advantage or, indeed, defeat the object of established golf course design. One rule change , in 1952, succeeded in removing the primary meaning of a colloquial word from the English language.  A "stymie" was the situation when an opponent's ball was on the putting surface between another player's ball and the hole.  It could not be moved.  Now it can - and the word stymie passed out of golf, but endures in the language to describe other frustrations.