The United States Golf Association and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club have finalized their changes to the rules of golf effective next year, and there’s good news for golfers frustrated by the stroke and distance penalty for lost balls or those hit out of bounds.

Local rules committees will now have the option of allowing players to drop laterally as near as possible to the spot where a ball was lost or hit out of bounds, with a two-stroke penalty in the past, players were required to go back to the spot from where they hit the ball.

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