Quote:
Originally Posted by DecaturFargo
I can't shed the new rules, but I believe they are starting August 1. I have happy to see the changes. I have seen many abuses. Driving way too close to greens; driving between sandtraps and greens, allowing the nonhandicapped person in the cart use the handicapped privileges by driving to their golf spot instead of walking to it. And, have seen RA's ignore directions by the Ambassador. Clearly, the powers at be have seen many, many abuses. At some point, people need to quit playing if they can't conform to the rules.
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The changes you are referring to are for those holding RA privileges, they must park 30 ft. from the edge of the green instead of the prior 15 ft. The changes that eliminate the RA privileges in their entirety start on 1/1/21. On and after that date, the only way to regain those privileges is to have or be able to obtain a handicapped placard from the State of Florida; and one of the requirements in order to do so is to have a doctor fill out the State's form. One of those requirements is that the person is unable to walk 200 ft. without stopping to rest. Most doctors will no perjure themselves by filling out a form for someone that does not legally qualify for the handicap placard.
My wife's cardiologist just refused to file a form for her because on flat ground, she is able to walk 200 ft. without having to rest. The fact of the matter is that she has a real hard time navigating the hills on the courses due to a heart condition plus a hip replacement that was not perfect. She is physically unable to play even an Executive course from the cart paths and has refused to do so when rain has caused a cart path only restriction.
Originally, the RA privilege was provided to those people who would find it to be a real strain to play golf and enjoy the game without the RA privilege. One did not have to be physically handicapped, per the State's definition. In my opinion, removing the RA privileges will cause the pace of play to slow considerably as those who previously held an RA privilege will still play, but will just have to play slower. Also in my opinion, if the issues with driving too close to the greens or between the green and a bunker were enforced by the Ambassadors that found a violation, they should issue some type of citation using the golf ID number of the offender. After a predetermined number of citations were issued to a player, he would lose his golf privileges for a period of time; and if he was a repeat offender, monetary fines might also be able to be assessed. To me, that makes more sense than penalizing all who now have an RA privilege, but cannot qualify for a State handicap placard.