Trial and Error
Anyone who has complained about the stroke-and-distance aspect of the out-of-bounds Rule being unfair is not stating anything new. The question has often been asked: How can a player who hits a 300-yard drive out of bounds by two inches get a worse result than someone who whiffs his tee shot?

The USGA has wrestled with the stroke-and-distance penalty for a ball lost or out of bounds (Rule 27-1) for many years. In the 1960s the USGA completed what Richard S. Tufts, a past president of the USGA, termed a "noble experiment" in the evolution of the Rules. In a dramatic move away from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club -- and a unified code -- the USGA adopted experimental Rules for 1960 and '61.

"Frequent Rules changes, especially on a trial basis, are generally undesirable," John M. Winters Jr., then chairman of the Rules of Golf Committee, wrote in the February 1961 issue of Golf Journal. "But an open mind and a willingness to venture into new areas can be productive in any activity.

"Not so long ago the Rules did not recognize lateral water hazards; now they receive special treatment in the Rules. The 14-club Rule was not introduced until 1938; it is now a fundamental. The abolition of the stymie was an outgrowth of various experiments."

So, too, was this trial, which had roots back to the mid-1940s. Before 1946, a lost ball, a ball out of bounds and a ball unplayable suffered the same fate: stroke-and-distance. From 1946 to 1951, however, the penalty for a ball out of bounds was distance only (e.g., if you hit your tee shot out of bounds, you would be playing your second stroke from the tee). It is interesting to note that during this period, a player was better off hitting a shot out of bounds than hitting one into a large bush as the only procedure for a ball unplayable remained stroke and distance.

With the first unified Rules of Golf agreed upon by the USGA and the R&A for 1952, the penalty for a ball out of bounds reverted to stroke-and-distance. Another change was that the player was given a second option for a ball unplayable (the current Rule 19-2c), but it entailed a two-stroke penalty.

In 1960, the USGA broke away from the R&A with a trial Rule for one year, adopting the penalty of distance only for a ball lost or out of bounds. It was found that in many cases, the penalty of distance only was not severe enough for a lost ball. For example, a player who shanks a pitch shot into deep woods might well prefer to replay the stroke with loss of distance only rather than find his ball. In the USGA's view, any Rule which encourages a player not to find his ball is a weak Rule.

Stroke-and-distance returned in 1961, but the USGA was still somewhat uncomfortable with the penalty for a ball out of bounds. It authorized a Committee to adopt a Local Rule allowing a player to drop a ball, with a penalty stroke, within two club-lengths of the spot where the original ball last crossed the boundary, not nearer the hole. This Local Rule, which was allowed again in 1964-67, was intended for areas where the standard stroke-and-distance penalty would be unduly severe and only where it is not difficult to determine if a ball is out of bounds or where it last crossed the boundary.

This Local Rule was revoked in 1968 because, among other reasons, it abandoned the principle that like situations should be treated alike. For the purpose of a consistent application of the Rules, a ball that is out of bounds should be treated the same in all situations. Since it is often not known whether a lost ball is lost on the course or out of bounds, the penalty for a lost ball and a ball out of bounds must be the same. As there is no spot from which to measure two club-lengths with a lost ball, the only practical solution is to require the player to return to the spot from which he last played.

Is the stroke-and-distance procedure for a ball lost or out of bounds now settled? Well... it seems that lessons from history have not been learned, or maybe just ignored. The rules of 2019 introduce a local rule allowing a player to drop a ball, no closer to the hole than where they may think the original ball was lost or out of bounds, for two penalty strokes. And they can drop it on the fairway!