Extensive changes were outlined by the organisation’s last March, with a request for feedback from the golf community welcomed.

The majority of the proposed alternations remain intact, but the "significant adjustments" have been made to four potential changes based on the feedback received.

A proposal to have drops conducted from any height has been changed, with players now dropping from knee height.

It is claimed this will ensure consistency and simplicity in the dropping process while also preserving the randomness of the drop.

The distance used to determine where a drop is taken will remain determined by club length, with the initial proposals having suggested a 20-inch or 80-inch standard measurement.

Putters will not be permitted to be used.

A penalty stroke for accidentally striking the ball more than once in the course of a stroke has been removed, with golfers just counting the one stroke they made to hit the ball.

A local rule can be adopted by golf clubs next year, which will allow players to have the option to drop the ball in the vicinity of where the ball is lost or out of bounds under a two-stroke penalty.

It is claimed this will address concerns raised at club level about the negative impact on pace of play when a player is required to go back to the original spot.

The rule is not intended for professional or elite-level competitions.

"We’re thankful for the golfers, administrators and everyone in the game who took the time to provide us with great insight and thoughtful feedback," Thomas Pagel, USGA senior director of rules and amateur status, said.

"We couldn’t be more excited to introduce the new rules ahead of their education and implementation."

Major proposals from 2017, which were unchanged after the consultation, have also been included.

From the start of 2019, there will be no penalty for accidentally moving your ball or if a ball played from the putting green hits an unattended flagstick in the hole, with players allowed to play without having the flag attended or removed.

There will also be no penalty for removing loose impediments from bunkers, while an an extra relief option is added for an unplayable ball in a bunker, allowing the ball to be played from outside the bunker with a two-stroke penalty

A player's "reasonable judgment" will be used when estimating or measuring a spot, point, line, area or distance will be upheld, even if video evidence later shows it to be wrong.

There will also be a reduced time allowed for searching for lost balls from five minutes to three.

The process to modernise the rules began in 2012, with the aim to make them easier to understand and to make the game more attractive and accessible.

"We are pleased to be introducing the new rules of golf after a collaborative and wide-ranging review process which has embraced the views of golfers, rules experts and administrators worldwide," David Rickman, executive director of governance at The R&A, said. 

"We believe that the new rules are more in tune with what golfers would like and are easier to understand and apply for everyone who enjoys playing this great game."