Are DMD'S really worth a few strokes a round to you...

[Yosser]

I'm talking exact yardages, like to the yard on a consistent basis. If you can do that good luck to you, I can't, if I could, then armed with my GPS I'd never miss a green or go in a bunker or hazard.

I'm not saying yardage isn't important, I'm just saying that having the exact yardage doesn't save 3 or 4 shots a round.

I don't think any of us use DMD's with the intention of hitting that exact yardage, we are obviously targeting an area within our own individual ability and if its a good hit fine, if not we might get punished and have to accept this. It's been pointed out that DMD's take out the uncertainty of judging a distance, you might be fine at your home course because you know it well but you must have been in a situation on a course where you've judged a distance by eye and got it wrong? Many courses have features or hazards positioned to deceive you visually and may or may not be in play, you would only be aware of this if either you knew the course well enough or had a DMD. Even if you know a course inside out I think you could be easily be 5-10 yards out judging something over say 160 by eye, take a DMD and try it, its a eye opener. I think there still seems a stigma attached to using DMD's but the R&A have approved them so that's good enough for me. We still have far less advantages than the Pro's, they have practice rounds where they can take multiple shots, multiple putts, caddie's that have exhaustive course survey's, hundreds of people looking for lost balls and worst of all they get a free drop when they thin it through a par 3 and it hits a stand.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I'm officially confused. Swingsitlikehogan has been arguing that DMDs give the player an advantage and has been rounded upon by the rest of us telling him they don't, they just give information that is already available.

Now they save 4 shots per round - isn't that an advantage?

Thaty's my line of thought. I'm forever being told they don't give a player an advantage and now I'm beinh told that they DO. And yes I know that for most 'normal' approach shots non-DMDer can pace out etc etc. But if your approach is not 'normal' or flag position is not 'central' (or whatever the distance datum the club uses for it's yardage markers) pacing it etc is both inpractical and would be unacceptable to your playing partners, FC or opponents. So nobody should be surprised to find me agreeing with the assertion made by the OP. :thup:

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I presume you are talking about other DMD threads - as there's certainly no 'rounding on' going on in this one.

WRT to your 'confusion'.

They do (only) give information available elsewhere, but it's unlikely that, without them, that information would be sought every shot. It's much more likely the distance would be estimated/guessed - especially the 'distance to the pin' that a Rangefinder provides.

It was a different set of posters and for a different reason (his opinion was that they shouldn't be allowed) that SiLH was 'rounded on' in the other threads. That simply shows that different folk have differing opinions on different issues. Nothing surprising there!

Oh fear not for me dear foxhole - but your concern is noted - I don't feel 'rounded on'.

But on the general point (which is off-topic on this thread) if I may I add I have absolutely no issues at all with DMDs etc. being used in friendly, practice and other non-qualifier play, and even (softening my position now) in Open competitions. My gripe is solely with their use in qualifier club comps competed for exclusively by club members.

And so back on-topic.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I don't think any of us use DMD's with the intention of hitting that exact yardage, we are obviously targeting an area within our own individual ability and if its a good hit fine, if not we might get punished and have to accept this. It's been pointed out that DMD's take out the uncertainty of judging a distance, you might be fine at your home course because you know it well but you must have been in a situation on a course where you've judged a distance by eye and got it wrong? Many courses have features or hazards positioned to deceive you visually and may or may not be in play, you would only be aware of this if either you knew the course well enough or had a DMD. Even if you know a course inside out I think you could be easily be 5-10 yards out judging something over say 160 by eye, take a DMD and try it, its a eye opener. I think there still seems a stigma attached to using DMD's but the R&A have approved them so that's good enough for me. We still have far less advantages than the Pro's, they have practice rounds where they can take multiple shots, multiple putts, caddie's that have exhaustive course survey's, hundreds of people looking for lost balls and worst of all they get a free drop when they thin it through a par 3 and it hits a stand.

@yosser - a fair and good representation I think of the advantage DMDs provide in removing uncertainty from the players mind - uncertainty being one of the main contributing factors (if not the main factor) is us handicap players really messing up a shot. And by 'messing up' I don't mean getting the yardage a bit wrong - I mean the sort of mess up that costs us multiple shots at a time.