North Mimms
Tour Winner
Easy quick and simple, but unecessary.
Dedicated DMD - OK
All smartphones - not ok unless ownwer can prove otherwise.
DMD's on phones - I wish they would sort it properly
- Thread starter chrisd
- Start date
Dedicated DMD - OK
All smartphones - not ok unless ownwer can prove otherwise.
North Mimms
Tour Winner
Do you mean smartphones?
Have you seen how quickly the smartphone market moves? and how long it takes the R&A to pronounce on anything? (see belly putters)
Expect to see an announcement at the end of the year that the iPhone2 may or may not conform....
bladeplayer
Money List Winner
I have to agree with Imurg , i was always in the no need for the DMD thingy .. i even was in the mag in the old v new equipment debate , i was for the old & said something like 15 yards from the 150= 165 and as long as i can ad that would do me or something like that ..
Then i tried one.. Garmin G5 ,... great piece of equipment and il admit the 1st few times i was flaffing around with it so probably wasnt any quicker , now tho a quick glance give me any yardage that i need & it definatly speeds things up ..
It doesnt give you an advantage as such but it does make working out distances alot quicker ..
doublebogey7
Head Pro
Should we do the same for clubs and balls then??
doublebogey7
Head Pro
No I don't mean smartphones, there would have to be a list of all conforming devices. The club and ball market also move quickly. Anyway it is unlikely that any smartphone would be conforming.
Colin L
Tour Winner
North Mimms
Tour Winner
I don't see a need for a list.
If it is manufactured as a dedicated DMD, it should conform (apart from some laser which has a slope reading option which can be disabled to make it conforming)
Like it or not, those who THINK their smartphone is ok are deluding themselves. But the ability of golfers to bend or ignore the rules to suit themselves never ceases to amaze me
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Agree - thouigh I'd have thought the easiest way for a player to prove a phone is conforming is by having a compliance certificate - I wouldn't want a PP or FC to present his phone to me ion the 1st tee and say 'this is compliant - OK?' How do I know. So we take our phone to any golf professional or golf shop and ask them to check it and provide a compliance certificate - or not as the case may be. Job done.
chrisd
Major Champion
The easiest way is for players to acquaint themselves properly with the rules!
Can you imagine the logistical nightmare of half the club members turning up on the pro/secretaries doorstep to get a certificate for one of dozens of DMD's on the market.
The abuse of the rules in this matter is hardly different from other infringements where players don't have a Scooby doo about even the most basic of rules!
pbrown7582
Money List Winner
Region3
Ryder Cup Winner
Lots of different posts I'd like to quote but I can't be bothered with all the faffing around, so just a few comments/observations.....
Although I don't agree with SILH, it's not fair to complain about him making his opinions known, no matter how often. I'm sure there are other topics that crop up from time to time where the same people give the same opinions each time. I'm not moaning about that... I wouldn't want it any other way.
I'll admit DMD's are an advantage to me, because as in my first sentence, if I didn't have one I wouldn't be bothered to work out an exact distance as I'd be entitled to.
I'll start counting from a fairway marker if I remember, and try to keep count while I'm listening to my mate. Then I only know roughly how many feet one of my steps is, and if I manage all that I then have a number that is probably within 5 or 10 yards.
If I forget or lose count I'm rubbish at judging distance so would be clueless. What I normally think to myself as I'm standing at my ball looking forward or back to the nearest yardage marker is "would I mind facing a fast bowler from this distance" because I know that's 22yds.
As for "allowing them in friendly golf", I couldn't give a stuff what they say about friendly golf because even if they banned them outright I would still use mine when practising.
Although I don't agree with SILH, it's not fair to complain about him making his opinions known, no matter how often. I'm sure there are other topics that crop up from time to time where the same people give the same opinions each time. I'm not moaning about that... I wouldn't want it any other way.
I'll admit DMD's are an advantage to me, because as in my first sentence, if I didn't have one I wouldn't be bothered to work out an exact distance as I'd be entitled to.
I'll start counting from a fairway marker if I remember, and try to keep count while I'm listening to my mate. Then I only know roughly how many feet one of my steps is, and if I manage all that I then have a number that is probably within 5 or 10 yards.
If I forget or lose count I'm rubbish at judging distance so would be clueless. What I normally think to myself as I'm standing at my ball looking forward or back to the nearest yardage marker is "would I mind facing a fast bowler from this distance" because I know that's 22yds.
As for "allowing them in friendly golf", I couldn't give a stuff what they say about friendly golf because even if they banned them outright I would still use mine when practising.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Thankyou sir/madam - on supporting my right to whinge on about it - even though I try not to. But also for actually saying that your use of a DMD gives you an advatage - over the old you or another player of the same mindset as the old you (as far as pacing out yardages is concerned). That really is all I was getting at.
It's OK for those who say I'm talking rubbish to tell me that I could pace out and get the same yardage information as provided by a DMD - but we all know that we just do not do this for most shots - and never have and never will. It is too time consuming.
So while perhaps there is in theory little or no great advantage provided to a player by a DMD - in practice we just won't pace everything out - for a variety of reasons. And primarily we don't all pace yardages out is because a round of golf would take absolutely ages and everyone would be totally cheesed off.
Anyway you disagree with me - which is fine; but you admit they provide you with an advantage - which is also fine.
chrisd
Major Champion
I'm sure that no one denies you the right to whinge as often as you wish!
I do disagree with the "advantage" comment though. There is nothing in golf, other than natural talent, that I can have that you can't have so, to me, the suggestion that my ball, clubs, shoes, electric trolley or DMD gives me an advantage over you is a fallacy, it is your choice whether you equip yourself to the same level as a fellow competitor, so in that respect, if anything, it is you placing yourself at a dis-advantage.
Foxholer
Blackballed
Likewise, some that I feel I must...
I agree that having and holding to an opinion is fine - even if it differs from mine - so shouldn't be complained about.
@Duncan and ColinL. I (currently) believe the IPhone 3G would conform (no Compass, Barometer,Inclinometer and the overheat sensor is not a thermometer), but that all current Apps would make the overall device non-conforming. 3GS and later have Compass and Inclinometer, so are non-conforming. Whether the 3G battery charge would last a round of golf is debatable!
@North Mimms. It's not quite so simple. Some GPS had software (suggested club) that made it non-conforming.- though a firmware update sorted that. Some Lasers have Inclinometers that make them non-conforming - even if the 'Slope' feature is turned off/disabled.
@doublebogey Conforming Devices/Apps would be a good idea and this is actually encouraged. The absence of any such list could well indicate something! Those specialist DMD suppliers do indicate, on their blubs, where they conform - but don't seem to when they don't aka Bushnell Slope edition, Leupold GX-4.
@SLH Indeed, 'calling FCs and PPs' is the way to broadcast the non-conformity of such devices. Provided they haven't been told otherwise by some mis-informed 'authority'! To not do so is tacit agreement to agree to waive the Rules in Strokeplay, so should result in you DQ-ing! In Matchplayi, using one yourself is knowingly breaching the Rules - so cheating? You are allowed to ignore breaches by the opposition though - but should be informed after the match - a ChrisD did.
That's why I believe ChrisD, or others (possibly better for anonymity), should raise the issue on HDID - simply pointing to the R&A/USGA statement and flowchart.
I believe that the post that started this thread wan't so much about DMDs, but actually about knowledge of the Rules - and how that knowledge is obtained/updated/(mis-)interpreted!
chrisd
Major Champion
Spot on!
Region3
Ryder Cup Winner
I wouldn't have thought you'd need an inclinometer since GPS data includes altitude - provided the device knows where you want to land the ball!
duncan mackie
Money List Winner
I knew there had to be one out there!
An excellent example = as long as you hadn't added the Temperature App or the Compass App I can't see anything wrong with this particular model if used with a valid DMD application.
As you say, it wasn't around long, and the updated 3GS is a no no, but one on the list is a starter
Perhaps a different look at what difference they actually make, and does it reallyt matter to the average hacker - and I include my self in the average hacker group.
My Skycaddie subs ran out in May last yast year. My handicap climbed quite dramatically. In January this year I bought A laser rangefinder and............................ no change. So having shifted from something that gave green accuracy to something that gave me pin accuracy, no change. I left the laser in my locker but bought new irons - wow! Back to Cat 1. Bought a new Skycaddie SGX, and now I'm a midge's away from 6 again.
Truthfully, we're all brainwashed by the usual marketing hype. We're all just not good enough to hit the yardages we think we hit.
Seriously, do a month without your mental pit prop and you might just realise its got nowt to do with the yardage and more to do with you being cwap, just like me.
My Skycaddie subs ran out in May last yast year. My handicap climbed quite dramatically. In January this year I bought A laser rangefinder and............................ no change. So having shifted from something that gave green accuracy to something that gave me pin accuracy, no change. I left the laser in my locker but bought new irons - wow! Back to Cat 1. Bought a new Skycaddie SGX, and now I'm a midge's away from 6 again.
Truthfully, we're all brainwashed by the usual marketing hype. We're all just not good enough to hit the yardages we think we hit.
Seriously, do a month without your mental pit prop and you might just realise its got nowt to do with the yardage and more to do with you being cwap, just like me.
Foxholer
Blackballed
Well that would be available to any GPS system too - but the firmware ignores that info.
Any Laser that also has one is non-conforming. That's how it works out the allowance for Slope.
So having one is almost certain to render the device non-conforming - even if not used. Any app that harnesses the altitude element of the GPS data would render that Device non-conforming when using that App, but not the device per se - otherwise ALL GPS would be non-conforming. Surprise, surprise, that's actually covered in/by the statement!
Evesdad
Tour Winner
I've been thinking of getting a GPS for the last year and really liked the watch type ones. My 3 playing partners all have one so put it off as I would just ask them if I was stuck so defered my decision. Just recently I've played better ive played better just pacing from the markers and using my eyes and brain, well I'm playing better! Too many times I've changed clubs using the yardage given and ended up short or long. At my level I don't need precise distances any way. So for the foreseeable future I'm out.
