Pros and GPS

[jim8flog]

I have not seen any Pros using GPS units during their rounds.

Have they now got a Rule of the Competition which bans their use.

Bifurcation already!!

 

[duncan mackie]

No bifurcation - MLR G-5 available to all committies

 

[woofers]

Would probably speed up play if they used them ?

 

[Grant85]

I think there is a rule within governing bodies to reduce the potential that caddies can help or benefit a player throughout a round.

Unsurprisingly this has been pushed back by the players and caddies.

My guess is that the governing bodies would like to move towards a situation where caddies are there to carry clubs and pretty much nothing else.

Yardages could easily be done quickly and accurately with a GPS or scope / yardage book.

Yes, it is a form of bifurcation already, albeit just the reality that guys at pro tournaments can afford professional caddies who can give them bang on yardages with nothing more than a yardage book and a good eye.

 

[Homer]

Would probably speed up play if they used them ?

The opposite for them - just something else to look at.

 

[Papas1982]

I think it would make the game slower tbh. Just because they can see the flag position and distance accurately. They would still need to map out landing zones etc or a caddy would either still be required, making the laser pointless, or they'd have to accept players walking 180 yards to assess greens.

 

[Capella]

On the smaller tours, where most players play without a caddie most of the time, it would definitely speed up play if they were allowed to use gps or lasers. It is not uncommon for players to step out distances to the nearest on-course marker, and that definitely takes more time than measuring the distance using a technical gadget. The players I talked to all complained about this. I had hoped it might have changed with the new rules, though, because up to now a local rule had to be in place allowing distance measuring devices, and afaik, with the new rules they switched that around and they now have to be explicitely banned by a local rule if a club wants to prevent the players from using them. I had kind of hoped that would prompt the pro tours to change it as well.

 

[Imurg]

I think it would make the game slower tbh. Just because they can see the flag position and distance accurately. They would still need to map out landing zones etc or a caddy would either still be required, making the laser pointless, or they'd have to accept players walking 180 yards to assess greens.

This.
Pros rarely aim straight at the flag. The greens they play on need you to land the ball in a specific area to have the best chance of making a putt. So lasering a flag isn't going to help them. A GPS unit would need to have all the info the caddy books have..
Non starter.

 

[duncan mackie]

On the smaller tours, where most players play without a caddie most of the time, it would definitely speed up play if they were allowed to use gps or lasers. It is not uncommon for players to step out distances to the nearest on-course marker, and that definitely takes more time than measuring the distance using a technical gadget. The players I talked to all complained about this. I had hoped it might have changed with the new rules, though, because up to now a local rule had to be in place allowing distance measuring devices, and afaik, with the new rules they switched that around and they now have to be explicitely banned by a local rule if a club wants to prevent the players from using them. I had kind of hoped that would prompt the pro tours to change it as well.

Most of the feeder Tours previously, and currently, permit their use.
It's impossible to be categoric about what impact it actually has on POP but it is quicker than fairway markers and pacing.
Most would agree that it's the discussion between player and caddy that slows things down more than the establishment of basic distances...

 

[sunshine]

When I went to a practise day for the Open, many of the caddies and players were using lasers.

Would make sense if they could use in competition too.