Range Finders on Tour ?

[Tongo]

Am i right in thinking that players are still required to keep score in golf, sign cards at the end and are disqualified for getting this wrong?

Technology in golf......just sayin! :thup:

 

[GG26]

I think that these will be good for the tour, especially if it does speed things up.

No matter how far you are from the pin, you still have to hit the shot and that includes wind speed and direction, lie, how receptive the green is, etc etc. I don't believe that these take the skill out of the game.

 

[patricks148]

They should let them use them straight away TBH, it would stop all the buggering around and maybe speed up play

 

[Robobum]

I'd hate to see them on the ET. I love the caddy player interaction

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I disagree 110% with this. It used to really pee me off playing a strange course to hit what I thought was a perfect shot only to see it come up short or fly the green. It has increased my enjoyment of new courses hugely & I wouldn't be without mine.

So you'd be Ok playing a comp at your own place without one :thup:

 

[patricks148]

So you'd be Ok playing a comp at your own place without one :thup:

Lets not start this again eh?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Lets not start this again eh?

I didn't - but I couldn't resist joining in this time - but will desist from further antagonising

 

[duncan mackie]

They should let them use them straight away TBH, it would stop all the buggering around and maybe speed up play

It would slow things down not speed them up.

On the majority of feeder tours the player's don't even have caddies, let alone course books or put in any practice. Range finders simply duplicate the information but, as someone's already highlighted, in the absence of this info many will be lazer in everything they think they need - more than once when they forget the first thing they measured!

As to the rest of the thread...

Caddies measure everything nowadays, and there are also serious course planning data and greens mapping information as well for US tour venues. But none of this is new - caddies have been part of the game for centuries, long before electronic range finders! Again as already referenced they would pace out, measure with string and tape etc etc

The electronic DMD simply enables a modern amateur to benefit from exactly the same information that players with caddies have benefited from since the game started. Personally I find it a lot quicker and simpler than pacing out - 40 years ago I would pace from the tee marker to my tee shot on strange courses to establish distance to go; on a home course you learnt and, of course, collecting course planners became the thing for a few decades.

Judging distance has never been a significant factor in the game - it's always been available. The impact of conditions and slope on that raw distance data has always been the core skill to be combined with delivering the solution/stroke.

 

[chrisd]

I heard Colin Montgomery telling the amateurs in a ProAm at Wentworth that the ET would sanction range finders within a year or so and that was about 5 years ago.

I've always used a range finder from day one that my club ok'd them, before that I used one to make a yardage book, I still paced distance on the course just to get the most accurate distance and now its all done in 5 seconds!

What's not to like? As has been said so many times - you don't have to use one if you object to them!

 

[evahakool]

Can't understand why they don't let them use any dmd devices, would save the caddies some work.

I was very anti GPS devices awhile ago and got a lot of flak on here for saying so, after getting one as a present I've used one for the last year, hardly used it much on my own course but did find it useful playing away courses.

I'm still of the opion that it's not that useful to the mid/high h/cs after all it's not been a benefit in lowering my h/c.

 

[ManinBlack]

i dont like any type of range finder,they should be banned from all golf.
we managed without them before so why not now .

We managed without toilet paper at one time. Is this something you use?

 

[Norrin Radd]

We managed without toilet paper at one time. Is this something you use?

difference being I HAVE ALWAYS USED BOG ROLL BUT NOT A DMD.what about you ,you bang on about being a old git ,did you manage to play golf without a DMD back in the day. i presume you did .i bet you played when there were no markers on the course anywhere except on the tee. did you argue the toss about the so called lack of yardage that was being given .no i bet you didnt .
you carry on using your little toy .but dont throw it out of the pram when someone dosent agree with your opinion .
nowhere in this thread have i decried using them just that i think they should be banned.
i wont be posting on this thread anymore as it would now appear to be getting a little personal .

 

[ManinBlack]

difference being I HAVE ALWAYS USED BOG ROLL BUT NOT A DMD.what about you ,you bang on about being a old git ,did you manage to play golf without a DMD back in the day. i presume you did .i bet you played when there were no markers on the course anywhere except on the tee. did you argue the toss about the so called lack of yardage that was being given .no i bet you didnt .
you carry on using your little toy .but dont throw it out of the pram when someone dosent agree with your opinion .
nowhere in this thread have i decried using them just that i think they should be banned.
i wont be posting on this thread anymore as it would now appear to be getting a little personal .

Ooh, touchy! The, valid, I think, point I was making was that having been able to get on without them before is not a reason for banning them. Personally, the use of a rangefinder has infinitely increased my enjoyment of courses I've never played before, eliminating the misjudgement you always make on unfamiliar courses. To me, this is not "cheating" it's playing a new course as if you were familiar with it. I played Kingswood unseen the other week & found it hard to believe some of the distances I measured. Without the rangefinder I would have been tearing my hair out at all the misclubbings.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I heard Colin Montgomery telling the amateurs in a ProAm at Wentworth that the ET would sanction range finders within a year or so and that was about 5 years ago.

I've always used a range finder from day one that my club ok'd them, before that I used one to make a yardage book, I still paced distance on the course just to get the most accurate distance and now its all done in 5 seconds!

What's not to like? As has been said so many times - you don't have to use one if you object to them!

You know fine well that that isn't the point that I make - about their use in closed club comps. But i shall desist.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Ooh, touchy! The, valid, I think, point I was making was that having been able to get on without them before is not a reason for banning them. Personally, the use of a rangefinder has infinitely increased my enjoyment of courses I've never played before, eliminating the misjudgement you always make on unfamiliar courses. To me, this is not "cheating" it's playing a new course as if you were familiar with it. I played Kingswood unseen the other week & found it hard to believe some of the distances I measured. Without the rangefinder I would have been tearing my hair out at all the misclubbings.

You can't increase anything infinitely

 

[Craigg]

i dont like any type of range finder,they should be banned from all golf.
we managed without them before so why not now .

I managed perfectly well before, that was when I had two eyes. Have you ever tried to calculate a yardage with only one eye and no depth perception? Obviously not. Maybe you should engage your brain before you put your trap in gear. That good enough reason for you?

 

[chrisd]

You know fine well that that isn't the point that I make - about their use in closed club comps. But i shall desist.

Please desist mate, that's been done to death!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Always been thankful for my Sky Caddie especially on away courses. Off my handicap and with my skill level, I don't need the absolute yardage of a laser and so the proximity of a DMD is fine for me. I do think it'll make the play quicker until the player wants to second check what the caddie has told him.

 

[t0m]

I have to agree with some points as a nomad I love my gps watch it's around 5 to 10 yards out most of the time but it's great when your out of position. Caddies do a lot of work before the rounds that could be cut out. How many of you use a eletric trolley in comps not carrying is it?

 

[ManinBlack]

You can't increase anything infinitely

All right then, exponentially.