Why is compass banned?

[IanLeeds]

This has puzzled me, I use an iphone to score my rounds and use for GPS however because an iphone has a compass someone told me I could be DQ'd because it has a compass app even if it's not used?

How does a compass give you an advantage? When it only tells you your direction?

 

[Imurg]

Who knows...?

Only reason I can think of is the situation where you are in a tree-lined fairway, sheltered from the wind and it's a cloudless sky. Above tree height there's a gale blowing, you know taht the wind is coming from the South. If you had a compass you'd know which way the wind was blowing, without one you wouldn't..

Maybe the R&A just decided to ban it because they could...

 

[IanLeeds]

Well you would see the tops of trees blowing in a direction hence you know wind direction? not rocket science lol, Seems like a pointless ruling

 

[Swinger]

The ions in a golf ball are more aligned when playing in the direction of North and the ball travels up to 10% further then when playing at the opposite direction.

Thats why it harder to slice the ball when playing Eastwards.

 

[alnecosse]

I think R&A has something going on with major rangefinder
manufacturers, ie who would pay £200-£300 for sky caddie etc, when you could download rangefinder to your phone
free and they give distances every bit as accurate with no joining fees or course download fees if they were legal in comps the price of these vastly over priced units would plummet.

 

[Evesdad]

Is the correct answer, they just want us to spend the cash in the pro shop etc. Any info which could possible gained with phone could be gained by simply opening your eyes and looking around. Who actualy thinks "mmm a north by northwest wind is blowing" when playing a shot? Nope it's just a case of is it with me against me or across, simples.

 

[palindromicbob]

The ions in a golf ball are more aligned when playing in the direction of North and the ball travels up to 10% further then when playing at the opposite direction.

Thats why it harder to slice the ball when playing Eastwards.

 

[MashieNiblick]

Well you would see the tops of trees blowing in a direction hence you know wind direction? not rocket science lol, Seems like a pointless ruling

Maybe it dates back to the days when golf was only played in places where trees don't grow.

Can't honestly imagine anyone getting any advantge from using a compass, or even trying to.

 

[bobmac]

The next time you look at a yardage book and it has a compass on the page, don't look at it or you could be dq'd

 

[IanLeeds]

lol, its a crazy rule, I wonder if someone would be as to petty to try and dq someone to a compass? lol

 

[chrisd]

The next time you look at a yardage book and it has a compass on the page, don't look at it or you could be dq'd

Yes, strange that strokesavers have this. I played Sunningdale yesterday and their book shows a compass with North marked on every page

Daft ruling in my opinion


Chris

 

[Imurg]

lol, its a crazy rule, I wonder if someone would be as to petty to try and dq someone to a compass? lol

Petty it may be, but as there is a rule against the use of a compass in a competition you would be liable to a dq, like it or not.
This comes back to the "giving advice" thread. Technically its against the rules.

 

[bobmac]

lol, its a crazy rule, I wonder if someone would be as to petty to try and dq someone to a compass? lol

Petty it may be, but as there is a rule against the use of a compass in a competition you would be liable to a dq, like it or not.
This comes back to the "giving advice" thread. Technically its against the rules.

If, in a comp, someone asks his fellow competitor what direction we are playing in according to the compass on his yardage book, would that be considered giving advice. ?

 

[Imurg]

How big a grey area is this...?

These are the rules that the R&A need to be looking at. There should be no grey areas at all in this game. Everything should be Yes or No.

 

[USER1999]

I thought all the rules were optional anyway?

 

[CallawayKid]

I thought all the rules were optional anyway?

...and the cat is amongst the pigeons again!

CK

 

[chrisd]

If, in a comp, someone asks his fellow competitor what direction we are playing in according to the compass on his yardage book, would that be considered giving advice. ?

Difficult that one. You can ask someone with a Skycaddie the yardage as its a "matter of fact", so its not "advice". So if you ask for the direction or windspeed is that not also a "matter of fact"?


Chris

 

[Ken_A]

I think R&A has something going on with major rangefinder
manufacturers, ie who would pay £200-£300 for sky caddie etc, when you could download rangefinder to your phone
free and they give distances every bit as accurate with no joining fees or course download fees if they were legal in comps the price of these vastly over priced units would plummet.

Totally agree - really bugs me :-(

 

[USER1999]

I think R&A has something going on with major rangefinder
manufacturers, ie who would pay £200-£300 for sky caddie etc, when you could download rangefinder to your phone
free and they give distances every bit as accurate with no joining fees or course download fees if they were legal in comps the price of these vastly over priced units would plummet.

Totally agree - really bugs me :-(

Compasses and Barometers were banned long before smart phones were invented. You need to look somewehere else for a good conspiracy.

 

[alnecosse]

I think R&A has something going on with major rangefinder
manufacturers, ie who would pay £200-£300 for sky caddie etc, when you could download rangefinder to your phone
free and they give distances every bit as accurate with no joining fees or course download fees if they were legal in comps the price of these vastly over priced units would plummet.

Totally agree - really bugs me :-(

Compasses and Barometers were banned long before smart phones were invented. You need to look somewehere else for a good conspiracy.

point is with the biggest complaint on a golf course being slow play rangefinders are a great way of speeding things up so the cheaper they are more people have access to them and smart phones are the norm these days, someone could tell me all day what direction the winds from and it wouldnt matter a jot to the outcome of my shot and i stopped putting the barometer in my bag when the wife noticed it was missing from the hall, just wonder at the R&A'S reasoning behind not dealing with such an outdated rule which could only benefit average club players.
If they were to come out and say this is the reason etc
and it made sense well fair enough.