PGA of America - DMD’s

[MattyO1984]

Announced just a few moments ago that the PGA of America will as of this year, allow those competing in the PGA to make use of Distance Measuring Devices.

[heavy_hitter]

About time.  Hope USGA and PGA follow suit.

[Creedo77]

For all the people that are going to say this will speed up play, it won't.

 

Pros/Caddies will continue to walk off numbers because the front number is just as important as the actual distance. Then you add in conditions i.e. if the course is firm/fast the time to talk over what number to hit/and what shot to hit will still even out to the time it takes now. There are other factors as well, slow players, field size (chasing daylight), etc. 

 

The only way this helps out is when pros are wayward off the tee

Edited February 9, 2021 by Creedo77

[tiderider]

don't have too much of a problem, but it baffles me why they allowed green-reading books to be used in the first place (and still allow them) ... seems like it should speed up play, but who knows ... 

[MattyO1984]

1 minute ago, Creedo77 said:

For all the people that are going to say this will speed up play, it won't.

 

Pros/Caddies will continue to walk off numbers because the front number is just as important as the actual distance. Then you add in conditions i.e. if the course is firm/fast the time to talk over what number to hit/and what shot to hit will still equal the time it takes now.

 

The only way this helps out is when pros are wayward off the tee

 

At least one way or another, we will at least have some evidence. Glad to see that some organisation in professional golf is willing to give it a try.

[Creedo77]

4 minutes ago, MattyO1984 said:

 

At least one way or another, we will at least have some evidence. Glad to see that some organisation in professional golf is willing to give it a try.

They tried this back in 2017 on the web/latin/canadian tour, nothing really changed 

[ProStryker]

31 minutes ago, Creedo77 said:

For all the people that are going to say this will speed up play, it won't.

 

Pros/Caddies will continue to walk off numbers because the front number is just as important as the actual distance. Then you add in conditions i.e. if the course is firm/fast the time to talk over what number to hit/and what shot to hit will still even out to the time it takes now.

 

The only way this helps out is when pros are wayward off the tee

 Why would you need to walk off distance to get a front number?  Wouldnt a pin sheet tell you how far the front is from the flag? Then you subtract that from your laser yardage to the flag..

[Ferguson]

This is good and bad.    

 

 

 

I can give my buddy Rex his sextant back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that also means I have to fire my caddie, Antoinette. 

 

 

 

[Creedo77]

7 minutes ago, ProStryker said:

 Why would you need to walk off distance to get a front number?  Wouldnt a pin sheet tell you how far the front is from the flag? Then you subtract that from your laser yardage to the flag..

It's all about double checking accuracy. Range finders arent 100% full-proof, while players have used the same yardage books for years. 

[sailfishchris]

 

Heresy I say! Heresy!

[TLUBulldogGolf]

At the very least it should help on wayward shots. Getting the number isn't what makes rounds slow, but I consider this a welcome change. 

[Sean2]

Good idea! Be curious to see how it shakes out. 

[Creedo77]

10 minutes ago, TLUBulldogGolf said:

At the very least it should help on wayward shots. Getting the number isn't what makes rounds slow, but I consider this a welcome change. 

Bingo....wayward shots, absolutely 

[bladehunter]

And here comes the slower play.  

[Bad9]

1 hour ago, Creedo77 said:

The only way this helps out is when pros are wayward off the tee

Which is where they burn up most time IMHO.

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, tiderider said:

don't have too much of a problem, but it baffles me why they allowed green-reading books to be used in the first place (and still allow them) ... seems like it should speed up play, but who knows ... 

agree there. Ban the books and speed up play for sure.  
 

 

the problem with finders is you’re now going to have more conversation.  You’re going to have caddies checking their book vs what they shoot.  Then shooting front carry and then trouble.  The finder is supposed to be same as caddie for weekend guys . Not caddie plus finder.  That’s two devices.  

[jonsnow]

1 hour ago, Ferguson said:

This is good and bad.    

 

 

 

I can give my buddy Rex his sextant back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that also means I have to fire my caddie, Antoinette. 

 

 

 

Leave the sextant, take the caddie.

[Hawkeye77]

Good for them.  

 

Let's see what happens and collect some data.  

 

Faster? Slower? Same? I don't really care much about any of those answers for pros, but I'm curious to see what the experiences are.

[Creedo77]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/pga-tour-to-allow-use-of-distance-measuring-devices-but-just-as-a-test

 

2017 it was done on 3 different pro tours, and not much came out from it.

[Krt22]

6 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

agree there. Ban the books and speed up play for sure.  
 

 

the problem with finders is you’re now going to have more conversation.  You’re going to have caddies checking their book vs what they shoot.  Then shooting front carry and then trouble.  The finder is supposed to be same as caddie for weekend guys . Not caddie plus finder.  That’s two devices.  

Caddies use the range finders during practice rounds to futher detail the books. I don't think this will slow down anything at all, but will marginally help on wayward shots as others have mentioned. I think the notion that formulating a number manually is somehow more pure golf is just silly. They still need to account for the lie, weather, landing spot, etc...and then execute. Getting the nominal number quickly in the grand scheme of things won't do anything to take away from the game

[gvogel]

1 hour ago, Ferguson said:

This is good and bad.    

 

 

 

I can give my buddy Rex his sextant back. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But that also means I have to fire my caddie, Antoinette. 

 

 

 

Looks like your caddie has a couple of guns.

[wildcatden]

Bryson on the first tee with his DMD.

 

[TLUBulldogGolf]

16 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

agree there. Ban the books and speed up play for sure.  
 

 

the problem with finders is you’re now going to have more conversation.  You’re going to have caddies checking their book vs what they shoot.  Then shooting front carry and then trouble.  The finder is supposed to be same as caddie for weekend guys . Not caddie plus finder.  That’s two devices.  

 

 

A good caddie should have all of that available, while also doing a lot more than simply providing a yardage. 

 

If there are pace of play concerns they should think about more strictly enforcing pace of play. Or make the guys learn to not need a rules official at every turn. 

[Creedo77]

The PGA Tour has implemented a new pace of play policy this year. Individual players are going to be penalized for slow play, rather than the entire group. You'd think that slow players will now pick it up otherwise they'll get penalties instead of their groups.

 

In terms of yardages, there is more to pro golf than just getting the number to the hole. It'll be convenient to shoot a flag when you're 40 yards away from a sprinkler head, but other than that I don't see the point.

[Bad9]

9 minutes ago, Creedo77 said:

Individual players are going to be penalized for slow play, rather than the entire group. You'd think that slow players will now pick it up otherwise they'll get penalties instead of their groups

 

Its meaningless unless they are willing to penalize and nothing from the PGA Tours prior record indicates they will do anything other than talk.

[Creedo77]

9 minutes ago, Bad9 said:

 

Its meaningless unless they are willing to penalize and nothing from the PGA Tours prior record indicates they will do anything other than talk.

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/pga-tour-implement-new-slow-play-policy-tournament-champions

[Bad9]

12 minutes ago, Creedo77 said:

https://www.golfchannel.com/news/pga-tour-implement-new-slow-play-policy-tournament-champions

ok, that article goes back to September 2020. How many penalties have been assessed so far?

[bladehunter]

56 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Caddies use the range finders during practice rounds to futher detail the books. I don't think this will slow down anything at all, but will marginally help on wayward shots as others have mentioned. I think the notion that formulating a number manually is somehow more pure golf is just silly. They still need to account for the lie, weather, landing spot, etc...and then execute. Getting the nominal number quickly in the grand scheme of things won't do anything to take away from the game

I guess we shall see how it goes.  I’m happy to be wrong.  But I’m a human who will analyze any info you give me.  Less is faster.  More is slower.    Feel isn’t alwasy real. But it’s hindered by too much info.  Feel players play fast-er...... Bryson , Jordan and JB , not so much.  And they’ll have the most conversations if you notice.  

[Creedo77]

6 minutes ago, Bad9 said:

ok, that article goes back to September 2020. How many penalties have been assessed so far?

they wouldn't make it known, but perhaps its sped up the slow players.

 

[Krt22]

7 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

I guess we shall see how it goes.  I’m happy to be wrong.  But I’m a human who will analyze any info you give me.  Less is faster.  More is slower.    Feel isn’t alwasy real. But it’s hindered by too much info.  Feel players play fast-er...... Bryson , Jordan and JB , not so much.  And they’ll have the most conversations if you notice.  

I honestly think some of the biggest hold ups on tour are the majorly wayward shots, especially ones that need relief from a TMO. The slow players may add an extra 15-30 seconds per hole here and there, but the foul balls that require officials and circus math to get a number turn into 10-15 minute slogs that really log jam things. 

 

But yes, we shall see.