Are aimpoint break charts still legal in tournament play in pro golf?

[Trap Junior]

The old aimpoint charts telling you how much break to play for a particular length putt.  (not aimpoint express) Are these still legal for pro golf? 

 

I know the greens books with percentage slops readings are now banned but there isnt info on the aimpoint charts

[davep043]

31 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

The old aimpoint charts telling you how much break to play for a particular length putt.  (not aimpoint express) Are these still legal for pro golf? 

 

I know the greens books with percentage slops readings are now banned but there isnt info on the aimpoint charts

The general rule, if its not prohibited, its OK.  However, this is in the Model Local Rule:

Quote

During a round, if a player uses:

- A yardage book, other maps of the course or a hole-location sheet that has not been approved by the Committee,

- An approved yardage book or approved hole-location sheet that contains a handwritten note or information gained in a manner that is not allowed, or

- Any other materials that could help with reading the line of play on the putting green (whether a specific putting green or greens in general),

the player is in breach of this Local Rule and the penalty statement under Rule 4.3 applies.

To me, the Aimpoint charts are covered by the bolded section, help in reading the ling on greens in general, and so would be prohibited.  However, there's nothing to prohibit the use of Aimpoint Express, as AE doesn't require any written materials.   

[Trap Junior]

21 minutes ago, davep043 said:

The general rule, if its not prohibited, its OK.  However, this is in the Model Local Rule:

To me, the Aimpoint charts are covered by the bolded section, help in reading the ling on greens in general, and so would be prohibited.  However, there's nothing to prohibit the use of Aimpoint Express, as AE doesn't require any written materials.   

So decade golfs yardage books are banned also?

[Socrates]

10 minutes ago, Trap Junior said:

So decade golfs yardage books are banned also?

I believe on Tour they are not allowed to use old books and there are rules as to what information can be written in the new books.  I would imagine that you will find the same rules in high level amateur tournaments and those run by the USGA.

 

New Yardage Books

[rogolf]

Under the new local Rule, the only yardage books permitted are those "approved by the Committee".  And I doubt that they are going to evaluate individual, older yardage books, but the Committee will likely issue an approved yardage book - any others would not be approved.

[davep043]

1 hour ago, Trap Junior said:

So decade golfs yardage books are banned also?

Perhaps you should look at the actual Model Local Rule for yourself, its Model Local Rule, found under the Committee Procedures heading here:

https://rules.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules-hub/rulesarticles/clarifications-of-the-2019-rules-of-golf.html

As far as I've read so far, its only the professional tours who are using this MLR.  We'll find out at some point whether the USGA will follow it in their tournaments, whether the R&A will, whether the Masters will.  Its extremely unlikely that the majority of us will ever play under this rule.

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by davep043

[ChaosTheory]

To clarify, the book being asked about has no information about the specific green you are playing on.  It lists the inches of break at 5/10/15/20 feet for 1/2/3/4% slopes from certain clock positions, for a given stimp number.

 

It’s up to the golfer to come up with those factors for the putt at hand.  Which is a lot easier than I’m making it sound, haha.  The hardest is the % slope, but I imagine experienced users nail that quickly.

[rogolf]

39 minutes ago, Snowman9000 said:

To clarify, the book being asked about has no information about the specific green you are playing on.  It lists the inches of break at 5/10/15/20 feet for 1/2/3/4% slopes from certain clock positions, for a given stimp number.

 

It’s up to the golfer to come up with those factors for the putt at hand.  Which is a lot easier than I’m making it sound, haha.  The hardest is the % slope, but I imagine experienced users nail that quickly.

You will need to ask the Committee that put the local Rule in place whether or not such book is "approved" for use at that specific event.  There is no answer that will apply to all Committees that implement the local Rule.

[davep043]

1 hour ago, Snowman9000 said:

To clarify, the book being asked about has no information about the specific green you are playing on.  It lists the inches of break at 5/10/15/20 feet for 1/2/3/4% slopes from certain clock positions, for a given stimp number.

 

It’s up to the golfer to come up with those factors for the putt at hand.  Which is a lot easier than I’m making it sound, haha.  The hardest is the % slope, but I imagine experienced users nail that quickly.

Yeah, I've seen those books just a couple of times.  Still, the MLR disallows "Any other materials that could help with reading the line of play on the putting green (whether a specific putting green or greens in general"  This sounds like something that can help to translate the golfer's feel into inches of break, so I believe it would be prohibited.  

[Mr. Bean]

I am confident that this particular LR will only be used on PGA Tour for now, later possibly on European Tour but I doubt very much that it would be used on amateur level competitions.

 

Thus I would say that any written material produced before the start of a competition round is allowed as usual for us amateurs and low level pros.

[Trap Junior]

I would be referring to USGA Qualifying events.

 

I would like to know if I can use own yardage book and break charts

[Mr. Bean]

Just now, Trap Junior said:

I would be referring to USGA Qualifying events.

 

I would like to know if I can use own yardage book and break charts

 

The 100% answer will be given by the organizer but my view is that yes, you will be allowed to use them.