Cell Phones and Cameras, R&A Get a grip

nikemike · July 24, 2006

Was anyone else as annoyed as me by the number of times Tiger and Sergio were interrupted by phones and cameras? Hey R&A, at least for the oldest and most prestigious Major of the year; BAN PHONES AND CAMERAS DAMNIT!

golfhawaii · July 24, 2006

Was anyone else as annoyed as me by the number of times Tiger and Sergio were interrupted by phones and cameras? Hey R&A, at least for the oldest and most prestigious Major of the year; BAN PHONES AND CAMERAS DAMNIT!

Seriously! They said that phones are allowed on the tournament grounds. Whatever. Why let the spectators bring in devices that will interupt play time and time again? Ban them like we do here in the US-we still have people clicking them during rounds from time to time though.

Ultimate · July 24, 2006

Yeah, so much for the "knowledgable, appreciative, courteous" British Open crowds. Maybe putting cell phones with integrated cameras into the hands of 30,000 people automatically makes 5,000 of them idiots on the spot, no matter whether it is England or Scotalnd or the USA.

It would be nice, of course, if those of us who knew how to behave could bring our cellphones to the course for simple convenience. But the idiots among us force us all into hard rules and metal detector-searches.

One good thing would be if, whenever you are standing in a golf gallery next to someone who snaps a camera while a player is seting up to play, or who shouts "GET IN THE HOLE" as soon as someone hits a driver into the intermediate cut of rough, you would turn to that person and say, "Do you realize what a perfect idiot you are? Do you care how much you are an embarrassment to the game of golf?"

JHR · July 24, 2006

I am going to offer the otherside on this one.

I get a little tired of the boo hoo'ing from the players about stuff like this, if you are going to have crowds, there are going to be distractions, sorry thats the way it works.

I am sorry, a camera phone click should not be enough to throw off the greatest golfers in the world, Tiger for one likes to dramatize everything, call it intense, call it what you want , he is a drama queen.

Some will say i am jealous, sour grapes, you get it, but i just think as a highly paid athlete , these are issues that you must deal with. You should sign autographs, you should accept people are going to approach you in public, people are going to take your picture, thats some of the cost for fortune and fame.

Sorry, i am just one of those people that you can stand on the tee box and do jumping jacks and i dont think it should interfere with my ability to hit a shot, i just think these guys should be able to do the same.

nikemike · July 24, 2006

I'm pretty sure Tiger wasn't the one who spear headed the ban on phones and cameras, so while he may be a "drama queen", he's not the only one apparently.

This is simply a matter or respect, not how much it really bothers someone.

Huskypride28 · July 24, 2006

It affected Sergio too but you didn't see it because he dropped so far behind the cameras stopped following his shots. He said in an interview that the crowd was a distraction to both of them the entire round. And it wasn't just clicking noises on the phone. If you listened closely people didn't turn off there phones and you could here a phone ringing. That's when you heard Tiger and Steve yell "Turn off the phones!"

zojo · July 24, 2006

yeah, that got kind of annoying just from watching. What was the deal with the purple paint on the 18th green too?

tei3rn · July 24, 2006

yeah, that got kind of annoying just from watching. What was the deal with the purple paint on the 18th green too?

Apparently they were pissed that they took Barney off the air...that's the only thing I could figure!!

italianstallion · July 24, 2006

I am going to offer the otherside on this one.

I get a little tired of the boo hoo'ing from the players about stuff like this, if you are going to have crowds, there are going to be distractions, sorry thats the way it works.

I am sorry, a camera phone click should not be enough to throw off the greatest golfers in the world, Tiger for one likes to dramatize everything, call it intense, call it what you want , he is a drama queen.

Some will say i am jealous, sour grapes, you get it, but i just think as a highly paid athlete , these are issues that you must deal with. You should sign autographs, you should accept people are going to approach you in public, people are going to take your picture, thats some of the cost for fortune and fame.

Sorry, i am just one of those people that you can stand on the tee box and do jumping jacks and i dont think it should interfere with my ability to hit a shot, i just think these guys should be able to do the same.

I'm going to have to agree with you here. Distractions are apart of the game of golf. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people shout or drop F bombs in my backswing, moved around, made calls on cell phones, opened zippers, etc. And thats with just a few people around. Add thousands of people watching you and it's impossible to get it completely quiet. If I deal with it, and I'm not a pro, then I think the best golfers in the world should be able to deal with it. Happy Gilmore was the best at not caring at all about the distractions, in fact, he promoted them!

One final thought. I was surprised Tiger and Garcia didn't get pissed about the helicopter flying over the 18th green. I was certain one of them was going to shout at it, "Get out of here!"

sandy · July 24, 2006

I am going to offer the otherside on this one.

I get a little tired of the boo hoo'ing from the players about stuff like this, if you are going to have crowds, there are going to be distractions, sorry thats the way it works.

I am sorry, a camera phone click should not be enough to throw off the greatest golfers in the world, Tiger for one likes to dramatize everything, call it intense, call it what you want , he is a drama queen.

Some will say i am jealous, sour grapes, you get it, but i just think as a highly paid athlete , these are issues that you must deal with. You should sign autographs, you should accept people are going to approach you in public, people are going to take your picture, thats some of the cost for fortune and fame.

Sorry, i am just one of those people that you can stand on the tee box and do jumping jacks and i dont think it should interfere with my ability to hit a shot, i just think these guys should be able to do the same.

I'm going to have to agree with you here. Distractions are apart of the game of golf. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people shout or drop F bombs in my backswing, moved around, made calls on cell phones, opened zippers, etc. And thats with just a few people around. Add thousands of people watching you and it's impossible to get it completely quiet. If I deal with it, and I'm not a pro, then I think the best golfers in the world should be able to deal with it. Happy Gilmore was the best at not caring at all about the distractions, in fact, he promoted them!

One final thought. I was surprised Tiger and Garcia didn't get pissed about the helicopter flying over the 18th green. I was certain one of them was going to shout at it, "Get out of here!"

I'm assuming all that distracting stuff happened while you were playing for the Open championship NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT. I laugh when people on forums try to relate their experiences to the pros. Most of them would need a double layer of depends just to tee off from the first tee.

Most cell phone "cameras" have an option to turn off that retarded shutter sound. A cell phone camera really doesn't have a shutter just a fake noise for the dolts that use them. They could have snapped to their hearts delight just shut off the damn sound.

animalistic · July 24, 2006

to clear this up:

RnA wont ban phoines because of what happened at one of the practice days this year: guy collapsed from heat and died..ambulance was called and was there within 2 minutes because one of the spectators had a mobile phone on him..they said that changed their minds on banning phones

the purple paint on the 18th was for FATHERS FOR JUSTICE which is a group in Britian which campaigns for fathers who have been divorced to be allowed to see the children more often. they have done this at a number of top sporting events in Britian this year

drpino · July 24, 2006

I am going to offer the otherside on this one.

I get a little tired of the boo hoo'ing from the players about stuff like this, if you are going to have crowds, there are going to be distractions, sorry thats the way it works.

I am sorry, a camera phone click should not be enough to throw off the greatest golfers in the world, Tiger for one likes to dramatize everything, call it intense, call it what you want , he is a drama queen.

Some will say i am jealous, sour grapes, you get it, but i just think as a highly paid athlete , these are issues that you must deal with. You should sign autographs, you should accept people are going to approach you in public, people are going to take your picture, thats some of the cost for fortune and fame.

Sorry, i am just one of those people that you can stand on the tee box and do jumping jacks and i dont think it should interfere with my ability to hit a shot, i just think these guys should be able to do the same.

I'm going to have to agree with you here. Distractions are apart of the game of golf. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people shout or drop F bombs in my backswing, moved around, made calls on cell phones, opened zippers, etc. And thats with just a few people around. Add thousands of people watching you and it's impossible to get it completely quiet. If I deal with it, and I'm not a pro, then I think the best golfers in the world should be able to deal with it. Happy Gilmore was the best at not caring at all about the distractions, in fact, he promoted them!

One final thought. I was surprised Tiger and Garcia didn't get pissed about the helicopter flying over the 18th green. I was certain one of them was going to shout at it, "Get out of here!"

i also agree. Tiger is a drama queen with the stopping his downswing and moaning about cameras/phones. pro golfers should deal with distractions just like pro athletes in every other sport. i'm not saying people should be yelling during a swing and trying to distract a player on purpose like the people behind a backboard during a free throw in basketball but a shutter sound, etc. is relatively minor.

some of you sound like they shouldn't allow any spectators to physically attend an event. how about golfers play with no galleries and everyone watches it on TV. then there wouldn't be any distractions at all.

no cell phones and/or cameras at a golf tourney is ridiculous IMHO.

phillypete · July 24, 2006

golf is a gentleperson's game. If the gentleperson desires silence when addressing his or her ball, the the gentlepeople of the gallery should grant him or her their peace and quiet.

I cannot believe that at a golf course during a major championship that there wouldn't be some offical with a radio to contact help. What did people do before cellphone's? Were they just dropping dead left and right?

Ban Cellphones!

nikemike · July 24, 2006

golf is a gentleperson's game. If the gentleperson desires silence when addressing his or her ball, the the gentlepeople of the gallery should grant him or her their peace and quiet.

I cannot believe that at a golf course during a major championship that there wouldn't be some offical with a radio to contact help. What did people do before cellphone's? Were they just dropping dead left and right?

Ban Cellphones!

Great post Pete.

Where are all the people who make posts complaining about "drunks" on the course or someone simply wearing jeans?? Or are most of these post the drunks in jeans??? :drinks: