Golf used to be a game of feel, and not just around the green. “This looks like a strong 6-iron,” the pro would say to his caddie (or vice versa). Elevation, wind, temperature, green contours, and even mood could change a club selection.
Years later, caddies and pros got wise and began measuring yardages (often with yardage wheels like the one shown at right). Caddies would show up on Monday and Tuesday to walk the course, measuring every conceivable yardage and writing them all down in a little booklet. They’d include numbers that indicated the carry distance of a water hazard, draw arrows indicating severe slopes and funnels on the greens, predominant wind conditions, and notes about areas in which you did not want to miss.
In the 1990s, this too faded away as caddies with yardage wheels were replaced by ultra-accurate, GPS- and laser-measured yardage guides. Every pro has the same yardage book these days, tailored slightly to suit a particular pro’s playing habits, and caddies spend their Mondays and Tuesdays without a yardage wheel in their hands.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to accurately measure yardages is not available to the average weekend player, and there exists an insidious rule that makes it illegal to measure the yardage with GPS or laser during a round of golf. Rule 14-3b says:
Except as provided in the Rules, during a stipulated round the player must not use any artificial device or unusual equipment… for the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play…
In other words, you’re welcome to use a range finder all you want… if you don’t mind breaking the rules. Range finders are, per the letter of the law, illegal for use in tournament play (their use in handicap rounds is considered allowable). If you’re using a range finder or a GPS unit to measure distances, by the rules, the game you’re playing isn’t golf. The penalty for breach of rule 14-3? Disqualification.
Rule 14-3b is stupid.
This “opportunity bifurcation” upsets many. Kevin W. Martin wrote Frank Thomas to voice his concerns:
The answer is clearly for the USGA to drop their hypocritical and elitist stance and abolish rule 14-3b and allow any distance measuring devices players wish to use. Their stance is hypocritical because the best players in the game never hit a shot without knowing exact yardages. Their stance is elitist because it denies the average golfer the same information the elite tournament players have. Tournament players are thus playing a different game than the rest of us, and range finders only partly level the field (it is difficult to get exact front-of-the-green and back-of-the-green distances with a range finder). [This is] the silliest rule of all.
Thomas, former Technical Director for the USGA, agrees:
There are so many golfers who agree with your position that they choose to ignore the rule. This is not good for the game and in itself is a good sign that something must be done.
In answering a reader who supports the rule, Frank provides more detail on his thoughts:
Unfortunately yardage books, hole location sheets and well-informed caddies are permitted by the governing bodies of every major event. I too wish we didn’t have any of this stuff, but we can’t turn back the clock. And the way the rule is now, the USGA is turning otherwise law-abiding golfers into rules breakers, which in itself is bad for the game. Of course, if the fundamental challenge of the game is as pure to you as it is to me, don’t use any distance-measuring devices – you are free to ignore caddies, yardages on sprinkler heads and 150-yard markers and simply “eyeball” each and every shot. There’s no law that says you have to use all the information that’s available to you.
(Frank writes more here and here.)
This “distance” – or the measuring of it – debate is in more than one way similar to “that other distance debate” in that it presents the opportunity for effectively different sets of rules for professionals and “weekend players.” The pro has access to super-accurate yardages; the weekend player does not. Instead, amateurs are forced to wander around golf courses looking for sprinkler heads, pacing things off, and “guesstimating” how deep a green is, how their angle affects the distance, how far off a water hazard is, and whether the sprinkler head even has the correct yardage.
In fact, bifurcation exists within the amateur ranks themselves. Sometimes, the availability of accurate yardages varies depending on the course you’re playing – some courses offer their own accurate yardage books while other courses do not. Rule 14-3b penalizes golfers who don’t have the time to create a yardage guide for their own course, the use of which would be legal.
Allow range finders and GPS and everyone can once again play under the same sets of rules. Tournaments that wished to disallow the use of range finders or GPS units in play could simply create a local rule disallowing their use just as the PGA Tour chooses to institute a local rule that disallows practice putting following the completion of a hole.
The USGA – and the game of golf – would lose nothing by allowing players to use range finders or GPS units (like the SkyCaddie, seen below). Speed of play would improve as players would no longer need to pace off shots, guess, or calculate the hypotenuse of a right triangle in their heads when they veer from the center of the fairway. Scoring would improve slightly as players would choose better clubs, particularly when playing new courses.
Of course, I’m not advocating that all “measuring devices” be made legal – I still believe that if you want to know how the wind will affect your shot, lick your thumb and stick it in the air or toss some grass. Yardage measurements have existed for decades, and it’s time for the USGA to recognize it and once again level the playing field.
In other words, lighten up, USGA. You’re turning a whole bunch of golfers into cheaters while the pros and better amateurs take full advantage of their caddies, lasers, GPS, and super-accurate yardage books. A bunch of golfers that believe one rule is silly is more likely to violate another rule. Commonplace rule-breaking will spread, and soon, the game of golf will be less and less like the game as we know it.
The USGA has long acted as if rule 14-3b will go away if they ignore it long enough. The history lesson at the beginning of this article serves merely to illustrate that the USGA is looking in the wrong direction: progress pushes us forward. The “pure feel” player does not exist anymore, but the golfer who violates a stupid rule is spreading like wildfire.
One of the guiding principles of the rules of golf is equity. In fact, Rule 1-4 makes this more than principle:
If any point in dispute is not covered by the Rules, the decision should be made in accordance with equity.
In the spirit of equity, rule 14-3b should go the way of the dodo, and there are signs that the USGA may be considering doing just that. In an article about the Tight Lies Tour adopting the SkyCaddie for use in its events, Executive Director of the USGA David Fay was quoted as saying “I don’t think it’s any secret that the USGA favors allowing them to be used under the rules. My personal view is that it enables guys like me to get the type of yardage assistance that (caddie) Steve Williams is providing Tiger Woods.”
Unfortunately, the next time this rule could be changed is not until 2008, the next time the USGA and the R&A will meet to discuss rules changes in their “every-four-years” schedule.
The game of golf should be decided by skill, not the accuracy of a number. Knowing that you’ve got 156 yards to the pin with 134 to carry the front bunker won’t help you hit the shot. You’ve still gotta do that, and it’s there – in the inherent skill of a golfer – that winners and losers should be decided.
Photo Credits: © Komelon USA, Emerald Dunes, SkyCaddie.com.
agree 100%. We don’t have a caddie, who steps off the course 3 times in the pre-tournament preparation. Down with 14-3b !!!
I used that little gps as a test yesterday. It was exact on. I stood over sprinkler head yardage markers which had been lasered. The GPS was spot on.
Hell yes- I’m tired of traveling to play different courses and get to the pro shop and they don’t carry yardage books. Then you are wandering the course hunting for markers- give us a break!
This is a debate for good golfers. 80% of the golfers I know have no idea how far they hit a 7 iron, so accurate yardage information is a moot point them.
That being said, I think allowing laser/gps measure would actually speed up play. I’m one of those people who know my yardages, so I walk off the yardage before each shot. And I agree that when playing a new course, having gps is crucial to scoring well. Yes to laser/GPS!
The sooner 14-3b range finder rule is abolished the better for golf. The poorer golfers most times try to be the good golfers and eventually some improve. Knowing the yardage can be a big assist in that improvement. Then they’ll know how far that 7 goes!
Yes again to laser/GPS!
I have no problem with using a range finding device when you’re playing for fun, but when you’re playing a match and not everyone competing has a device, doesn’t that lead to an artificial advantage, akin to an illegal driver? I say, when you’ve got cash on the line, the players who don’t have a devise should be allowed to make the other players put theirs away.
Oh, and one more thing, the argument that range finders speed up play is bologna. I’ve played rounds with players using range finders and they spend more time hunting for yardage now than they used to.
No, because an illegal driver is against the rules. A range finder is not. The opponent may have a yardage book, a keen sense of judgment, or know the course better. Or maybe they just like to pace off from marked sprinkler heads. The rules state that things like “how far is it to that thing there?” is considered common knowledge and not “advice,” so any way of gaining that common knowledge is pretty much acceptable.
I don’t believe that. How could they? You point it, you get a yardage. No more pacing.
I’ve personally noticed it dramatically speeds up my play and those people I play with. Of course, it does no good if you don’t hit your irons semi-consistently.
I totally agree that the rule is ridiculous. I think that knowing the distance to the hole from any postition on the course would be a major time saving propsition. If every player knew the yardage for their next shot it would speed up play. This is something that I believe all golfers would love to see. As stated above the individual still has to hit the shot correctly which is the real skill. Even the pros with all their custom built clubs and hours and hours of practice can’t hit every shot perfectly. I believe that not only should this rule be abolished but that a new rule should take it’s place making it mandatory for players to know the yardages by range finders or gps so play is sped up.
The U.S.G.A. is full of itself, and always has been, and always will be. Giant egos and nit picking junk rules, talk about slowing down play… The only good rule they ever came up with was Rule 1-4, to play fair. Well, I exaggerate some, some of their rules make sense, of course, but others don’t make any sense. This rule against GPS doesn’t make any sense at all. The rule against laser range finders would possibly make sense in that the player will invariably take 2 or 3 readings to make sure he was focused on the correct object for the reading. But the GPS is INSTANT — no hunting or waiting, it just works.
Very frustrating organization this USGA. Does anyone recall that ruling against Craig Stadler and the towel he placed under his knee? They called that “building a stance” and DQ’d him, what a crock. What about equity? (Out the window.) Clearly he gained no advantage in doing that. You can wrap a towel around your golf grip if you want, why not put a towel under your knee if the grass is wet? “Building the stance” indeed! Why are we allowed to wear golf shoes, and why can some shoes have thicker insoles? Is that not “building a stance?”
Of course, I am speaking logically, and the USGA speaks like a bureaucracy — that is, in gibberish much of the time.
But do I give the USGA enough credit? Hey! They have a very simple job to do, and who put them in charge anyway?
Enough.
In our company golf league, the committee and some members make a fuss about and prohibit the use of rangefinders (even without slope), since it violates USGA rules. Meanwhile, the company league rules allow “preferred lies everywhere”, so players move their balls from the rough to the fairway, from behind trees, from uneven lies to even lies, away from branches, etc., without any penalty. Is that insane or what?
I used my new SkyCaddie for the first time last weekend. The course I played is tough and I’ve never broke 80…well a shot a 79. I can honestly say that the SkyCaddie only “helped” me 3 times when finding a distance. Most of the round I knew the distance or the club I was going to use prior to looking @ the SkyCaddie. What the unit did for me was validate my shot and choice of club, giving me the confidence to make the shot. I think that’s the difference between us “weekend” golfers and the pros. They have the confidence to make the shot because they know the exact distance. It’s time to abolish this silly rule, it’s not affecting the integrity of the game but making it more enjoyable for all of us….kinda like when they started making clubs with titanimum.
The thing that baffles me about the debate, is why nobody has brought handicap into it. If i were to use a rangefinder in a competition and it improved my score my handicap would alter to reflect this improvement. This is identical to what would happen if i were to buy a £300.00 driver that improved my score and why people with different values of equipment can compete on an equal footing. In essence my point is if using a range finder or sky caddy or even a big new shiney driver makes golf more enjoyable and its benefit is already reflected in your handicap then there seems no reason to make them illegal.
The statement by Kevin Martin that tournament players play a different game than the average player is true. But his statement that this will level the playing ground is ridiculous.
Number one, when will I, a 6 handicap player, ever tee it up against Tiger Woods? Never. So it doesn’t matter.
Number two, comparing the elite players of the world, meaning, the PGA Tour, to local club players, is like comparing Nascar to my drive to work. Two different worlds.
There is no place for GPS in actual golf. The game becomes something other than golf.
I hear that people are jumping on the bandwagon, investing in the companies who provide these GPS items. Hmm, could there be a conflict of interest? Could the staid USGA guys be selling out the game? Knowing they can profit by investing?
I personally think so.
Now with The R&A sanctioning the use of distance measuring devices, including GPS based systems and laser rangefinders.
New Decision 14-3/0.5 allows The Club Committee to permit the use of distance measuring devices by Local Rule.
This applies to devices that measure distance only, not any other conditions that might affect a player’s game such as wind or gradient.
In the absence of such a Local Rule, the use of a distance measuring device remains contrary to the Rules.
May also be used by Golf Societies again committee to permit the use of distance measuring devices .
Raise the issue at your Golf Club AGM and vote accordingly.
I did not know rangefinders were considered illegal until now.. A tour caddie is more accurate than any electronic device that is only within 2-7 yards accurate. A tour caddie can also feel the elements and convey that or any other information to the player. A tour caddie lends such an advantage to his pro that it makes using a rangefinder a handicap.
The advantages are limited but none the less they are there with the use of a rangefinder. If nothing else they do instill confidence in a player about to make a shot and knowing the yardage exactly is a truly empowering bit of information. Leisure golf definitely is enhanced.
I used a range finder twice, each time I do believe I played better, I hit better shots, I hit far less errant shots, I even putted better, in fact I scored lower than usual both times. I really didn’t know I was cheating. Luckily I was NOT playing for money or involved in any kind of match except for my friend that I was playing with HATES to lose to me and will do just about anything to sidetrack me. (he’s a very poor sport) I put up with him because he’s OK most of the time otherwise. He’s just angry because I beat him everytime we played for over a 20 year period.
We I guess I cheated because I didn’t tell him I had the range finder that I downloaded onto my iphone the night before. I just wanted it because I hadn’t played the course we were going to .Did I enjoy knowing the yardage. YOU BET, did it make everything better YOU BET. Should it be legal YOU BET. Why do we have to play like poorly and look up to the pro’s so much when they clearly have a distinct advantage in having their caddies had them every bit of info they could ever need. WOW Someone out there is likely a frustrated lawyer living in the pass enjoying his hacking up of the course and not being able to see pass the end of his new hybrid and maybe his persimmon 3 wood. Wake up and smell the roses, hello. Maybe its time to move it along already. Do you want to make more more, well then proceed with the passing of the almighty rangefinder already.
Ahem… Use of a non-slope laser rangefinder is not illegal for purposes of personal play, including rounds that are included for a handicap.
When local rules allow, they may also be used.
Otherwise, no.
But, for most of us, going out with our friends and playing a round, it is ok to use and to record the round for our handicap.
Even when not allowed in tournament play, it can be used for practice rounds in order to put together a decent yardage book.
Thanks Mr. “Read the Rules.” Perhaps you should “Read the Date.” You might have noticed the article was from 2005.