PGA Tour and Range Finder

[iacas]

I think they should. Caddies already have the yardages, and pin sheets. Zap the flag, figure out that it's six paces over the ridge, and hit the damn ball. You don't see it because they don't show it on TV, but caddies still walk off yardages to sprinkler heads and whatnot. Pointless.

Plus the range finder companies would love it.

Someone can tell me if I'm wrong here, but SkyCaddie would have to make sure there was a model incapable of showing something like a compass or something as that's not legal. Yardages only.

[VMAN]

I tend to agree. Plus, how do you think they get a lot of those additional yardages for their book during practice rounds...with a range finder. They also use inclinometers during practice rounds to map the slopes on the greens. I guess you could argue that figuring your yardage is an integral part of the game, but they already use them earlier in the week.

[jamo]

Definitely they should. I don't see a downside to it. It will speed up the game, simple as that. But no slope, though that probably goes without saying.

[DavidFehertysBike]

They do all of that work with the rangefinders and walk offs before the tourney begins. Ive seen one of those tour yardage books for the barclays at ridgewood, and they look like schematics for the space shuttle...The book had every possible situation marked in it. With elevation and everything. It was quite amazing.

[Shindig]

I said in another thread that I've had prepared students take fewer notes into an open-notes exam than some of the caddies carry into a tournament.

I'd love to see the Tours adopt the local rule that permits these. Maybe someday move to make it a normal rule rather than an acceptable local rule.

[kennay92]

i like the idea, the only downfall ( and this is a maybe) is that rangefinder companies would sponsor the players and pay them to use their brand and in turn cause the prices of them to the general public to rise (higher than they already are). But thats all a maybe.

[Zeph]

Definitely. They always get the right yardage anyways, shortening the time spent to get it is nothing but positive.

[goblue107501]

It wouldn't change anything for the player, just make it a little faster during the round. It would eliminate the need to produce a pin sheet every day. And for the Tigers and Phils of the world, when they hit the ball 'left of left', they won't have to spend forever trying to get an accurate yardage from the other fairway.

[iacas]

It wouldn't change anything for the player, just make it a little faster during the round.

Agreed.

It would eliminate the need to produce a pin sheet every day.

Disagreed. The players would still want to know how much room they have in front of, behind, left, or right of the flag, particularly on greens with tiers, run-off areas, etc.

[Titleist_ProV1x]

I think they should. Caddies already have the yardages, and pin sheets. Zap the flag, figure out that it's six paces over the ridge, and hit the damn ball. You don't see it because they don't show it on TV, but caddies still walk off yardages to sprinkler heads and whatnot. Pointless.

Why not allow as much information as possible to be legal, slope, pin location, yardage, etc etc ...... in the end they still have to make the shot

[GolfBear]

I'm not opposed to them using rangefinders but I'm skeptical that it would help improve the pace of play. In addition to having precise markings on every sprinkler head the caddies and pro's yardage books have every bunker, bush and tree mapped out with precise yardages from their practice rounds. They also have pretty precise maps of the greens with all the mounds, ridges and breaks mapped. The only real advantage I see would be for players like Mickelson who tend to hit the ball off the planet.

[goblue107501]

Disagreed. The players would still want to know how much room they have in front of, behind, left, or right of the flag, particularly on greens with tiers, run-off areas, etc.

See your point here. I was just thinking along the lines of the distance +/- from center to get the yardage. These guys look at a lot more on the green than I do.

[kafka01]

It wouldn't change anything for the player, just make it a little faster during the round. It would eliminate the need to produce a pin sheet every day. And for the Tigers and Phils of the world, when they hit the ball 'left of left', they won't have to spend forever trying to get an accurate yardage from the other fairway.

Unfortunately Rangefinders wont work, if you hit at some place where you cant see the green from - how do you get a yardage then?

The thing with GPS-powered devices is, that their readings are far more inaccurate than rangefinders - you ever tried walking the course with two GPS-Rangefinders (even the same models) and comparing the numbers? You might be suprised... Besides that - you only have to convince the Caddy-Lobby that they are basically obsolete and should apply for a new job. But before this will happen, somebody will convince players to use "Greencharts" that give you accurate readings on the greens and how much slope they have to put (aka Aimpoint Technologies), and they will be busy again.

[Zeph]

The thing with GPS-powered devices is, that their readings are far more inaccurate than rangefinders - you ever tried walking the course with two GPS-Rangefinders (even the same models) and comparing the numbers? You might be suprised...

I have not compared them myself, but every user review I have read says that a range finder is more accurate than a GPS.

[martytilma]

I have not compared them myself, but every user review I have read says that a range finder is more accurate than a GPS.

Disagree. I just played a round with a couple of guys. One had a Skycaddie, the other a Bushnell Rangerfinder. I have a Bushnell GPS. The difference was only a couple of yards on almost every hole. Plus, and I could be wrong on this, but the rangerfinder can't tell you front and back distances only to the flag.

To answer the question, I don't care one way or the other. Like some have said, they probably have more info in those yardage books than a rangerfinder could give you.

[kafka01]

I have not compared them myself, but every user review I have read says that a range finder is more accurate than a GPS.

Well - thats what i said, GPS is more inaccurate.

@martytilma - a couple of yards might be not much for us - but its HUGE for the pros. Of course the rangefinder can only tell you the exact distance to the flag, but the tournaments give out exact pinpositions and then its up to the caddy/player to do the math. Thats another thing - a GPS just cant give you accurate pinpositions, it measures front/middle/back and unless you programmed the exact pinposition in advance (dont know if thats possible), its a guessing game again, compare this with the additional GPS-inaccuracy and its no wonder every pro is running around with a laser instead of GPS.

[sean_miller]

Even with an exact yardage, there will still be interesting discussions regarding club selection and shot type (like McDowell and caddie on 18 at Pebble).

I don't think they should have inclinometers (sp?) or anemometers, but of course they should have rangefinders for exact yardage on every shot. Considering they're posting this info on-line (shot link) and on TV, why should the only 2 people in the world without access to it be the guy hitting the shot and his caddie?

[iacas]

Disagree. I just played a round with a couple of guys. One had a Skycaddie, the other a Bushnell Rangerfinder. I have a Bushnell GPS. The difference was only a couple of yards on almost every hole.

?? Those "couple of yards" are the "more accurate" part everyone talks about...

As for the other part, a laser + a pinsheet gives you all the front/back yardages you need AND is more accurate.