Rangefinders on the PGA Tour

[iacas]

So I heard a bit on why the PGA Tour (and web.com, Champions, etc.) do not allow rangefinders.

Tim Finchrm doesn't like them. They're not worried about slow play. They think it would have almost no effect. They do think that's what caddies are supposed to do, know yardages, but it's almost entirely Tim.

They also expect that if the new rules specifically allow rangefinders as they expect that they'll just adopt that and not use a Local Rule or a Condition of Competition to rule them out (which if the rules change the way they think may not even be "allowed") to disallow them.

[saevel25]

I don't see an issue with caddies using them during play. 

[David in FL]

I have no problem at all with using rangefinders on tour.

[dennyjones]

Bushnell did a commercial several years ago and I believe Ricky Fowler was part of it.    In their commercial they tried to emphasize that a range finder would speed up play.   

[jamo]

I hope the PGA Tour does go with it, if the rule is changed. 

[No Mulligans]

I don't see why not.  And it wouldn't hurt the caddies, it would help them.

But as a spectator/fan, it doesn't matter to me (unless it sped up play but that should be done with an official's stop watch, not a rangefinder).

[ScouseJohnny]

They're just so dorky.

[dennyjones]

8 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

They're just so dorky.

If you had the benefit of using one, I believe you'd change your opinion.   

[David in FL]

9 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

They're just so dorky.

What are?

[alleztom]

All for it, seems silly not to. A distance is a distance no matter how you find out what it is

[RandallT]

Some rangefinders include the adjustment for elevation and give you an effective distance.  Since yardage books likely tell you things like elevation changes, do people think that having a rangefinder tell you that is ok too?

My opinion:  I think it's ok to get distance from a device, but it's not ok to get an effective distance based on the elevation change from that same device.

I don't really have a valid rationale, however. If I can get elevation changes from a yardage book, why shouldn't I be able to get it from a range finder?

[dkolo]

I think they should be allowed on tours, but I don't generally have an issue with it one way or another... except when I do have an issue, I REALLY have an issue with it. Namely, when a player sends his caddy to walk off some unholy distance to get an exact measurement to the hole. It's usually at a crucial point of the tournament and it grinds the whole thing to a halt. That drives me absolutely batty and it's eliminating those situations that makes legalizing rangefinders in general to be a measure I'd welcome.

[Zeph]

Let them loose on the tour!

Does the commissioner of the PGA Tour have such power to prevent implementation of something like this, even if the board (I'm assuming they got one) wants it?

Edited January 20, 2017 by RandallT
Lose to loose for clarity

[boogielicious]

10 hours ago, ScouseJohnny said:

They're just so dorky.

Dorkier than a caddie goose-stepping to pace off yardage from a sprinkler head? Nah.

[iacas]

10 hours ago, RandallT said:

I don't really have a valid rationale, however. If I can get elevation changes from a yardage book, why shouldn't I be able to get it from a range finder?

They can't get elevation changes that adapt to the length of the shot. +10 yards affects a wedge differently than a 6I.

And they generally don't have elevation marked for every spot on the course.

10 hours ago, dkolo said:

I think they should be allowed on tours, but I don't generally have an issue with it one way or another... except when I do have an issue, I REALLY have an issue with it. Namely, when a player sends his caddy to walk off some unholy distance to get an exact measurement to the hole. It's usually at a crucial point of the tournament and it grinds the whole thing to a halt. That drives me absolutely batty and it's eliminating those situations that makes legalizing rangefinders in general to be a measure I'd welcome.

That reminds me of another reason Finchem didn't like them: he didn't think that the guys who hit it far offline should be able to get a super-accurate yardage. If you're in the fairway, there's a marker within a few yards, so your yardage is accurate. If you're 25 yards left of the fairway, your yardage will not be as exact. Finchem liked that.

With a rangefinder it'd be accurate as a ball in the fairway.

Seems like a weak reason to me, because caddies can still step things off, it just takes longer, but… Yeah. Thanks for reminding me of that additional little reason.

6 hours ago, Zeph said:

Does the commissioner of the PGA Tour have such power to prevent implementation of something like this, even if the board (I'm assuming they got one) wants it?

If they really wanted to use rangefinders, I think they could push it past him, but yeah, he kinda has that power.

[Wally Fairway]

I would say no because it would make them more prevalent with the amateur crowd; and I'm not talking about the single digit players, I worried about the 22 who thinks they need exact yardage but they really have a scatter chart for the shot performance so it won't really matter but it will increase their shot prep time and slow things even more.

I have found the best use of my range finder is on the practice range to get a better track of how far I carry each club, and I think most of the  players I'm talking about would be able to improve more from that then shooting every distance with their laser.

[Lastpick]

Don't take this as fact, but if the caddy is stepping off yardage, the pro is not on the clock as far as his allotted time to execute his shot.  This came into question a few years ago at the Masters when a teenager playing in the Masters was assessed a penalty for slow play.   Certainly some on here are more knowledgable, but this is what I recall is an advantage of a caddie stepping off yardage.

[Denny Bang Bang]

I don't think it would really impact the game much at all.  The Pros have practice rounds, yardage books, caddies who learn everything about the courses, they know their misses pretty well so I'd expect caddies would get a distance feel for those potential offline shots as well, etc.