Range Finders: Legal or Not?

[joshiemac25]

I am in total favor of them being allowed.

Up here in North Podunk, we are fortunate to have a 150 yard marker in the middle of the fairway, sometimes a 100 marker, and it really slows down play when everything has to be walked off to those distances.

It would speed up already slow rounds and increase enjoyment on those courses that you may only play a few times and not know where to search for the sprinkler heads.

[TD22057]

Definitely should be legal. Yes, I can use sprinkler heads in the fairway. But what about :

- Inside 100 yards. All the courses I play on have no markers inside 100 yards but this is where a precise yardage is most important. If I don't have my GPS and I start pacing off yardages to the green, it's going to take forever.

- Outside of the fairway. There aren't markers in the rough and approaching from a different angle makes it harder to get a correct yardage. This is especially true on dog legs. I'm sure all of us have played a hole from the wrong fairway a few times and knowing yardages when you're out of position is a huge advantage when trying to salvage a hole.

- Other yardages besides the green. Knowing precise layup yardages when there are hazards in front of the green, distances to bunkers of the tee, etc are very important to playing an intelligent round. Some courses have decent yardage books but most move the tees around enough (and don't mark the measuring points well) that I find they aren't very accurate. Many courses these days don't even sell yardage books (some because they want you to pay $$ for a GPS cart).

[td67mustang]

I voted no. I like the challenge of trying to figure out what shot to play and how far i need to carry. When Erik said something about being off center in a fairway 10 yards ahead of a sprinkler I think thats golf. I like the part of the game that makes me think about what I am doing and how to play each shot. I feel like I play better when I have to think about a shot more, maybe my focus transitions into my swing, maybe not. I just think golf is a difficult game and with all the improvements in technology its taking certain aspects out of the game.

[immts007]

Not sure what the debate is about... I'm almost certain that they are, and have been, legal for both handicapping and tournament play for over two years now. Am I missing something?

If yardage books and caddies who know a course as well as if they were a human gps are legal, it makes no sense to me why an electronic device that does the same thing shouldn't be as well.

Just got my igolf neo and it has shaved 8 strokes off my game already!!!

Just kidding, I still suck...

[Shindig]

Not sure what the debate is about... I'm almost certain that they are, and have been, legal for both handicapping and tournament play for over two years now. Am I missing something?

The thread was started August 1st, 2005, back when they had yet to have specific legal status. It - the thread - just seems to get popped back to the surface every now and then.