Rules of Golf Decisions - Golf GPS

Many golfers would love to know what the professionals know with regard to course information. All that information their caddies provide before and during a tournament.

The caddies go out the day before a tournament and walk the course taking measurements and distances from tee to all areas of interest to the play. These would include slope of the fairway, layup areas, hazards such as bunkers, trees, bushes, lakes and of course distances to the greens with daily flag positions even the shape and run off areas on the greens.

To those of us who play our rounds and struggle with distances and club selection help is at hand. The Rulers of Golf have relented in favour of the Amateur golfer. You can now use electronic GPS devices for your round. There is a big "but" though, if you are playing in competition, local rules come into force. Some golf courses allow distance measurements only, if your device does any more than that, then you are not allowed to use it and could be disqualified if you do.

Rules of Golf Decisions - Golf GPS

So if your device is one that can show you all the problems that the course throws up its likely that the local ruling will be that you cannot use that device. Which just about eliminates all the GPS devices, because of all the incredible information they provide?

The R&A and the United States Golf Association have announced these changes among 111 amendments to the book Decisions on the

Rules of Golf. Published every two years, the new edition becomes effective for all golfers from January 1, 2006.

Rules of Golf decisions, Golf GPS. The actual Rule reads as:

Another major change is the governing bodies' sanction of the use of distance measuring devices, including GPS based systems and laser rangefinders. New Decision 14-3/0.5 allows a 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 players 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.

The rules do not say that you cannot walk the course with your GPS device the day before your competition and take notes on all the hazards and areas of interest and distances to the greens, after all that is just what real caddies do.

If you are in need of better course management and feel that with more information about the course you are playing your game will improve then I suggest you purchase one of these devices. There is nothing in the rules that says that you cannot use the device for every day golf with your friends, you could even share your information with your golf partner, just to make it fair, unless you both have these GPS units, then I can not see any problem.

"It's Just Good Golf Sense"

golf laser rangefinder

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