Some professional tournaments to allow DMDs

News that several professional tours will soon allow distance-measuring devices was met with a mixed reaction from players.

The PGA Tour announced this week that rangefinders will be permitted at four tournaments each on the Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour and PGA Tour Latinoamerica this summer. While they’re not yet allowed on the PGA Tour, distance-measuring devices were among the proposed rule changes introduced earlier this month by the USGA and R&A that could potentially go into effect in 2019.

“I don’t think it’s going to make any difference to speed of play,” Justin Rose said. “We don’t play ‘one number’ golf. We want to know what it is to the back edge of the green; we want to know the distance over a bunker. We want to know what the distance is to a certain slope. So it’s not as basic as, ‘I have 179 to the pin.’ You kind of make decisions out on the golf course based on what’s around the pin.”

One notable supporter of the decision was Bryson DeChambeau who said: “It’s the best thing they could possibly do. I definitely think it’s something that could help speed up play.”

SHARE
Previous articleNew Golf Manager at Frilford Heath Golf Club
Next articleEuropean Tour workshops announced by Mizuno
A graduate of Cardiff University’s highly respected post-graduate magazine journalism course, Andy has successfully edited four different publications across the B2B, trade and consumer sectors. He is skilled at all aspects of the magazine process in addition to editing websites and managing social media channels.