Modern world

[revkev]

When I started this thread I was really only concerned about the professional game. If the sport is about integrity and no doubt it is those who play it for a living should e,race anything that might help them how neatly play the course in the same way as the rest of the field.

 

I'm no where near as concerned about what AMs do beyond having fun, not destroying the course and not slowing others down. In tournaments or competitive rounds you best play by the rules so know them and abide by them. Technology should be used and encouraged in so far as it assists with pace of play and enjoyment.

[Zeasy]

Every time I read this thread I keep coming back to the same old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," pov.

[sp0rtsfan86]

Automated scoring for the pros would be ok-- but what about in the case of an oscillating vs moving ball? How do you determine that? Have the rules official come over and tap into a system to add a penalty stroke? Have one person assigned to each golfer to log strokes? Some tournaments don't draw the huge crowds and round the clock tv coverage that would allow you to do things.

 

That being said there's a happy medium somewhere. Also laser range finders should be allowed. GPS's I'm not too sure about because you can log all kinds of information there. Just laser the damn bunker, you already have a distance sheet that tells you everything anyway. 

 

That being said, to quicken the pace, just enforce the stupid speed rule already. You have it on file, tell golfers on Monday you're going to be real strict adhering to it and any violation will get you a punishment. The problem is that the rules are only enforced when officials feel like it... simple fix and the problem would solve itself.

An example would be hockey, clutching and grabbing is down a ton because they told the players before the lockout to expect it being called more often. It took a few weeks but players got the message and the ones who couldn't or wouldn't abide by the rules were fazed out of the game. Suddenly the game became faster which the NHL wanted. Who really wants to play behind a slow poke anyway?

[revkev]

Zeasy - I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  None of us here is likely to think that golf is broke just like the avid NFL fan thinks there's nothing wrong with their sport. 

 

I can tell you that the NFL will go the way of boxing if it can't figure out the concussion issue ASAP.  Why?  Mom's aren't allowing their sons to play football.  Boxing at one time was the second most followed major sport in America after baseball.  BTW it just took another major hit.

 

Back to golf, two people in the modern era being penalized and loosing out on a major is a problem, there may be ways to resolve that problem, they should be aggressively investigated and resolved.  No professional football team has ever been stripped of its title or DQ'd before the championship game.  The ridiculousness over New England stems from the NFL going to a rule more like golf (ridiculous move and they're getting what they deserve for it.)  Here's how it happened in golf, once because the guy's playing partner entered the wrong score and the other time because a bunker that is normally a waste area was deemed a bunker by the PGA and then had people standing in it before the player played a shot on the 72nd hole of a major tournament.

 

It happened once in baseball that an umpire blew a call in the 6th game of the WS and that call clearly tipped the outcome of the game.  Baseball has moved to resolve that matter by implementing the use of technology.  Why can't golf?

[Bogey in The Woods]

OK, lets try this:

 

As for the Pros, at most of the Tour stops there are video crews. Even if it is the smallest coverage crew (normally Fox Sports) they have crews on all holes. They have roving crews. They have tower crews, they have blimp/chopper crews. 

 

So now the tour needs to set up a tent where all the feeds can come into. Obviously not the broadcast trailer, too crowded. But there needs to be a monitor for every camera on the course. At some of the majors, that can climb to over 200 cameras. So now the tour has eyes and ears everywhere as it happens. They, in coordination with tour staffers on the ground can collaborate to watch every shot by every player on the course. Yes I know there are a few bugs in this so far, but they can be addressed. 

 

In the event of a possible rules violation, which we all know every pro player would report  , the tour officials have until the end of that players round to use what they have at their disposal to call a penalty. In the event of an infraction that would result in a 2 stroke penalty, if the tour staff didnt inform the player and caddie of the infraction before the next shot was taken, they missed the chance to penalize the player. If video evidence reviewed before the end of the players round showed the player knew of the violation, and didnt call it on himself, then he will be DQ'd. 

 

Tech for the pros: I dont care if the caddie uses range finders during the round. I am all for quicker play. GPS I wouldnt sign off on so fast. But if we are just complaining about distance finding, go for it. 

 

As for us: I have a terrible slice, so if there is any tech that will help me compensate for that while I am playing against you, i will be trying to use it. Trust me, I need all the help I can get. 

 

 

Let the rock slingin begin

[revkev]

I like it! I really like the end of round or a certain time after the round limit.

[Zeasy]

Zeasy - I suppose beauty is in the eye of the beholder. None of us here is likely to think that golf is broke just like the avid NFL fan thinks there's nothing wrong with their sport.

 

I can tell you that the NFL will go the way of boxing if it can't figure out the concussion issue ASAP. Why? Mom's aren't allowing their sons to play football. Boxing at one time was the second most followed major sport in America after baseball. BTW it just took another major hit.

 

Back to golf, two people in the modern era being penalized and loosing out on a major is a problem, there may be ways to resolve that problem, they should be aggressively investigated and resolved. No professional football team has ever been stripped of its title or DQ'd before the championship game. The ridiculousness over New England stems from the NFL going to a rule more like golf (ridiculous move and they're getting what they deserve for it.) Here's how it happened in golf, once because the guy's playing partner entered the wrong score and the other time because a bunker that is normally a waste area was deemed a bunker by the PGA and then had people standing in it before the player played a shot on the 72nd hole of a major tournament.

 

It happened once in baseball that an umpire blew a call in the 6th game of the WS and that call clearly tipped the outcome of the game. Baseball has moved to resolve that matter by implementing the use of technology. Why can't golf?

That's part of golf. Remember the knuckle head that lost the masters because he signed the wrong card? The human element gives golf a huge advantage over the other sports. I don't understand what you are trying to fix? There aren't very many bad rules decisions in golf. There's a lot of bad player's decisions (tiger's drop and dj soling the club) but I don't know why or how you would ever fix that, or even why.

[revkev]

@Zeasy, because it's not a bad decision, it's breaking the rules, if you can prevent it you do. To those outside the game golf looks ridiculous, that's what I'm trying to fix. I think it's a great sport and would like to see more involvement in it. More people watching should equate to more playing.

[dru_]

Every time I read this thread I keep coming back to the same old "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," pov.

 

There is an argument to be made that it is broken though. I think it might be a compelling argument too, but that is probably a subject for it's own thread.  Rev will probably take care of that for us in a few days when the volume slows down a little on the forum

[Zeasy]

Here's a few thoughts.

 

In golf a pro should have the option to make bad decisions and mistakes just as they should have the option to take a risk and make a mistake. These "embarrassing" moments for professional golf are pretty few and far between.

 

The rules of golf aren't keeping anyone from playing golf. The number one reason for this is that you don't have to follow them. You can go out and take 18 mulligans and guess what? No one is going to care. Now if you want to play in a match against a fellow player or a tournament, you'll have to follow some rules, but those rules can be whatever your buddy and you agree on or whatever the tournament wants. As an aspiring golfer, when lee Trevino played matches, it was agreed on that if a ball was behind a tree you could move it until you had a shot to the green.

 

As far as technology goes, if you want gps, you can have GPS. While the pros can't use certain devices, if they share the club they are hitting with the TV people, the TV people will give the caddies shot link distances. I'd rather have a caddies helping me than a GPS (on a few mini tours you get to choose between the two).

 

There's a problem with "technology," though. It can slow down play. You'll have players with 0 chance of hitting a green getting a laser distance and a GPS distance, instead of just playing.

 

Finally, golf like economics is guided by an invisible hand. It's way bigger than any of us and no matter how hard we or taylormade try and "fix it" there's not much we can do. Right now there is an over abundance of courses that are too expensive to maintain for their target market. Until the supply and demand for golf courses and players looking to play that level of golf are closer together, there will be shortages.

[RoverRick]

 but there is absolutely no reason we need caddies climbing trees to 'identify' a ball that two cameras, and 500 people watched land in a tree.

 

A Caddie can not climb a tree and identify the ball. The player must identify the ball. For this reason, the cameras and spectators can not identify the ball either. Therefore, the player climbs the tree ID's the ball or they play a lost ball.

 

Still the rule could be changed to fix that.