Big news regarding the first major championship of 2021 — the PGA Of America announced this week that it will allow the use of rangefinders (distance-measuring devices) when it stages the first men’s major championship of the season — the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in May.
The championship will be played on the famous Ocean Course at Kiawah, where winds can play havoc with the field.
But the PGA Of American isn’t stopping there. It will also allow the LPGA Tour players to use them at the Women’s PGA Championship this year as well as the Senior PGA Championship.
“We’re always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our Championships,” Jim Richerson, president of the PGA Of America, said earlier this week.
“The use of distance-measuring devices is already common within the game and is now a part of the Rules of Golf. Players and caddies have long used them during practice rounds to gather relevant yardages.”
The PGA of America becomes the first major body to allow the devices in all its premier events.
The thought is the that the use of rangefinders might help the pace of play.
Another idea that might help would be to take a cue from The Masters and do away with the greens-reading books.
The PGA Tour will be paying close attention. Will it be the next to allow rangefinders during play?
Stay tuned on that one.
Paddy Harrington Tests Positive For COVID-19:
European Ryder Cup captain Padraig Harrington has been forced to withdraw from the Pebble Beach Pro-Am after testing positive for COVID-19 this week.
Harrington played alongside Steve Stricker last week for the first two rounds of the Phoenix Open and missed the cut.
Harrington will now have to self-isolate for two weeks.
One Comment
baxter cepeda
This rangefinder issue is ridiculous.
As many experts have already said (Tripp, cantlay, kin icons just to name a few) rangefinders will likely not speed up play; possibly slow it down.
As golf is trying to figure out how to challenge good players like they used to, the one thing that was a bit different and more challenging for pro tours —no range finders because pros already have a person to carry their stuff and provide all those numbers— is now provided to them. Meanwhile many junior golfers still don’t have them because they can be pricey.
Tour pros need to know front and back yardages. They need adjusted numbers. They need a million things just to hit a darn shot. This will only be another thing they need.
And Someone help us when the numbers do not match. This is nothing more than the companies in golf lobbying for more and more stuff to play the game.
Forget green reading books. Imo the pga tour and others need to get tougher on books.
But better yet, the simplest solution is faster pace requirements which leave no time for all the time consuming things tour pros do just to hit one darn shot.
Two thing are clear:
1. golf cannot make the game tougher for top players if they keep making it easier.
2. And golf cannot make itself faster if it keeps allowing its role models so much time and information for every shot.
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Sad about paddy but he should be ok. This reminds me of a great joke from SNL the nite before the Super Bowl where the guy says something like: we made it to the big game after only 700 positive covid tests.
It’s funny but sad as well. All sports leagues want to celebrate how they made it to the end of their seasons ; but it’s with denial and little to no regard to who knows how many people’s health and safety —lives— they put at risk to complete their seasons.