Range Finders and Yardage Markers: Why the beef?
Precisely, but the real question should read why do you need to use them?
Do you not have that ability to judge distances? Has the old eye brain coordination failed you? I’ll go one step further, do you need a range finder in your car to judge distance and what about stopping the vehicle - or do you rely upon your own ability to see, compute then take the appropriate action. Let’s not forget that a car can kill, so currently if you are able to drive, why do you need artificial aids to play golf?
When golf in its then modern form migrated out from Scotland in the late 1890’s there was no artificial aids. The USA opened its door to the game, people flocked to play the new game, considerable amounts of money were spent developing new courses, the era that became known as The Golden Age had begun. But no one was called Traditionalists or Luddites for playing golf the real way, the way it was imported into the USA. People just enjoyed the game, accepted the challenge and golf took off in a big way.
So what happened? It would appear that certain people around the end of WW2 decided to make life easier for themselves. Walking was certainly not for them (perhaps their view was that only the common people walk), so along came the cart or buggy. Novel idea, don’t let your legs do the walking use the cart, it also saves you from carrying a heavy set of club over your shoulder. (Again, perhaps only common people who can’t afford a caddy would be seen doing that). All done to make life easier, to play the game was and still is (in all Major competitions) a Walking game. So those who prefer to sit while playing golf have the impertinence to call those who play the game in its true form Luddites or old fashion traditionalists.
Note; I understand that carts may be necessary to play the game in certain climate conditions and in mountain regions. But that is another debate altogether.
Range finders, yardage and GPS are simply artificial aids to help the Golfer.
Nothing more nothing less. To the average player they are just toys. Lets be honest, how many golfers can hit the ball the distance (to the nearest yard) proscribed on their Range Finder – my guess not many are that accurate or good, so what is the point. Yardage markers, GPS Range Finders etc, they are crutches to try and improve your golf which you just don’t need. You the golfer has it within yourself to judge distances, to walk the course, to spend time looking for that ball and of course the frustration of that lost ball – that’s golf, that’s how your father and his father before him played golf, perhaps the very reason you started in the first place. What traditions are you going to pass down to your children and grandchildren – the legacy of the cart, GPS and range finder, which in truth has very little effect on your actual score but can take away the full enjoyment of the game and the day by missing the bigger picture and concentrating on the unimportant.
Have golfers who use all these modern aids/carts etc lost the will to use their brains, has golf become that frustrating that you need toys to distract you from the core game, because what ever else you throw at us Older Purists you are the ones moving away from the game of golf, the core reason for its popularity in the first place with its quirks and traditions.
I would love to see all yardage and distance markers removed from all course. Those who play the same course on a regular basis may use trees, rock etc as a subconscious marker, but that is the human mind at work which is what actually drives us on in all things.
Just because others feel the need to use them to prop up their game, ask yourself the question, do I?