With due respect to those who use or feel the need to use distance aids, you have at a stroke taken
the heart and spirit out of playing golf. Worst still in my experience are the Pacers who without care
or consideration for fellow players or others on a course disrupt the pace and pleasure of the game
for others. This I consider a heinous act against a fellow players and a clear breach of Course
Etiquette which IMHO should result in the immediate removal of the player from a course. Now
before others jump to Tigers defence, I do not believe that Tiger said he paced the distance before
his shot but as a confirmation of his distance judged by his eyes after the shot was taken and while
on his way to the next shot.
Distance aids are legal but forgetting the legality of the issue, what about the quality of the game
experienced by the player. This must surely suffer as clearly the plays confidence is questionable re
his/her own ability (whatever level). To play with the premise that one’s game is perhaps suspect in
the first place is to start with a massive mental handicap, sending ones state of calm confidence into
a cocked hat.
The game of golf should be a pleasure, the efforts should come naturally to the golfer allowing
him/her the ultimate joy of knowing they did it on your own, unaided and if their score improved a
deep warm feeling of inner contentment. So I am totally baffled as to why any golfer feels the need
to seek outside help. For goodness sake all I know is that all this outside information corrupts the
mind making ones brain first absorb the information then delete it as the eyes and brain final takes
over and re calculates the who distance thing in a millisecond as the golfer finally address the ball at
the start of the swing.
It’s all legal, use your aids, but that very need to use these aids must cry out a desperation in the
minds of the players, who knows are they mentally really to play golf. Yet the worst crime in
my eyes is that their game if flawed before it starts, even if they do well they have had to resort to
outside help, defined legal by the governing Body but inwardly the player knows it’s morally
indefensible certainly if they do love the game of golf.
I beseech you all who use aids to leave them in the club house and face the challenge using mind
and body only. In the long run your game will benefit but you will immediately feel the satisfaction
of knowing that was all down to your own efforts.