Golf apps. Worse than cameras.

[John Kavanaugh]

Show up for a tournament and I'm told that I need to download an app to keep score. When I declined I was told that someone in my foursome must for us to play. Since everyone in the world isn't an asshole that wasn't a problem.


My issue: The golf course is the one place where I have sanctuary from my phone. Now as a golfer I am being asked to find it, look at it, and finally post my score after every hole. I don't know about you but nothing quite like getting a text to disrupt a lovely day. Why?


Because everyone loves it. You know exactly where you stand during the round. The pros no longer have to collect cards and write down scores. I'm seriously considering never playing in another event again.


A win/win for everyone.

[Will Lozier]

Show up for a tournament and I'm told that I need to download an app to keep score. When I declined I was told that someone in my foursome must for us to play. Since everyone in the world isn't an asshole that wasn't a problem.


My issue: The golf course is the one place where I have sanctuary from my phone. Now as a golfer I am being asked to find it, look at it, and finally post my score after every hole. I don't know about you but nothing quite like getting a text to disrupt a lovely day. Why?


Because everyone loves it. You know exactly where you stand during the round. The pros no longer have to collect cards and write down scores. I'm seriously considering never playing in another event again.


A win/win for everyone.

I think you should play MORE so you can post LESS!

[John Kavanaugh]

Who hasn’t had a perfect day ruined by glancing at your phone and seeing a text from work or family?


I also don’t want to hear exactly where I stand in the tournament after every hole. Yea I choked when the guy putting in scores told us we were in a ten way tie for second. Conform, conform, conform.

[John Kirk]

At least one issue where we are in complete agreement.  Let's just call my powerful hand computer and communications device "underutilized."  I never add an app unless I absolutely have to have it.  I've got a couple.

I subscribe to a prominent news source who asks me every darn time I look at the news whether I want to use their browser.  I keep looking for the "Hell No" button but they don't seem to have one.

Your similarly grumpy colleague is,

The Other JK

[Thomas Dai]

Golf as a sanctuary from the phone maybe doesn’t go far enough.
One of my favourite aspects of golf is the opportunity to get away from the hurly-hurly of life. To be in a place of peace and tranquility away from noise and hassle.
As the game has become more popular and as the population just about everywhere has increased so the ability to ‘get away from it all’ has declined including on the golf course. Unless it’s a rural area, even then oftentimes, it seems to now be 4-balls every 9-10 minutes and no one being let through by slower players.
Rather sad really to have lost in many places the ability to play with no group immediately in front or behind or to play a few holes unaccompanied late in the day.
Others might not wish to do so but I’d happily pay higher subscriptions or greenfees for more peace and tranquility on the course.
Atb

[John Kavanaugh]

No more calligraphy. A talent that should be cherished. Just another reason to put the old pro to pasture. Who doesn’t love standing by a leaderboard watching scores being posted? No more. Now you hit refresh as you slam your trunk.

[Ben Hollerbach]

Was this a 4-man scramble?

In light if the very questionable 46 that's been floating around for the last week or so, one of the solutions I've seen mentioned to help keep scramble scores more in check is the use of mobile scoring. A group begins to post some crazy low scores, such as a HIO on a par 4, the tournament staff is alerted and can send a ranger out to observe the play of the group for legitimacy
While I can understand the desire to step away from one's electronics during a round of golf, preserving the competitive honesty of an event does seem like a good use of mobile technology.
 

[Kalen Braley]

Was this a 4-man scramble?

In light if the very questionable 46 that's been floating around for the last week or so, one of the solutions I've seen mentioned to help keep scramble scores more in check is the use of mobile scoring. A group begins to post some crazy low scores, such as a HIO on a par 4, the tournament staff is alerted and can send a ranger out to observe the play of the group for legitimacy
While I can understand the desire to step away from one's electronics during a round of golf, preserving the competitive honesty of an event does seem like a good use of mobile technology.

Ben,

I understand your point, but rampant cheating in a 4 man scramble has always been the default position, even if its pretty clear these guys wanted to see how far those boundaries could be stretched. 

They're still fun thou as long as you abide by two simple rules:  1) Always make sure you play with buddies and 2) Make sure its a work related event where some vendor or otherwise is covering the entry fee and booze. 

[John Kavanaugh]

Two man best ball where it is mandatory for both players to post a score. No more speeding up play by picking up when you are out of the hole. Slow!!!! 

[Cal Carlisle]

Was this a 4-man scramble?

In light if the very questionable 46 that's been floating around for the last week or so, one of the solutions I've seen mentioned to help keep scramble scores more in check is the use of mobile scoring. A group begins to post some crazy low scores, such as a HIO on a par 4, the tournament staff is alerted and can send a ranger out to observe the play of the group for legitimacy
While I can understand the desire to step away from one's electronics during a round of golf, preserving the competitive honesty of an event does seem like a good use of mobile technology.

Ben,

I understand your point, but rampant cheating in a 4 man scramble has always been the default position, even if its pretty clear these guys wanted to see how far those boundaries could be stretched. 

They're still fun thou as long as you abide by two simple rules:  1) Always make sure you play with buddies and 2) Make sure its a work related event where some vendor or otherwise is covering the entry fee and booze. 

Like the recent video with the guys shooting a "49"? Talk about some next-level cheating.... 

[John Kavanaugh]

Stop punishing honest players in an honorable game.


There are better ways to deal with cheaters.

[Ben Sims]

Stop punishing honest players in an honorable game.


There are better ways to deal with cheaters.

Shack.


The race to deal with the lowest common denominator sure sucks for the rest of us.


Full agreement with both JK’s. I use my phone a lot. But I don’t want to use it for *everything*.

[John Kavanaugh]

A bright side is that Assistants will be able to work from home just like their peers. I get it.

[Peter Flory]

I have also come to loathe the requirement for keeping score during a tournament on an app.  Basically, the last one to the first tee gets stuck with the duty.  It is one of those covid measures that will stick around even though the initial reason has passed.

[John Kavanaugh]

If you have a golf pro that you love please warn them that technology such as this will eliminate their position. Hell, we are being told to sign up for events through an app. I was raised by pros. I’ve buried the sons of pros. Bought illegal substances from pros. Placed book with pros. I’ll miss them dearly.

[Jim Sherma]

JK - 100% agree with OP. I also dislike on line tee times and the like. I prefer my golf experiences to be analog. I want to call my shop and speak to someone I know. I want to bury my phones in my bag and not look at them until I’m getting ready to leave the club. If my wife or kids really need me they know to call the shop.


Something yet to be mentioned is the pain in the neck if you need readers. Having to fumble with them on top of the phone every hole makes it worse.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

I have also come to loathe the requirement for keeping score during a tournament on an app.  Basically, the last one to the first tee gets stuck with the duty.  It is one of those covid measures that will stick around even though the initial reason has passed.

My daughter (and her college team) like keeping the score. They're honest, so they're not going to cheat (they have a reputation to uphold too as one of the best teams in the country at their level), and they like to see where they stand. The ones who occasionally don't want to know where they stand… can just not look.

And you can turn your phones to Do Not Disturb mode to not see texts, etc. Use it as a scorecard and nothing else for four or five hours.

[MCirba]

As a lifelong scorecard collector who also collects record albums and books I fear the day in the not too distant future when clubs and courses realize there is no longer a need for printed scorecards.  Look how quickly scoresheets in bowling disappeared and now everyone can view my 398 series at a glance.

[John Kavanaugh]

I have also come to loathe the requirement for keeping score during a tournament on an app.  Basically, the last one to the first tee gets stuck with the duty.  It is one of those covid measures that will stick around even though the initial reason has passed.

My daughter (and her college team) like keeping the score. They're honest, so they're not going to cheat (they have a reputation to uphold too as one of the best teams in the country at their level), and they like to see where they stand. The ones who occasionally don't want to know where they stand… can just not look.

And you can turn your phones to Do Not Disturb mode to not see texts, etc. Use it as a scorecard and nothing else for four or five hours.

Can I turn my phone to do not disturb and still have my scores accepted and transmitted?


Also, in a two man best ball how would you suggest proceeding when you are out of the hole?  Should I grind for bogies at the expense of everyone else on the course? Isn’t guessing what you might have made either cheating yourself or your future competitors?

[Tom_Doak]

Where can I get this app for the Renaissance Cup?  How could I have been so oblivious to such an important development?


Oh, yeah, the Renaissance Cup is all match play, like all the rest of my golf.


Maybe these apps will drive more golfers to the better form of the game.

[Mark Smolens]

15 years ago in a Chicago Dist better ball event, one of our competitors was walking back to the 10th tee from the clubhouse after a pit stop, pulled his phone out to check for messages, and a CDGA official DQ'd him and told him he had to leave. He told the guy to get bent, and finished the round with his partner. Now, the CDGA has you posting scores on your phone as you go. Pretty soon there will be cart cams to record each shot (no more 46s!). Big Brother comes to golf...

[Cal Carlisle]

As a lifelong scorecard collector who also collects record albums and books I fear the day in the not too distant future when clubs and courses realize there is no longer a need for printed scorecards.  Look how quickly scoresheets in bowling disappeared and now everyone can view my 398 series at a glance.

Mike,


I mourn the days you got a physical ticket to a sporting event or concert.

[Tim Martin]

As a lifelong scorecard collector who also collects record albums and books I fear the day in the not too distant future when clubs and courses realize there is no longer a need for printed scorecards.  Look how quickly scoresheets in bowling disappeared and now everyone can view my 398 series at a glance.

Mike,


I mourn the days you got a physical ticket to a sporting event or concert.

I went to a high school state championship football game on Saturday and the tix were electronic. I’m a fan of the actual ticket as well.

[John Kavanaugh]

I told my wife today that I didn’t think I could play in another event under these conditions. She got so excited that I’ve decided to take night classes at the local community college so I can keep playing golf. Just when I think I’m done learning they pull me back in.

[Ira Fishman]

I find most private club rules a bit pretentious (other than the dress code at Elie), but no phones other than in the parking lot is a rule that preserves the best aspects of the game.


Ira