Range finder

[FriedInTheDesert]

I have one but I never bring it. I don't think you need one unless you're playing a practice round before a tournament.

The device itself is accurate. Once the distance gets out a ways it's hard to tell if your measuring to the basket or something in front or behind the basket. This makes a range finder less useful.

They can be fun but not worth it. Find a friend that hunts. They will probably have one you could use to see if you would want to buy one.

 

[jongoff09]

Rangefinders will be legal starting 2013 in PDGA events.

Is there something I can do to show this to a TD and say that Chuck Kennedy specifically says rangefinders are now legal? I had a TD say recently that they were illegal after guys on my card questioned it.

What could I do? I just put it up and didn't use it. No one said anything else about it, so I let it go 'til now. I could have used it on a couple of throws I had later in that round. I've had other players since tell me that they knew rangefinders were legal. Even had it questioned at Am World Dubs earlier this year and before this incident and the officials there said it was good.

I'm terrible at judging distances, even at distances as short as 200'. The rangefinder comes in very handy on par-4's and -5's

 

[scarpfish]

Is there something I can do to show this to a TD and say that Chuck Kennedy specifically says rangefinders are now legal? I had a TD say recently that they were illegal after guys on my card questioned it.

What's with all of these recent reports of TD's not knowing what is and what isn't in the rulebook? This is the second such account in the last few days.

 

[brutalbrutus]

Do they make the td's retake the test every year?

 

[Pwingles]

Buddy of mine at gbo approached us before we tee'd off to ask for a rule book to look this up.
His card brought it up to the Jones East TD (searle?) he immediately said, absoluetely not allowed.
Then he and a few others looked thru the rulebook and obv found nothing

 

[jongoff09]

looked thru the rulebook and obv found nothing

What the group questioning it at Am World Dubs was told is that the rule was taken out of the new book because they were deemed legal. In the old rulebook, it was specifically disallowed. I think the wording was anything determining distances over 10m was disallowed. The 2013 rulebook does not have that under the artificial devices rule like the 2011 did.

So, no, you won't find anything in the book about it. Maybe there needs to be a Q&A for it since it was specifically disallowed in older books, but not even mentioned in the new ones because it is now legal.

 

[JamesM]

http://www.pdga.com/rules

Carrying an illegal disc is no longer punishable by itself. You have to throw it for there to be a penalty. The same goes for an illegal device. You are allowed to use a towel or pad on a lie. GPS devices are no longer disallowed.

 

[jongoff09]

^^Nice find, however I could see someone getting nit picky and saying that just says GPS and not laser range finders.

Thanks

 

[Mabuku1]

I have a Lasertech digital range finder. It can be set to feet. I can hold the fire button down and if it is a moving object, the footage moves with the object. Very pricey device, but it's really cool to use. I found it to help when I was gauging my distance while working on my form. On the course it only gets used if someone asks how long do I think a hole is.