One little arrow. It was all it took to make my heart sink. It hadn’t been there on the previous green, when I’d been fiddling with the settings on my new golf watch.
There it was, though, on the tee, pointing up on the numbers and sending a wrecking ball through my scorecard.
This is what I’d done. I’d inadvertently switched on the ‘Plays Like’ feature on my hi-tech timepiece during a competition.
I didn’t really understand at first what the little cursors meant but I knew enough to realise I had a problem. When a rifle through the settings revealed I’d knocked the tournament mode off, I started working out what the damage would be.
I know using anything that measures elevation change is forbidden, whether that’s on a rangefinder, a watch, or whatever equipment you use (it’s Rule 4.3a (1) if you want to take a look). It’s a two-shot penalty for the first breach and it’s actually disqualification for subsequent breaches.
So I penalised myself and got some quizzical looks after I revealed it. But, my question is, why is it in place for club golfers at all?
Golf watch rules: Why can’t club players use Slope and Plays Like tech?
This rule only makes sense if you’re on tour
If it’s a major championship, a tour event, or if you’re an elite amateur trying to get into something really big, then I understand. Of course a gadget that tells you the 160-yard shot you’re looking at is really playing 150 will make a difference there.
But does it benefit the average hacker – the every day golfer like you and me – in the same way?
Honestly? I’m happy enough if I hit the ball somewhere in the direction of my intended target. 160 or 150? I can be so erratic there can be 20-yards of difference with the same club on any two given shots.
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I’ll hit it thin. I’ll hit it fat. I’ll hit it left and right. Occasionally, it goes straight. Having Slope or Plays Like on doesn’t make me any better.
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We don’t always play to the same rules
The rules are written for everyone. You can’t separate them. It’s a mantra I’ve probably used plenty of times myself in pieces through the years.
But it’s not strictly true. There are lots of Local Rules out there that already distinguish between the very best players and the rest of us.
Like these: You’re not playing to the grooves rules the pros use. You’re not getting penalised for using different balls during a round. You can use green reading materials in a way lots of professionals can’t in tournaments.
These are rules which only apply at the very highest level of competition and it’s because there is an acceptance in these circumstances that they are basically playing a different game.
Slope, along with a long list of other restrictions, doesn’t make that list. Some of what we have to put up with will sound bizarre to you and me. Like checking out your heart rate during a round. Yes, that is not allowed unless you’ve got a medical condition.
So that rangefinder you shelled out a fortune for? Make sure you’ve flicked the Slope switch off before you hit a shot. Make sure your Virtual Caddie is silent on your phone app. Because God forbid your £300 device tells you an uphill par-3 is playing half a club longer.
Who are we protecting with this rule?
We don’t have caddies. We don’t have Tour-level yardage books. I’ve seen them and I don’t understand much of what’s in them anyway. You want to try and walk off a yardage in a monthly medal? Good luck with that. You’ll quickly be playing on your own.
What we do have is a little device that says, ‘this shot might be 165 rather than 155’ and the feature is banned in competitions or general play rounds.
Let’s be honest about golf watches and rangefinders
I made sure the tournament mode was disabled again as soon as I realised I’d made the error. But it still took me another four holes, a dodgy internet signal, and an online download of the device’s manual, to be 100 per cent sure I’d transgressed.
If I wasn’t entirely sure what I’d done, what about the rest of us? I’d hazard a guess lots of club golfers don’t know this rule exists. In fact, I know that’s the case because I’m the killjoy who is now pointing it out to people on the 1st tee.
I handed myself a penalty because I slavishly followed a regulation that shouldn’t exist at our level at all.
If the governing bodies want to keep Slope, plays-like, Virtual Caddie – whatever you want to call them – banned for elite events then fine.
But for the rest of us? Let us use what we paid for. If that suddenly turns me into a scratch player overnight, I’ll be the first to say we can look again. Spoiler: it won’t.
Until then, I’ll play to the rules. Just don’t ask me to pretend it makes sense.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you make of this golf watch rules situation? Let me you what you think by emailing me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving us a comment on X.
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