Golf Rules: The top 5 issues the USGA still needs to fix

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BETHESDA, MD – JUNE 14: Caddie Billy Foster uses a range finder as his player Lee Westwood of England looks on during a practice round prior to the start of the 111th U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club on June 14, 2011 in Bethesda, Maryland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /

Do you know what caddies do in the days before a tournament? They go out and take laser range findings from every blade of grass on the course. They then record these measurements in a 274-page booklet they carry around during the tournament.

So you see, THEY ARE ALREADY USING RANGEFINDERS!

The PGA and USGA are wildly inconsistent on methods of surveying a course during play. You can use binoculars, but not a compass. Can you use a sextant? What about a topographical survey map? Satellite imagery? Google Maps? Divining rods? Who knows?

It’s all just a giant charade. Let them use rangefinders during competition. It should greatly improve the pace of play.

Golf is known as a great sport to watch on TV … if you want to nap. It’s quiet, people are whispering, they have lots of B-roll of flowers and birds cooing. It’s very relaxing.

But nothing sends me into a slumber faster than watching some guy in a bib flip through a yardage book for seven minutes, pointing at trees, bunkers, streams, airplanes, flagpoles, announcer booths, and God knows what.

Just let the caddy shoot the yardages and move on. Might as well give them elevation changes, too, since many rangefinders already deliver that information.

We want to watch guys hit balls, not watch their caddies scramble through a bloated Rolodex.

NEWPORT, WALES – OCTOBER 03: Phil Mickelson of the USA removes his golf ball from the mud during the Fourball & Foursome Matches during the 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort on October 3, 2010 in Newport, Wales. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /

For those of us who play on courses not quite as well manicured as Augusta, getting a chunk of mud on a ball is a common occurrence. Now, if this happens because you blasted a drive into the sod farm, shame on you. Play it. But if you bomb one down the stripe and find an object more at home in a litter box than a fairway, you should get to clean it off.

When the weather is bad, lift/clean/place is frequently adopted. Great. This makes sense. So why doesn’t it make sense if the sun is out? That seems to be the only determining factor.

Rain? You get a break. Sun? Sorry sucker. Ridiculous.

If you are in a bunker or the rough, tough luck. You have to hit the muddy ball. But if you are in the fairway, you get the reward of a clean ball for hitting a good shot.

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