Recently it's been a big talk a big rules change and it's going to affect you enormously yeah can you can you dive into this a little bit kind of what obviously i i saw you tweet you weren't happy yeah collaborate on this because i'm not massively clued up i don't know i feel like phil describing it. So they next.
Year they've basically uh brought in effectively i think it's like a local rule which will allow them to ban um the use of green books okay. And this is just pj tour well this is i think um agreed across maine like uh the main worldwide tour european i think pga. So they're going to ban the use of green books. And also within yardage books the information that you can have on a green. So now nowadays the greens will be scanned prior. And you can buy. Or they don't buy they get given a green book which will have a lot of information the gradients the direction of the slope you know color-coded charts. So you get a lot of information which most people use badly or don't know how to use you know i don't think it's that much of an advantage. Or takes away people's skill that much as to what people could believe it does a lot of people will be better without the use of green books because they don't use them that well they're quite it's difficult. And also it's a skill to be able to use it well to be able to interpret that information you know what is a skill is it just something that you're physically gifted at. Or can you be can a skill be like something mental. Or something that you've developed of course a skill isn't it exactly yeah. So some people have become really skillful at using that information going back to your point playing the piano is a skill you learn it don't you you're not born with it yeah exactly. So you've obviously got that rule and that's fine i you know if if that's what the governing bodies want to do. And they say you can't use green books then.
That's fine however. where i think they've screwed up is that they've then.
Said that you can't use technology that's going to interpret condition of the green in practice. So for example you couldn't use an electronic level to gauge the slope or use a device that would measure the stimp of the green in a practice round or worse on a practice green that same week of the tournament wow and for me that's where i think they've screwed up. And i'm guessing that's something you do every week yeah. So i mean that's something that you i would do with my players. And we would use technology to you know for them to calibrate the the the slope you know perceptually or even with their feet to be able to distinguish between a shallow a medium steep slope one two three percent even measure green speed so that they can be they'll have systems. So they can adapt across different speed of greens. So yeah. For me they've taken it too far because what you shouldn't limit people's innovation in practice you should be able to use whatever means that you've got to get better at and then.
If they want to create whatever kind of even playing field let people then.
Go and play in that playing field but let them explore things let them be innovative in practice and if that means using certain elements of technology then.
Let them do it because there's other areas of the game where you can go on a golf course with a quad. Or a track man of course you can um work out how much that hole plays downhill how much the sort of identity can use a laser in practice can't you as well yeah gp like a was it the pj. Or the us i think it was the pga championship last year where you could use a laser in tournaments yeah they brought it into tournament play yeah a rangefinder. So it's like such a bit they want technology yet they want to strip it away from elsewhere and for why what's the why i can only assume that they're trying to take away the temptation that people could use that technology on the course. And maybe make notes from it but i mean if they want to do that stuff they could do it anyway. So i'd see no i don't i've never spoke to anyone from any of those organizations to appreciate why. But i can't see any logical reason as why they want to prohibit that stuff in practice like i i actually would say if they're trying to say it's about what we're trying to encourage skill or people you know more skillful people to come to the forefront i think it's skill limiting by saying you can't do certain things because some people will be too lazy to bother trying to develop themselves using technology other players will look at these you know marginal gains. And work hard and try and become more skillful yeah. So you're allowing people to become skillful by taking advantage of the you know the technology that's at their disposal i can tell you're passionate about this this has annoyed you on it it really annoyed me. But i one of the things that annoys me is i think in recent years the aim that the putting is an easy um cop-out. For them let's change this let's do this when the reality of the matter is that's not really affecting the game at the moment green books not really not bringing people into the game it's not really like a slow play issue whereas there are bigger issues in the game i think the governing bodies are ignoring yeah. And choosing to pick and put in um to be seen to be proactive about trying to shape the game in a positive direction so either you need to bung the green keepers a bit of dash before the week and say what's that what's that level up i mean. Or phil would be going out at like midnight with like a balaclava like running across with his digital uh um spirit level it seems does seem a bit crazy it seems like it's something that doesn't need to change. And they're just changing it for the sake of it just to say oh we are making it harder. Or we're making it more challenging for the players i can see why they're doing it on i can understand. And appreciate what they're trying to do on course because i think some of that feedback has come from the players where they don't want access to the green books that's fine. But don't limit how people try and get better off the golf course yeah i i don't. And where do you where do you go next.
Like why can someone use a quad on the course impress this. But not use a level or another device on a putting green it doesn't doesn't make sense in that respect and will it going back to that point will it be the putting green the designated putting green. For that week don't really know how it's going to pan out i mean hopefully they might modify that rule i don't think it's written in stone. And that's what they're going to do. But what they'll do they'll kind of put these preliminary rules out that a subject to change. Or they're gonna you know considering change and sometimes they'll listen to feedback and then.
And then.
Adapt them so hopefully they're gonna do that because speaking to a lot of players um they think it's stupid yeah. So crazy.
