SkyCaddie, the number one rangefinder in golf, has welcomed the decision by the English Golf Union to allow distance measuring devices to be used in all its championships in 2009.
The move, which was agreed by the EGU’s board of directors following the recommendation of the Championship Committee at its recent meeting at Woodhall Spa, follows a decision earlier in 2008 by the PGA to allow the use rangefinders at its championships.
Jackie Hitchcock, UK managing director of SkyCaddie, said, “This is great news. The EGU should be applauded for accepting that distance measuring devices are now part and parcel of a golfer’s equipment and only add to the enjoyment of the game.
“Increasing numbers of golfers use SkyCaddie to give them precise distance information and this decision gives golfers at the very top of the amateur game access to technology that can only help them improve.”
Only DMDs that calculate distance will be permitted in the EGU championships. Those providing other information such as wind speed, temperature and elevation, will not be allowed. Any player found using such a DMD will be in breach of Rule 14-3 for which the penalty is disqualification, regardless of whether any such additional function is actually used.
EGU officials have contacted the R&A and the other Home Unions to inform them of the move and the change is being written into the conditions of each of next year’s events.
SkyCaddie is the official rangefinder of the PGA of Great Britain & Ireland. The IntelliGreen technology enables golfers to measure the full depth and shape of the green from any angle of approach (even from the wrong fairway!) and shows distances for all targets and hazards.
And with 95% of courses in England, Scotland and Wales now mapped – along with thousands of other courses worldwide – demand in the UK for the innovative hand-held units has been soaring. SkyCaddie GPS rangefinders appeal to golfers on two levels – playing better, and playing faster!
They give instant and accurate information via satellite, which includes exact yardages to the front of hazards and to carry them, and precise distances to the green.
The yardages have been physically measured on foot by SkyCaddie’s UK team of ‘course mappers’. So unlike other rangefinders, who used aerial photography, the on-course detail has been verified by golfers, for golfers.
SkyCaddie conforms to USGA/R&A rulings and golfers are able to download the courses they want to play via a range of annual SkyPlayer Membership schemes.
SkyCaddie www.skycaddiegps.co.uk