Golf and GPS

Lots of people never listen to commercial radio because they detest the ads. But ads can educate and stimulate thought (and those that don't, I'll put up with because the alternative, state radio, is funded through forcing a majority of people, who never listen, to pay for it. Wrong.)

Anyway, I took the kids golfing yesterday. We all hacked our way around with the occasional good shots which can never be replicated by doing the same thing next time. The universal rule of golf.

So, there is this advertorial/interview I've just been listening to with a guy from Sharpies in Wellington. Apparently new golf rules came into force on January 1, 2006. Players can now use a GPS device (think its about $700) to work out the distance of the shot they want to make.

Now the device wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to my game. Getting the distance right isn't much use when the ball's trajectory is thirty or more degrees off course.

But I wonder how people feel about their use at a professional level? Surely part of a professional's skill is to be able to judge a distance? I'm a big fan of technology but is there a line to be drawn in sporting endeavours?

Postnote; I am now heavily dosed with voltaren thanks to a combination of golf and blogging. According to the Doctor I must have injured a shoulder/neck muscle without knowing it until four o'clock this morning when it when into excruciatingly painful spasm. Sitting in front of the computer too long and then going to bed caused the muscle to go into a gradual seizure. I better get off here now.