Wierd 'tour equipment' question... compass in U.S. Open qualifier

[15th Club]

I was at the U.S. Open qualifier at Scioto CC on Monday, and walked part of the front nine with the grouping of Pat Perez, Stuart Appleby and James Hahn.

 

On the 3rd tee (3 is a 384-yard Par 4 along the eastern boundary of the course), James asked his caddy for something and he produced what looked like a standard issue Boy Scout compass. James played with it for a few seconds, apparently lining up the needle to North, then looking up at the trees and noting the wind direction, said something further to his caddy and then handed the compass back and the caddy put it back in the bag. I never saw it again after that.

 

But Perez and Appleby, and their caddies, were right next to Hahn and his caddy the entire time. Nobody said anything; nobody seemed to think anything was unusual.

 

I really wanted to ask Hahn's caddy about it, but I don't like to bother players or caddies in a competiton. My immediate thought was, "Wait; you can't use a compass in a competition." But given the (complete non-) reaction of Perez and Appleby and their caddies (probably 70 years of combined experience on tour between the four of them), there had to be a good explanation.

 

When I got home from Columbus yesterday, I looked it up in my Decisions book, and the mystery deepened, because Decision 14-3/4 stated that a compass is an artificial measuring device that may not be used. My Decisions book is not the newest one, but it isn't all that old. So before I posted anything dumb, I checked the latest updates online and sure enough, Decision 14-3/4 has been revised -- a compass that does nothing more than supply direction (i.e., does not measure wind speed, etc.) is no longer prohibited.

 

I'd never before seen a compass used in a golf tournament, and that's why.

[chickenpotpie]

Was he using it to try to figure out what direction the grain of the green might be aligned?

[15th Club]

[quote name='chickenpotpie' timestamp='1401909871' post='9430399']
Was he using it to try to figure out what direction the grain of the green might be aligned?
[/quote]

No, just trying to figure out what direction the tee shot was. As it happens, that part of Scioto's routing turns NNW. And the wind was getting very gusty. The tee shot on that hole is a 3W or a hybrid, into a narrow chute of fairway that leaves just a short iron into an elevated green. This hole was shaped by the Nicklaus redesign of some years ago for just this purpose.

It is an important place to gauge the wind, and I think they were simply comparing the direction of the tee shot to the direction of the prevailing wind they had seen so far that afternoon.

[hollabachgt]

This was first brought up this year with Matt Every's caddie at Bay Hill. If a site has a consistent wind direction having a compass is a great way to determine exactly where the wind is coming from at any time. When it was discussed earlier this spring I was unaware it was ever illegal to use and thought it always fell under the same umbrella as tools like the yardage book which don't give you information directly but aid you in finding information.

[KILLEDBYASHANKEDWEDGE]

I had a special order for a yardage-book cover with a slot for a compass that was about the size of a credit card. I think it was BSA issue. If I did another I would use a Cammenga compass, same company that makes the Military issue compass. That would be tour issue for sure!

 

[chiguy]

Interesting. I've never thought of this before, though it makes perfect sense in order to gauge the wind direction on a hole.

[slicktry]

When does one think we'll see someone trying to sell a tour issue compass in the BST?

God Bless
Jer

[KILLEDBYASHANKEDWEDGE]

I think you will see more players/caddies using one.

[ronstelten]

I thought a compass was against the rules. Most guys mark north in their yardage books.

[epixep]

It's not against the rules, a bunch of tour caddies have them now.