A Marshal’s Mobile Miscue Should Serve as a Deterrent

At your local golf course the course marshal is the often overbearing individual dedicated to shaving every possible second off the pace of play. And yes, sometimes this person can go about their duties in a delicate and friendly manner, but on most occasions the shepherd tending to his flock of daily-fee golfers can be an ornery son-of-a-b!tch. But the demeanor goes with the territory. This traffic cop of rolling topography is also responsible for settling disputes between groups or answering questions or concerns should they arise. The order of law is a marshal’s primary concern.

A marshal’s duties are a bit different when tending to crowds at a professional tournament. If you’ve ever been to a PGA, LPGA or Champions Tour event, the marshal can be spotted wearing a brightly-colored t-shirt, coat or hat, and is in charge of crowd control and flow; they tell you to quiet down before a putt and usher you through the fairway between a labyrinth of yellow ropes before the next group arrives. 

Maintaining order or restoring it, that's the course marshal's charge. With that said, I ask you, "How can we expect the average golfer to behave in an orderly manner if this master of the tee sheet and keeper of the cart path can't even get it right?"

The incident I'm referring to happened last Thursday during the opening set of matches at the President's Cup.

With his team already trailing against Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, who just happen to be the No. 1 and No. 2 players in the world, Australia's Geoff Ogilvy prepared to putt for par when a cell phone went off nearby. Calmly, but assuredly steamed, Ogilvy backed off and began his pre-shot routine again. By the time he stood over his ball for a second time, that same cell phone was chirping.

According to the report by the Associated Press, "The players and their caddies looked into the crowd to see who the offender was, and it turned out to be a course marshal. But he apparently was not familiar with how to turn his phone off and it rang several more times before he finally retreated out of sight."

Now I hate to badger this poor guy, who on this occasion was likely a volunteer who was working the President's Cup just to get inside the gates at Harding Park, but his indiscretion should serve as a warning to anyone who believes that the golf course should be a safe haven for our many portable technologies.

In my opinion cell phone gate should send a clear signal to anyone who considers the act of stowing away cell phones in golf bags with the intention of sneaking in quick G-chat session on the 7^th green acceptable. With a few exceptions, a pregnant wife or an undeniably important job (Head of State, doctor, and maybe nuclear engineer), let's let the golf course remain as our last bastion of freedom from a world that is becoming almost overbearing in regard to the amount of information we must digest and later regurgitate on any given day.

My belief is not shared by Jerry Tarde, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Golf Digest magazine, who used his space in a recent issue of the publication to make an impassioned plea for the symbiotic association between telecommunications and the golf course.

"Despite changing mores and a deeply down-turning economy, I'm onboard with the 5 sacred rules except for telecommunications," Tarde wrote. "Golf needs to keep up with times and if we don't, we may not have private clubs to kick around anymore.

"Mobile phones and PDAs are part of modern life," he continued. "I used to think golf was an escape from the clattery world personified by an ear with a cell phone attached. But I now realize it's unavoidable and maybe even good for the game. I won't argue that an emergency from the clubhouse can be averted by a cell call, or even that checking your PDA at the turn allows you the peace of mind to be away from the office on Friday afternoon. My main point is that young people think of a mobile phone as a natural appendage, and we're cutting off a generation or two of golfers if we don't welcome them into the game right now.

"Of course, this isn't a license for boorish manners or slow play - the practice should be to minimize use; keep voices low; do it in the locker room, not the dining room; don't hold up play."

Thank you captain contradiction for such an unrealistic argument. In theory, it's fine to believe that we'd all be so responsible and courteous as to only catch a quick glance of our PDAs or iPhones at the turn. But when put into practice, encouraging cell phones on the course will only lead to waiting for your fourth to tee off while he gabs away with his wife. Or worse yet, we'll all be in our own worlds as we ride from hole to hole, texting or checking the stock ticker. We might as well play EA Sports Tiger Woods 2010 online through the PS3.

I'm 25 years old, will be 26 in a week, and I'm in agreement that such items of instant communication have become appendages for my generation, but I don't believe that's the way it should be. Every now and then I like to pick up a hard copy of the newspaper, write a letter or sit down and talk to someone face-to-face over lunch instead of hitting them up on Facebook chat. So the thought of a technology-free round of golf is appealing to me on many levels.

I think it's time that we cut the umbilical cord of connectedness, if only for three or four hours. Please golf, help us preserve one of the last realms of society not yet overcome by the world of updates in 140 characters or less.

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