It’s the week after the Masters Tournament, and although the buzz from the season’s first major still lingers, golf carries on.
The RBC Heritage, the fifth Signature Event on the PGA Tour, is underway, along with notable rule changes on the U.S.-based circuit.
While these adjustments aren’t permanent, they are part of the PGA Tour’s trials aimed at speeding up the game.
Still, the measures being tested are significant and, if widely adopted, could reshape the tour entirely. One of the rules being piloted this week permits players to use distance measuring devices—specifically, rangefinders—during the RBC Heritage.
This change was announced in January and will be evaluated across six tournaments this spring. Rangefinders are already widely used in golf, especially in most women’s events, the DP World Tour, and PGA Tour Champions.
The PGA of America also began allowing them in its tournaments, including the PGA Championship, starting in 2021.
“The use of distance-measuring devices has been brought up, and I think that right now this particular rules committee is very accepting of that. It’s been tested on the Korn Ferry (Tour) level. It’s been tested for a full year at the PGA TOUR Champions level. Why not?” said about the subject PGA Tour Senior Vice President Rules & Competitions, Gary Young.
According to Golf Digest, the PGA Tour will test rangefinders on courses of various sizes.
In addition to the RBC Heritage, they will be used at the Truist Championship, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the OneFlight Myrtle Beach Classic, the Byron Nelson, and another event to be confirmed.
The second rule being tested this week concerns a new penalty policy for slow play.
This will be trialed at the LECOM Suncoast Classic, part of the Korn Ferry Tour, which begins Wednesday, April 16, at Lakewood National Golf Club in Florida.
Golf Digest reports that the new policy will issue a warning to players who engage in slow play.
A second warning will involve timing the player, and if the issue continues, a penalty stroke will be applied.
The previous policy followed a similar process but included a “freebie” before a penalty stroke was issued. Slow play has been a growing issue in golf, especially on the PGA Tour.
The LPGA Tour has also introduced a new policy that includes penalty strokes and fines for players caught in slow play.
The PGA Tour has also taken steps to address the issue by reducing membership and limiting field sizes for many of its tournaments.
