WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT DO WITH YOUR MOBILE PHONE

In an age where people cannot bear to be separated from their smartphone for more than 10 minutes, phones on the golf course are a common sight. In some cases, they can even help to improve your game. But before you reach for your mobile on the course, make sure you switch it to silent and know what you can and cannot get away with…

YOU CAN…

Use the device for matters unrelated to golf.

Checking the football scores or calling home to say you’re stuck in the office and going to be home late are both fine.

Access information from previous rounds.

It’s perfectly fine to look at your average yardages for each club, as well as any swing tips that you or your coach have written down after a range session.

Obtain information related to the competition being played.

This could include an electronic yardage book, a weather app, or even a live leaderboard of whatever competition you’re playing in.

YOU CAN’T…

Watch or listen to a broadcast of the competition being played.

OK, so this is unlikely to be an issue in your midweek Stableford, but watching an Instagram story of your mate playing a hole you’ve yet to tackle could give you an unfair advantage.

Ask for or give advice.

As much as we could all benefit from some calming words or a quick swing tip, you can’t drop your coach a text to ask him why on Earth you’ve shanked the last six wedges in a row.

Interpret or process any playing information from the current round.

While it’s fine to use a scorecard tracker or to look at data from previous rounds, using an app that provides club recommendations based on your current round distances is not allowed.

Use it to calculate the effective playing distances.

It’s OK for an app to tell you that you have 150 yards left to the pin (provided the Committee did not prohibit the use of distancemeasuring devices), but it must not factor in other conditions such as slopes, wind speed or temperature.

Listen to music or a metronome app to help with putting tempo.

Not only is it annoying for everyone else, but it’s also prohibited whether during or in between strokes.

Delay play by searching for it.

Regardless of whether you’re playing a hole or between holes, you must not cause unreasonable delay to other players by actions that are within your control. Brief delays are considered reasonable, but walking over 400 yards back to the teeing area to look for your phone may be considered unreasonable. The penalties range from one stroke for the first time it happens to disqualification for a third.