'I Find It Rather Rude When Someone I’m Playing With Pulls Out A Mobile On The 1st Hole And Doesn’t Put It Away Again' – Has Phone Usage Become Too Widespread On The Golf Course?

Walking through the historic centre of St Andrews recently, the song “I Feel Free” by Cream popped into my head. I couldn’t stop a line from circulating (don’t you hate it when that happens?).

The line was, “I can walk down the street, there’s no one there. But the pavements are one huge crowd.”

I was bobbing and weaving past the throngs of tourists, visitors and locals on Market Street, and I realised only I was changing my path. That was because almost everyone was either looking at, or speaking on, their mobile phones. They were oblivious to the mass of cheek by jowl humanity. They were in their own little worlds.

I mentioned it to a friend later who said his partner had been elbowed in the face earlier that week by a mobile phone-wielding pedestrian who hadn’t even stopped to check if she was okay… And this was in St Andrews! It’s supposed to be a civilised place.

There’s little we can do about this awful and dangerous change in society. Although I praise any government effort to try. But here we are right now - many people are currently more interested in what’s happening on social media than in what is happening right in front of them. I can’t stand it.

Golf, like most recreational activities, is undertaken by its participants to escape the unpleasantnesses of actual life. To spend a little time away from the turgid realities of the daily grind and the anxiety-inducing horrors of the modern world.

Why would you look at your phone mid-round to be reminded of them?

To give both sides, let’s quickly address reasons you might use your mobile phone on the golf course that are totally understandable.

Firstly, you could be using your mobile as a GPS distance measuring device and many people do. That’s a good invention and one that speeds up play and increases enjoyment of the game.

Many people also use their mobile phone for shot-tracking and inputting scores into programmes like England Golf's iGolf app.

You might be expecting, or receive, a crucial call that would drag you off the course if it came in: wife gone into labour, child fallen out of a tree, mum died, house burned down, cops are on to you... Those sorts of things.

Most things are not so urgent though. Did Francis Drake not finish his game of bowls at Plymouth Hoe saying the Spanish Armada could wait? Well, it's likely that was because of the winds and tides, but still, you take my point!

I check my phone a few times a round to make sure nothing terrible has happened. A discreet look on a walk between shots or holes is not antisocial or inappropriate.

Then… Well, of course there’s… Erm… I suppose you could be… No. Or, maybe you absolutely have to… Well, probably not.

No, I can’t really see the pressing need to use a mobile phone on the golf course for many reasons other than distance measuring or dealing with crucial situations that simply can’t wait.

When I’m playing golf, I’m out to enjoy the experience and to enjoy the company of my playing partners. I want to talk with them, enjoy the views, the fresh air, the surroundings, the sport, the challenge. There are so many little joys.

For four hours, I don’t want to think about emails piling up that I probably can’t answer properly from the 12^th tee.

I, and most people I play with, do (of course) use mobile phones sparingly while playing golf. We’ll check the time, take the odd photo, send the odd message, maybe even show the odd video that’s relevant to a conversation within the group.

When it doesn’t hold up play, and when not antisocial, then a mobile phone is a great tool.

What I object to is when people are glued to a mobile almost permanently throughout a round – those people who can “walk down a fairway and their eyes don’t see…”

I find it rather rude when someone I’m playing with pulls out a mobile on the first hole and doesn’t put it away again for the rest of the game, whether they’re filming, talking, browsing… whatever... It’s just not very cool.

I do think mobile phone usage has become too widespread on the golf course. Some might think I’m a luddite for saying it, but really consider it…

Imagine you’re out playing a tremendous course, Royal Dornoch for example. Would you prefer for playing partners to spend 50% of the experience with eyes on a screen and talking to people who aren’t there, or for them to be soaking in the rumpled fairways and stunning coastline while talking to you?

If you’d rather the former, then plug back in and return to your virtual insanity.