Why do Golfers need Silence?

Playing with a small number of people each of who can greatly alter noise levels explains golfers’ preference for quiet (rather than silence). Participant golfers are the ones who go to golf tournaments and are used to quietening down whilst others address the ball. Lack of ambient noise makes any noisy spectator annoying.

That sounds like a stable custom which - short of large numbers of people who don’t play turning up - will persist.

Prediction: tennis will succumb to noise during points before golf during address.

Bear in mind that, until fairly recently, golf was a sport played primarily by rich elites, folks who’d grown up in country clubs. Those clubs had certain standards of etiquette and politeness, as golf was supposed to be a “gentleman’s” game.

Even professional golfers, for the most part, came from wealthy or upper-middle-class backgrounds (an occasional Lee Trevino would occasionally slip through), and so did most of the people who came out to watch golf matches. SO, for many years, it could be assumed that almost everyone in attendance was a well-to-do WASP who knew the rules of golf etiquette, and would follow them.

Today, of course, millions of people, of many walks of life, play and watch golf. Ordinary working-class Joes now play on muniscipal courses, and guys likeTiger Woods have attracted the interest of many young fans who never cared about golf before.

Since there are now many more golfers and many more fans (including a lot of young people and a lot of blue collar guys), it stands to reason that increasing numbers of players and fans don’t know or care about the old unwritten rules of etiquette.

So, whereas 75 years ago, a few hundred rich fans watched politely and quietly when Bobby Jones teed off, there are now THOUSANDS of fans at the U.S. Open watching David Duval tee off. And these guys treat a golf match the way they would a baseball game! When they go to Wrigley field, they can get a hot dog and a beer and yell “You the man!” at Sammy Sosa, and no one thinks twice. Such fans now go to AUgusta or PEbble BEach, and assume they can do the same there.

Obviously, veteran players prefer the old ways, and resent the louder, more uncouth fans that golf has now. On the other hand, they’d better get used to it. ALL of them are making a LOT more money because of the influx of new fans. If they want to enforce etiquette and drive off the new fans, fine- they’ll just have to play for the kind of prize money golfers got in the BEn Hogan era.

First of all, it isn’t flashes that bother golfers, cause most of the time they don’t use them on the golf course, since it is outside (duh).

The sound of clicking during the backswing or downswing can have quite an effect when it comes out of total silence. Trust me, I know, though I asked for the photo to be taken. Simply hitting a 120 yard wedge onto the green successfully while having a photo taken during the swing was quite a tough endeavour.

As for Tiger Woods and his ‘fist-pumping’, first of all, he isn’t doing that during someone else’s putt attempt, and second, often pro golfers these days take into account the effect their successful put attempt might have on those putting or teeing off nearby. Tiger purposefully delayed putting out on 16 at the TPC this year in order not to disturb or be disturbed by those putting out on the 17th green just 140 yards away.

You’re assuming intelligence on the part of the camera operator, and from the instances I’ve seen that’s a bad assumption. :slight_smile: Many of them are using those cheap flash disposables that use the flash every time regardless of the light conditions.

Seriously, we’ve all seen folks use flash cameras in the most ridiculous circumstances. I’ve seen them used at golf tournaments, but my favorite is when folks who are sitting several hundred feet away from the action use a flashbulb to take pictures at a ballgame. You’d need a photon torpedo to make a difference at that range!

Will, I agree that amature photographers will often flash with their photos regardless, and yes, the sight of hundreds of flashes going off at a football game or some such is really amazingly stupid.

However, the PGA Tour prohibits the use of cameras by spectators during the actual tournament rounds. Cameras are restricted to practice round days. During the tournament itself, the only cameras working are from the paid press, and they aren’t into doing stupid things like screwing up their exposure settings with automatic flashes, etc.

After his round at the Masters where Ernie Els backed off his putt because of a photograph being taken too early, he specifically said that it was the sound of the shutter that bothered him. Apparently, the guy in question didn’t even wait for his putter head to move before snapping the pic. As if it weren’t bad enough to worry about the yips… :wink:

Agreed. Cell phones and pagers are banned as well (although I think pagers are allowed if they can be set to vibrate mode). Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the dumb ones from walking in with their disposable cameras in their pockets and then snapping pictures during those very rounds.

I’ve seen it happen (while watching golf tournaments on TV - I’ve gotta get a life). In fact, I’ve specifically seen it happen several time to Tiger Woods, about whom this question initially cropped up. He’s not at all shy about pointing to the offender while telling him to put the camera away.

I believe the offending spectators are escorted off of the course by the tour staff.