PGA Tour Moving Forward With Measuring Devices
PGA Tour Moving Forward With Measuring Devices originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Measuring devices seem destined for a permanent place on the PGA Tour in the near future.
The initial results of using DMD devices were provided on a conference call Wednesday with PGA Tour officials and select media.
After a four-week pilot period of testing distance measuring devices (DMDs) on the PGA Tour, which started at the RBC Heritage in April, the data has supported a full program implementation moving forward. This will likely begin next season once the Players Advisory Council and the PGA Tour Policy Board review the testing results and vote to add DMDs to competition.
“We would take it through the normal governance process,” Tyler Dennis, PGA Tour Chief Competition Officer, said. “If they view this favorably, like it seems from the surveys and things we've seen, we'd get that in place as soon as possible. We tend to do things on the cadence of seasons, but that doesn't mean we have to.”
The Tour reviewed ShotLink data relevant to the use of DMDs with feedback from 297 players and caddies.
The survey's trends showed that approach shots and all par-5s trended faster during the period in which DMDs were permitted.
Data also showed that shot times for 40-to-60-yard shots from the green were faster, with 4.9 seconds saved from the fairway and 5.1 seconds saved from the rough.
While a limited amount of time savings was discussed on par-5s and shots close to the green, the Tour explained that it was difficult to know the total amount of time saved in rounds using DMDs.
The explanation for not having an overall number of time savings is that there are so many different facets, with every player, every round, and every golf course being different.
“I'd say it's probably hard to put a specific number down to it,” Billy Schroeder, Sr. V.P. for the PGA Tour. “But I think what you've started to see in this conversation here is the breadth of approach. Trying to leave no stone unturned, trying to find everything that we can through our competition, our
administration of it, the way that we present it, all facets of it to maximize the fan enjoyment and remove any of those impediments as best we can.”
Toward that goal of pace of play transprancy, starting this week at the Rocket Classic, the time required for both the front and back nines will be part of the players’ scorecard page on PGA Tour.com.
Yet, the knowledge of how much time will be saved is unknown.
“There are just many, many things to it,” Dennis said of providing a specific time savings with the Tour’s initiatives. “I think it's important to say that we don't have a target number or something. That's not the focus. We're trying to hit every aspect of this. This was one of the very most important things to fans. So, it's worth the effort.”
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 25, 2025, where it first appeared.
