At least as far as the photo in the golfdigest.com link goes, it looks like he (Bryson) is just using it to get a proportional perspective as to where one feature (perhaps the pin, but it could be anything I guess) is relative to other features on the scorecard hole layout. I would think someone with his skill and experience could do that innately, but I can't imagine it providing any advantage that others would find objectionable. He could use his thumb to mark a length on the side of a pencil or his forefinger and approximate the same thing if it comes down to it

You'd have to be a known distance away from the object being located, right? Some sort of triangulation? I'll have to look it up. Guy on GEA who knew said when used like that, it's a "divider".

mikeintopeka no mention of the word compass in the article. The pic shows him with a protractor, not sure why having a protractor would be an issue. I'm sure the usga could invent some reason (or possible reason) why it's an issue....it will be interesting to see what is said, as damn sure TGC will report on it! And Bernhard Langer anchors in plain sight and BAD gets his balls busted for using a protractor👎

      mikeintopeka

      My understanding is some use the term "compass" when referring to a protractor and pencil, I have never heard anyone use that term til now, quite possibly pre-magnetic compass folks referred to a protractor as a compass, but ??

      Sounds like the issue is whether or not it can be used as a DMD (distance measuring device) or not and how he goes about it, etc. He is using it on an actual yardage book itself, not on the actual course, so it would seem he would be ok, but if he constructs a green size "compass" then he's prolly in trouble. I'm sure he'll be warned not to do that😉

      And a point of clarification, I believe it's the PGA looking into it, not the usga. My bad on that!

        "Knowing" Bryson, he prolly has a digital "compass" 😊

        Yeah, a compass will help immensely if what you need to do is draw a circle. Not sure how it would be helpful on a golf course, lol.

        On a side note, when I was in fellowship training at Vanderbilt I used to go play pool with the med students at lunch hour. One of them was famous for studying his shots for too long and from too many angles. One day one of the guys says to him, "What're you gonna do next? Get out a protractor?!? Just hit the damn shot!" From then on whenever anybody studied a shot for more than a few seconds somebody would mention a protractor. It was an ongoing joke. Never thought it would apply to a golf course!

        Ok, so I just looked at the linked article, and, sure enough, he has a compass in his hand. Not a protractor.

        Baffled.

        He's been complaining about the pin location measurements being off vs. what is given to them, the reason for the compass.

        I can sure understand his reasoning about that.🙄 I'm not going to putt at the cup I see on the green in front of me, I want to putt at the cup as it is on the paper/in the book.

          Par4QC

          The old expression, "can't see the forest because of the trees" comes to mind.

            Guys a real crackpot. I personally don’t even believe in range finders. Golf a game of various skills including judgment, feel, imagination . Designers use many concepts to create illusions on a golf hole. The fun is to figure them out and defeat the hole design, not to use devices .

              In the military, a compass was a round device that was used to plot one's way from one grid point to another on a map, differentiating north from south, east from west. You had a magnetic north, and a true north, because of the magnetic pull from the north and south poles. We called this declination.

              I assumed what he was using was a similar device, but then again - maybe the nomenclature of said items have changed over the years.

                Furthermore... I think (to me) this would be more of a benefit regarding wind direction, much more so than the location of holes cut on a putting green.

                I wonder if he stays up late at night during a tournament week trying to figure out the moon's position and how that impacts the flight of his golf ball...

                Tinker I personally don’t even believe in range finders. Golf a game of various skills including judgment, feel, imagination . Designers use many concepts to create illusions on a golf hole. The fun is to figure them out and defeat the hole design, not to use devices .

                I totally disagree. I do not believe guessing the distance to things is a part of golf. If it was, there wouldn't be sprinkler heads with distances listed or 150yd markers, etc. One should always know the numbers - planning and execution is the game.

                    My favorite Bryson quirk-

                    SEVEN top 10's, and a WIN, this year!

                    Also, I just watched the end of his episode of playing lessons with Sean Foley.....they showed his swing from overhead with what they called 360 view....amazing, truly amazing how.consistent he is with that plane!

                    ZWExton Not to be nosy, but how many times will you hit that 150 yd. green? Even after knowing exactly how far it was????

                        Par4QC 8/10ish. But knowing whether it's 140, 150, or 160 to the front/middle/back makes a big difference in club selection too. 145 vs 157 is a different club for me.

                          PA-PLAYA Compass:

                          1 : a device having a magnetic needle that indicates direction on the earth's surface by pointing toward the north

                          2 : an instrument for drawing circles or marking measurements consisting of two pointed legs joined at the top by a pivot —usually used in pl.

                          I guess you had to have gone to school in the '50s(or earlier) to know about #2.
                          Old sailors would have been seen using both types at once.