I am from the old school where no one took a cell phone on the golf course.  A doctor or an expectant father might get away with a vibrating pager, but never a cell phone.

First of all you are supposed to be relaxing on the course.  Leave the issues at work and other cares behind you.  Plus there is the concept that there should be silence when you are swinging a club.

This started to change with younger guys thinking they are so essential to the company that bankruptcy might happen if they were not immediately involved.  Then came the concept of just accepting texts or notifications for an update from a facebook change.  Now you watch guys walking a course typing on their IPhone between shots.

It is creeping up the age group.  Guys my age are playing with a cell phones turned on and some connected to their hips.  I mean how important can anything be to a retired guy?

Now I do carry a cell phone in my golf bag but it is turned off.  I carry it because guys my age might need medical help way out there.

I was playing a round last week with 3 guys I barely know from our Probus club.  I am in the back swing of a 150 yard shot to the green when from a guy standing behind me there is a loud electronic tune.  My ball goes awry.   I turn around with a bit of a frown and he shrugs and says lightly “sorry” and I watch him read his important text message.

His wife texted him… “do not contact me or text me for the next two hours as I am going into a concert.”  He thought it was so funny and Ironic.  But he did not say “Bruce I apologize, I will turn this cell off please do a re-hit”  This guy is older than I am and just walked on to his next shot chuckling.  (I did a rehit but was so mad it was not much better)

I suggested at the next tee that everyone turn off their cell phones but was just looked at as if I had suggested hari-kari.

What a different world we live in.