QUESTION: I was playing in a stroke play club championship and accidentally noticed my slope feature was turned on with my distance measuring device, and I used the device with the slope on for multiple holes. My guess is I am in trouble, but what is the penalty?
-Ryan (Los Angeles, CA)
Ruling: Well Ryan, the good news is now under the Rules, distance measuring devices can be used in any competition unless the Committee does not allow them. The bad news, you cannot use any non-conforming features (e.g. slope) during a tournament. Those functions must be turned off. So, the first offense under Rule 4.3 (1) is the general penalty of two strokes. Since you used it multiple times, unfortunately the penalty under this rule is disqualification from the event.