Opinion & Analysis
Is giving advice the verbal equivalent of backstopping?
I have a quick take for you: giving advice is the verbal equivalent of backstopping. The idea came out of a back-and-forth with a great golf mind (@scramblergolf on Twitter), but the idea coalesced in my head.
Here’s my proof:
- Caddies and players make no effort to impede competitors from looking at the bag, to determine what club their own golfer played (usually on a par three hole)
- Caddies and players make no effort to slow down play, enough to let a golfer approach the green and mark a golf ball that might prove to be a backstop.
That’s it. Pretty simple, huh? Both are poorly-kept (if at all) secrets that announcers, ironically, view in different ways. On-course reporters and tower heads depend on caddies to flash them a number of fingers, indicating the number of club that was played. Do these on-air mouths think for one second that they are the only ones who see the signal? And yet, self-righteously, those same announcers leap to decry the current practice of backstopping.
I’ve news for you, talking heads: these are the same broken rule, committed in different manners.
The professional tours allow each to happen with tacit approval. Why? It’s hard to penalize, even harder than determining if the neo-long putters are anchored or not (which is another stupid rule—but don’t get me off on a tangent.)
The tours hate conflict. Remember when Miguel Angel Jimenez and Keegan Bradley almost duked it out, over Bradley’s drop and caddie interference? Sawgrass doesn’t want NASCAR, MMA, or even the NFL. Kill’em with decorum, they might as well print, instead of Live Under Par.
Well, ignore for a moment Christina Kim’s true motives (which none of us knows) for calling penalties on competitors at Q-School.
Instead, look at the reaction of the golf community.
Kim is vilified for bringing the matter to Twitter before it went to the media. Too bad, media. Sometimes we get scooped. Guess what this calumny does? It takes our attention away from the infraction, and moves it to the interpersonal relationships. Those are fodder for gossip rags, but not for golf fans and members of the business community. The only thing that matters is that golfers from Dustin Johnson to Kendall Dye, have admitted that they don’t always know the rules. Not knowing the rules, unless you are a paladin, encourages one to moan about being wronged by a draconian code.
Spare me. TV golf announcers, stop asking for a handout. Professional golfers, stop backstopping. Professional caddies, stop giving out club information.
Opinion & Analysis
Brandel Chamblee PGA Championship Q&A: Rose’s huge McLaren risk, distracted LIV pros and why Aronimink suits the bombers
PGA Championship week is here, and Brandel Chamblee did not hold back in our latest discussion ahead of the season’s second major.
In our 2026 PGA Championship Q&A, golf’s leading analyst made the case that PIF pulling LIV’s funding has left its players competing in a state of confusion, called Justin Rose’s mid-season equipment switch a huge risk at 45, and explained why Aronimink will be a bombers’ delight this week.
Check out the full Q&A below.
Gianni: With the PIF confirming that they’re pulling funding from LIV at the end of the season, what impact do you expect that to have on the LIV players competing at the PGA Championship?
Brandel: I would imagine that they have all been thrown into a state of confusion, and will be distracted, not knowing where they are going to play next year and not knowing exactly their road back to either the DP World Tour or the PGA Tour. Or in Rahm’s case, being tied to a sinking ship for the next few years, likely playing for pennies on the dollar in events that no one cares about or watches.
I doubt this would put him in the best frame of mind to compete at his highest level. Keeping in mind, however, that majors are the only time that LIV disciples get to play in events that matter, so never disregard the motivation they have to prove to the world they are still relevant.
Gianni: Justin Rose switched to McLaren Golf equipment mid-season while playing some of the best golf of his career. What do you make of the change?
Brandel: I don’t really know what to make of Rose switching equipment. It seems a huge risk on his part, even though it is likely, in my opinion, that the clubs he’s playing are similar, if not the exact grinds, to what he was playing previously, with a McLaren stamp on them.
Having said that, at best, it is a distraction when he seemed to be as dialed in with his game as any 45-year-old could be and trending in the majors to perhaps do something that would definitely put him in the Hall of Fame. At worst, given the possibility that these clubs aren’t just duplicates of his old set stamped with McLaren on them, he’s made an equipment change that would take time, and 45-year-old athletes don’t have the time to do such things.
Gianni: Aronimink has only hosted a handful of professional events since it hosted the 1962 PGA Championship. What kind of test does it present, and does a course with less recent major championship history tend to level the playing field?
Brandel: Even though Aronimink has only hosted a handful of meaningful professional events, it has been fairly discerning in who can win there. When Keegan Bradley won the BMW Championship on the Donald Ross masterpiece in 2018, he was the 2nd best iron player on tour coming into that week. When Nick Watney won the AT&T at Aronimink in 2011, he was 2nd in strokes gained total coming into the week.
In 2020, Aronimink hosted the KPMG Championship, and Sei Young Kim won. On the LPGA that year, she was first in greens in regulation, putts per green in regulation, and scoring average on the way to being the LPGA player of the year. And then there is the 1962 PGA Championship won by Gary Player, who eventually became just one of a few players to win the career grand slam on the way to winning 9 majors. It is a formidable test, and if it’s not softened by rain, it will bring out the best in the upper echelons of the game.
Gianni: Is there a specific hole at Aronimink that you think will do the most to decide the winner?
Brandel: The hardest hole at Aronimink in each of the three tour events that have been played there since 2010 has been the long par-3 8th hole, with the par-4 10th being the second hardest, so most of the carnage will happen around the turn, but with the par-5 16th offering opportunities for bold plays and the tough closing holes at 17 and 18, the finish is likely to be frenetic.
Gianni: The PGA Championship has always sat in the shadow of the other majors. What does the ideal PGA Championship look like in your eyes, and what would it take for it to carve out its own identity?
Brandel: The PGA Championship, to whatever degree it suffers from the comparison to the other three majors, is still counted just as much when adding them up at the end of one’s career. Almost 1/3 of Nicklaus’ major wins were the five PGA Championships he won. Walter Hagen won 11 majors, five of which were PGA Championships.
Tiger Woods twice in his career won back-to-back PGA Championships, and those four majors count just as much as the other 11 he won. The PGA may not have the prestige of the other three, but it carries the same weight. Having said that, I preferred the identity that it had as the last major of the year.
Gianni: You nailed your Masters picks. Rory won, Scottie finished solo second, and Morikawa surged to a tie for seventh. Who are your top 3 picks for the PGA Championship and why?
Brandel: I am not a huge fan of majors played on golf courses that have been shorn of most of the trees, although I understand some of the agronomic reasons for doing so and of course the ease with which it allows members to play after errant drives. However, at the highest level, it all but eliminates any strategy off the tee and turns professional golf into an even bigger slugfest. That means that it will likely be a bomber’s delight this week, but fortunately, Scottie Scheffler is long enough to play that game and straight enough to play it better than anyone else.
The major championships give us very few surprises anymore, going back to the beginning of 2012, so the last 57 majors played, the average world rank of the winners has been better than 15th in the world. So look at the highest ranked and longest drivers who are on form coming into the PGA Championship who also have great short games as the surrounds at Aronimink are very challenging. That’s Scottie Scheffler by a mile and then McIlroy and Cameron Young with a far bigger nod towards DeChambeau than I gave him at the Masters.
In this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, we dive into one of the most interesting flatstick releases of the year with a full review of the new TaylorMade SYSTM 2 putters. After spending time on the greens, I break down what makes this design stand out, where it performs, and why it has me completely torn between loving it and fighting it. If you are into feel, alignment, and consistency, this is one you will want to hear about.
We also take a look at some of the putters in play on the PGA Tour last week. From familiar favorites to a few surprising setups, there is always something to learn from what the best players in the world are rolling with under pressure.
To wrap things up, I walk through the process of building a set of JP Golf Prime irons paired with Baddazz Gold Series shafts. From component selection to performance goals, this is a deep dive into what goes into creating a unique custom set and why this combo has been so intriguing.
This year my 50th birthday. Gosh, where has the time gone?
As a teenager in rural Missouri, some of my junior high and high school years felt interminable. Graduation seemed light years away. But the older I get, the faster life seems to fly by.
I’m also increasingly aware of my mortality. My dad died recently. Earlier this year, a friend and fellow PGA of America professional and I were texting about our next catch-up. The next message I received was news of his unexpected passing at 48. Shortly after, a woman I dated in college succumbed to cancer at 51.
Certainly, one can share perspective at any age. Seniors help freshmen, veterans guide rookies. But reaching this milestone feels like as good a time as any to do one of those “what would I tell my younger self?” articles.
I’ve had a uniquely varied career in golf. I started as a 27-year-old, average-length-hitting, 14-handicap computer engineer and somehow managed to turn pro before running out of money, constantly bootstrapping my way forward. I’ve won qualifiers and set venue records in the World Long Drive Championships, finished fifth at the Speedgolf World Championships, coached all skill levels as a PGA of America professional, built industry-leading swing speed training programs for Swing Man Golf, helped advance the single-length iron market with Sterling Irons®, caddied on the PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions, and played about 300 courses across 32 countries.
It’s been a ride, and I’ve gone both deep and wide.
So while I can consult and advise from a lot of angles, let me keep it to a few things I’d tell the average golfer who wants to improve.
1. Think About What You Want
Everyone has their own reason for picking up a golf club.
Oddly, as a professional athlete, I’m not internally driven by competition. That can be challenging, as the industry currently prioritizes and incentivizes competition over the love of the game.
For me, I love walking and being outdoors. Nature helps balance my energy. I prefer courses that are integrated into the natural beauty of their surroundings. I’m comfortable practicing alone. I’m a deep thinker, and I genuinely enjoy investigating the game, using data and intuition to unearth unique, often innovative insights. I’m fortunate to be strong and athletic, so I appreciate the chance to engage with my abilities. Traveling feels adventurous. I could go on.
You don’t have to overthink it like I do. For you, it might be as simple as hitting balls to escape work, hanging out with friends, and playing loosely with the rules and the score.
The point is to give yourself permission to play for your own reasons, and let that be enough.
But if improvement is your goal, thinking about your destination—and when you want to get there—is important, because it dictates the steps you need to take. When I set out to go from a 14-handicap to the PGA TOUR as quickly as possible, the steps I needed were very different from those of a working golfer trying to break 90 in six months. That’s also different from someone who just wants a few peaceful hours outside each week, away from work or family.
None of these goals are better than the others, but each requires a different plan that you can work backward from.
2. There Are Lots of Things That Can Work
One of the challenges of golf is that, although there are rules for playing, there aren’t clear, industry-wide standards for how to best play the game. There’s a lot of gray area.
You might hear a top coach or trainer insist that a certain move is the best way to swing or train. Then you dig a bit deeper and, much to your confusion and frustration, another respected coach or trainer says something completely different. I don’t think anyone is trying to confuse you—at least I hope not. It’s just where the industry is right now.
You have to be careful with advice from tournament pros, too. They might be great at scoring, but they’re also human and sometimes just as susceptible as amateurs to believing things that don’t really move the needle. Tour players might describe what they feel, but that’s not always what they’re actually doing when assessed with technology.
I recently ran a test on my YouTube channel (which connects to my GolfWRX article “How to use your hands in the golf swing for power and accuracy”), and, interestingly, two of the most commonly taught hand actions produced the worst results in the test.
Coaches can certainly help. If you find someone you connect with to help navigate, that’s great. But there are many ways to get the ball in the hole. In the current landscape, you may need to seek multiple opinions, think critically, and use your own intuition to discern what seems true and whose advice resonates with you.
I’d recommend seeking someone who is open-minded and always learning, because things constantly change. Absolutes like “correct” or “proper” should raise a red flag. AI can be useful, but it tends to confidently repeat popular advice, so proceed with caution.
3. Get Custom Fit
If you’re serious about becoming a better player, getting custom fit is hugely important. There’s no sense fighting your equipment if you don’t have to. Most better players get fit these days and, if they don’t, they’re usually skilled enough to work around clubs that aren’t ideal.
If you plan to play for a long time, it’s worth spending a little more upfront to get something that truly fits you and your game, rather than continually buying and discarding equipment.
Equipment rules haven’t really changed significantly since the early 2000s. To stay in business, manufacturers keep pushing those limits. If you pull a bunch of clubs and balls off the rack and test them, you’ll find differences. I’ve tested two new drivers and seen a 30-yard total distance gap. Usually, the issue isn’t bad equipment; it’s that the combination of components simply isn’t the best fit.
It’s like wearing a new pair of floppy clown shoes. Sure, they’re shoes—but you won’t sprint your best in them compared to track shoes that fit perfectly.
Be wary of what’s called custom fitting, too. Sometimes the term is used as a marketing strategy rather than an actual fitting. In some retail settings, fitters may be incentivized to steer you toward higher-priced components. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s not the best fit, but you should be aware of potential biases.
I learned a version of this lesson outside of golf. Years ago, I bought a tennis racquet at a big box store from a seemingly knowledgeable employee who thought it would suit me best. The racquet gave me tennis elbow, and I spent months recovering with rest and acupuncture. The next season, I invested more time and money to find what actually fit me, and I walked away with something amazing that I still play with years later.
So if you’re going to get fit, be smart about it.
Find someone you believe has deep knowledge—possibly with certifications, but not necessarily. Make sure there’s a wide inventory across many brands. Check recent reviews for the individual fitter if possible. Make sure you trust that the fitter has your best interests at heart. If they’re wearing a hat or shirt with a specific brand’s logo, proceed with caution. Unless you specifically want a certain brand or look, be wary of upsells, especially if two options perform nearly the same.
Also, while golf is called a sport of integrity, there’s a thread of manipulation in the industry. I once drafted an equipment article for an industry magazine, structured just like one of their previous popular stories, with matching word count and great photos. The assistant editor loved it; it was useful to readers and required little work on his part. But the editor-in-chief nixed the story. When I asked why, I was told it was because I wasn’t an advertiser. It turned out the article I’d modeled mine after was a paid ad cleverly disguised as editorial content.
I really dislike games, clickbait, and fear-based manipulation. I hope this changes, but golfers deserve to know it exists.
4. Distance and Strategy Matter
There’s a real relationship between how far you hit the ball and your scoring average, even at the PGA TOUR level.
I experienced this early in my pro career. I started as a power hitter, swinging in the high 120s and breaking 200 mph ball speed with a stock driver.
Back then, some instructors advised swinging at 80%, so I tried slowing down for more accuracy. That worked fine on shorter, tighter courses. But on longer setups, I was coming into greens with too much club, and par 5s stopped being
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JCGolf
Nov 9, 2019 at 10:40 am
This article is dumb. Proudly announcing to the world that you hit a 9 iron isn’t against the rule. My partner asking me which club i hit is against the rules. There’s a difference.
Dirty Dog Pervert
Nov 9, 2019 at 8:18 am
Nice cannons on that woman. I like em chunky.
Blackbart65
Nov 8, 2019 at 10:47 am
In response to the headline question, no, giving advice is worse, because it is clearly illegal, based on the rules of golf.
Tom
Nov 8, 2019 at 9:52 am
Calling that “advice” is a bit of a stretch. “I hit an 8-iron” is not the same thing as “I think you should hit an 8-iron”. It’s the same as making an observation about the course or course conditions – which is allowed under the rule, as they are not considered advice.
Mark it Zero
Nov 7, 2019 at 9:08 pm
+1. Forgive me, but I have to admit that was the first thing that caught my eye. Flame away.
Tiger
Nov 7, 2019 at 8:34 pm
GolfWrx class. Without fail.
ChipNRun
Nov 7, 2019 at 7:22 pm
From the story:
____________________
* Caddies and players make no effort to slow down play, enough to let a golfer approach the green and mark a golf ball that might prove to be a backstop.
_______________
These are the same caddies and players who will get put “on the clock” if they drop more than a hole behind the group ahead. So, tour players should play fast… but not too fast?
And, as WEBSTER noted, the iron one hits doesn’t tell us much… trap draw, three-quarters swing has a big impact on distance.
Must have been a “slow news day” in R-land.
Webster
Nov 7, 2019 at 6:17 pm
Why does it even matter really? Pro A and Pro B are most likely playing different irons and even if they did they most likely don’t hit them the same distance. And even then player B has to ascertain how player A chose to hit the shot; full, take a hair off, a punch, trap draw, etc. And after all that they then have to try and come up with how that relates to their own clubs/swing.
james
Nov 7, 2019 at 5:33 pm
One is against the rules and one is not…..I see no similarity.
Simple
Nov 7, 2019 at 5:30 pm
I might have a different approach here, but I don’t understand why it’s a big deal. You can shove the iron sole into a camera, show that it’s a 6-iron, show everyone, but as long as you don’t verbally say “six”, you’re within the rules.
It’s rubbish. It should be DISCOURAGED to ask your opponent what they played. It should be against the Rules to actively attempt to ascertain information that has not been easily shared. But if you say “whadya hit?” and you say “8”, that should not be a breech. If you say “whadya hit” and you shrug, that’s that. It’s etiquette that that point.
JAMES
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:48 pm
If I’m a pro caddie and I’m hand signaling the tower what club my guy/gal is hitting on a par 3 I’m flashing the tower 2 clubs less. If the opponent is stupid enough to rely on this info then he/she can suffer the surprise when they hit their shot into the water in front of the green.
JThunder
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:18 pm
We’re in a era where many people care more about their “social media presence” than they do about rules, objectivity and even consequences. This is true from the top office in the land on down. The “court of public opinion” has become the kangaroo court of the anonymous internet. This does not serve us as a society or race.
Unfortunately, those who could curb this downward spiral are equally addicted to the illusion of social media, so will likely say or do nothing except stoke the virtual flames. Ultimately a waste of time for all involved. (And yes, this includes comments sections on articles)
Dan
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:12 pm
This is an unenforceable rule because caddies are always flashing fingers to on-course staff and nearby players. Otherwise we (tv viewers) cannot know which club is being used. On same day two got penalties, there were other 70 violators in the field who did not get a penalty for doing the same thing.
Dale
Nov 7, 2019 at 3:53 pm
Which club being used is not a secret at any mean. Therefore, no one really cared about enforcing the rule in this context. Sure, the players and caddies know the rule. That’s why they use gestures. But, it was such a moot point that no one cared including the rule officials. Otherwise every player whose caddy ever flashed fingers to on-course staff should be disqualified!
In NY, there is an old law that no one cared about. So, even today there is actually a law that makes it illegal to have Anal Sex. That’s right. There is an actual legislature about it. Is it being enforced? Of course not. Does breaking that rule make you a criminal?
Kim protected nothing. Only thing she did was to report the fellow players and cost them Tour card and gained a few days of attention for herself in return, which she is clearly enjoying.
chip75
Nov 7, 2019 at 3:41 pm
It’s not against the rules to look in another player’s bag, but it is against the rules to ask. It’s like the difference between asking a playing partner the yardage from a bunker and your ball, one is okay the other is against the rules.
Surprised that any professional would not know the rule.
John
Nov 7, 2019 at 3:34 pm
Yes all I saw was that giant boob in the photo mashed up against the shoulder
larrybud
Nov 7, 2019 at 1:35 pm
Advice is much worse than backstopping. If players were so accurate that they could take advantage of backstopping, then they’d try to hit the hole instead of the other player’s ball.
Advice helps immediately
Moosejaw McWilligher
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:11 pm
Moreover, a golf ball is much smaller than the hole. Backstopping is not desirable but it’d hard to see it as much more than chance.
Dshepley
Nov 7, 2019 at 11:50 am
Who cares if they ask what club was hit? Maybe it will speed the game up if it is allowed. The information would only be useful if the player asking knew how far the other player hits their clubs, was it hit full, 3/4, solid strike….the information isn’t tremendously useful anyway given that the player still has to hit a shot.
Scrambler
Nov 7, 2019 at 12:47 pm
Agree completely. Knowing the club number is barely any more information than knowing the yardage (which is allowed to be shared). You also have loft variances between club manufacturers. There’s no significant advantage and there’s already many ways that sharing / obtaining the club is allowed (speaking out loud with your caddie, looking in competitor bag, reading signals to TV personnel).
It’s not even close to backstopping, which has the very real possibility of affecting the result of a stroke (even helping a poor one). The only similarity is that both are technically rule violations with inconsistent non-enforcement.
The former should be assessed whether it continues to be a meaningful rule (no real advantage / allowed methods of circumventing it), while the latter makes sense because there’s an advantage as a basis for the rule.
Kevin
Nov 7, 2019 at 3:14 pm
DShepley – I agree completely. Knowing the club number is barely any more information than knowing the yardage (which is allowed to be shared). You also have loft variances between club manufacturers. There’s no significant advantage and there’s already many ways that sharing / obtaining the club is allowed (speaking out loud with your caddie, looking in competitor bag, reading signals to TV personnel).
It’s not even close to backstopping, which has the very real possibility of affecting the result of a stroke (even helping a poor one). The only similarity is that both are technically rule violations with inconsistent non-enforcement.
The former should be assessed whether it continues to be a meaningful rule (no real advantage / allowed methods of circumventing it), while the latter makes sense because there’s an advantage as a basis for the rule.
Rich Douglas
Nov 7, 2019 at 9:52 am
Kim protected the field, which is her responsibility. She held off with the call until the end of the round in case she was wrong; she didn’t want to have a false accusation affect the golfers’ play.
Kim should be acknowledged and thanked for her actions.
The other two? The player and caddie committed a rules infraction. They didn’t cheat, they broke a rule. It’s over.
Scratchscorer
Nov 7, 2019 at 10:29 am
Exactly. It’s a rule that comes with a penalty, not cheating. You can break rules anytime and accept the penalties for them. That’s not cheating any more than a shooting foul is cheating in basketball or pass interference is cheating in football. Couldn’t agree with you more.
Keith
Nov 7, 2019 at 3:17 pm
She actually reported it when it happened, but the rules official had no idea it was a rule. Neither did the other players. That is why she reported it at the scoring table. It is also why she went to Twitter to urge everyone, especially rules officials, to actually know the rules.
Bob
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:06 pm
It’s just what club being used is not a secret at any mean!! The rules official had no idea because it was a common practice. Kim literally saw it being done many many times in her career. On Kim’s theory, Kim should be disqualified forever for not reporting it 100 times before.
Either Kim decided to use it as an excuse to screw two fellow players including an innocent player. Or, she always hated this common practice because she never did it herself but everyone was doing it.
Then the burning question is.. when she saw the caddies flashing fingers to on-course staffs and nearby players, why did she never report those players before? She literally saw this being done over 1000 times in her career!!
Moosejaw McWilligher
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:09 pm
Players are penalized for not knowing rules. I hope the rules official was somehow penalized for his/her role in the debacle.
Joey5Picks
Nov 7, 2019 at 4:21 pm
Where did you read that she reported at the time, but the official didn’t know it was a rule? I haven’t seen that in any of the stories I’ve read and find that hard to believe.
matt
Nov 7, 2019 at 9:04 am
First of all backstopping is not controversial outside of this website. Good on you if you can get a little lucky – god knows there are enough tough bounces in the game. And do not slow up play whatever you do.
As for not concealing a club selection on a par 3, I hardly find that to be “giving advice.” Not to mention as a competitive player for over 20 year, including D1 college golf – knowing what others hit is probably more detrimental than helpful. Maybe on tour where they know each others yardages so well, but still. You have to know how the player struck the ball (which is impossible to know without asking), what they intended to do with it flight-wise and spin-wise. All things that shouldn’t be consuming your thoughts when you’re better off committing to your own strategy and shot.
joe
Nov 7, 2019 at 8:47 am
Time to cut out eating cheese and diet cokes. Gads. I wonder if she’s seen that photo of herself?
Rich Douglas
Nov 7, 2019 at 9:49 am
You mean the one where she’s a professional golfer and your not?
James
Nov 7, 2019 at 11:25 am
Is that supposed to be some sort of comeback? She hits a ball to entertain others for a living. Not even close to a productive activity.
JD
Nov 7, 2019 at 10:48 am
Take the time it took to think and type that, and try doing something useful with it next time.
Scrambler
Nov 7, 2019 at 12:53 pm
Alex – I’ll take “idiotic things men say to ensure women know they’re losers” for $400.
Mt
Nov 9, 2019 at 8:37 pm
Haha…I’ll take guess my bra size for 2 hundo…