Plus.....carts can be hard on the course! 

I'm not sure why this topic would even be discussed relative to the PGA Tour, and I don't think you'll see it happen for a long time, if ever.
Hypothetically, if carts were in use on the PGA Tour, it might enhance the pace of play a little bit, but not enough to make any noticeable difference. In regard to caddies, the Champions Tour, where carts have been allowed for quite a while, mandates that only the player or the caddy can be in the cart at any time...never both.

From personal experience I am not sure how much it would speed up a round. A lot would depend on the player and the course itself. Obviously a really long course takes longer to walk so that would certainly play into it. I play in a foursome. Myself and another woman walk and the other two ride. Both of us are fast walkers and have no trouble keeping up with the pace of play from the two in the cart. However I have played with some people who are very slow walkers and want to talk all the time. That definitely slows things down. Obviously PGA players would play golf completely differently than amateurs and hackers which is what my group is---LOL.

Interesting about the Champions Tour cart rule......I knew the players had the option to use a cart, but didn't know only the player or caddie could be in the cart.  Thanks!  Learned something new today :-))

 

General Information: Champions Tour

E. CADDIES:

Regional: Players are not required to have a caddie, but have the option to have one should they elect. Each entrant is solely responsible for arranging and paying their own caddie.

Finals: All players are required to have a caddie. Each entrant is solely responsible for arranging and paying their own caddie.

F. GOLF CARTS: Unless conditions dictate otherwise, determined by the on-site Champions Tour Rules Official or designee, each player may have a cart at the Regional and the Final Qualifying Stage. The player and caddie may ride together at any time. Walking scorers may ride if there is an open seat. No spectators may ride on the cart. Pull carts, either manual or motorized, are permitted at Regional stages. Pull carts are prohibited at the Final Qualifying stage.

Suzy Barber, Champions Tour Competitions
112 PGA TOUR Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

That's for "qualifying".....what about "tournament" play?  Are the rules different??

Oooppsssss

Will keep looking

;-)

I went to the USGA Rules site but couldn't find anything on use of carts.  But it is a difficult site to maneuver through......

No carts for caddies on Champions Tour meets with approval

By Bill Kwon

As part of its new fan-friendly feature, the Champions Tour has adopted a new policy on the use of golf carts. Its first implementation took place at the season-opening MasterCard Championship at the Hualalai Golf Club on the Big Island last week.

Chris Sutton, who caddied for Dana Quigley, got a nice check. Chris Sutton

Now the tour doesn't look like a go-kart 500 with cries of "Excuse, me, cart coming through," as in years past with the golfers speeding away and forcing the gallery to run along to keep up.

But the tour won't be caddy-friendly from now on, and that's just fine with Jack Nicklaus.

Under the new cart policy, golfers are encouraged to walk, but may use a cart if desired. Their caddies, however, will not be permitted to ride at anytime during an official round, except when traveling from green to the next tee and when determined by the tournament director in specific cases.

Cart use is OK for pro-ams and practice rounds.

"This was a tour for the caddies at one time. The players gave the caddies the cart so that they can caddy for them," Nicklaus said. "Caddies are supposed to carry the bag. That's what they're supposed to do."

According to Nicklaus, you would often hear someone say, "Oh, where am I going to put my fruit? Where am I going to put my extra rain umbrella? My wife's coat? I mean, it's ridiculous. This is a golf tournament."

Added Hale Irwin: "Now it feels more like a tournament than a corporate outing."

Nicklaus wasn't the only one getting on the senior tour caddy's case.

"The major issue was that the caddies were abusing the carts," Fuzzy Zoeller said.

"I got 25 guys waiting to caddy. Now the list might get shorter," added Dana Quigley, who birdied the final hole to win the MasterCard Championship by one stroke over Larry Nelson on Sunday.

But one caddy who will always be on Quigley's A-list whenever it comes to local tournaments is Chris Sutton, a 43-year-old Maui resident who works at the Makena Resort.

Sutton toted the bag for the triumphant Quigley, who has never ridden a cart since first playing on the senior tour in 1997. It's even more remarkable considering Quigley just played in his 202nd consecutive tournament.

Sutton doesn't mind the new cart rule prohibiting the caddies to ride.

"It's good. I was kind of getting out of shape anyway," said Sutton, who received 10 percent of Quigley's $250,000 winning purse.

"He gave me a ridiculous amount. It's more than what I earn all year," said Sutton, who also had caddied for Quigley in the Turtle Bay Championship last October.

"A nice paycheck. He's deserving," Quigley said. "He was my assistant at my club in Rhode Island and a great friend over the years."

It wasn't the first time the two have hooked up. Sutton first caddied for Quigley more than 20 years ago in PGA Tour Monday qualifying at the Phoenix Open and a couple of times at the Ka'anapali Senior Classic.

They first met in Minnesota through Quigley's brother, Paul, whose son Brett plays on the PGA Tour.

Even when Sutton moved to Maui after first coming for a visit with his parents 20 years ago, they have kept in touch. Sutton worked for Quigley for three years, spending summers in New England and winters at home.

Now he's a homebody, having married Masayo Yamamoto, a guest services director at the Maui Prince Hotel, 10 years ago. They have two children, Aya, 9, and Samuel, 7.

"He hasn't asked me, but I'd love to caddy for him again at Hualalai. I'm sure I'll be caddying for him at Turtle Bay again," said Sutton, more than ready to walk than ride.

So are most of the golfers on the newly named Champions Tour, Nicklaus in particular.

"I think there's no place for (caddies who ride in carts) in the game of golf," he said. "I can see if a guy is really hurt and can't make it then it's wonderful to give him a cart and let him play. I have no problem with that. It's not for the caddies."

"I've been working on eliminating carts for 23 years," Arnold Palmer said. "If I had my way, I would eliminate them entirely on the tour. Everybody should walk."

"I was on the board that made the decision," Nelson said. "I think the new cart rule is great. Two or three years from now, you won't even notice the carts out here."

It's certainly possible that the rules governing cart use on the Champions Tour may have been changed in the past several years, but in any of the events where we walked along with my brother and he opted to use a cart, he and and his caddie were not permitted to be in the cart at the same time. Most of the time Allen preferred to walk, so his caddie would drive the cart.