"I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round"

Naturally I had to be traveling when Bloomberg's Michael Buteau and Mason Levinson revealed that LPGA Commish Carolyn Bivens blabbed that she'd like to...oh I can't type, it's too funny even though it's not really a surprise.

“I’d love it if players Twittered during the middle of a round,” Bivens said in an interview today in New York.

“The new media is very important to the growth of golf and we view it as a positive, and a tool to be used.”

Uh, the problem.

Bivens said the LPGA was awaiting word from the U.S. Golf Association on whether the use of handheld devices for Tweeting during competitive play is within the rules. The USGA oversees the sport in the U.S. and Mexico, with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew’s, Scotland, governing the rest of the world.

An e-mail to the USGA seeking comment about using smart phones, such as Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry and Apple Inc.’s iPhone, for social-media purposes during a round wasn’t immediately returned.

The USGA’s 2008 Rules of Golf make no mention of the use of handheld devices such as mobile telephones.

Rule 14-3 -- “Artificial Devices, Unusual Equipment and Unusual Use of Equipment” -- states that a player may not use any equipment “that might assist him in making a stroke or in his play; or for the purpose of gauging or measuring distance or conditions that might affect his play.” The penalty for violation of Rule 14-3 is disqualification.

Not mentioned here is that on Twitter, followers can respond to posts. And do it immediately.

So say player L had had trouble all week on 17 with club selection, she could send out a Tweet asking what the followers think of her outfit today, which could actually be code for, what are the others using on 17? Or her instructor could be watching on television and notice a swing fault and Tweet the player.

Actually, the list of potential pitfalls is quite long and I'm sure the person in LPGA headquarters who suggested this was either ignored, or was fired already. You know, those golfy people.