Golfers have always accepted that the game is difficult. We’ll battle wind, rough, bunkers, awkward lies, questionable swing thoughts, and the occasional existential crisis on the 14th tee. What we shouldn’t have to battle is our mobile phones — yet here we are, in 2026, still pretending that digital scorecards and on‑course apps are somehow making golf “better”.

They aren’t. They’re a pain in the arse.

Take my recent shotgun start. A brisk walk to the tee, spirits high… and then poof. My data network dropped out like a disgruntled caddie. Suddenly I couldn’t open the scoring app, couldn’t register my start, couldn’t do anything except stare at a spinning loading wheel while my playing partners looked on with that familiar mixture of sympathy and impatience.

Golf is hard enough without IT issues. You’re already trying to remember whether your last swing felt like a controlled fade or a controlled disaster — you don’t need your phone staging a mutiny. And this isn’t even my worst moment. 

My golf bag and trolley – including my Samsung smartphone – recently decided to go for a swim at my home course, Felixstowe Ferry… watching your clubs roll towards a greenside burn is a special kind of heartbreak, somewhat akin to England losing a World Cup semi-final (again).

And after forking out for a new phone due to the resulting water damage, it now lives in a waterproof pouch in my bag, zipped away like a naughty child. It does not come out. It does not get used. If it wants to check WhatsApp, it can do it from the bottom of the pocket

And here’s the thing: I’m not alone. Research shows that phones genuinely distract golfers, especially when work emails or calls creep in mid‑round. Studies from Stellenbosch University found that work‑related smartphone use has a “small negative effect on performance”, while personal scrolling doesn’t seem to hurt your game — but either way, the intrusion breaks focus and disrupts shot routines.

Golf requires rhythm, attention, and a clear head. A phone requires… well, everything except that.

Which brings us to digital scorecards. Golf’s great modern inconvenience. No one really wants to use them. They’re fiddly, they’re unreliable, and they turn every tee box into a tech support seminar. You tap, swipe, reload, reconnect, swear, repeat. Meanwhile, your playing partner with a pencil and a scorecard is already halfway down the fairway.

Traditional scorecards work. They don’t need signal. They don’t need updates. They don’t need you to remember your password. They just sit there, quietly doing their job. Clubs can invest in fancy apps, digital leaderboards, and “enhanced scoring experiences”, but out on the course, golfers just want to play golf — not troubleshoot their phones.

So let’s call it. Mobile phones are the most distracting hazard on the course. Keep them in the bag. Keep them in a pouch. Keep them out of sight. And for scoring? Stick with the humble scorecard and pencil.

Because golf is hard enough already — and the only thing worse than a double bogey is a double bogey you couldn’t even record because your phone decided to take the day off.