Hello you lot! I use a golf shaft for alignment and for checking my swing plane when practicing, am I allowed to put it in my golf bag (instead of having to go back to my locker) when I am playing in competitions or does it constitute an extra club?
I looked at the rules but could not find out, I am sure one of you will know,
many thanks Neil.

You can keep it in your bag without worry. It's not a club, so doesn't count as one of the maximum of fourteen that you're allowed to carry.

Excellent, many thanks for the reply.

Mat is correct. For reference, see Appendix II - 1a in the Rules.

I think it was Vijay, but it could have been somone else, that actually had that in his bag during the PGA Championship. You could see it when they were standing by the bag in the fairway and on the tee.

I know Mickelson keeps it in his bag.

Here's the WITB video with Phil when he talked about his alignment stick...

http://www.pgatour.com/video/?/video/video...pgatour.pgatour

He uses it to hold the headcover on the tee box so it does have its usefulness during the round.

You can also see them in Yang's bag when he's holding it over his head!

i also agree with the answer of matt