THE world is definitely becoming noisier.

Or should that be NOISIER!! Take buskers, for instance. Once content to strum away gently under a shop awning while croaking out a few Johnny Cash numbers that possessed more bum notes than a forger's wallet, the modern-day minstrels are now amplified and microphoned up to the ear-shattering point where the art of street performing has become an excruciating exercise in who can shout their version of old classics the loudest.

With all this plugged-in, wibbly-wobbly note-bending desecration going on, the air around our bustling thoroughfares becomes filled with the kind of howling and wailing that resembles the agonised bellowings of a dog that's just caught its private parts in the spokes of a passing bicycle.

It's a bit like this in the instant, opinionated world of online comment where the internet becomes jam-packed with hark-at-me crusaders shaking their fists and making themselves heard on computer-generated soap boxes.

Last week, the Royal & Ancient and the United States Golf Association, the custodians of the global game, unveiled that from the beginning of 2014, players will not be penalised if slow-motion, high-definition television replays show that their ball has moved when at rest but that the "movement was not reasonably discernible to the naked eye at the time".

While the decision was greeted with open arms in many quarters, it was the kind of announcement you felt was swiftly going to be followed by a frenzy of knee jerk reaction. You didn't have to wait too long to hear the crack.

"Let the cheating commence" was a comment that seemed to crop up quite frequently on a variety of forums. While new decision 18/4 will not stop the self-appointed sofa spies from phoning in and reporting incidents - indeed, their input continues to be encouraged - the addition has been made to try and temper the increasingly intrusive nature of gee-whizz gadgetry.

Spectators have always had a hand in golf's fluctuating fortunes. How often do you see a wayward drive - with no cry of "fore" it has to be said - ricochet off a posse of punters behind the ropes and skitter back into the fairway?

Those are just the lucky breaks, of course - well, perhaps not lucky for the clattered spectator who ends up with a gaping head wound - but the ability to pause, rewind and slow down clumps of footage from the comfort of the living room has taken viewer involvement to whole new levels. In these technological times, there are probably hand-wringing, mouth-frothing zealots determined to see every single golfer in a field of 156 players followed by the unflinching gaze of a closed circuit television camera.

Where do you draw the line? It would appear that the R&A and the USGA have decided exactly where: at the point of honest human judgment. And is that not the long-standing bedrock of the game anyway? It doesn't matter if you're one of the world's finest exponents of this infuriating pursuit or the wonky weekend warrior with a swing that would raise questions in Parliament, the onus has always been, and should always remain, on the person hitting the shots.

With a code of conduct that can reveal a lot about the character, it is completely up to that player to "reasonably discern" whether a ball moved or oscillated. Making that decision in this game of great self-regulation is one of the fundamental standards. That may sound all very holier-than-thou to those who view golf and golfers as morally smug and pompously self-righteous but in these cynical times, and with bouts of chicanery rampant in other sports, it is important to protect those cherished core values.

The game of golf, and the integrity of those who play it, has been around a wee bit longer than forensic television analysis, after all.

AND ANOTHER THING

With all the gushing tributes pouring in for Henrik Stenson's double whammy of triumphs in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup and the European circuit's Race to Dubai, it was easy to lose sight of perhaps the performance of the golfing year amid all this male back-slapping.

Let's not forget that Park Inbee won three consecutive major titles on the women's front during the 2013 campaign. At the weekend, the quiet Korean deservedly picked up the LPGA Tour's Player of the Year award at the end of a season of staggering achievement, growing pressure and heightened expectation.

"Many people say I look effortless when I play golf," said Park as she reflected on a glory-laden year. "They also say I'm emotionless. Some even started calling me the 'Silent Assassin'. What I have gone through this year, what I have experienced, has been the most challenging task I've ever had to go through."

The Silent Assassin dealt with it all by letting her clubs do the talking, though.