May 26th, 2016 Article
The curse of slow play
We all hate slow play, and our feelings are shared by one of the UK’s largest golf groups, They’re getting about pace of play, with a high-visibility, long-term programme now in place at all venues.
We all hate slow play, and our feelings are shared by one of the UK’s largest golf groups, They’re getting about pace of play, with a high-visibility, long-term programme now in place at all venues.
Keith Pelley, the new European Tour CEO has slow play on his agenda, and his plans to speed up the game seems to have got off to a positive start during the recent ‘Desert Swing’ with a reduction in round times being apparent under the new ‘Pace of Play’ policy.
A solution has arrived that may just offer a viable and affordable solution for golf clubs who are affected by the issue of slow play.
When Maria Fassi hole her birdie putt at the 18th, her ninth hole, she was in an upbeat mood on Friday, having got her round back to level par following a double bogey and bogey in her first four holes.
Back last August the European Tour announced a four-point plan for dealing with slow play on the tour. They have now revisited the plan and beefed up the regulations and penalties. The new tougher regulations come into effect at this week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship presented by EGA.
Encouraging signs from the first event with the European Tour’s new regime on slow play. The toughened up four-point plan did not result in any penalties but the general consensus was that the pace of play was better. Even Bryson DeChambeau seemed to have responded positively – might the penny be finally dropping?
Jason Day has earnt himself a reputation as a very slow player, which is not exactly something something to be proud of. But does he intend to do anything about it? Not on your life!
Well they say the best form of defence is attack. It seems that one Bryson DeChambeau has adopted this tactic in his campaign to prove that he is not a slow player. The latest instalment has 'Speedy' Dechambeau posting a video from the fairway of the Pro-am at the BMW Championship with a few choice words for his 'haters' as he calls them.
The The European Tour has announced a concrete four-point plan aimed at tackling the issue of slow play in professional golf. The plan will be implemented at the start of the 2020 season and focuses on four key areas: regulation, education, innovation and field sizes.
Ten years ago, Guan Tianlang of China became the youngest player to compete in the Masters at just 14 years old. Sadly, the fairy tale was spoiled when the young man was singled out for a slow play penalty that jeopardised his chances of making the cut. The incident divided opinion but the positive takeaway was that something was finally being done about slow play.
Brooks Koepka had just teed off in the final round of the Open. We then heard ‘on the tee, JB Holmes from the USA’, the camera zoomed in on the man sitting in third place at Royal Portrush, then nothing. The guy looked confused as he suddenly wasn’t sure about something. Was it the wind had shifted? Had he changed his mind at to which club to take? Or perhaps he’d left the cooker on back at the house? Whatever it was he’d been standing on that tee for a good few minutes waiting for his tee time and he clearly was not ready.
I must admit to being quite confused when Maria Fassi received a two-shot penalty at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which contributed to her missing the cut. It was not that I did not think she deserved punishment but rather why it was two shots and why were no other penalties handed out at the tournament? There have been two other penalties handed out to LPGA players this year.