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Crazy Slow Play on Tour

JB

JB

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It's times like this, that golf really needs to check things out. 5:30 and players were "on the clock" for more than 9 holes.

 
I was the standard bearer for Reed/Cantlay and Stenson/McDowell this morning. It took 5:19 for the round. Reed and Stenson were pretty quick. The other two were painful. They took anywhere from 20 to 40 seconds per shot. And they were never ready when it was their turn. Especially on the greens. And they never even sniffed the group in front of them.

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That is crazy!

Lol at the kooky Molinari brother's twitter handle
 
Obviously the shot clock doesn't really work all that well in it's current set up.

So what shall they do? Have the crowd countdown from 5 like in basketball?
 
Maybe institute a stroke penalty? Baseball automatically issues a strike to the batter if he’s not in the box.

I understand routine and the process, the time spent on discussion, determining yardage , choosing a club, practice swings, etc, it all adds up.


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MakingARun said:
Maybe institute a stroke penalty? Baseball automatically issues a strike to the batter if he’s not in the box.

I understand routine and the process, the time spent on discussion, determining yardage , choosing a club, practice swings, etc, it all adds up.


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Take 20% of their winnings. More likely to solve the problem quickly....albeit much less likely to happen.

That or make them deal with grumpy marshalls at my home course.
 
That's just awful, there isn't any reason for that at all.
 
dazeedmonds said:
Take 20% of their winnings. More likely to solve the problem quickly....albeit much less likely to happen.

That or make them deal with grumpy marshalls at my home course.
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Hahahaha. I’ve run into some scary Marshalls. I hate when they sit or stand on a hillside and watch you and the group putt and then shoot you the death look as they drive by in the cart.


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I'm at the point where I want something severe to be brought in to solve this problem. NCAA golf is 100% unwatchable already due to slow play - so the next wave of players ain't going to be any faster.

Just start throwing strokes at them. Start with 2, then 5, then auto DQ.

I dont think they care enough about small amounts of money or FedEx Cup points to make those the punishments.
 
When a pairing gets put on the clock, what does that actually mean? Do they get a literal shot clock? Do they have a certain number of holes to catch up with the ground in front of them?
 
ArmyGolf said:
I'm at the point where I want something severe to be brought in to solve this problem. NCAA golf is 100% unwatchable already due to slow play - so the next wave of players ain't going to be any faster.

Just start throwing strokes at them. Start with 2, then 5, then auto DQ.

I dont think they care enough about small amounts of money or FedEx Cup points to make those the punishments.
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This is where I am too. The NCAA was so painful. So its only going to get worse.
 
It’s a shame that this discussion is still happening years after they started threatening penalties, something drastic has to be done
 
They need to penalize with strokes and therefore money.

Slow play sucks
 
Aside from being penalized: Play ready golf? Allow them to use range finders?
 
Maybe let their playing partners take clubs out of their bags when they get called for slow play?
 
I never realized how freaking long Cantlay took over the ball until I watched him on PGA Tour Live today, I couldn’t watch very long honestly...

I’m all for starting to throw strokes at them. Please make them stay on pace!
 
All great ideas here!! Should players start using carts to speed things up too?


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Big SoIL said:
I never realized how freaking long Cantlay took over the ball until I watched him on PGA Tour Live today, I couldn’t watch very long honestly...

I’m all for starting to throw strokes at them. Please make them stay on pace!
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You should try being stuck with him for over 5 hours. I wanted to yell at him to just hit the damn ball already!

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I also think I heard at one point today that Stenson/McDowell played out of turn in front of Reed/Cantlay, I thought that was pretty funny. They were clearly like 20 yards ahead but Reed or Cantlay hadn’t even addressed their ball yet so they went decided to go ahead and play out of turn.
 
EnglishTurn said:
You should try being stuck with him for over 5 hours. I wanted to yell at him to just hit the damn ball already!

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I had no idea he did that little stutter stepping over the ball like he does. I’m glad he’s come back from what he went through and all, but come on!!!
 
Big SoIL said:
I also think I heard at one point today that Stenson/McDowell played out of turn in front of Reed/Cantlay, I thought that was pretty funny. They were clearly like 20 yards ahead but Reed or Cantlay hadn’t even addressed their ball yet so they went decided to go ahead and play out of turn.
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If it was the par 5 11th then GMAC got approval to go while Cantlay was figuring out what he wanted to do.

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Sean said:
Aside from being penalized: Play ready golf? Allow them to use range finders?
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I don't think rangefinders have much to do with it. The numbers are pretty clear pretty quickly. It's all the extra nonsense after that extends the time needed to play.

You add in rangefinders, caddies become much less important in my opinion. I like that element.
 
JB said:
It's times like this, that golf really needs to check things out. 5:30 and players were "on the clock" for more than 9 holes.

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Do we have a breakdown on how long the 'on the clock' holes took?

Despite players hardly ever getting put on the clock, does it even work if they ARE put on the clock?
 
Canadan said:
Do we have a breakdown on how long the 'on the clock' holes took?

Despite players hardly ever getting put on the clock, does it even work if they ARE put on the clock?
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No. Based on the twitter thread, Molinari said players can cheat the “being put on the clock” very easily.
 
I remember a couple weeks back Brooks Koepka sounded off on this topic also. We all get stuck behind slow people on the course but we second guess our clubs, hit and hope they carry the right distance or check up when needed. But pros should know exact distance to the yard and how far irons go at 100% or 50%. I play my clubs on a 5-8 yard variation most times because I’m not that precise. Pros don’t have any excuses for slow play like that.
 
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