How to fix slow play on tour

TripleF

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2017
Messages
252
Reaction score
2
Location
Littleton, NC
Handicap
15.9
I understand the two stated reasons the RA/USGA is considering outlawing the green books: 1) speed up play, and 2) make players rely on their own skills. I'm for both of these as I'm guessing most of us are. However if they want to speed up play, what they are doing is the the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig.

SLOW PLAY - If they want to speed up play they currently have virtually everything they need . . . Simply enforce the current rules about how long you have to play a shot. Have a timer with each group and when its a player's turn to hit, START the clock. At the end of the allotted time the clock goes off if the player hasn't hit and a one stroke penalty is charged. During their time preparing for their shot they can read anything they want . . .I wouldn't care about that personally.

Just like in other sports, each player has a small number (maybe 2 per side) of "time-outs" they can call which will give them, say, 2 minutes extra for a shot. Once they have used all their time outs . . . well . . . tough.

MAKE PLAYERS RELY ON THEIR SKILLS - if this is one of the objectives that's fine, but they must carry it all the way through! No more lines on golf balls, no referencing yardage books, only have 200, 150 and 100 yard markers on a hole, eliminate the daily pin sheets, no conferring with a caddie, etc.

Just my opinion . . .
 
To me its even easier than that. Start docking FedEx points for slow play
 
To me its even easier than that. Start docking FedEx points for slow play

I have said this one for a while now. It makes perfect sense.
The way I see it, is stop putting things out about "Speeding up play" and "While we're young" if you are not going to enforce.
 
I have said this one for a while now. It makes perfect sense.
The way I see it, is stop putting things out about "Speeding up play" and "While we're young" if you are not going to enforce.

Give a warning. Then dock 5 points from every player in the group for every hole they are behind pace. Problem all but solved. But knowing the PGA, they would have a hard time determining what slow play actually is
 
As long as the rules regarding slow play are clearly defined and easy to understand, then they just have to have the balls to enforce them when players don't adhere to them

Caddies / yardage books / etc are fine, the player still has to execute the shot, but make sure it is all done within the time limits as defined above
 
One warning about slow play and they go on the clock. If they get back on pace the next time there is no warning and it's a stroke. If they don't get on pace after two holes it's another stroke. It's the individual golfer that is penalized and not the group
 
The biggest problem I have with tour players playing 5 hour rounds is that golfers watching on TV tend to immitate their routines. I played behind 4 high schoolers a couple weeks ago and was shocked at how long they were taking to mark, remark, read, and hit putts. It was like watching 4 slow tour players all in the same group. I immediatly skipped a hole and went around them and there was no way they were going to finish in under 4 hours. I do think iliminating the lines on golf balls would save some time. Guys like Spieth will sometimes spend 20+ seconds making sure his ball alignment mark is just perfect before starting the rest of his routine. He then will sometimes look the hole rather than his carefully aligned ball. Again, I could really care less if the guys on TV playing for millions take 5 hours if is wasn't for people watching immitating them.
 
To me its even easier than that. Start docking FedEx points for slow play
Ding, ding, ding, winner/winner chicken dinner!!!
 
To me its even easier than that. Start docking FedEx points for slow play

The issue with this is that it may not isolate the person or persons really responsible. In my mind this needs to get to the individual level. Docking Fed Ex points would be another acceptable way to penalize the player.

Also no warnings . . . you know the rule and you know the penalty for breaking the rule. And you can see the shot clock!!!
 
I don't mind pin sheets and green books. I do think the PGA Tour should allow laser range finders during tournaments though. How often do we see caddies and players stepping off yardages, then doing math on their yardage books to figure out distances. This would be easy to avoid if they just put a range finder in the hands of the player and/or caddie. They're going to get the distance one way or the other and they still have to pull off the shot. In my opinion this would speed up play without a doubt.
 
I don't think Fedex cup points should be involved directly, but I do believe it should come with a penalty in the form of strokes. A one stroke penalty for going over your time is pretty similar to most other sports in terms of penalties. Fedex cup points might not really matter to someone really high up in the rankings, as it doesn't mean much until the playoffs for those at the top. If someone is solidly in the top 5, you really think docking a few fedex cup points will make them play faster? That really only hurts the guys on the bubble of making tournaments, while not punishing the superstars of the game in the same way. To really fix it, it has to uniformly be a concern for everyone, and the ability to penalize strokes IMO is really the only way to do it.
 
As much as I loathe Pat Perez, his comments posted online yesterday were quite funny.

"Somehow we always manage to finish on time"
 
I just can't get around to agreeing with penalty strokes or fedex cup points being taken away due to slow play. I can get on board with penalty strokes after a warning or 2 but not right away. And a shot clock? This is just not possible for everyone in a tournament. That would require a time keeper with every single player. If they're going to have a time keeper with every player they might as well put them on a cart and drive them around, that would speed it up.

I think it comes down to what actually causes slow play. As I mentioned in my previous post, the one thing that drives me crazy is when they are trying to find yardages, especially after an arrant shot. Not only do they have to find the ball but then they go through what seems like a complicated geometry/calculus problem to figure out actual yardage to their spot. Give them a range finder and this problem goes away. Simple. Secondly, the rules changes that are coming about should be helpful as well. There are a lot of instances when players call rules officials in, then go through a detailed drop production so they don't break any rules. Simplifying these things should help quite a bit. Lastly, I'm kind of old school I guess thinking that golf is a game of routine. I am not a slow player but I do take my time in certain instances just like anyone else. I honestly think if we forcefully sped up the players on the PGA Tour the golf would suffer and then we would complain about that.
 
Isn't the Erou Tour doing a shot clock for their 6s thing this week? Pretty sure it was this week but I hope there is a follow up when it does happen with the player's thoughts.

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk
 
Why does it need to be fixed? It's not like anyone is playing behind these guys. The tour doesn't care and not enough players care. Slow play on tour has zero affect on anyone's viewing these guys on TV.

I hate slow play but it's not from Prescott routines, or lining up putts. It's from golfers running their yaps, watching each other hit, not playing ready golf and looking for golf balls on every single shot. Not from mimicking tour players, this is what I see when I come across slow play.
 
tahoebum wrote: "The biggest problem I have with tour players playing 5 hour rounds is that golfers watching on TV tend to immitate their routines. I played behind 4 high schoolers a couple weeks ago and was shocked at how long they were taking to mark, remark, read, and hit putts. It was like watching 4 slow tour players all in the same group. I immediatly skipped a hole and went around them and there was no way they were going to finish in under 4 hours. I do think iliminating the lines on golf balls would save some time. Guys like Spieth will sometimes spend 20+ seconds making sure his ball alignment mark is just perfect before starting the rest of his routine. He then will sometimes look the hole rather than his carefully aligned ball. Again, I could really care less if the guys on TV playing for millions take 5 hours if is wasn't for people watching immitating them."


Yep. My exact problem with the snails pace of play on tv. I literally cannot watch Jason Day. Earlier this spring I was behind an elderly couple who were both hacking the ball down the fairway. Before every shot they would stand behind their ball for a visual image of the next duffed 40 yard shot. I hate slow play, and its the main reason on Saturday's and Sunday's I tend to play in the late afternoon/evening. The course tends to be sparsely occupied and I can typically get around in a timely manner. I will be watching the mens and womens tours with much interest to see what they are doing to speed up the pace of play. I have little faith they will do anything meaningful.
 
With respect to green books, I can accept the argument about making players rely on skill but I can't accept any argument about speeding up play. I don't think the tour has any interest, other than lip service, in speeding up play.
 
Why does it need to be fixed? It's not like anyone is playing behind these guys. The tour doesn't care and not enough players care. Slow play on tour has zero affect on anyone's viewing these guys on TV.

As a big fan of PGA Tour golf I tend to mostly agree with this. It's not like the TV crew only follows around one group the entire time. They are constantly switching back and forth between different players' shots so I don't even notice slow play when I'm watching. The only time this becomes an issue is when something like what happened last week at the Zurich happens. They run out of daylight because of an extended playoff. Often times they are up against daylight towards the end of tournaments, but that could be easily fixed as well. Tee them off earlier, duh! Why is the final group teeing off at 3 pm on Sunday knowing it starts to get dark at 7:30?
 
let them use a rangefinder, and outlaw the green reading books for every course as skill isn't a part of green reading anymore. And those books take forever!
 
Meh it is what it is. I don't agree with the banning the books and they are slow but oh well. All timing everyone will do is make the guys walk slower and let the caddies go ahead and figure everything out since the clock doesn't start till the player gets to the ball.
 
I think there's a real easy fix. First group out (unless not a full group) is on the clock to start. 45 minutes per 3 hole stretch (can add or subtract time based on par for that stretch of holes...e.g. if par 3/3/4 35 minutes, if 5/4/5 55min). If behind, warned. If behind after next 3 hole stretch, put on clock and if not caught up after next 3 holes, the slowest player gets a 2 stroke penalty (ref times each how long to play once their turn). Repeat offenders get fines, demerit points, and suspensions. Then, groups behind put on the clock if fall behind a full hole for 2 holes in a row. Same penalty progression as above. 4.5 hour max. One caveat would be the first group is automatically put on the clock for the last 3 holes and if more than 5(or10) minutes off tempo, penalty applies as above.

pS I'm okay with going to 40 minute segments to get to 4hr rounds, but think 4.5 is reasonable at that level.
 
Taking points away won't fix the issue. Taking there money will fix the issue
 
First ask Jordan Speith not to play that week, second ask Jason Day to stay home, 3rd, kill Ben Crane.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't think Fed Ex points is enough. I know it's radical but disqualification is the only sure method in my opinion!!
 
First ask Jordan Speith not to play that week, second ask Jason Day to stay home, 3rd, kill Ben Crane.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Nobody slower the Justin "all day" Rose on the green.
 
Back
Top