5:27 for the 2nd to last group at the US Open @ Merion Saturday????

[William_G]

 

Is that normal, or is just that they are shooting over par?

[Mac Plumart]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/glacial-pace-merion-suggests-usga-225300228--golf.html

[William_G]

Nice link Mac.

I think most golf fans would like a 3-hole pace of play clock   

Every time I play my club in prime time, we are essentially on the clock for a 4 hour round.

No doubt looking for golf balls in the type of rough grown not only at Merion but at other courses in the Northeast, can lead to the unhappy task of looking for golf balls and slow play. Not so for the US Open.

Would faster play by pros be good for the game? But maybe not for the individual pros.

[Mac Plumart]

Would faster play by pros be good for the game?

YES!

It is time for penalty shots to be doled out.

[Ronald Montesano]

Are we all morons? I know Mucci votes "aye," but how is a round at Merion, with giraffe-high rough of coarse, thick-bladed grass, in the pressure-cooker of a US Open, measurable by a pathetic attempt to be trendy thirty years ago?

"While we're young" does not apply to professionals, people! It applies to us, the players of the game in over 99.9 percent of situations. To suggest, as the article that Mac linked did, that irony is in the air and that the Open pace of play should emulate an average Joe is 180 degrees off.

[William_G]

http://www.scmp.com/sport/golf/article/1261576/campaign-against-slow-play-must-move-higher-gear

have the golf courses really gotten that difficult or are players acting too much like brain surgeons or do want us to think it is brain surgery or??

we all want act like brain surgeons , but we aren't and neither are the pros

probably started with Nicklaus and has snowballed with TV time/ad revenue

PGA tour is mum, and USGA at the US Open is too

what does Mucci Jr. think, he is the future

[Ronald Montesano]

This course is relentless...Zach Johnson is not very outspoken, but he went off on the set up. The brain trust indicated that not only is the rough thick, but thanks to fertilizer and all the rain, the blades of grass are like iron (my simile.)

Not even Buddy Marucci would enjoy playing this Merion on a daily basis. And remember, the last twosomes are always at the mercy of those who came before them. Was it out of place in comparison with the group in front and the group behind?

[William_G]

Ron,

I get that.

Tomorrow is twosomes...so it will be telling how fast the play is.

Now that most have played there at least 5 times this week, I would think they have some course familiarity by now, LOL.

Of course we are all stupid humans, that is a given.

I'm glad I have no interest in watching the brain surgery on the PGA tour on a regular basis.

[Wade Whitehead]

Why are we expecting leaders at the US Open to play quickly?  They're playing a really hard golf course with remarkable stakes at hand.

It really isn't the same sport as the recreational game.

The players I watched on Friday were generally ready to hit and played as quickly as possible.  I just wonder why we keep expecting guys to play with faster pace under these conditions.

WW

[William_G]

quicker does not mean quickly IMO

nor does quicker equal a different outcome

[Richard Choi]

USGA can either come out and say, "we really don't care about the pace, it is the quality of play that matters." OR they can say "while we're young!".

To say both is just bipolar in the extreme. It is a classic case of "Do as I say, not as I do". Nobody will fault them for choosing one or the other, just don't insult us by spouting both.

To say that pro games don't mean anything to weekend hackers is just BS. If that is the case, every piece of clothing and equipment would not be covered in sponsor logos. We copy their swings, we buy their gear, and follow their lead.

The hypocrisy at USGA needs to stop. It is embarrassing the game.

[William_G]

yes it is embarrassing, and it is killing the game for the average player, while the pros, TV and PGA still benefit

[Jud_T]

I'm pretty sure Robert Karlsson could have shot 86 in 3 hours just as easily as in 5:15.

[Garland Bayley]

Why are we expecting leaders at the US Open to play quickly?  They're playing a really hard golf course with remarkable stakes at hand.

It really isn't the same sport as the recreational game.

The players I watched on Friday were generally ready to hit and played as quickly as possible.  I just wonder why we keep expecting guys to play with faster pace under these conditions.

WW

So what. The world chess championship plays with clocks. You go over time you loose! We expect them to play faster, because no one has proven that anything is gained by reading a putt seven ways. Give me some empirical evidence that they actually benefit from it, and I might give them a break, or I might just ask that those that benefit aren't good enough, and they should let someone that can play at that level at a proper pace play instead.

[Jud_T]

They should have a silly season medal play event where at the flip of a coin each day you either had to finish in either under 3:30 in twosomes or over 5:30, winner take all for a cool million.  Anything in between would be DQed.  Who do you think would have the better scores?

[Paul Gray]

They should have a silly season medal play event where at the flip of a coin each day you either had to finish in either under 3:30 in twosomes or over 5:30, winner take all for a cool million.  Anything in between would be DQed.  Who do you think would have the better scores?

Applied a little more sensibly I'm not sure that's as silly as it first sounds. At least have a few trial events on tour where you require each three ball to get round in, say, 3:30. Add one shot per player each time they fall to play nine holes in 1:45. Some of  them might actual find it somewhat liberarting.   

[Jeff Evagues]

Incredibly, the last group starts today at 3:20 - 40 minutes later than yesterday.

[Ronald Montesano]

Incredibly, the last group starts today at 3:20 - 40 minutes later than yesterday.

I can hear Deion's whisper growing louder...listen with me, just for a moment...

prime time

prime time

prime time

[Garland Bayley]

I'm pretty sure Robert Karlsson could have shot 86 in 3 hours just as easily as in 5:15.

It may very well be that he shot 86, because he had to take 5:15. There are players that complain that the forced waiting degrades their game. They have to invent ways to pass the time that will keep them sharp.

Colin claims he didn't win at Winged Foot, because of the forced wait. Of course others would say Colin didn't win, because he is Colin.

[William_G]

Nicklaus was the first I know of that successfully "slow played" people. His success spawned more "slow play".

Plus TV loves it, one soap opera shot after another, dragging it out. The tour has successfully bred slow play, to the detrimant of the game overall.

I mean these pros aren't laughing it up for 5.5 hrs, Phil smiles a lot and has lots of reasons to as do most of these guys.

But most everybody else is ready to cut their wrists, ever see Bill Haas smile ever?

Does golf look fun on TV on a weekly basis on any pro tour?

Slower does not equate to better scores regardless of the course, IMO.

[Mac Plumart]

Why are we expecting leaders at the US Open to play quickly?


Because they are trying to get us to believe they are playing golf and they are trying to get us to believe there is no bifurcation in the rules of golf.

[Wade Whitehead]

Give me some empirical evidence that they actually benefit from it, and I might give them a break

They're leading the US Open.

WW

[William_G]

WOW...Dufner just finished in 4.0 hours

Crazy difference from yesterday to today

 

WOW

[Garland Bayley]

Give me some empirical evidence that they actually benefit from it, and I might give them a break

They're leading the US Open.

WW

I guess you don't understand empirical evidence.

[Wade Whitehead]

GJ:

I must not.

I just don't think slow play at the US Open is going anywhere.

WW