R and A says get moving

[Jim Nugent]

What exactly are the R&A rules about pace of play? 

[Mark_Rowlinson]

We were sitting in the stand behind the 14th green. It had been a lovely sunny day, but as we sat waiting the weather turned wet and windy. On went the waterproof jacket, yet by the time Spieth and Kuchar made it to the 14th green we were shivering! Kuchar hit an average tee shot, but Spieth hit a stunner to a few feet.


At that point we decided to leave. So efficient was the business of getting off the course, taking a bus to the parking site and finding the car that we were able to hear Spieth playing to the 18th for his final shots on the car radio. So efficient was getting out of the car park and out of Southport that we were half way to Liverpool by the time Spieth had made his speech.

[Thomas Dai]

Pro and big amateur events -


Establish and openly display a standard time to play 18-holes for the course on the day taking length, difficulty, weather etc etc into consideration.
Have a big clock on every tee synchronised to each groups tee-off time and the time the group should reach each specific tee by.
Not there on time....yellow card left on the tee by an official.......a warning visible for all to see.
Loose say a certain number of minutes.......red card left on the tee - a visible indication of a say 1 stroke penalty for all in the group. No if's no but's, same for all.
No officials nearby after the cards are left on the tee so no arguments.
Get tough.
Have the authorities got the balls though?
atb

[Kalen Braley]

Seems to me this isn't an issue of legislation/rules....Just a matter of enforcement.


Start handing out those 1 stroke penalties and its going to get their attention, and the majors are the ones who should implement this because the players aren't going to threaten to skip them...


Its not like they get a free pass on the shot clock violation in basketball or play clock in football...

[JESII]

Thomas,


If a group falls behind, how exactly do the following groups avoid those cards?

[Joe Zucker]

Thomas,


If a group falls behind, how exactly do the following groups avoid those cards?

Agreed.  Also, I'm not going to take a penalty if Ben Crane is in my group and the only culprit.  Rather than creating an elaborate system, just enforce  the current framework.  I know, easier said than done...

[Thomas Dai]

Good point. Apply to first group only and make time adjustment on synchronised clocks to vary accordingly for the rest.
Some details to sort out for sure but it would be a framework to work from.
As to 'the Crane question', I reckon peer pressure would sort slowcoaches out pretty quickly!
Atb

[Joe Zucker]

Good point. Apply to first group only and make time adjustment on synchronised clocks to vary accordingly for the rest.
Some details to sort out for sure but it would be a framework to work from.
As to 'the Crane question', I reckon peer pressure would sort slowcoaches out pretty quickly!
Atb

I agree with you Thomas on the tour.  Some good peer pressure on him and Kevin Na could certainly help.  However, I think it only works on the tour where they all know each other and play together for years.  In big amateur events the pool of players is larger and more varied, so it would not be as easy to have the sport police itself.

[Jim Nugent]

Pro and big amateur events -


Establish and openly display a standard time to play 18-holes for the course on the day taking length, difficulty, weather etc etc into consideration.
Have a big clock on every tee synchronised to each groups tee-off time and the time the group should reach each specific tee by.
Not there on time....yellow card left on the tee by an official.......a warning visible for all to see.
Loose say a certain number of minutes.......red card left on the tee - a visible indication of a say 1 stroke penalty for all in the group. No if's no but's, same for all.
No officials nearby after the cards are left on the tee so no arguments.
Get tough.
Have the authorities got the balls though?
atb

Any allowance for complex rules questions that come up during the round, that require the input of additional rules officials?

Also, seems like the whole thing hinges on establishing that 'standard time' to play 18 holes. 

Overall, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me for the final group in the world's most prestigious event to take four hours or less to complete the round. 

[Sean_A]

If hacks in a 2ball are expected to get round in 3.5 hours max I would think pros could do it in 3 hours without blinking. Setting 4 hours as the target is a joke.


Ciao

[Thomas Dai]

If hacks in a 2ball are expected to get round in 3.5 hours max I would think pros could do it in 3 hours without blinking. Setting 4 hours as the target is a joke.
Ciao

Good point.
Young fit athletic men with someone else carrying the bag and playing relatively few shots really ought to get round pretty quickly.


How about a different approach - get round 18-holes in less than (say) 3 hrs and a shot will be taken OFF your 18-hole score! Might focus a few minds.


Atb

[Sean_A]

The bottom line is until pros are made to play faster they won't.  The longer folks make excuses as to why pros need over 4 hours in 2balls the longer slow play will continue.  Where there is a will there is a way.  We are far from having the will at the moment and I will be very surprised if I ever see the will, but I am certain I will hear many more excuses for 4+ hour rounds to hit 70 shots. I was bored watching highlights of the wretched 13th let alone the full blown saga...sport is meant to be entertaining. Golf starts at a major disadvantage because it is a slow game....lets not make it far worse.

Ciao

[jeffwarne]

Give one or both of them a penalty, would make players notice.




Jordan is currently seeking a drop and so far I'e bought a club on eBay and made a cup of coffee.....






PIAIFL!

Tony,
Why would you penalize both when one (actually "we") is the problem?
Amazed no commentator mentioned the effect that being told to speed up could potentially have on one player who actually was heeding their warnings (which were not official)
a pet peeve of mine is being to to speed up and being told that you're not yet on the clock.
WTF?
That only speeds up the person who is NOT the problem.
Timing the players identifies the problem and at least has an equally detrimental effect on BOTH players.
Slow players change NOTHING when they know they are not being timed.
Why would they?
LONG before the 20 minute incident on 13 they had been told to pick it up-unofficially.



Jordan Spieth is a class act-off the course-and no doubt intends to be ON the course.
On the course he is incredibly slow, and has been enabled for several years by mindless, programmed commentators who talk about not hitting a shot until ready, and only after a well programmed routine.
Add in the obligatory "we" conferences every shot (I truly believe Jordan and others don't think it's their turn to pay until AFTER the conference ends.)


This trickles right down as being an acceptable way to play golf for ordinary players.


Golf is definitely faster now with Bones in the booth-now can we get Greller a slot in the Fox and NBC lineup?

[Ian Mackenzie]

Anyone know how long it took Jordan to finish his round today?

About the same it took my leisurely twosome to play with a cart at about 3:40 today.  When we teed off Speith was on 2 green and he finished as we finished 17 green.


Pace of play debates about the final group in a major when in contention with 20,000 fans on every hole seem ridiculous to me.

You played a 3:40 two-ball in a cart and are commenting on a slow play thread....?...
That declaration is a thread in and of itself.