Since they track every single shot, there's certainly a way to record the time it takes to hit those shots.
Right, I believe within Shotlink there is a timestamp of when every shot was hit.
I thought of this, but it would be harder to determine when players got to their ball, whose turn it was, etc. Not impossible, but someone would have to sort through all the data accordingly. Or maybe there's a bot for that?
As to those who object on the grounds of someone facing a challenging shot, there would be necessary exceptions. In baseball the batter can call time out but I believe there are limits to how often. Maybe each player would get three times per round to go off the clock and have an extra minute or two? But if they had to do it more than that, they'd eventually be forced to play a shot without the extra time.
My interest in timing through the shotlink data has more to do with understanding what can be learned about course design and course setup in relationship to overall pace of play. Are courses such as Colonial and Riviera faster for the field to play than places like TPC Deere Run and PGA National? Is the pace at Torrey Pines or Quail Hollow faster for a regular tour event than it is for a major championship?
Courses around the country have found that by reducing lost ball opportunities, converting more sand bunkers to rough, and keeping the rough height under control they have been able to speed up their pace of play. Do those same elements also apply to the PGA tour. How you've previously spoken about designing Memorial Park in Houston would suggest some of those same decisions were made but for different scoring reasons, has a byproduct been quicker rounds during the Houston Open?
While I had not previously considered the ShotLink recorded times to be used for real time pace management, I could see the potential for doing so. Although, I don't believe golf should adopt something like a shot clock / play clock, Rather it would make more sense to adopt a chess clock model. For each round a player would be allotted a set amount of time to play when it is their turn, If they go over the time by the end of the round they are assessed a penalty. This way if a player chooses to spend more time on a particular challenging shot they can do so, but will have to make it up at other points in the round.