Slow Play Solution

[Ashlandeagle]

It’s time for a shot clock on the PGA tour. Here is an idea how it could work. On the tee players with honors starts and must hit his tee ball 60 second after the fairway is clear, then player B has 30 seconds to hit his ball after player A’s ball comes to rest. Fairway, players are given 60 seconds between shots, this time is extended when player B or C’s ball is directly inline with player A and the green, 120 seconds. The green (this is the worst part of slow play), upon all players reaching the green, player the furthest has 120 seconds to strike his ball, players B has 60 seconds after player A’s ball comes to rest of is holed out, player C follows the same rule as player B. 
 

PGA Tour has to find a way to speed up play, it’s agonizing to watch on TV.

[iacas]

I think the issues with this are evident. But let’s start with one: what happens if they don’t?

[Ashlandeagle]

  On 5/6/2023 at 4:59 PM, iacas said:

I think the issues with this are evident. But let’s start with one: what happens if they don’t?

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They lose more and more viewers. Watching golf on TV is unbearable. 

[Vinsk]

  On 5/6/2023 at 6:36 PM, Ashlandeagle said:

 

They lose more and more viewers. Watching golf on TV is unbearable. 

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Soooo….you’re still watching?😉

[dennyjones]

  On 5/6/2023 at 8:54 PM, Vinsk said:

Soooo….you’re still watching?😉

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not as much...

[iacas]

  On 5/6/2023 at 6:36 PM, Ashlandeagle said:

They lose more and more viewers. Watching golf on TV is unbearable. 

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It’s not unbearable because of slow play. There are still 30 other golfers they could show hitting a shot.

The commercial load, cameras cutting to a player 90 seconds before he’s about to hit, etc. play a much bigger role than how slow play actually is.

[Vinsk]

I’d like to see them implement an actual shot clock similar to how some Texas Hold’em games run. You’re given three time extensions. After that, for golf, you’re given a one stroke penalty for each time you exceed the allotted time. 60 sec from the time you reach your ball to execute the shot. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Vinsk

[TourSpoon]

I would like them to actually enforce the rules they have. When is the last time a player got penalized for slow play? 

[ghalfaire]

  On 5/10/2023 at 2:57 PM, TourSpoon said:

I would like them to actually enforce the rules they have. When is the last time a player got penalized for slow play? 

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Me too!  I tend to watch more LPGA these days, they do, mostly, enforce the slow play rules.

[iacas]

  On 5/10/2023 at 2:57 PM, TourSpoon said:

I would like them to actually enforce the rules they have. When is the last time a player got penalized for slow play? 

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Do you have evidence that they do not?

Most rules start with being out of position.

[colin007]

If they can cane kids for spitting in certain countries, then why can't we use electric cattle prods for slow play?

[phan52]

Dream on. Monihan was just saying that they will not do anything else that isn't already in play. The concern is that they will finish before the allotted time on the networks. For instance, if they have airtime until 6:30 eastern time, they don't want them to finish at 6:00. It happened last week at the team event because of the alternate shot format. They finished way before they went off the air.

[boogielicious]

  On 5/10/2023 at 7:19 PM, colin007 said:

If they can cane kids for spitting in certain countries, then why can't we use electric cattle prods for slow play?

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It would count as a 15th club in your bag.

[TourSpoon]

  On 5/10/2023 at 7:18 PM, iacas said:

Do you have evidence that they do not?

Most rules start with being out of position.

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That is a really good question and I asked myself the same thing before posting just to make sure I was in the ball park. I saw this SI article that referenced this year's Players and basically recalled the last penalty was given to a guy at the 2021 PGA. It referenced one slow play penalty at the Master's in 2013. Point is there aren't many examples of penalties actually being given out to know if it would be effective or not.  

si.com

"Player after player came off the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course peeved that they were either warned about slow play or put on the clock after a warning because they were out of position. But not one penalty stroke was added to the score of one player."

 

"Doc Redman, who was put on the clock during Friday’s second round, asked the rules officials about how many of the groups in the first round met the time-par set for the course. The answer? None. "

Then I saw this article from the 2017 Zurich which leads me to believe that its more rare than a double eagle. 

PGA Tour hits Campbell-Carballo team at Zurich Classic with first slow-play penalty in 22 years

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It’s taken 22 years — about 21 years too long for many golf fans — but the PGA Tour has finally issued a stroke penalty for slow play. Rookie Brian Campbell, who played on the University of Illinoi…

 

[iacas]

  On 5/11/2023 at 4:35 PM, TourSpoon said:

That is a really good question and I asked myself the same thing before posting just to make sure I was in the ball park. I saw this SI article that referenced this year's Players and basically recalled the last penalty was given to a guy at the 2021 PGA. It referenced one slow play penalty at the Master's in 2013. Point is there aren't many examples of penalties actually being given out to know if it would be effective or not.  

si.com

"Player after player came off the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course peeved that they were either warned about slow play or put on the clock after a warning because they were out of position. But not one penalty stroke was added to the score of one player."

 

"Doc Redman, who was put on the clock during Friday’s second round, asked the rules officials about how many of the groups in the first round met the time-par set for the course. The answer? None. "

Then I saw this article from the 2017 Zurich which leads me to believe that its more rare than a double eagle. 

PGA Tour hits Campbell-Carballo team at Zurich Classic with first slow-play penalty in 22 years

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It’s taken 22 years — about 21 years too long for many golf fans — but the PGA Tour has finally issued a stroke penalty for slow play. Rookie Brian Campbell, who played on the University of Illinoi…

 

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So… once they’re on the clock are they in violation of the policy? Or do they speed up at that point?

[TourSpoon]

  On 5/12/2023 at 9:46 PM, iacas said:

So… once they’re on the clock are they in violation of the policy? Or do they speed up at that point?

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I don’t think anyone made the goal time at the Players and no resultant penalties were assessed (according to the SI article). My original question was when was the last time a penalty was given on the PGA Tour. It’s pretty rare. 
 

The next time I see Glen “All” Day I’ll ask him what he thinks! 
 

 

[iacas]

  On 5/13/2023 at 9:21 PM, TourSpoon said:

I don’t think anyone made the goal time at the Players and no resultant penalties were assessed (according to the SI article). My original question was when was the last time a penalty was given on the PGA Tour. It’s pretty rare.

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My point is… Once players were on the clock, if they don't get a bad time, then they can't assess a penalty.

Unfortunately, they don't enforce how quickly a group walks to their balls, for example.

My secondary point is… they should write better pace of play rules. If you're waiting all day… that doesn't mean play isn't slow, and it's really pretty easy to stay in position.

Why rush if you're just going to wait more on the next hole or next shot? Tour players have learned to play slow so they don't have to wait toooooo much.

[TourSpoon]

  On 5/15/2023 at 12:07 AM, iacas said:

Tour players have learned to play slow so they don't have to wait toooooo much.

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Exactly...And once the first few groups get behind they logjam the course and no one really moves. Once the pace gets to 5:15-5:30 its just a waiting game and its almost impossible to be out of position. 

  On 5/15/2023 at 12:07 AM, iacas said:

they should write better pace of play rules

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Yes! Because what they are doing isn't effective. The current process reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where he goes on about the rental cars. "You see, you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them." If the majority of players wanted to get more aggressive they could probably fix it. Tiger had suggested at one point to ding players a stroke without warning. 

Any other ideas?