This is another week with a contentious topic. I am always surprised and upset to see that Pace of play is not well managed at the PGA TOUR and the LPGA. I don’t see any moves made to bring down the time it takes to play a round.
I understand that some circumstances may influence Pace of Play: weather, green speed or length of the rough. But no incentive are in place to really solve the problem.
Last week we had on those tours 2 incidents involving Pace of Play.
PGA TOUR – Zurich Classic (April 2017)
Deux unknown players: Miguel Angel Carbello and Brian Campbell were penalised 1 stroke for slow play. They were playing as a team and the team was penalised.
The last time a player was penalised for slow play in a regular PGA Tour tournament was in 1995.….. yes, in the last century…..last millennium…
LPGA – Volunteers of America Texas Shootout (April 2017)
Haru Nomura and Cristie Kerr played the 6 playoff holes in 2 hours. Mrs Kerr acknowledged that she played slow to get an edge on the play of Mrs Nomura. The officials did not penalise the player.
How does the system works
Condition 1 : the group has an allotted time to reach each holes
Condition 2 : the group must remain in position with the previous group
The Pace of Play policy is the following:
- An official will tell a group out of position to try to catch up in the next holes
- If the group is still out of position, they will receive a warning that they are On The Clock. All the players have 40 seconds to make a stroke (10 seconds more for the first one to play)
- If a player exceed the time, he or she will receive a warning
- A second breach will cost a 1 stroke penalty.
Results
On those 2 tours, it take more than 5 hours to play each of the first 2 rounds of a tournament. The grouping are 3 players. Many groups complete their rounds in 5h30. On the weekend, the groups are made of 2 players and they always take more than 4 hours to complete the round.
We will see next week why at Golf Quebec and with the Quebec pros at the Circuit Canada pro Tour, all the groups of 3, complete their rounds under 4h30 in our tournaments.