Two incidents, one week, two different outcomes, and a message that all in the industry hopes will seep into the marrow of every golfer. That was the takeaway from the first week of May where professional golf’s new Pace of Play policies became all too real for a couple of the game’s best.
It started with the LPGA Tour’s visit to Southern Utah for the Black Desert Championship. During the second round, 22-year-old Chrisato Iwai from Japan received a two-shot penalty for slow play. She missed the cut by two.
The LPGA’s policy, which was implemented in February, states that once a group is on the clock – officially timed after being given an opportunity to get back into position – any player who takes up to five seconds longer than the allotted time to hit a shot will be fined. If a player takes between 6 and 15 seconds too long, she will receive a one-shot penalty, and anything more than 15 seconds over time adds two shots.
Iwai missing the weekend sent a strong and unmistakable message: If you don’t keep up, you won’t be out here long.
Another slow-play penalty came on the PGA Tour Americas to a player named Hunter Wolcott. During Friday’s second round of the Diners Club Peru Open, Wolcott took 58 seconds on a putt. It was his only bad time. No matter. The penalty stood. Undeterred, Wolcott shot 19-under and won the event by two shots.
So, the standard has been set. Professionals are being hit where it hurts the most: on the scorecard. But how will that translate to the average player? Will your perennial slowpokes pick up the pace because they see rules officials issuing penalties to tour pros?
Of course not.
And the reason is simple: While casual golfers might play the same equipment as their favorite tour player, or wear the same clothes, or even put their sunglasses on the backs of their caps (FYI, tour players do so they don’t cover the logos they’re being paid to wear), the guy who gets the 10:30 tee time every Saturday and clogs up the course with his 5:35 round doesn’t think he’s a holdup. And telling him he’s slow is akin to informing him that his wife is unfaithful. There’s shock, disbelief, bewilderment, rage, and the kind of lashing out that would never occur in any other setting. Even presenting him with irrefutable evidence makes you no less the bad guy.
Companies like Tagmarshal and GPSI provide incredible data to soften the blow. But you can’t analyze away heartbreak, which, at its core, is what you’re creating when you call someone a slow player.
“For the last 25 years, one of the most consistent things I’ve heard is, ‘Our pace of play is awful,” said NGCOA president Cathy Harbin, owner of Pine Ridge Golf Club and former Vice President of Golf for Invited Clubs and Resorts. “What has been most effective for me is letting people know where you should be and at what time. Whether it’s with GPS, or on the scorecard, or through signage, you have to let people know that through three holes, you need to be no more than 40 minutes into your round. That creates a constant awareness and constant accountability. If you let them get six holes in, it’s too late.”
Jay Miller, the director of golf operations for Sterling Golf, which owns and operates a dozen courses in New England, said, “There’s no mystery (to slow play), there’s just management.”
Miller has a detailed program for all his golf courses, which results in positive reviews and almost no pace issues. Those policies include:
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Tee times are set on 10-minute intervals on weekends. Rather than costing the clubs money, positive pace-of-play generates more revenues.
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Rather than relying on technology, Miller and Sterling use common sense and awareness, paying attention to what tees players play and keeping an eye on every group.
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According to Miller, “We have very solid ranger and starter training and continuing educational programs. For example, our rangers will keep a stash of quality golf balls in the cart that they’ve found and when they come upon a group looking for balls, our ranger will say, ‘Hey, guys, I’ve got some great balls here. Why don’t you take three or four, throw one down and keep moving so we don’t hold up play?’ That works. It’s polite, but you get the point across.”
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Sterling-run courses also keep the rough heights as a maximum of 2.5 inches, unless the rough borders water. Miller has also lowered the lips on the bunkers and added pulverized granite to the sand to make it more playable.
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“We also have collection areas around all our greens, because average players are better putters than chippers,” Miller said.
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Strategic tree removal.
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Fridays through Sundays, there are only four difficult hole locations, with nine easy pin settings and five moderate settings.
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On weekends, Sterling courses use shorter tees on the long par threes, with no par three playing longer than 185 to 190 from the tips.
“There are so many easy ways to help your course and the golfer with speed of play,” Miller said. “But it takes being out there. You have to make the effort and be out there.”
Harbin agrees but also understands that confrontation is sometimes necessary.
“I will pull a habitually slow group off the golf course in a heartbeat,” she said. “They get mad, but I always say, ‘I know this is upsetting, but my responsibility is to the 40 people behind you over the four people standing in front of me.’ That’s uncomfortable for everyone. But pace of play is about daily awareness. You can’t take a day off. It’s a constant battle and you can’t fall asleep.
“In public golf, you must be ready to give them their money back,” Harbin said. “I’ve gone out on the course plenty of times with money in my hand. It doesn’t matter how many holes they’ve played, I’ll give them their money back to get them off the course.
“But that only works if you have the right person doing it. I always do it myself, because it’s so painful. Operators can’t send a kid or even a marshal out there to pull someone off the course.
“It’s one of the hard things about being an owner, but pace of play is your responsibility,” Harbin said. “You’ve got to be the one making the tough calls.”