Hitting slow players where it hurts

Pace-of-play infraction will cost PGA players a stroke

As a participation sport, the game of golf is not as popular as it was some 20 years ago at the height of the Tiger Era. Those of us in Lake County are very familiar with this issue due to the recent course closures of Clear Lake Riviera, Aetna Springs, Langtry and Black Rock. Throughout Northern California such established high-profile courses as Stevinson Ranch, Adobe Creek, San Geronimo, Mare Island and Roddy Ranch have also closed their doors.

I have always contended that there are three reasons for the demise of golf. The expense related to the game is a big factor, especially in tough economic times. Secondly, it is a very difficult game to improve one’s skills. Not everyone enjoys playing twice per month and shooting 120 while losing six golf balls to the trees, creeks, ponds and the street. The third factor revolves around pace of play. Long gone are the days when my teenaged friends and I could spend 12 hours at Cog Hill, stop for lunch and still get in 54 holes. Even if you can play golf in three hours, there’s bound to be someone out there in front of you slothing around the course in five to six hours. I contend that my bad skin issue is because of too much slow play.

I’ve felt that part of the problem with slow play is based on professional golf. Recreational golfers watch the game’s best players read putts from multiple angles, pace off distances, look at their yardage and putting green books, check the wind multiple times, and then go back to their bag to change clubs. I recall watching Jack Nicklaus play at a meticulous pace. Nowadays, we get to see Bryson DeChambeau

play at a meticulous pace.

The PGA Tour has followed suit with the European Tour and is coming up with new pace-ofplay guidelines that will result in penalty strokes for the tour’s top snails. Golfers will be expected to play their shot within 40 seconds. Once that golfer is identified with a bad time, he will get a warning. The next incident and every incident thereafter during the course of the round will result in a one-stroke penalty. To the professional at golf’s highest levels, a one-stroke penalty can prove to be more costly than any sort of monetary fine. Golfers with a history of slow play will be closely monitored on the “Observation List” in the event of an “Excessive Shot Time.” The tour hopes to be “changing the individual habits of the slowest players.” The emphasis will be on the individual, not on the group that has fallen behind.

According to four-time major champion Brooks Koepka, who has been spirited in his commentary about slow play, he has said, “I just don’t understand how it takes 1 minute and 20 seconds to hit a golf ball. It’s not that hard.” Most of Koepka’s peers agree with him according to ShotLink, the tour’s all-purpose keeper of statistics. According to ShotLink, the average tee shot takes 43 seconds. The average approach shot takes 44 sec

onds, the average greenside chip or wedge shot takes 50 seconds, and the average putt takes 33 seconds. The lowest 10 percent of golfers on tour take 60 seconds to tee it up, 55 seconds to hit an iron, 63 seconds to chip, and 40 seconds to putt. The real issue occurs outside the parameters of those numbers, such as last year at the Northern Trust when DeChambeau took just more than two minutes to miss an 8-foot eagle putt. A few seconds here and there don’t add up to six-hour golf.

Of course, when I read some of the quotes DeChambeau has delivered at press conferences during the last six months, I am concerned that he is all over the place with excuses. On top of that Bryson really doesn’t truly think that he has an issue with slow play. DeChambeau has contended that he has been “unfairly targeted.” He has also stated that “I never had a slow play problem in the first place.”

DeChambeau played in Abu Dhabi last week. He further added to the discussion when he was quoted as saying he “welcomed” the new pace-ofplay rules. “Look, I don’t want to be out there for six hours, nor does anybody, right? It’s going to hurt my momentum. Every time it happens I feel like I get cold.” Yet he also added in response to his slow pace at the Northern Trust that “I was playing under the rules and there was no rhyme or reason to be called out other than the fact that it looked like it was a really, really long time that it took, and it was, absolutely. I’m not saying it wasn’t.” Huh? Now I’m more confused than ever.

Yet DeChambeau backtracked from that initial comment by stating that “there’s no reason why I should have been given so much heat, considering other things that had occurred that day and previous days of other people I played with. It literally happens with everyone out there. They just caught it on camera

at that specific moment in time.” He added, “to be called out like that was kind of weird, but it is what it is and I take it and I understand it.”

Between the conclusion of the Fed Ex Cup playoffs in late August of 2019 to the Presidents Cup in December of 2019, Bryson took time off from competitive golf to work out extensively and to gain muscle mass in an effort to hit the ball farther. He definitely looks bigger and more muscular. DeChambeau sees this as a solution to his slow play reputation. He concluded the discussion by stating, “Considering how far I’m hitting it, I don’t think that (slow play) will be an issue anymore.” That’s a most interesting take. I hope he’s right.

When all is said and done, slow play is a major issue in professional golf, amateur golf and recreational golf. I think it will take a whole lot more than an official with a stopwatch to clean up this problem. It won’t help the Adams Family get around PGA West any faster next

week.

Some 30 years ago I played a lot of competitive golf and not a whole lot of recreational golf. However, one of my recreational golfing friends was the late Michael Hossack of Buckingham. We played afternoon golf in the summer and followed it up with a few cold root beers. His son and daughter attended Kelseyville schools and he was one of those all-time good guys. Sadly he passed away at age 65, almost seven years ago, from cancer. He was also a founding member and the drummer of the Doobie Brothers. Congrats to the Doobies and to Michael and his family for last week’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His son Mike Jr. and his family still reside in Lake County. Golf is one of those games where captains of industry can get paired with janitors and street sweepers. I have played with tour golfers, top amateurs, juniors, hacks, and NFL HOFers. Now I can say I have teed it up with a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer.