slow play penalties

[duncan mackie]

there was a lot of discussion in a recent thread (kevin na) on slow play in the professional game, and others!

there was a view that there are never any penalties, and other views on what and how...

if people are interested they may find this report on a recent ruling interesting, and it shows how the process I outlined is followed in practice.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-central-sunday-feature-1/

I have to say that watching the final play of the hole that the penalty was assesed on I felt that some of the other suggestions on what to do to really slow players were more appropriate - you didn't need a stop watch to scream 'get on with it!!!!!!!!'

 

[joma1108]

I had an instance of this at our medal week before last, i was out at 2:20 and expected it to be a bit slower as each hole would have two games on it one on the green and one somewhere on the hole.

We were playing behind three low ingle digit golfer highest i think was six.

standing on the third tee it had take 54 minutes to get there.

There was no game in front holding these guys up and they were taking around 14 minutes to putt out between them and by that i mean a maximum of two putts each.

We got to the 9th hole 3hrs and 12 minutes after we teed off, by this time there was a gap of 1 and 1/2 holes between them and the next game.

by the time we got to 15 (which is the closest to the clubhouse and 4hrs 30 minutes later and thinking that it would be another hour at least before we were off each of the three of us walked in.

when i was challenged about walking off the course (as it is frowned upon at our course i explained the situation, i was flabbergasted at the response.

it went something like 'well the three guys are all good players and ex champs you have to expect that they are going to take longer because they are better players....eh sorry!!

the irony is that one of the guys in our group had a two shot penalty for not signing in 15 mins prior to his tee time, despite the fact that we were still standing on the tee waiting to tee off from this group in front.

is that normal that 'better' players take longer to analyze each shot?

 

[Imurg]

is that normal that 'better' players take longer to analyze each shot?

Only if they think they're better than they actually are....

Over 3 hours for 9 holes - they need the rough end of a Pineapple!
There's no excuse for it at all.
That said, they can take all day if they want - as long as they let others through..

 

[duncan mackie]

so where does this 15 minute rule come from then?

if it's a CoC (condition of competition) I would think it's illegal as it alters rule 6-3. If the club want to require players to be somewhere at a particular time then any penalties should be outwith the game ie if you aren't signed in with 15 minutes to go you aren't playing and loose booking rights for a month - or something similar.

as to your 3 experts, if they are that good the first thing they should be doing is letting others through! A bigger part of such 3 balls progress in competitions is that they have to wait on the tee longer than most games, possibly until the game in front is almost at the green, then the game in front runs on the green, taps a few putts around and is at the next tee before the others have got near their tee shots...basically they take their time at a different place on the hole...the corollary is that the group behind will also appear to be catching them up and waiting all the time for the same reason. At 1 and 1/2 holes they should be letting people through though - this isn't the same as the bits I outline above.

 

[FairwayDodger]

if people are interested they may find this report on a recent ruling interesting, and it shows how the process I outlined is followed in practice.

http://www.golfchannel.com/media/golf-central-sunday-feature-1/

That's very interesting. Seems harsh at first but since they get warned, then put on the clock and only then penalised she had plenty of opportunity to speed up.

I was also intrigued by the debate about the penalty for supposedly touching the line of putt. I'm not sure I'd have been so bloody minded to call that on an opponent.

 

[bobmac]

I'm confused.
3 hours 12 mins for the first 8 holes ?
Then 1 hour 18 for the next 6 holes (9-14)
AND
If it took so long for the front 9, why was there only a one and a half hole gap?
If I took 3 and a half hours for 9 holes, I'd be walking in too and giving the organisers a piece of my mind.

 

[joma1108]

Just to clarify a few points, tthe competition was a three ball per tee time (we dont do many four balls as it takes too long ....see the irony there)

We waited on the tee until they had cleared the green, when we got to the tee (first is a par 5) the hadnt hit their second shot to a green that was clear, again we waited until they had cleared and again on the third hadnt hit their second when we were ready to tee off.

Im not sure about the two shot rule as i had never heard of other than a notice saying that the club were adopting the SGU policy of checking in 15 minutes before the tee time, no mention as far as im aware about penalties if not.

also the guy was playing for his handicap which i thought was bonkers giving him two shots worse as a start when playing for handicap.

the group i was in was also the last group out and we should have been 30 minutes after everyone as it worked out so in fact the gents teeing off before were also late in starting so in theory they should also all have received penalties going by what went on before.

anyway im going to stop my moaning and enjoy this lovely weather thats finally here in Jockland.

 

[duncan mackie]

I'm confused.
3 hours 12 mins for the first 8 holes ?
Then 1 hour 18 for the next 6 holes (9-14)
AND
If it took so long for the front 9, why was there only a one and a half hole gap?
If I took 3 and a half hours for 9 holes, I'd be walking in too and giving the organisers a piece of my mind.

those observations were the main reason for my 'justification' in the earlier post Bob - it sounds like it was all just painfully slow, with gaps appearing from time to time as mismatches occured in the various groups approach to some holes.

 

[joma1108]

I'm confused.
3 hours 12 mins for the first 8 holes ?
Then 1 hour 18 for the next 6 holes (9-14)
AND
If it took so long for the front 9, why was there only a one and a half hole gap?
If I took 3 and a half hours for 9 holes, I'd be walking in too and giving the organisers a piece of my mind.

ok checked my diary, i teed of at 2pm, 3hrs 12 to FINISH the 9 holes sorry my bad.

I was home by 7:30 and it takes me 15 minutes to get home it was around 5 hours for 14 holes. as we hadn't played the 15th yet

Not sure why there was only 1 1/2 holes of a gap other than there was a big gap in front of them, but i had seen they were letting others through as you should do.

23 minutes per hole for the first 9 and then a decidedly average jog of 18 minutes per hole for the next 5

For me 13 minutes 15 minutes maximum per hole average is more than enough to get it done
When i play on my own im rarely on the course for more than 3 hours to play the full 18.