Ready Golf Makes A Difference? The R&A Says So And Plans To Show How
Major League Baseball is threatening to fundamentally change a small but occasionally comical element of its sport in lieu of telling batters to stay in the box, which makes the R&A's gentler push for a speed-up tactic more appealing.
Martin Dempster reports that "ready golf" is going to be implemented at The Amateur's stroke play proceedings this year after other trial runs.
He quotes R&A Chief at Martin Slumbers at length, who also scolds players for not yelling fore in response to Pat Perez beaning a spectator Sunday at Riviera after not yelling fore (the landing area on that hole can't hear or see the tee, but I digress...)
On the topic of ready golf...
“When you get to the professional level, there’s no doubt in my mind that the professionals are role models, and they are fantastic role models for young people. They’re healthy, they’re fit, they’re strong and they’ve got unbelievable skill. “But part of that role model is pace of play, and there is no doubt that younger generations take a steer from them. So I think I would just encourage the Tour pros to realise that pace of play is part of them being that role model, and it’s not helpful to growing the amateur game when the youngsters are slowing down.
Interestingly, the R&A has guidelines for proper ready golf.
And at the Irish Close Championship last year, they reported a 45-minute round improvement when ready golf was implemented.
While this doesn't address distance, green speed and the refusal to penalize (where hath you gone Keith Pelley?), ready golf is at least something and the R&A is going to earn huge points for being at the forefront of the slow play issue.
Reader Comments (15)
dig
The most significant part of the article on the Irish tournament above was the increase of start intervals to alternate 10 and 11 minutes.
18 times 12 minutes is 3 hours 36 minutes.
If clubs are serious about pace of play then they have to maintain/enforce the gap at the start. Driving through road works, average speed trap areas, everyone goes at the set speed, it is the bunching at the start, by the selfish, entitled, ignoring the 800, 400, 200 signs and forcing in at the last that causes all the delays.
Ready golf, yes, there's no penalty for playing out of turn in stroke play, if someone has gone from one bunker to another for example, but it is important that groups have reasonable time to play each hole.
See 1981 U.S. Open, the beginning of end.........the game has slowed down greatly since that moment in time.
Has the European Tour handed out a single penalty stroke or publicly announced any cash fines?
John Paramor doesn't get any credit for the penalty given to Guan Tianlang?
No disrespect, but this has nothing to do with John Paramor calling the first slow play penalty in the history of the Master on a 14-year old amateur.
You are fully entitled to your own opinion.
My mention of Paramor/Guan was due to the uproar that occurred on this site when Paramor assessed the penalty. It seems, to me, like 'talking out of both side's of one's mouth' to complain about slow play and about penalties assessed for that slow play (that's not directed at you specifically as I don't recall you taking a loud position against that penalty).
I was not outraged at all about Paramor levying a slow-play penalty on the kid. My outrage was that it was the FIRST time in the history of the MASTERS it had ever happened. No way anyone can convince me that the kid was the first and ONLY player in the history of the event that was deserving of a slow-play penalty.
P.J. Boatright was a great rules expert, even a better man; and a wonderfully talented player in his day. We need more guys with guts like Mr. Boatright and Frank Hannigan. The game misses both of these gentlemen.