Ogilvy: "The things taking the fun out of golf"

Geoff Ogilvy covers most of the things you'd expect someone of his character and wisdom to not care for in the modern game. Still, he offers his usual honesty and strong takes that makes this piece for Golf Australia worth your time.

On slow play, he describes what I saw multiple times last week from one player as his group was a par-5 behind the next group. Penalty shots would, of course, fix this...

If you do all the little things between shots quickly, you can almost take as long as you want over a shot and not fall behind.

On Tour, the most frustrating aspect of slow play is being ready to hit, then looking over to see the guy with the honour just about to start his pre-shot routine. In other words, he has been doing something else entirely at a time when he should have been working out his yardage and figuring what club he needs to use. It is just so thoughtless and selfish. And it drives me nuts.

I get that some players can have trouble taking the club away from the ball – Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia and Ben Crane spring to mind. And I have sympathy with such a problem. But still. It is relatively easy to get to that point quickly – even if you then struggle to start
 the backswing.

Comments

[philar]

If the Tour officials enforced the slow play rules by penalizing such players, this would end in a hurry

[Ivan Morris]

Common sense and less selfishness would solve the slow play problem. Maxie Behr put his finger on it - R&A and USGA asleep at the wheel. They deserve the biggest slow play penalty of all.

[In the grip of the game]

Put Geoff O in charge.

[Schlasser]

Man I'm glad to hear someone point out this, "On Tour, the most frustrating aspect of slow play being ready to hit, then looking over to see the guy with the honour just about to start his pre-shot routine. In other words, he has been doing something else entirely at a time when he should have been working out his yardage and figuring what club he needs to use."

I've always wondered why guys like Mike Weir, who was the worst when it came to his ridiculous and selfish pre-shot routine, couldn't start the thing while the other guys were preparing. Happens on the greens too. You never see a guy lining up his putt until the other player is finished.

[GinGHIN]

Drives me nuts when tour players are literally a few yards from each other and after the first one figures out all the relevant details and hits his 142 yard shot, the second goes through the same, excruciating calculus for the 140 yard shot, trying to solve for the .05 mph wind "swirling" above the trees.

[KPK]

"I get that some players can have trouble taking the club away from the ball – Kevin Na, Sergio Garcia and Ben Crane spring to mind."

A couple of these players acknowledged their problem & actually tried to address it. One could have cared less and keeps right on doing what he's done since turning professional. Big difference.

[GinGHIN]

Who could(n't) have cared less?

[Marmooskapaul]

Last time I checked..."most" tournaments end around the allotted TV time. If it takes 4-6 hours..doesn't seem to make a difference?? Still ends about the same time.

[Manku]

Reminds me of going to a movie, waiting on line, and then the person in front gets to the window turns to his date and says, "So what movie do you want to see?". Or people pulling out their wallet only when all the items have been rung up at the supermarket....

I'm not sure if they're selfish or clueless, or both...but it's really annoying!

Fortunately, with the advent of online ordering, these situations can be minimized if not eliminated...no such luck with golf unless you only want to join a private course dedicated to fast play.

[Michael]

Nothing spikes my blood pressure quite like playing behind a group that has a guy who doesn't even get out of the cart until its his turn. Sitting in the cart looking at the phone instead of getting ready.

[Al B. Tross]

Put Rory Sabbatini on the case! He'll fix these tortoises - or else.

[FC]

Schlasser, I see nothing wrong with simultaneous pre-shot routines, and shots. Fire when ready. Etiquette and Honor would have to be modified. Minor sticking points.

[ElChapin]

Everyone should read the whole article. His points on golf course architecture/conditions are even better than those on slow play on the tour. Too bad most modern architects/superintendents will just ignore them while still claiming to be "minimalists" and designing/conditioning for "fun golf".

[Brandon]

The bigger issue I've always said is that what the pros do at tournaments and on TV trickles down to the public courses we all play. I remember watching a junior tournament at my course last year. Young kids. There was a girl who was probably 9-10 years old. She literally took 10 practice swings. Did her visualization thing, took three to five more practice swings, addressed the ball, stared at it for a good 10-15 seconds, then hit. Maddening.

[KPK]

Manku, how about the person who pulls up to the drive thru and you can here them tell the voice on the other end that they need a few minutes to look at the menu. Or the person who waits in a long line at the donut store and gets to the front and has no clue what to order? Or the person who pulls up to the toll booth knowing they don't have the money to get through or if they do have the money it's in the back trunk in their wallet which is in their suitcase( this just happened a few days ago and of course I was in the car right behind them)? It's a clueless, selfish & rude society, wandering around in a state of zombi-ism.

[Lawyers, Guns & Money]

KPK +1

Add this one to the list. A husband stands in line ahead of other customers at the supermarket checkout holding a single item. Right before he gets to the checkout, the missus shows up with a shopping cart FULL of groceries and moves in right along side of him at the head of the line.

To your point, the gall of some people is absolutely amazing...

[Romal]

Every course should be adamant about getting rounds done in 4 hours (really slow) and at least give a pat on the back to golfers who finish their rounds in 3 1/2 hours. Watching choppers take forever to line up putts when you know that they are not breaking 90 is maddening.

I read that Tiger plays his practice rounds during off weeks in way less than 3 hours. Would be nice if that became the norm. Instead, the hackers line up a putt like Tiger does when he is trying to win the U.S. Open, forgetting Tiger does not take that type of time when playing a meaningless round and, let's face it, unless you are on TV on Sunday, our rounds are pretty meaningless.