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Thursday, January 08, 2004
Chiongbian: Slow play OK?
By Edgar R. Chiongbian
Tee time
SINCE our topic today is slow play let us check out the rules as defined by US-PGA tour. “Players are allowed 40 seconds for each shot, with an extra 20 seconds for the player who goes first.”
This policy was revised in February 2003 to introduce a stiffer penalty for slow play as follows: one bad time during a round is a warning. Two bad times is a one-stroke penalty and a $5,000 fine. Three bad times is a two-stroke penalty and a $10,000 fine. And four bad times is a disqualification.
No one was surprised that not one player got fined for slow play in 2003. Does this mean the rules are working? The answer is of course No and we will explain that later. So why did the PGA make so much fuss to impose a stiffer penalty in 2003?
That was because of Sergio Garcia who was getting everybody very upset (including the TV stations whose coverage was exceeding its allotted time) and something had to be done to protect the game.
After the new rules were revised, Sergio Garcia started playing faster and everybody was happy and a lesson given to everyone that played golf. But slow play was always an issue in the PGA tour and in fact was a big item in 1995.
Brad Faxon said then, “Everyone knows who the slow players are. The problem is a lot of them are some of our-best-known players. The officials aren’t going to get on them as long as they’re going to finish on time for television. There are two different sets of standards.”
Notoriously known slow player Glen Day received the nickname “All Day” because of it. In 1995 Day was fined for slow play and managed to keep his sense of humor.
When he attended a players meeting, commissioner Finchem spoke about the importance of living up to the image created by champions of the past.
Day was next to Jack Nicklaus and said, “Gee, Mr. Nicklaus, a couple of weeks ago I tried to be just like you and I got a stroke penalty and a $1,000 fine.” Jack supposedly cracked up laughing.
But there are a lot of players who think that Nicklaus is partly responsible for the trend of slow play. Billy Andrade said, “We all watched Jack growing up and he was the guy. He also played very slowly so we all figured that was the way we should play.” The 10 slowest players on tour in 1995 included Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal and David Duval.
During the early 1990s, slow play was prevalent but without any rules to govern slow-play. So in 1993, a slow play rule was introduced along with a one-stroke penalty and $1,000 fine for slow play. But this was not enough deterrent to stop slow play.
In 1995 only two players were fined for slow play because a penalty is almost never called. That’s because it takes four steps before a player gets a genuine penalty.
First step is a warning for being out of position. The second step is being told that you are now on the clock. The third step (the first penalty) is warning for taking more than 40 seconds to play a shot.
Finally the fourth step is the real penalty of one stroke and $5,000 fine for getting two bad times. The kicker is when the players are able to get back into position before reaching the fourth step; the entire process goes back to square one.
In our local scene, this actually turned out as a step backwards because the players were using the 40-second time as an allowance to play their shots since some felt that they were entitled to it. Worse is, they argued when the clock is suppose to start.
GOLF TIP: The lob wedge is the best club to hit high floaters with the ball stopping quickly on the green. But it is also very useful tool for chipping from the thick stuff around the green.
To do the lob chip, play the ball in front of your right foot to promote clean contact in the thick grass. Set the clubface square (not open) to the target and bring the club up by cocking your wrist and then drop it down to the ball with very little follow through. The ball will pop out and dribble softly to the hole.
(erc@skyinet.net)
(January 8, 2004 issue)
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