USGA Launches Campaign to Address Slow Play

The 'While We're Young' campaign is part of a programme launched earlier this year by the USGA in partnership with golf industry leaders, allied organizations, media partners and golf course managers in a bid to resolve the pace-of-play issue. In line with this campaign, the USGA said it would enforce stricter policies on slow play at this week's U.S. Open, the second of the year's four majors.

"Pace of play has been an issue for decades, but it's now become one of the most significant threats to the health of the game," USGA president Glen D. Nager told reporters on the eve of the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club. "Five hour plus rounds are common and they're incompatible with modern life. Beyond the time involved, poor pace of play saps the fun from the game, takes too much time, frustrates players, and discourages future play.

"In a recent study by the National Golf Foundation, 91 percent of serious golfers reported that they're bothered by slow play and say that it detracts from their golf experience." According to Nager, more than 70 percent of golfers felt that pace of play had become a bigger problem in recent years and more than 50 percent admitted to walking off the golf course due to frustration over the length of rounds.

"As these numbers demonstrate, the golf community needs to act to address pace of play issues, they need to act now and they need to act more than ever," Nager said. Borrowing the iconic 'While We're Young' line from the character played by American actor Rodney Dangerfield in the 1980 film 'Caddyshack', the campaign takes a lighthearted approach to encourage golfers to improve pace of play.

FRUSTRATED WOODS

Three-time U.S. Open champion Woods, who was vocal in his frustration over slow play after he won the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open in January, has fully endorsed the campaign. "Pace of play is a big issue. Rounds of golf take too long and no one enjoys it," the 14-times major winner said in a statement. Woods won the Farmers Insurance Open by four shots at Torrey Pines outside San Diego after completing a fog-delayed final round that was played at a painfully slow pace.

At one point eight strokes in front of the chasing pack on a breezy day, Woods dropped four shots over his last five holes as he and his playing partners had to wait on virtually every tee before they could proceed. "We played nine holes in just over three hours, and three of them are par threes," Woods said after his victory. "I started losing my patience a little bit, and that's when I made a few mistakes."

Nager said the pace-of-play policy had been changed for this week's U.S. Open with every golfer in a group required to have a ball in play off the tee on a par-four or par-five hole before the group ahead had left the green. In previous years, only one player in a group had to put a ball in play. "This year every player in the group has to have a ball in play before that group in front of them is off the green or they will be considered out of position," Nager said. "Then we'll start going through the process where we'll have a rover timing them and either getting them back in position or they will be subject to a warning and then penalty."

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New Program Launched to Address the Age-old Problem of Slow Play

Steve Aronson, an avid golfer, came up with the idea for Play 240 GOLF (http://www.play240golf.com/) after being paired with a notoriously slow golfer on consecutive days in a club tournament. Aronson shared his experience; “It was extremely frustrating watching the prolonged pre-shot routine time and time again over 36 holes. I wanted to tell the guy he was slow but realized after a couple of subtle comments he was not going to pick-up the pace no matter what I said.” Aronson went on, “There had to be a way to let this guy know and others like him how to play golf at an acceptable pace. I realized telling someone they are slow was not the answer. They don’t believe it to begin with and even if they did accept the fact it does not help them play any faster.”

The heart of the program is a list of 10 golf etiquette fundamentals (http://www.play240golf.com/etiquette-rules/) (click here) that can be shared among golfers. The first fundamental according to Aronson is the most important and simply states “Be Ready to Play When It Is Your Turn.” Aronson explained, “Golfers that are not ready to play when it is their turn is the single biggest reason for slow play. Most of the remaining rules address all of the bad habits many golfers have that cause them to not be ready.”

One of the bad habits 240 GOLF (http://www.play240golf.com/) addresses for example is many golfers take their golf glove off after the tee shot then wait until it is their turn for the approach shot to replace it. Fundamental #2 simply states: “Put your golf glove on BEFORE your turn, not during your turn.” This bad habit by itself may not be a big issue. When you combine it with one or more of other bad habits such as multiple practice swings, or not having selected a club to use, the time it takes to complete a shot is way too long.

Aronson decided an education program all golfers could share was needed to teach slow golfers how to be ready to play their shot in a reasonable time. After careful study and much research the 10 rules were written. Once written it became clear the rules are simply nothing more than good golf etiquette fundamentals. No different than not stepping on playing partners putting line. Aronson explained it, “most golfers readily adopt etiquette rules when learning the game. And when they are alerted to an etiquette infraction they usually respond. It seemed logical to simply consider pace-of-play rules as good golf etiquette.”

Most importantly, Aronson calculated the average time per stroke it takes a foursome to play a round of golf in 4-hours on most golf courses. All of the factors were considered including whether walking or riding, time to look for errant shots, a stop at the turn, and penalty shots. At the web site a complete breakdown of a round is outlined (see the math here). The simple answer is golfers should be able to complete a golf shot in 30 seconds or less. This holds true for most if not all shots. By following the etiquette fundamentals golfers have no problem completing a golf shot in 30 seconds without feeling rushed. According to Aronson the average time for all shots taken during a round will be around 23 seconds.

To get this program off the ground Aronson is asking golfers frustrated by slow play to get involved. “There are two simple ways golfers like me who want to improve pace of play can participate. We are asking golfers to wear a golf hat with a 240 GOLF embroidered logo. When other golfers ask you about it, which they will, tell them 240 GOLF is a set of golf etiquette fundamentals to help golfers finish a round in 240 minutes (4hours). Then hand them the 240 GOLF etiquette card, You will receive a supply of the cards with the purchase of the hat. Second, send your favorite golf pro an email with a link to the to the Play 240 GOLF website asking them to support the program. In addition to the pace-of-play etiquette card there are additional low cost, merchandising items for golf courses to promote Play 240 GOLF.

Learn more at www.Play240Golf.com

Media Contact:

Steve Aronson
info@play240golf.com
877-914-4323

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