Common Sense Has Been Spoken About Slow Play in Golf

View From The Fairway by Derek Clements

You have got to love Nelly Korda. Like most of the rest of us, she detests slow play. While most of her rivals were preparing for six-hour rounds at last week's Evian Championship, the world number one once again made her feelings known.

And she had plenty to say on the subject. Much noise has been made by the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour about speeding things up but the pace of play remains funereal. Korda likes to get on with things and the antics of many of her fellow professionals drives her nuts.

Her sympathy lies with both spectators and TV viewers, and she is clearly concerned that they are going to walk away.

She said: "For spectators it is no fun to stand around and watch us and see us sit near our tee box or golf ball and not do anything and baking in the sun or whatever weather we are playing in."

Korda has consistently spoken out about slow play and is in prime position to do so as she is one of our sport’s fastest players. She hates hanging around.

Despite the threat of punitive penalties, tour pros continue to play at their own pace. In light of this, she was asked how she keeps her focus and she did not hold back.

"At the end of the day, you know you’re playing a round and you’re playing for - no matter what day it is, you’re playing for a championship, so you have to stay focused.

"I think the longer the rounds are, the more mentally draining sometimes they get. At the end of the day, I mean, you just have to kind of suck it up, build a bridge to get over it, and adjust to the circumstances at hand.

"So they’re going to speed up at the end of the day. So the harsher the circumstances, the more they’re going to change."

Unsurprisingly, she is concerned that youngsters who watch the leading pros will go out and imitate them. 

And she has once again called for penalty strokes to be imposed.

In February, the LPGA announced that players exceeding 40 seconds to hit would be penalised. If a player exceeds the time by up to five seconds, she will receive a fine; should a player take 6-15 seconds over the time to play a shot, she will be hit with a one-stroke penalty; and if a player takes 16 or more seconds than they are allowed, a two-stroke penalty will be charged. The problem is that players are still clearly exceeding those limits and getting away with it.

Korda said: "If you start giving penalties to girls taking too long, then they’re not going to want to get penalised a shot or two. That can make a really big difference in whatever they want, prize money, cut, whatever. I feel like the more flow and action, the better it is for the crowd. When there is so much stalling and no movement in what we’re doing, that’s kind of no fun, right?"

Ironically, the subject of slow play has reared its head at the Evian in the past. Carlota Ciganda appealed against a two-stroke penalty in 2023 for exceeding an allotted time, then, after her appeal was denied, she refused to take the strokes, leading to her disqualification. 

Korda says that she doesn’t mind marathon rounds when playing in pro-ams, and there is a good reason. She said: "My first ever sponsor that I ever got as professional was through a pro-am and I met so many incredible people through pro-ams.  Getting in contact and getting to know these amazing individuals that at the end of the day are coming out and supporting us is a lot of fun for me."

It remains to be seen whether Korda’s words fall on deaf ears but surely a major championship is exactly the right occasion to make an example of golfers who play at a snail’s pace.

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