By Jeff Ninnemann
P
Golfers and golf courses attacking the
problem together is the solution.
ace of play is considered by some to be the biggest problem in the game of golf. Slow play is becoming a fourletter word that’s used as an invective by some and causes
others to cringe when they hear it. Everyone talks about
it, and many solutions have been offered—but like foreign grasses
in a fairway, the problem just keeps cropping up every golf season.
Ultimately, it’s a problem for golfers and for golf courses, and it requires consideration from both groups. The
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MINNESOTA GOLFER Summer 2013
USGA has created a micro website, Pace of Play (at
www.usga.org), to help golfers and facilities become aware of factors that cause slow play and learn how to mitigate it.
Likewise, Minnesota Golfer magazine offers two complimentary perspectives on the situation—one that urges changes in the
culture of the game and the way golfers play it and the other suggesting maintenance practices and course set-up for golf courses.
Together, perhaps, we all can make a difference.
www.mngolf.org
THE CULTURE HAS GOT
TO CHANGE
Golfers need to change the way
they think about pace of play.
I’ve yet to meet a golfer who wouldn’t
agree that slow pace of play is one of the
biggest problems with the game of golf.
We see it at our home course, we complain about it with our fellow stalwarts,
and we watch it on TV as even those who
play this game at the highest level still
play slow. Poor pace of play is a reality
that we currently accept about golf—it’s
one of the many obstacles we’re willing
to deal with and overcome to participate
in this game we love. The question is:
What are you going to do about it?
The way I see it, the culture of golf is
what needs to change. Instead of slow
pace of play being bothersome, it has to
be unacceptable, outlandish and downright uncool. How many of you have begun a round in the late afternoon, knowing that nine holes were likely but that
playing 18 was achievable only if you
flew? There’s no better feeling than playing fast, staying in a rhythm and scoring
well, if not better, because of your brisk
pace. I’ve seen pairing groups take off
once they’re put “on the clock” by a Rules
Official and college tournaments drastically speed up as darkness encroaches.
Golf can be played fast, but we must
want to play fast, and the culture of the
sport must demand it.
Fortunately the culture of golf, as well
as our habits related to pace of play, can
change without sacrificing the Rules of
Golf. In stroke play, there is no penalty if
players play out of turn, as long as they’re
not doing so in order to provide one of
the players an advantage. “Ready golf ”
shouldn’t simply be something we resort
to when we’re out of position; it should
be the norm, and the Rules allow it!
driving range, and isn’t that the game we
are all trying to replicate on the course?
Why change environments or create
more rules and standards that only make
us play slower and worse?
As the leaders of amateur golf in
Southern California, the Southern California Golf Association has developed a
new pace-of-play policy for its tournaments in 2013. That policy puts the onus
The culture of golf is what needs to
change. Instead of being bothersome,
[slow play] has to be unacceptable,
outlandish and downright uncool.
Equally important is the concept of
being prepared to play when it’s your
turn. As Roger Gunn, Director of Instruction at Tierra Rejada Golf Club in
Moorpark, Calif., put it, “We need to get
over this idea that you can’t move a muscle while someone is putting.” Although
it may be considered the proper etiquette
of the game, none of the 34 Rules mandate standing still. Get ready while others
are playing, be an athlete and set a tone
in your group where movement and
noises don’t bother everyone. These “distractions” certainly don’t affect us at the
on the players—not the Rules Officials—
to ensure that they’re in position with the
group ahead. The SCGA has also created
a pace-of-play pledge that every golfer is
encouraged to sign. By signing, golfers
acknowledge the problem and pledge to
do their part to speed up the game.
This is a movement, my friends—a
call to action. This is one of the obstacles in golf that we can change. Pairing
groups should be asking themselves on
the first tee, “How fast are we going to
play today?” It needs to become a topic
that rivals how well we score in importance. Simply put, the culture of golf has
got to change. — Jeff Ninnemann
This story reprinted here with permission
of the Southern California Golf Association. Jeff Ninnemann grew up in St. Louis
Park, Minn., where he worked summers
throughout high school and college at the
Minneapolis Golf Club. He is currently the
Assistant Director of Rules and Competitions for the SCGA, where his duties include administering the Association’s tournament and Rules education programs.
He has served as a referee at both USGA
and NCAA national championships and
is the Official in Charge of the California
Amateur Championship when contested
in Southern California.
www.mngolf.org
Summer 2013 MINNESOTAGOLFER
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PICKING UP THE PACE
Braemar pro Joe Greupner has finally found changes that
have hastened the pace of play for the long-term.
During the 34 years that head professional Joe Greupner has been
at Braemar Golf Club in Edina, he has tried plenty of methods to
increase the pace of play at the course’s 27 holes. Time cards or
gift incentives for quick play worked for only a short time before
players regressed. So Braemar approached it from an alternative
perspective (the course, rather than golfers) and has finally found
success—15-20 minutes at the end of a day. Greupner spoke with
Minnesota Golfer about pace of play and Braemar’s efforts to increase it.
Q: What is the key to decent pace of play?
A: If you have good ranging, and the rangers get the groups to stay
up with the group ahead of them. We don’t talk about how fast people are playing as much as making sure there are no gaps out there.
We don’t talk
about how fast
people are playing
as much as making
sure there are no
gaps out there.
Q: What else works?
A: The Tee it Forward Program has been really good for us. We put
in a new set of green tees for men between our white tees and senior
tees. So a lot of our players, even in our men’s club, have started to
go to the green tees instead of playing from our whites. The course
[plays 300 yards shorter] and that little yardage difference has really
helped us move people around. They can reach places quicker; they
play the holes a little quicker. They are having more fun because
they are shooting a lower number, and they are playing a bit faster.
Q: What else have you done to the course?
A: We’ve got two guys who—from the time we open to basically
the time we close—are on the rough mower mowing the rough. So
we’ve brought the rough down. It’s still Kentucky bluegrass, so it’s
still got some bite to it. But it’s shorter, which means that people can
find their ball quickly, and they can play out of it. That has made
this course move much faster, and it has made a lot of people much
happier.
Q: How about the greens?
A: We had a lot of greens where our old superintendent brought
the greenside rough in pretty tight. A lot of our players don’t fly
the ball onto the green; they’re bouncing it in. We opened up the
entrance to the greens by quite a bit. That sped up play for us because now these players who are bouncing it in are getting up on
the green.
Q: Do these changes fly in the face of course design?
A: I don’t think so. We didn’t have many trees when the course
was first built; it was a farm. Now, the trees have grown up tremendously so there are plenty of obstacles left and right of the fairways.
We’ve got an old watering system that goes down the middle of the
fairway, so you get enough water to the first edge of the rough, but
you don’t get a lot of water out into the rough. If you missed the
fairway by 10 or 15 feet, you had a horrible lie and if you missed
it by farther out, you had a better lie. That wasn’t really fair. So by
cutting the rough, we thought we made the course play more fair,
but also a lot faster.
Q: Does a different course set-up help?
A: We’re really careful not to hide pins. If we have someone who
hides pins out there, they’re going to be looking for another job. We
don’t need to hide pins at a public course like this. You put them out
where people can get to them.
Q: Is the practice of golfers playing through good or bad?
A: It never really helps us here. We tell our rangers that if you let
someone go through, all you’re doing is giving someone else the
problem. So your job (as a ranger) is to help the slow group catch
up. If you catch them up to the next group, I tell our rangers, than
you’ve done your job. — Interview by Joseph Oberle
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MINNESOTA GOLFER Summer 2013
www.mngolf.org