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  • Grounds for Golf: The History and Fundamentals of Golf Course Design
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  • The Art of Golf Design
    The Art of Golf Design
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  • Alister MacKenzie's Cypress Point Club
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  • The Golden Age of Golf Design
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  • The Good Doctor Returns: A Novel
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  • Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
    Masters of the Links: Essays on the Art of Golf and Course Design
  • The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
    The Captain: George C. Thomas Jr. and His Golf Architecture
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  • The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
    The Riviera Country Club: A Definitive History
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Current Reading
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  • The Leaderboard: Conversations on Golf and Life
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  • A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee
    A Course Called Ireland: A Long Walk in Search of a Country, a Pint, and the Next Tee
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  • The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
    The 19th Hole: Architecture of the Golf Clubhouse
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    SI Golf Plus calls this the #1 golf book of 2008.

  • World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    World Atlas of Golf: The Greatest Courses and How They are Played
    by Mark Rowlinson

    New and updated, including contributions from Ran Morrissett and Daniel Wexler.

  • Golf in America (Sport and Society)
    Golf in America (Sport and Society)
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    Fresh and well researched perspective on the history of golf in America

  • Pete Dye Golf Courses: Fifty Years of Visionary Design
    Pete Dye Golf Courses: Fifty Years of Visionary Design
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  • Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season
    Follow the Roar: Tailing Tiger for All 604 Holes of His Most Spectacular Season
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  • The Wow Factor: How I Turned One Idea and My Unbridled Enthusiasm Into a Golf Revolution
    The Wow Factor: How I Turned One Idea and My Unbridled Enthusiasm Into a Golf Revolution
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  • Anticipation
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    The comedian's latest CD includes a 7 minute rant on golf.

  • Planet Golf: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses Outside the United States of America
    Planet Golf: The Definitive Reference to Great Golf Courses Outside the United States of America
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    Exquisite photography and lively course reviews/essays.

Classics
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  • A Season In Dornoch: Golf and Life in the Scottish Highlands
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    A summer in Dornoch.

  • Emerald Gems:The Links of Ireland
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    Beautiful images of the classic Irish links.

  • Bernard Darwin On Golf (On)
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  • The Spirit of St. Andrews
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  • Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
    Club Life: The Games Golfers Play
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  • Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and his Golf Courses
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  • Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
    Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
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    The Course Beautiful : A Collection of Original Articles and Photographs on Golf Course Design
    Treewolf Prod
  • Reminiscences Of The Links
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  • Gleanings from the Wayside
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  • The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    The Missing Links: America's Greatest Lost Golf Courses & Holes
    by Daniel Wexler
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« "I'm sure they're thrilled in China" | Main | Getting Ready For Wacky Wednesday... »
Tuesday
19Feb

They Penalize Slow Play On The LPGA Tour!

hawaii802170370AR.jpgIf I wasn't out at Riviera watching PGA Tour pros take their sweet time I would have caught Bill Kwon's excellent summary of Angela Park's expensive two-shot penalty last week at Turtle Bay.

Park was only one stroke behind winner Annika Sorenstam at one time, but a triple-bogey 7 at 10 gave her a final-round 69 — 209 and a tie for fifth with Japan's Momoko Ueda. They finished one shot behind Russy Gulyanamitta, Laura Diaz and Jane Park, who shared second at 208.

So instead of getting $100,458 for being second alone, Park got $40,872.
Let the whining begin...
"I didn't think it was fair at all," said Park, the only one in her threesome to be penalized after being put on the clock at the 10th tee.

"It was kinda really unfair for penalizing me on that one hole when I was playing quick throughout the whole day," she said.
Uh huh... 
"It's especially unfair for the last four, five groups of the day. I've seen many, many occasions last year when the last group was a hole behind, but I respected that because they're trying to play to win. When he (rules official Doug Brecht) came up to me and penalized me, I was like, you know where I am on this leaderboard? You have any idea?

"I have nothing against him, I have nothing mean to say about him. He said he was going by the rules, which I understand, which is his job. But then I told him, if it was Paula (Creamer), if it was Annika, would you have penalized them? He didn't say anything. I was crying my eyes out, I couldn't help it. It was an embarrassing thing to say, but I was almost bawling.

Almost...

"I told him, well, that's for TV isn't it? It would have looked bad for you on TV if you penalized Paula or Annika. He didn't say anything. I was, like, I would have respect (for) you if you would have penalized them, too. Then I would have been OK, that's fine. That's your job. I respect you for that. But he didn't say anything.

"I was, like, you know, that's just not fair. That's how life is and I've just got to move on from it."

Brecht told Park on the 10th tee that she was on the clock. "She violated our pace-of-play policy and was penalized two shots," he said.

As for Park asking if he would do the same to Creamer and Sorenstam in that same situation, Brecht said, "She never asked me that question. If she did, I didn't hear her ask me that question."

Brent Kelly offers this primer on the LPGA's policy and also this comparison with the PGA Tour's policy.

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Reader Comments (12)

Excellent. It's just a pipe dream that something like this would ever happen on the PGA tour(*cough* Mike Weir*cough*), but I like to see it when it happens. I only wish I could figure out some way to penalize the jerks in front of me on my local muni. Seriously, do not spend 10 minutes looking at every angle of your six foot putt, then PICK IT UP when it doesn't go in. Are you KIDDING?

Sorry, got carried away a little bit there.
02.19.2008 | Unregistered CommenterLinus
Park is right about one thing.Can you see them ever penalizing someone like Annika, Ochoa , Webb or Creamer.?.I doubt it very much.Can you see the PGA doing that to Tiger ? I dont think so..Al Sharpton would be marching on Washington if that happened..
02.20.2008 | Unregistered Commenterpitman55
Do we know of any player on the PGA Tour who has been penalized for slow play, say in the past three years?
02.20.2008 | Unregistered Commenterrtd
It only makes sense. The NBA and NFL have play clocks. Why not an equivalent in golf?
02.20.2008 | Unregistered CommenterJordan
I love Angela, but she just has to deal, move on, and pick up the pace. Too bad they had to send a message through the 2007 ROY--and incredibly bad timing when she was gunning for her first win and a chance to take down a living legend (something that gets obscured when the media focuses only on the money she lost)--but I read elsewhere she got warned two or three times before she was penalized. As someone whose idea of a fun 18 holes is around 2 hours long, I have very little sympathy for slow players anywhere.

As far as I know, Lorena is a pretty fast player. Not as fast as Prammanasudh, but that's just another reason to love Stacy! Someone ought to compile a list of the fastest and slowest players on each tour....
Let me get this straight. You have 30 seconds from the time it's your turn to play to hit a shot. Stop right now, look down at your watches, and observe the second hand sweeping around the dial for 30 SECONDS. It's the 3rd round of the event, so she's played the course at least 3 consecutive days prior to this round (assuming she played the 10th hole at least one time in a practice round).

If you cannot pick the club and hit your shot within 30 seconds of it becoming your turn, the penalty should be a 7-iron across the ankle. Fair, schmair. Hit the friggin ball!!!!
02.20.2008 | Unregistered CommenterSmolmania
The policy summarized in Brent Kelly's piece suggests that slow players aren't put on the clock, but are penalized right from the jump. That doesn't appear to be the case, but if it usually is, Ms. Park got extra warnings before the penalty. (Which, I believe, is fair.) Since she's essentially arguing that players in contention deserve extra time, I've got to agree with Smols on this one -- pull the damn trigger already, lest you lose the eleven people who are watching you on TV.
02.20.2008 | Unregistered Commenterjneu
From my experience caddying on the Canadian Tour, this is how it works. Once it is noticed by officials that a group is 'out of position' ie. Large gap between groups, an official will drive his/her cart over to the group in question and note to them that they are out of position. They will ask if there was any extenuating circumstances which led to the situation such as multiple lost balls, waiting on rulings etc. If not, they will tell them unofficially to hurry it up and try to get back ‘in position’. They will then watch the group play the next hole or two and if it is clear that they are not catching up, they will then tell the group that they are being put ‘on the clock’. This applies to everyone in the group and not any specific player. From there on, every shot is timed by the official, once a ‘bad time’ (going over the allotted time per shot) is made by a specific player, that player is notified. The same goes for the second bad time. Once a third bad time is achieved by a specific a player they are penalized the stroke. So they have ample warnings and are well aware of the situation. I can also attest that ‘being put on the clock’ is very disturbing to the players, especially if they feel they are being brought into scrutiny because of the slow play of only a specific player. It is very common to see a player bogey the hole after being notified that they are ‘on the clock’.
02.20.2008 | Unregistered Commentertour caddy
TC, does your 3 strike scenario apply to this situation with Ms. Park? If so, I have even less sympathy for her.
02.20.2008 | Unregistered CommenterSmolmania
I'm with Smolmania. I used to play in a golf league with a 30-handicapper who would take 4 practice swings very slowly before topping the ball into the ditch or hitting it sideways or missing it altogether. On every shot. After one particularly ridiculous series of practice swings followed by the adjustment of his glasses with his right hand, I finally told him that if he took one more practice swing I was going to hit him with my 7-iron. The threat, which was only about 10% in jest, worked, and he instantly became a 25-handicapper.
02.20.2008 | Unregistered CommenterKentucky Golfer
When does the clock officially start, i.e. when does the golfer's turn to play begin? Does this apply to putts as well?
02.20.2008 | Unregistered CommenterJohn M
I think Tour caddy's comment puts the usual process in perspective. I'd love to hear if that was followed in Park's case (sounds to me from what I've read that it was). If so, I'm with Smolmania. Sounds to me from Kelly's piece, though, that they were using the new system, or at least combining it with aspects of the old system (there aren't supposed to be warnings in the new system). So in the end I think Angela had every opportunity to speed it up. You can bet she will from now on. If I weren't rooting for Sakura Yokomine to get an exemption by winning this week, I'd be rooting for Angela....

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