“If I feel threatened, I am morally obligated to destroy you"

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Thanks to reader Ed for another beautiful slow play meltdown, as reported by Patrick George. This time it's a 73-year old man pulling a handgun at Lions Muni in Austin.

Edwin Dailey, who has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, got into a confrontation with three men at the ninth hole of the Lions Municipal Golf Course on Enfield Drive Monday afternoon because he thought they were playing too slowly, an arrest affidavit said. The argument continued to the 13th hole when Dailey told the men he would get his gun and “make them both equal,” the affidavit said.

After finishing the game, Dailey and the others ended up in the parking lot where he provoked another argument with the men, the affidavit said. Dailey pointed an automatic handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets at one of the men and screamed, “If I feel threatened, I am morally obligated to destroy you,” according to the affidavit.

I've been trying to tell you, slow play is a moral issue.

"Truth is, we would love to apply a one-stroke penalty if the opportunity arises because the message this sends out is very powerful."

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Mark Garrod talks to the European Tour's Andy McFee about why Christian Cevaer was not assessed a slow play penalty during the recent European Open.

This McFee comment was interesting in light of the PGA Tour's hasn't doled out a penalty in 17 years.

"Truth is, we would love to apply a one-stroke penalty if the opportunity arises because the message this sends out is very powerful.

"But we will always treat all players fairly and we will not seek to penalise when the circumstances don't warrant it.

"Incidentally, 17 one-stroke penalties have been earned (and I use that word deliberately] since 1997 - hardly inaction.

"True, most of the penalties fall to those who don't know the system, but you have to be either naive or dim to have a second bad time after a ref has told you that you already have one bad time and one more will be an instant penalty of one stroke.

"Most hard-nosed pros then manage to get business done inside the limits, meaning they either get back in position or we have no opportunity to act further."

"The improved course setups are allowing players to play a little more quickly."

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Peter Kostis praises the shift in PGA Tour course setup toward a little less rough, a little more variety and a lot more excitement. He also offers this in another answer to readers at golf.com.

5. From watching golf on TV, it's tough to tell whether or not slow play is as much of a problem this year. From what you've seen, are the players just as slow this year, and what can realistically be done to speed up the pace of play?

Be certain of one thing: The pace of play on the PGA Tour is still brutally slow. That said, I think the improved course setups are allowing players to play a little more quickly.

This makes the USGA pace of play policy look like an easy sell:

Here is something I would love to try: Hold a tournament in which half of the total purse was guaranteed to be distributed to the players, but the distribution of the second half would be pro-rated based on the field's average time to complete the round. Set some "time pars" so that if everyone plays quickly, the players will be awarded the full purse on Sunday night. I think this would really encourage professional golfers to be more outspoken on the issue—and willing to call out slow players—because there would be economic ramifications.

And just because slow play is tolerated on the PGA Tour, that does not make it OK for you to play slowly at home. In my home club in Arizona, Whisper Rock, all runs are completed within four hours because that's what's expected. There are very few reasons your round should take any longer.

"Tweet during rounds?"

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Jeff Rude raises another fine point about the absurdity of on-course tweeting.

LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens wants her players to be able to “tweet” their thoughts during rounds on Twitter.com. I’m not sure I’ve heard anything that nuts since I watched the Cuckoo’s Nest movie.

Tweet during rounds?

The competition must be held sacred. And concentration and focus are at the heart of the competition.

And isn’t the pace of play already slow enough?

"The tortoise backed off a chip so often you felt your life flashing before you"

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Don't miss Derek Lawrenson's entertaining European Open game story on Christian Cevaer's painfully slow win on an even painfully worse setup.

What a curious event this was, where the seven-under par winning score was exactly the same as the leading figure on day one, despite the fact the last three rounds were played out in glorious sunshine; where the winner returned a score of 74 and had one birdie on his card.

Why? With the fairways narrowed, they became just too hard and bouncy for anyone to hold in the testing breeze, with the consequence that the day’s proceedings became something of a lottery.

"Most time is lost on the greens."

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Watching the tepid pace of play during round 1 of The Players, I wondered if rangefinders would help. After all they were billed as a savior of the game a few years ago but have not made it to regulation PGA Tour play (they can be used in practice rounds).

Then I read Paul Kenyon's story on the Rhode Island Golf Association allowing them for use in competition. Their executive director, Bob Ward, about nailed the crux of the problem:

"I didn’t keep track, but I would estimate that at least 50 percent of the field (178 players) either had the devices or asked about them,’’ Ward said. ``I feel the only thing that will change is that the pace of play will speed up a little. I’m still not sure how much because I believe that most time is lost on the greens. It is putting that slows the pace of play. But if this helps with the pace of play, then it’s good.’’

Has anyone heard of any studies or stories documenting actual improvements in pace of play thanks to distance measuring devices?