"Wasting time on a golf course simply standing around will only mean more ghost signs on other courses as they see more and more players opt for other pursuits."

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M. James Ward attended the USGA’s Pace of Play Symposium and concludes for those not getting the urgency of the issue…like the PGA Tour Commissioner...

Wasting time on a golf course simply standing around will only mean more ghost signs on other courses as they see more and more players opt for other pursuits. That’s not a solid future, it’s a dead end certainty.

Before reaching that point, Ward covers the array of topics involved with trying to speed up play both in tournament golf and at the recreational level, as presented at the event.

The symposium provided reams of information on how and when to time players but when all the smoke clears, the main issue is enforcement. Backing up matters to show action will be taken when warranted. A great example of retreating on slow play took place at the 1981 U.S. Open. Two players from a threesome were deemed responsible for being more than 20 minutes behind the group in front of them. Then USGA Executive Director P.J. Boatwright Jr. slapped two shot penalties on John Schroeder and Forest Fezler. Both men appealed to a four-man Rules committee—of which Boatwright was one—and the committee overturned P.J. by a vote of 4–1. So much for standing behind your key man.

After reading a few stories from the syposium, I'm still stock on the overwhelming data that points to 11+ Stimpmeter speeds as the most evident evil facing pace. Stop this study now and stop the chase for 13 feet!

I  discussed on Morning Drive with Gary Williams.

Report: USGA Pace Of Play Summit Said To Be "Engaging"

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That's what Bradley Klein says after sitting through two days of Far Hills presentations on pace of play.

Since the plans for a live, pay-per-view simulcast still haven't materialized, we'll have to take Klein's word. He included this in his report discussing the amazing difference in pace depending on the spacing of tee times:

Yates is working closely with a number of golf associations on expediting flow and reducing bottlenecks, in part through more relaxed starting times that are separated by as many as 11 minutes. The effort has led the LPGA this year to reduce its average playing time by 14 minutes, from 4:54 to 4:40.

Finally, it sounds like the USGA has begun to compile data related to pace and green speeds, and Klein drops one of the first hints via Twitter of the shocking (shocking!) findings:

Not in his story but certainly the buried news item of the day:

Maybe this will allow for a greater focus on meeting #2 of the non-traditional means task force with Mark King and Bode Miller? The world anxiously awaits.

Commissioner Finchem: "Everybody talks about playing faster; that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

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As Commissioner Moonbeam enters the final two years of his reign heading the PGA Tour, we've officially enter the weird phase where he randomly says things that remind you it's time to start spending more time counting his millions.

Rex Hoggard quotes the Commish talking about the oddity of Team USA's Ryder Cup foursomes woes even as they dominate in Presidents Cup foursomes. The talk turned to how nice it would be if more foursomes was played in the U.S., in part because rounds are faster when played that way (not to mention it serves as a great social round). Great stuff!

But then the Commish just couldn't leave well enough alone...

To Finchem, however, the endless quest to make the game faster – even at the highest levels where it took more than five hours last week to play a round at the WGC-HSBC Champions … in threesomes – is akin to making molehills out of mountains.

“If you go to Augusta or Pine Valley or Cypress Point and you’re playing with some single-digit handicaps how long does it take you to play? Four hours,” he answered. “If it’s 4:15 (hours) or 4:20, you’re going to worry about shaving 10 minutes off [a round]? It’s not a driving factor. Everybody talks about playing faster; that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

This is true Commissioner, when you and your golf cronies play a once-in-a-lifetime course, why yes, you aren't in a hurry, but since that represents .01% of the rounds played in America, you have merely confirmed you've been in the bubble just a bit too long!

Couple this with his unspoken edict blocking your rules staff from issuing slow play penalties, and it really has become clear that Tim Finchem is the enemy of speeding up rounds.

While We Were Sleeping Files: 76 World Class Players Took A Really Long Time To Play Golf Saturday

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Reduced field sizes are always declared the only cure for PGA Tour slow play, which, according to Daniel Hicks of APF, hit a new low for Saturday's third round of the WGC-HSBC Champions when the 76-player field featuring a sizeable portion of the world top 100 golfers, took 5 1/2 hours to play.

There were complicating factors: high, wet rough, split tee threesomes and reachable fours and fives for everyone because the ball goes too far. Still, just 76 players. 76! And they aren't looking for lost balls.

The leader at the time, Graeme McDowell, called the situation "ridiculous."

"We've got threeballs, a lot of people out there and a couple of driveable par fours and a couple of two-shot par fives. Just a slow golf course. A long day," said McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion.

Ryder Cup star Poulter was less diplomatic in his assessment of the day after a level-par 72 left him four behind McDowell.

"There's no excuses. We need to be pressing and making sure people are keeping up to pace," Poulter told AFP.

"Five and a half hours is too long to play golf. End of story."

Bubba Watson suggested what he always does: penalizing players. Silly him!

"You have to penalise people," he told reporters after the first three rounds at the Phoenix Open earlier this year took well in excess of five hours.

"Give them a stroke (penalty). It could cause you to win or lose. I think strokes is the only way to do it."

Neither McDowell or Poulter took to Twitter to gripe, perhaps knowing they'd be fined for pointing out the obvious.

Video: Zach Johnson, Others On Valero's Tepid Pace Of Play

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Just 71 players on Sunday at the Valero Open and it took them three hours to play the front nine, 5:32 for the last group, so naturally it's the old field size solution wheeled out by Zach Johnson in this Golf Central interview. He also makes some great points, but it was definitely a pot-kettle-black moment. Especially as he leaves out a mention of the players themselves, which is odd to say the least.

Johnson, says the issues are course setup, spacing of tee times, ripple effects, more daylight (!?) and the issue of putting the rules officials in a predicament in who to enforce the rules on and when. But the main solution he suggests entails reducing the size of fields. An oldie and not a very goodie, especially when Sunday proved that even a reduced field just can't get around a tough course quickly.

Great discussion between Ryan Burr, Steve Flesch and Tripp Isenhour follows the interview. Love the passion! Red phone will be ringing on Golf Channel Drive!

The Kevin Na Playing Partner Penalty: .4 Strokes Per Round

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On Morning Drive this Sunday Charlie Rymer talked at length about the cruelty of a Kevin Na pairing because of the added burden it places on his playing partners. Robert Garrigus was too kind to go there, but his caddy Brent Henley concurred.

Well now Luke Kerr-Dineen and the GolfDigest.com team have crunched the numbers and determined that players average nearly a half-shot higher than their normal round scoring average when getting paired with one of the world's slowest golfers.

How'd it turn out? From the start of 2012 through the 2014 Valspar Championship, Kevin Na has played with 220 PGA Tour golfers. On average, those 220 golfers shoot about 0.4 strokes higher when playing with Na. That's almost half a stroke, meaning that if someone plays with Na in all four rounds of a tournament, he'll be expected to shoot 1.6 strokes higher than if he played with someone else.