PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS never want to hear the phrase “on the clock” and it should not be one that is used in a GottaGoGolfer’s everyday golf glossary. But it has played a major role in some major tournaments, and you might hear it from time to time on the Golf Channel, particularly when Jordan Spieth or Bryson DeChambeau is playing.
Spieth tends to play golf deliberately, engaging in long discussions with his caddie over the wind, the yardage, the lie and his target line — usually something like “that man in the red shirt.” As Nick Faldo said, Jordan “doesn’t like to be rushed, does he?” And DeChambeau considers it part of his “brand” to entertain the viewers with detailed pre-shot analysis.
The USGA launched a battle against slow play among recreational golfers with a fun “While We’re Young” campaign a few years ago. Former LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan took such an aggressive stance on slow play among the women that Morgan Pressel had a costly one-shot penalty in a 2012 match and 20-year-old Yealimi Noh incurred a $10,000 fine in 2021.
The results have been measurable, to the delight of the TV networks: Rounds move faster.
EVEN YOU MAY BE “ON THE CLOCK”
If you play in any sort of official golf tournament, the organizers most likely have a pace-of-play requirement. The Northern California Golf Association, for example, requires that groups play within a certain allotted time. It positions checkpoints on the 9th and 18th greens. If no group is finishing within the prescribed time, yours must at least finish within 14 minutes of the preceding group to avoid a one-shot penalty. It is not unusual for foursome after foursome to be greeted by an official delivering the bad news and the penalty. And, look out, if you got a one-shot penalty at the 9th, you can expect a two-shot penalty at the 18th.
But “on the clock” remains fairly unique to the pro tours because only the pro tours have the resources and staff to put a player on the clock. When a group is out of position — usually, a hole behind the group ahead — all players in the group will be told that they are on the clock and now have only a certain amount of time to play each shot.
On the aggressive LPGA, that’s 30 seconds typically; on the PGA Tour and in USGA championships such as the U.S. Open that’s 40 seconds.
In the final round of the 2016 Women’s Open, the final group, which included 54-hole leader Lydia Ko, was placed on the clock for four holes — an eternity when every shot matters and you’d like to spend hours debating the wind, distance and target with your caddie. As the players rushed to catch up, their games suffered.
The first player to use more time than her allotted time on a shot gets a warning; Eun-Hee Ji, for example, took more than the 40 seconds permitted by the USGA to line up her putt that day and was warned. The next time, he or she would receive a one-stroke penalty and the third time a two-stroke penalty.
Players do go off the clock again once their group is back in position.
It is not unusual for groups to be put on the clock; it is very unusual for any professional to receive a penalty. The pros know how to play faster. Alas, they just typically don’t play faster.
My preference in this type of situation is to invite the slow player to pick up the pace before putting the whole group on the clock. Lydia’s lost ball on the 9th put them even further behind and sadly the whole group then suffered – probably costing Park a chance at making the playoff.
Sounds fair Alice. One potential obstacle: The slow player rarely believes she is slow. But it is often fairly clear to others.