The LPGA Tour is cracking down on slow play, hoping to address an issue that has reached a boiling point throughout the sport.
In a memo sent to players Tuesday and obtained by multiple media outlets, the tour said players can receive as little as fines to as much as two-shot penalties in rounds for taking too long to hit a shot.
According to Golf Channel, the LPGA Tour’s current policy regarding slow play is that “a player in a group which is out of position may be penalized for unreasonable delay if: a. the player takes more than 60 seconds to play one shot, including putts, and/or b. the players exceeds the maximum allotted amount of time for the total strokes timed on a given hole by more than 10 seconds.”
The memo sent to players states that players now can be fined if they go 1 to 5 seconds over the time allotment, can be assessed a one-shot penalty if they go 6 to 15 seconds over it and can be assessed a two-shot penalty if they go 16 seconds or more over it.
“Finally,” world No. 1 Nelly Korda responded when asked her thoughts on the new policy Wednesday.
“I’m very excited about it,” she told reporters. “I think that’s one of the things that I’ve just noticed over my time on tour is that we used to go from five hours, under five hours to now it’s just five and a half, typically, our rounds. I think implementing harsher rules is going to be good for the game of golf because they’re saying at the meeting, at the end of the day, [we’re an entertainment product]. If we’re taking really long out there, that’s not entertaining.”
The new policy will begin at the Ford Championship next month, a tour spokesperson said.
Last week, PGA Tour executives said they will begin testing and implementing changes aimed at speeding up play later this season.
