Slugger: Time To Bump Up The Slow Play Fine Amount

Brian Wacker files a two-part look at the work done by rules officials, focusing on the effort of supervisors Mark Russell and Slugger White.

In part one the officials talk about slow play and in part two, the tricky issue of callers phoning in violations.

I found this interesting on slow play penalty fines. Slugger's coming after your pocketbook, Ben Crane!

By rule, the first player in a group is allowed 60 seconds to hit his shot; each player afterward 40 seconds. Should someone fall behind and be put on the clock, the player is allowed one bad time. If the player is given another bad time in the same round he is hit with a one-stroke penalty -- a rare occurrence.

Also, if a player is hit with a second bad time in the course of a season, he is fined $5,000 and a third bad time and each subsequent one after that an additional $10,000. If a player receives 10 bad times in a year, he is docked $20,000.

“We’ve had several of those,” White said. “We’re actually trying to bump that up a little, too. These guys are making so much money now. It’s antiquated.”

The slow play gets under way officially Thursday at the Frys.com Open, this year taking the tour back to Silverado with supervision from official/unofficial host Johnny Miller. Ron Kroichick on how the event landed in Napa where the tour used to go annually many moons ago.

Also, here are nine things from GolfDigest.com to know about the start of the 2014-15 season, if you care. Coverage, if you are somehow starved for tournament golf, runs from 5-8 p.m. ET Thursday-Sunday on Golf Channel.