R&A Chief Slumbers: Publish The Names Of Slow-Pokes!

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Knowing how hard the tours work to protect the names of slow play offenders, it was refreshing to see new R&A Chief Martin Slumbers suggest outing the slowest during the R&A's two day "Time for Golf" summit. Granted, the idea is not very original, but to hear it coming from one of the leaders of the five families makes the suggestion most eye-opening.

From the last graph of Martin Dempster's Scotsman account from St. Andrews:

While delegates heard that the European Tour posts a list at every tournament of players who have either been timed or fined, it is not normal practice for that to be made public. “I think there is a fear to publish,” said Slumbers in reference to slow play culprits across the game. “But I think it would be better for dialogue to publish some names and numbers in both the club and professional game.”

The story also includes some other highlights of the session, with a Spieth slow play story from the 2015 Open and Stephen Gallacher wishing the European Tour would use time par stations ala the LET.

Reading Dempster's early account of the R&A's two day "Time for Golf" summit, the two greatest culprits to longer rounds did not seem to have be on the radars of those chosen to speak. Nor even discussed in any depth given my trust in Dempster's reporting skills and awareness of the issues facing the sport.

Then again, talking excessive green speeds or lengthening of courses to offset huge distance gains in St Andrews when the R&A is host, could get the speaker relegated to a lifetime sentence of Castle Course golf.

Anyway, it seems most of the attention was focused on those terrible architects who build too many bunkers, not greens Stimping at 12 or courses with long walks to new back tees. From Dempster's Scotsman report:

One of the game’s up-and-coming course designers, South African Paul Jansen entitled his talk as “Hollywood golf” due to so many new layouts being “excessive, all about appearance and lacking in content”. He highlighted how pace of play was affected by club golfers often “ping ponging from one bunker to another” and insisted: “Less is more.” Picking up on that, his fellow course architect, Martin Ebert, revealed that he’d been commissioned to take out 40 bunkers at Royal Lytham at the same time as four new ones were being added at the Open Championship venue. “The course is proving too difficult for the members and also the maintenance cost with revetting is enormous,” he said. “We think this will help the everyday players, but also maintain the challenge for the best players.”