The tours have a problem with holding our attention (“Tour’s quest for eyeballs shouldn’t sacrifice game’s essence,” February 3, GGP). Many factors are at play, but the one that keeps popping up is pace of play. It is much easier to state than to do something about. My suggestion is a rather simple one. Start clocking players on the greens. Just as the rules for the putting green have been greatly streamlined, it would be fitting to fit in a time clock and to stipulate how long a player has before they must make a stroke.
I would think 30-40 seconds is ample. If you haven’t figured out what you need to do in that time, you are likely going to miss anyway. Heck, most players know 90 percent of the needed information on their upcoming putt by the time they mark their ball. If a player falls outside the clock, add a one-stroke penalty. No warnings. Yes, there would be exceptions: ball accidentally moved, wind, outside influence, all these would pause (not reset) the countdown clock. But in normal circumstances, once it is your turn, decide what you need to do, take your stance and make your stroke. Next!
If you speed up play on the green, you’ll speed up everyone that follows by reducing approach wait times. If further clocks are needed between tee and green, that’s a bit more complicated and needs some really careful thought.
Richard “Doc” Miller
Cary, North Carolina
Great column (“Tour’s quest for eyeballs shouldn’t sacrifice game’s essence,” February 3, GGP)! For TV viewers, I think the real issue that supersedes all of those mentioned in your column is the elephant in the room; the frequency and length of commercial breaks in golf telecasts on every network. NBC was the worst but CBS has unfortunately caught up with them.
If golf as a commodity is to hold the attention of viewers in the future, coverage must stay on the course with fewer breaks per hour. If money is the issue for networks, cut the number of breaks and charge more to the sponsors to make up for the lost volume.
Put simply, broadcast golf has become almost unwatchable. Who wants to invest four to six hours watching three minutes of commercials to then see only five minutes of action before the next break. Things have gotten way out of balance and it seemed to have started with Ryder Cup coverage by NBC, but it has now spread across the entire tour.
Not a fan of “Playing Through” unless they reverse the sizes of the windows to make golf the more prominent size. Things have to change or the networks will see a significant loss of early-hours viewership. Speeding up golfers only goes so far.
In an age of the availability of condensed edited whole NFL games, golf may have to resort to that just to hold the interest in the sport by today’s viewer. Time-shifted edited viewing to avoid long drawn out commercial-laden live coverage will be needed and the Masters app has been at the forefront on innovation in that regard.
If live coverage does not change, we will very likely see viewing numbers change dramatically, with overall losses in viewership across the entire broadcast window and stable ratings in the last hour of live coverage on Sunday, if it is competitive. That is the way things are headed and it does not bode well for the PGA Tour
Elmer Hilker
Hampstead, North Carolina
I noted that two published letters today were from England (“It’s Your Honor,” February 3, GGP). My friends in the UK, Ireland and Australia know how to play with dispatch.
They also play many Stableford competitions and regular foursomes, two formats that Americans have not embraced. I believe it’s also common to have a monthly medal which is how one’s handicap is established. We seem to have this obsession with posting a score every time out. Why? To catch the odd sandbagger?
I know at my club that the multiple gambling games within one’s group and often with other groups slow the pace of play.
The one letter writer was correct that slow play has been the bane of men’s professional golf since the arrival of Jack Nicklaus. That deliberateness, along with the sports psych business, has given us the 23-step preshot routine!
Last weekend at Pebble Beach was good for the game. Rory (McIlroy) seems like a great young man. I’m partial to (Shane) Lowry, however, as he seems to be having fun and is not obsessed with his abs.
Al Jamieson
Burlingame, California
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