USGA NONSENSE

I'm an avid golfer/weekend hacker.  I watch the Golf Channel every day.  One thread of conversation there drives me crazy.  Yesterday, the United States Golf Association (USGA) spokesman addressed it and introduced their new "public service" campaign against it.  They consider it one of the major problems with the sport.  It is PACE OF PLAY.  Baloney!

For those of you who are non-golfers, an 18-hole round on a busy public course can take anywhere from 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours to play.   Golf has lost thousands of followers in the last ten years and one of the reasons is because it takes too long to play a round.  The USGA's answer is for all golfers to sign a pledge to play fast enough to finish a round in four hours.  They expect you to get this done by not looking for lost balls, not checking your yardage, not lining up putts, being ready to hit when its your turn, etc. etc.  Poppycock!

That ain't going to happen.  The problem with the length of time it takes to play is intrinsic to the sport.  Pace-of-play is not the answer.  I hate 5-hour rounds as much as the next guy.  The only way to stop it is to change the rules.

• First of all, who says four hours is acceptable?  It takes only 2 to 3-1/2 hours to play a major league baseball game.  The NFL finishes it's games in 3 hours.  I could go on and on.  Even four hours is too long.  I've played softball for 40 years and we play seven innings - not nine.  Our games are over in 1-1/2 hours.  

• Golf is stuck on 18 holes because that's all the room some Scottish farmer had to build a course 150 years ago.  Ridiculous!  Why not 14 holes for a full round and seven for a half.  Golf courses could eliminate two holes on each nine and the problem is solved.  I would welcome a three-hour 14 hole round on a Sunday afternoon.  Most courses could use the extra areas for practice or as a change-up by eliminating different holes on different days - or build more houses.

• Spread the tee-times.  No one likes to wait on a tee while others dally around in the fairway in front of you.  Why do these courses insist on starting a group every eight minutes or as soon as possible?  Ten minutes between groups makes the round much more friendly.

• The rules are too difficult and time-consuming for the every-day golfer.  A ball is found just out-of-bounds and you walk back to where you hit it.  So silly!  Take a stroke, drop a ball where it went out and go.  Ball goes into a lake or woods, same thing - one stroke, drop one where it went in and go.  

• The courses are set up for slow play.  I've played courses this year where you can lose a ball in high rough just off of the fairway.  Why?!  Who are they trying to impress?  Cut the damn rough just one or two inches higher than fairway - no more.  

• Take the stigma out of playing shorter tees.  Most courses have attempted to do this - keep trying.  

• Most of these problems are impossible to fix because the current handicap system wont allow the solutions.  How could we gamble on the game without a true handicap?  I have no answer for this.  

Unless the USGA is willing to make radical changes like those above, pushing for better pace-of-play and expecting it to solve the problems with amateur golf is futile.
'o.o'