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R&A chief Martin Slumbers vows to help combat slow play in golf

Jordan Spieth is informed of his monitoring penalty by chief referee John Paramor on the ninth tee
Image: Jordan Spieth was hit with a monitoring penalty issued by chief referee John Paramor in Abu Dhabi

R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers has vowed keep the issue of slow play high on his agenda in a bid to make golf more enjoyable at all levels.

The European Tour introduced new measures to combat slow play at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in a bid to trim around 15 minutes off a round of golf in a professional tournament.

The issue hit the headlines late on the first day when world No 1 Jordan Spieth was issued with a "monitoring penalty", after he was deemed to have taken too long over a birdie putt on his penultimate hole.

Martin Slumbers (L) and his predessesor Peter Dawson (R) in discussion at The Open last year
Image: Martin Slumbers (left) and his predessesor Peter Dawson (right) in discussion at The Open last year

Slumbers admitted the pace of play was one of the primary concerns particularly among club golfers, and the issue was the main topic of focus at the R&A's Time For Golf conference at St Andrews in November last year.

"A lot of the focus of our conference was on the amateur game, and really focusing on the people who play for the love of the game," Slumbers told Sky Sports News HQ reporter Charles Paterson. "I feel pace of play in the amateur game is one of the top three or four issues, around participation.

I am very conscious that, if we want the game to grow and young people come and play, being able to ensure they can play in a reasonably quick time is essential
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers

"While a lot of people are happy with their pace, they'd like to play quicker. What I was extremely encouraged about was the unanimous enthusiasm throughout the game to the efforts we started for the amateur game regarding pace of play. We've had a lot of responses and the team is working very hard on releasing the manual we said we'd deliver. It's in a very advanced format.

"We are very conscious at The Open that we have players from many Tours around the world. It's very important that we have policies that are understood by players coming off different Tours. We will adopt the policy we had last year, and are looking at some amendments to it.

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Chief referee John Paramor will be on the lookout for players playing too slowly
Image: The European Tour have introduced new regulations in a bid to combat slow play

"We have walking referees with every game, and part of their responsibilities will be pace of play. And we are doing the same with our elite amateur events. Everybody is going down the same road. The more we can push forward, and go a bit quicker, the better."

Slumbers also conceded that youngsters are discouraged from taking up golf due to the time involved, and the R&A are considering new ideas to help drive young engagement.

Slumbers has vowed to speed the game up at all levels
Image: Slumbers has vowed to speed the game up at all levels

"For the amateur game, it is absolutely a very important issue," he added. "While some people are quite happy to spend an entire day on the golf course, I am very conscious that if we want the game to grow and young people come and play, being able to ensure they can play in a reasonably quick time is essential to them picking up and staying with the game.

"We are looking into shorter forms of the game, and for the R&A to get behind those. We are getting to a position to build more credibility and validity to playing a shorter game, and I think that will help the amateur game."

Meanwhile, following the European Tour's decision to allow players to wear shorts in practice rounds and pro-ams this season, Slumbers confirmed the R&A would not follow suit in this year's Open at Royal Troon but the innovation would be considered for future Opens.

Darren Clarke has been seen wearing shorts during practice this week
Image: The European Tour now allow shorts in practice and pro-ams, but the R&A will not follow suit at Royal Troon

He said: "I think it's really important that we keep thinking about the game in a modern way, and a reflection of modern society. I think the climate conditions in the UAE in July and Scotland in July will be very different.

"We've announced our conditions for competition for 2016, and there will be no change, so no shorts at The Open this year. But we are open to thinking about and considering it. I don't see it in tournament play. Keeping true to the integrity of the Open is a good idea."

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