European Tour pleased with quicker pace of play during Desert Swing
Thursday 11 February 2016 12:58, UK
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley has hailed how plans to speed up the sport got off to a positive start during the recent Desert Swing, where round times were up to 19 minutes quicker.
A new Pace of Play policy was introduced at the start of the year to identify slow players, with the aim to make the game more appealing to fans either at the course or watching on television.
As well as the ability to still officially 'time' players, referees now can issue a 'monitoring penalty' for slow play, with world No 1 Jordan Spieth the first recipient during his opening round in Abu Dhabi.
Pelley's pledge was to try and reduce round times by 15 minutes, with the new guidelines having an immediate affect at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, Qatar Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic.
The measures saw average round times drop by five minutes during Abu Dhabi compared to the previous year's event, while rounds in Qatar were more 10 minutes quicker than they were in similar windy conditions in 2012.
The biggest change came in the last group times, which were 19 minutes and 14 seconds quicker in Qatar compared to four years ago, meaning an earlier finish time for the tournament.
"It is terrific to see the policy has had an immediate effect, even though we are still in the early stages of its implementation," Pelley said. "We said before our new measures were introduced in Abu Dhabi that we wanted to take the lead on pace of play.
"I am also pleased that our members have reacted positively to this change. We are continually striving to make our product even more appealing and entertaining for our fans and this is a good starting point.
"There is no quick fix for slow play, but this new policy is aimed at empowering our referees to more effectively target the problem and I believe we will see even more inroads made over the coming weeks and months."
A total of 95 groups were monitored during the three early-season events, with Spieth one of only five players to be handed a monitoring penalty.
Daniel Brooks (Abu Dhabi, round two), Benjamin Hebert (Abu Dhabi, round four), Eddie Pepperell (Dubai, round one) and Gavin Green (Dubai, round two) complete the group, with those five now set to receive a fine for each monitoring penalty they receive during the rest of the season.
The fines will increase for each following monitoring penalties, with players punished if they exceed the time allowed for a shot - 50 seconds if first to play and 40 seconds thereafter.
"It is important to note that our referees now have the ability to apply monitoring penalties if they see a player take an excessive amount of time over a shot, even if their group is in position on the course, so our players are now more aware than ever that slow play is unacceptable," Pelley added.
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