PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Last weekend, we were treated to another example of golf’s most egregious issue – slow play.

The final group in the pro tour Genesis Open treated us to a five-and-one-half hour round. One reason was the wind was up, making it difficult to hit the fairway, pick a club from the fairway, and read a green.

But, still – five-and-one-half hours to play 18 holes?

I say no.

The most egregious violator was the eventual winner, J.B. Holmes, who has made a slow play a mark of distinction – well, not a distinction, but that’s how he describes it in a story from my on-line edition of Global Golf Post.

From the Post:

“Holmes, now being mocked as the ‘human rain delay’ by many on social media, has earned himself enemies in the past, particularly last year when he took more than four minutes to play his second shot on the 72^nd hole at the Farmers Insurance Open.

“This time, in the Genesis Open, the outrage stemmed from him taking more than a minute to line up putts, and using green reading books and plum-bobbing even if he had a glorified tap-in remaining.”

It was so egregious that the usually conservative CBS on-course reporter, Peter Kostis, took Holmes to task.

“’The problem is not that he is going through this routine,’ Kostis said. ‘The problem is that he waited until his playing partners were done before he started it.’”

Holmes, only one of the slow play practitioners, is unapologeti

The kind of money pros are playing for and the places up-for-grabs in the FedEx points race prompt him to say things like, “There’s times when I am probably too slow, but it is what it is.”

As I said, Holmes is only one of the slow play artists. Another is Bryson DeChambeau who takes the “science of golf” to new, lengthy levels before playing any shot. And, I still remember a pro from old days, Glenn Day, who now plays on the senior tour. He earned the nickname “All Day.”

The basic problem is that slow play works against golf becoming more popular, a quest that occupies many of the golf organizations such as the United States Golf Association.

As amateurs watch pro golfers, many tend to mimic the style as they take five hours to get through 18 holes — and that reality, at the amateur level, slow play, dissuades many from taking up the game that already could be contended to take too long.

So, what is the answer? Well, I have several.

First, I would penalize pros for slow play. The standard is that it is supposed to take 40 seconds to play a shot. If it takes more, the pro should get a warning the first time, then a one-stroke penalty the second time. That would get the pro’s attention.

Second, the Global Golf Post makes a good point when it says that ShotLink technology, already in place, could eventually be used in pace-of-play enforcement. “We already are able to tell exactly where each player is on the course down to the inch,” the Post says. “We can accurately trace their shots in real time. Would it be possible for this technology to identify when a player has arrived at his or her ball and it’s his or her turn to hit?” Then, use that information to impose penalties for slow play.

Third, why not try what the European Tour did in 2018 during its appropriately called “Shot Clock Masters.”

Here’s the way the system was described:

“The 2018 Shot Clock Masters in Austria will be the first tournament in professional golf to use a shot clock on every shot as part of the European Tour’s bid to combat slow play.

“In accordance with this official policy, each player in the 120-man field had 50 seconds for the first player in a group to play any given shot and 40 seconds for subsequent players. Players will incur a one-shot penalty for each bad time incurred and these will be shown as a red card against their name on the leaderboard.

“Each player will have the right to call two ‘time-outs’ during a round which will permit them twice the usually allotted time to play the shot.”

As I watched the 2018 tournament on TV, each group was followed by a golf cart with a shot clock riding on it for everyone – including players and the golf crowd – to see. I remember one case where a player took 41 seconds to play a shot and got a one-stroke penalty for being over the limit.

Back to the Global Golf Post, which put it this way:

“Playing the game within a reasonable time frame should be part of the challenge of golf. What would happen if a quarterback didn’t have a play clock to beat? Taking a minute-and-a-half to dissect the defense would not only be antagonizing, it would defeat a fundamental skill of quickly analyzing the situation.”

The same could be said about golf, but, frankly, the only way to prompt appropriate levels of speed would be to impose violations for show play.

The violations would be meted out first in pro tournaments, then get down to amateur play where the penalty could be a fine, tough, I know to impose, when persons have played money to play.

That’s the way it is at the course I play in La Quinta, California, The Palms. The stated goal is to play 18 holes in three hours and 50 minutes, though the advice from the pros often is to aim at three hours and 30 minutes.

That time happens without difficulty.

Not tough if you focus on golf and don’t mimic slow play artists on the pro golf tours.