end of the line

Tweet of the week so far belongs to my twitter “sister” Catriona Matthew (please note 2 t’s and no s) “Flew home to Scotland in 5 hours 20 minutes last night, quicker than it took to play 18 holes any of the first 3 days at US Open #amazing”.


You can fly from the USA to Scotland quicker than an LPGA round, I find that ludicrous.


Why is women’s golf so slow??

Now I can here a few mumbling the PGA is as slow, and it is, but there are more TV cameras at PGA events so you see more players and, from a TV viewers prospective, it does not look so slow.

It was very disappointing looking at peoples twitter feed during the Ladies US Open, people were switching off out of sheer boredom.

I have said in the past I think Mike Whan has done a brilliant job at the LPGA and the addition of Kraig Khan is paying dividends.

The PGA and European Tour’s, and some players, could learn social media lessons from the LPGA, their staff and the players.

If you go to any LPGA or LET event the players are nothing short of brilliant when it comes to interacting with the fans.

But unless they speed up play on the course ladies golf, as a television spectacle, is doomed.

I am actually scared how long a round is going to take at St Andrews during the RICOH, if the wind gets up we could seriously be looking at 6 hours.

So what can the authorities do to speed up play ?

Well I could knock 30 minutes off a round very easily, ban caddies lining up players on tees and fairways!

Now rather than attack the players I dont like, we all know who I mean, I will use a player I like, Paula Creamer.

I think Paula is a good person and a brilliant golfer, but slow!

I watched Paula and her caddie on a par 3 tee and quite frankly from the time they started to talk yardages, decide on a club and then for the caddie to line her up I could have hit the green, 3 putted and moved on to the next tee!

And Paula is no where near being one of the slowest players on the LPGA!

Did anyone else notice that neither Inbee Park or I.K. Kim, the lowest scores of the week, got lined up by their caddies??

Picking a line is part of playing golf, if you cant line yourself on a fairway or a tee should you really be playing professional golf ??

Honestly ban it on tees & fairways you will save a minimum of 30 minutes per round.

So why don’t the LPGA and the LET ban it?? Seriously why ??

Can you imagine the uproar if the R&A and LGU got together before the RICOH and introduced a “local rule” for St Andrews banning caddies lining up players ??

In fact could the R&A and LGU introduce such a rule ??

Last year at Royal Liverpool the LGU dropped the ball a few times, forcing players to play on the Friday morning was nothing short of embarrassing as was the temporary suspension mid round on Sunday, they received, and deserved, the criticism they got.


The eyes of the golfing world, more than ever, will be on the RICOH this year.

Inbee Park could become the first ever golfer to win the first four majors in a calendar year and do it at the home of golf!

It is vital for the women’s professional game that this years RICOH goes with out a hitch and shows everything that is brilliant about the women’s game.

But the players, as much as the authorities, need to tackle slow play from within their own ranks.

Lets hope that this years RICOH is remembered for all the right reasons!