TT JAN_2016 Issue 176_Layout 1 20/12/2015 13:16 Page 4
4 TEE TIMES
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JANUARY 2016
GET A MOVE ON, FOLKS! Ideas to speed up golf:
• Shorter holes
KEVIN Brown of Sherborne Golf Club, Dorset, is again among twelve regional finalists from English golf clubs shortlisted for the title of the 2015 Fuller’s London Pride Steward of the Year. And this year he will make it a family affair.
• Lost-ball marshals • Four-hour rounds
For Kevin, who won the title last year, is joined in this year’s bid by his wife, Emma.
• Lighter rough
The couple, along with other South West representatives Amanda Goodyear of Looe Golf Club, Cornwall, and Fiona Snook of Wareham Golf Club, Dorset, will be judged on their level of commitment, innovation and standard of service and presentation.
GOLF’S governing body is poised to take drastic steps to speed up the sport. The huge chunk of time which some players take to complete a round – sometimes up to five hours – is putting people off golf. More and more people, particularly those with families, are disinclined to devote the better part of a day to the game. Moves to speed up play have come after more than 56,000 golfers from 127 countries took part in a survey on the state of the game carried out by the R&A between September 2014 and March of this year. The survey produced several suggestions for tackling the problem, including shorter holes and marshals helping to find lost balls in the amateur ranks. A recent conference at St Andrews addressed slow play across all levels of golf, and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers says the pace of play is an important issue for golf as it attempts to boost its appeal. It was revealed that 24 slowcoaches have been penalised shots in the history of the European Tour, among them Seve Ballesteros, Jamie Donaldson and Nicolas Colsaerts. Around the circuit today, there are still several professionals who act differently if they know they are on the clock – and as soon as
Emma joins Kevin in title bid
officials turn their attention elsewhere, they slip back to their sluggish ways. Mr Slumbers said: ‘Time is a key issue and has been for a number of years. We want to come out with practical guidance that we can give to players and courses to really get on top of it.’ He believes some of the suggested measures could work straight away: ‘Maybe we need some marshals out on the course to help find balls. Maybe we need to play over shorter formats, nine-hole golf; playing off tees that are further forward, not cutting the rough as thick and deep as possible.’ Scottish golfer Alastair Forsyth, who has spent 15 years on the European Tour, feels
Even Seve Ballesteros was penalised shots for slow play
the R&A may have to consider "radical" measures to combat slow play: ‘Something has to be done because it's only going to get worse,’ he told BBC Scotland.
‘It's a serious issue in the game at the top level and at golf club level. We used to go round a golf course in a three-ball in three to three-and-a-half hours. It's now five hours; even club medals are taking fourand-a-half hours. ‘It's putting people off the game. I've been reading some stuff this week about saying, 'right, you've got four hours, if you're not round the course in four hours then you're not finishing your round'. A bit harsh, but is it going to take something like that to make people speed up?’
The competition is run jointly by England Golf and Fuller’s and aims to identify the golf club steward who provides the most welcoming and enjoyable experience at the 19th hole. Club members, visitors and golf club managers put forward nominations. Shortlisted stewards will all be visited personally before this year’s four regional winners are selected. The four finalists will all go forward to a Kevin Brown: Trying for celebration lunch early top steward again next year when the winner of the Fuller’s London Pride Steward of the Year will be announced. The winner will receive a weekend break in London, with accommodation for two nights in a Fuller’s Central London Hotel, and advertising space in the local press to promote their club.
Tiger: ‘No light at the end of the tunnel’ thought I could. And to have done this much, I never would have foreseen that.
• From Page 3 ‘I want it to come from me so that when they come of age, I'll just tell them the real story,’ said Woods.
‘I've taken the initiative with the kids and told them up front, “guys, the reason why we're not in the same house, why we don't live under the same roof is because daddy made some mistakes”. ‘I just want them to understand before they get to internet age and they log on to something or have their friends tell them something.’
‘With all my heart, I do not want to stop playing golf. It's not what I want to have happen, and it's not what I'm planning on having happen. Winning days and happier days: the classic Majorwinning Tiger and, right, with former wife Erin
He said of Elin: ‘The relationship that I have now with her is fantastic. She's one of my best friends. We're able to pick up the phone and we talk to each other all the time. We
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But if it does, it does. I've reconciled myself to it. both know that the most important things in our lives are our kids. I wish I would have known that back then. I've had a good run. I've done a lot more in the game than I ever
‘It's more important for me to be with my kids. I don't know how I could live with myself not being able to participate in my kids' lives like that. That to me is special.’
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