Originally Posted by
justsomeguy
The reasons for slow play in professional golf are totally different than the general golfing public. Although there are a few slow players, pace of play issues in professional golf generally comes down to three factors:
1) Obtaining yardages for club selection - there are no rangefinders, no yardage stakes, no GPS and no red/white/blue flags in professional golf. Every shot requires at least a brief discussion between player and caddie regarding club selection and pin locations. Some pro tours are now allowing rangefinders to improve pace of play, but the PGA is not.
2) Reading greens - there are no gimmies in professional golf (except for match play of course). Professional golfers mark, lift, clean and replace every golf ball on the green for virtually every putt. They and their caddies usually try to read every putt outside of 3 feet from several different angles and often spend some time discussing it. The general golfing public spends a lot less time on the greens even when they 4-putt.
3) Rulings - professional golfers get rulings from rules officials if they are unsure of the procedure, and take the time to do measurements for drops. Imagine how slow some regular golfers would be if they didn't say "I'll just drop one" in a favourable spot and move on.
All that being said, professional golfers can still be put "on the clock" by tournament officials. The tours never release information about player discipline, but I suspect that serial offenders can be fined. Don't see that ever happening at my club.
I would say it is on the players mostly, but there is still a lot more that courses could do. Starting with realistic tee time intervals, especially for busy times.