"Players come to the PGA Tour expecting to play slowly" - American Junior Golf Association President reveals 'culprit' behind slow play

Golf tournaments are typically four days long, with hundreds of players competing on the same course. This normally takes a long time, and if players take their shots a little slower than usual, the entire tempo of the match suffers. Slow play has long been an issue in the game, and at The Masters, Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland were chastised for the same.

Jim Nugent, president of the American Junior Golf Association, waded into the battle to disclose the 'real culprit' for the poor pace and also provided a suitable solution to the problem.

In a recent article published in Global Golf Post, Nugent presented a theory that has assisted AJGA tournaments in completing a threesome round in four hours and 23 minutes, which is significantly less than the PGA Tour.

“Those looking for a culprit for slow play on the PGA Tour should focus not on youngsters but on the college game. I have said for years, only partly in jest, that the AJGA players who go on to play at the NCAA Division I level must spend the first two weeks on campus being deprogrammed, to become comfortable with six-hour rounds of golf. Everything the AJGA has taught these kids gets shunned aside quickly," wrote Nugent.

“It’s no wonder that so many players come to the PGA Tour expecting to play slowly," he added.

Jim Nugent also stated that the AJGA employs a color system to keep participants moving during a competition. At six checkpoints across the golf course, players are shown red, green, and double-red cards depending on their game speed. Green is for golfers who play at a reasonable speed, whereas red is used as a warning, and two red cards result in a one-stroke penalty.

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Does the PGA Tour have a penalty for slow play?

According to the PGA Tour's new pace-of-play regulation, which was implemented in 2020, golfers who took more than 45 seconds per shot in their previous 10 tournaments will be added to the 'observe list.' These players are informed before their match and are instructed to take a shot within 60 seconds of the start of the game. If they do not comply, they will face a penalty.

Players on the observation list who have two bad time records will be penalized for one stroke. However, unlike the PGA Tour, the AJGA has a stringent policy for maintaining its time record.

Several players expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace in their interviews. Brooks Koepka mentioned the slow pace in his post-Masters interview. He stated:

“Yeah, the group in front of us was brutally slow. Jon [Rahm] went to the bathroom like seven times during the round, and we were still waiting.”

In an interview with Sky Sports' Jamie Weir, 2023 RBC Heritage champion Matt Fitzpatrick suggested a target time of threesomes rounds. He stated:

“If you’re in a three-ball, in my opinion you should be [playing a] round in four hours, four-and-a-half absolute maximum, it’s a disgrace to get anywhere near that. You’re talking [five hours, 15 minutes], five-and-a-half hours at some venues and it’s truly appalling.”