Slow play seems to usually be golf’s timely curse

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 1999 | 11:32 a.m.

Golfer disdain for slow play is shared by the professionals responsible for the beauty, performance and upkeep of the nations's golf courses.

A survey by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) revealed slow play is a function of golf's popularity, golfer inexperience and golf course conditioning. The 1,200 respondents to the survey overwhelmingly cited increased course traffic (33 percent), high rough and fast greens (26 percent) and decline of golfer etiquette (23 percent) as the primary causes of slow play.

Superintendents said they have combated slow play by either lowering the rough (46 percent) or widening the fairways (25 percent).

Unlike efforts to control slow play, superintendents are not reacting to the distance achieved by new golf balls or advances in golf club/shaft technologies. Eighty-four percent of superintendents said they were not grooming their courses to compensate for increasing distances of golf balls.

Superintendents identified failure to repair ball marks on the putting green as golfers' worst breach of etiquette (60 percent), followed by failure to rake bunkers (18 percent) and to repair divots (8 percent).

Moving violations on the golf-cart paths also were a concern of superintendents. more than 40 percent cited golfers for driving on or too close to greens as the most common violation, while ignoring daily posting of golf-cart restrictions was next (33 percent).

Asked how playing conditions have changed in the past five years, respondents identified increased green sped (40 percent), improved fairway conditions (23 percent) and height of turf (15 percent) as the most significant.

The survey also revealed increased television exposure is effecting how golfers think their course should look. As picture-perfect golf courses have become the norm rather than the exception, it is little surprise that 70 percent of superintendents say TV golf has heightened expectations of golf course conditions.

In predicting changes in course operations over the next five years, the environment figured prominently. The three most common predictions were an increase in environmental regulations, improved environmental management and a decrease in water usage.