Columnist Dean Juipe: Slow play sometimes inexcusable

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, June 14, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

She was a big ol' gal and exuberant to a fault.

Pictured on the front page of Tuesday's edition of USA Today, the woman in question was hitting a shot from the rough of the 18th hole at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Northern California.

Despite the outcome of her shot -- it landed in a greenside bunker -- the woman was deliriously happy simply to have hit the ball. Her final score: a ghastly 140.

Memo to the woman in question: In all probability, the people playing behind you -- and behind them, and so on -- weren't nearly as excited as you were with your minimal skills. Your ears should have been ringing, given the sluggish pace of play you inflicted on the field.

Pebble Beach, of course, is one of America's great courses and is open to the public. It is also hosting the 100th U.S. Open, which gets under way Thursday.

But its greens fee of $300 is too much if the course is going to allow beginners and plodders to ruin the experience for the average player, who shouldn't take more than 90 or 100 strokes to get around even the most demanding layout.

"You've brought up a good subject," said Chuck Bombard, head pro at the TPC Canyons in Las Vegas, another difficult course that allows public play. "While everyone starts out at the same level, ultimately you should know the parameters of the game if you're going to play."

What every mediocre golfer should know is this: If you're taking too many strokes -- and 140 is way, way too many -- then you need to either pick up on the occasional hole or follow the example of my conscientious wife, who plays only the final 100 yards of any and all holes.

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Bombard said. "You have to know your limits."

She does. But the woman yukking it up on the USA Today cover page did not.

For those impressed by percentages, golf is a difficult game for these reasons: 70 percent of every golf course is comprised of rough, water and woods; only 23 percent of the course is fairway; the remaining 7 percent is shared by tee boxes, putting greens and buildings, according to the United States Golf Association.

So there's sufficient potential trouble for players of all levels, including those pros and leading amateurs who will be at Pebble Beach this weekend to take on a course that has four-inch rye roughs.

At TPC Canyons, Bombard's staff attempts to forewarn the unsuspecting.

"You paid X to play and we appreciate that," he said, "but you have to bear in mind that everyone around you paid X, too.

"We don't ever want to be rude, but we have written advice on the expected pace of play and we have on-course advisers if you run into trouble. If there's a problem on the course with slow play or a particular group or golfer, we'll try to work something out for the people behind them, like having them play through.

"But there are still days when it's slow. I wish it was always perfect, but it's not."

Slow, at times, is understandable, given the congestion on many golf courses. But slow and not knowing better or appearing as if you don't have a care in the world -- or taking delight in a pitiful shot -- is not.