Slow Play - The Curse of the US Game and 5 Main Culprits

Our 8-man buddy trip is coming up next month to London and Scotland. Finally, I have convinced the boys that London has such great golf that we would be crazy once again to suffer the agonies of Heathrow without the ecstasy of golf in the wonderful heath land to the west and south of the capital of the old country. The classic heather strewn courses are too numerous to mention and we have several of these on our plan - St. Georges Hill, Walton Heath Old, Sunningdale Old. It should be a treat. Then it's off to Scotland for The Old Course, Muirfield, and North Berwick (pictured above).
That all sounds great, but what's the point of this blog, other than to name drop? Well, the point is this, on several days we are playing 36 holes and although the tee times are not set in stone at most British clubs we will have no problem playing 36 holes on these world class courses. Sadly the same cannot be said for many of courses I have encountered in the US where 4 1/2 to 5 hours has become the norm. The reasons are numerous so let's take a look at a few and ponder why the US golfer has slowed to a crawl and yet British golfers simply hit the ball and when it stops, hit it again! Here are 5 of the main culprits.

1. Carts. A dreadful invention and used by able-bodied people who should know better. Golf is a game for walking, not driving. If you have a medical reason, no problem, but kids and anyone who can walk should walk. I see more carts moving sideways or backwards here than I see moving forward! Players driving over to see their opponents ball, or if "cart paths only" are in operation taking one club out to their ball only to return 2 minutes later for another!

2. Electronic devices. Regular readers will know I would like to blow these all up or have a large receptacle by the first tee for them. It would be just like going through the airport and the golf equivalent of the TSA would ask you to dispose of your electronic yardage device - you know it doesn't help anyway and they just add time to the round. "Jerry, you have 167 yards and not 169 yards" (as we thought by looking in a yardage book) - oh, let me take that couple of yards off my 6 iron swing! I don't think so and you took 2 minutes to make your mind up and hit it 130 yards!

3. Watching golf on television. The Brits watch golf too, but for some reason the excruciatingly slow play on the professional tours seems to have had a more negative effect on US amateur golfers than their foreign counterparts. The question is when will the tours actually try and speed up the game and stop pretending that 5 hours is acceptable. Go on, fine someone a shot and see what that does - money won't get it done, but shots will. The American Junior Golf Association has been proactive by introducing a "Pace of Play Program" for their young, aspiring College players - the tours should take a leaf out of the AJGA's book and follow suit, so guys like Webb Simpson, Jonathan Byrd and Ben Crane get a move on!

4. Drinks carts. Don't have 'em in the UK and the only reason they exist in the US is to generate revenue. A noble idea for sure, but just one more thing that holds up play. A bunch of old dudes chatting up the 19-year-old cart girl is no reason to add 15 minutes to the round. Fellas, she is not interested!

5. Keeping score. Stop it now! This is supposed to be fun! If it's inside the leather pick it up and move on. In the UK, 99% of golf is matchplay and it's the major reason that golf keeps moving. I don't need to be waiting 230 yards away watching you putting out for a 7... I'll give you a 6 if you pick it up and get out of the way! Think Chevy Chase in Caddyshack and measure your performance by height!

3 Pure Products from the PGA Show

It was a PGA show with something we haven't felt in a few years...buzz! And amongst the buzz were some really cool and pure products. Here are 3 "pures" that caught my eye.

1. G-Fore Golf Gloves. Yes, that is the suave Marty Hackel on their booth. If it's possible to be as equally well dressed as Mr. Style, then Mossimo Giannulli, the owner of G-Fore pulls it off. Mr. Giannulli's company does one thing - it makes beautiful golf gloves in all the colors of the rainbow. You can see the company's website here. No, they are not cheap at $35, but imagine the statement you make teeing it up with one of these wonderfully rich hued gloves.

2. TRUE Linkswear. It's no secret that I love "TRUES" and this year the company has somehow managed to improve the shoes and even extended the line into 3 price points. The PHX, named, I guess after their new office location is $99, The TOUR is $149 and The Stealth is $199. Playing golf and walking in these shoes is such a delight and they really feel like playing golf in barefeet. The picture above is the new TOUR in white with a green sole and yes, they are on order!

3. Seamus Golf Head Covers. When I saw these I fell in love with them! Made in Oregon and in very limited batches per design, these are the epitome of Pure! I have 3 already. They are currently available only through ETSY here and if you like a particular style, buy it, because it may never be made again! I hear their website at www.seamusgolf.com will soon have a store too. You can see it here.

The Coolest Valuables Pouch

Thanks to our friends at The MacKenzie Golf Bag Company, we now have a very cool (and pure) valuables pouch for the 2012 season. I asked Todd at MacKenzie to discreetly use our logo, so we had some MacDuff branding, but keep it classy (San Diego!). One of my main incentives to play golf soon is so I can use this beautiful American made leather pouch.

TRUE Linkswear Auction for some pure shoes...sweet

Our favorite shoe company, TRUE Linkswear, has come up with a cool idea - auction off all their 2011 samples, (including some in crazy colors) to benefit The First Tee. Great idea, well executed with 501 Auctions and I have already started bidding - well, I'm not going to tell you on which ones am I!
You can see the auction and bid here.

Askernish - An Old Tom Morris Masterpiece

At last weeks Affordable Golf Syposium there was a wonderful presentation by Gordon Irvine from Scotland about the magnificent, natural golf course called Askernish. Located on the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, the course was laid out by 4 time Open Champion Old Tom Morris in 1891 and was abandoned in the 1920s. In recent years a team, led by Irvine, has resurrected the course using traditional methods and created something very special. I strongly recommend the article listed here and also the Askernish website which goes into more detail than space here allows. Looking at the website I notice its possible to join for $160 - yes, that right... join! There's a wonderful T & L piece by John Garrity here about the history of the club. And here is the Askernish website with wonderful pictures and the whole story.

Pasatiempo and those goats!

I have been fortunate to play some great golf courses over the last few years and Pasatiempo near Santa Cruz, CA is up there with the best of them. So it was with great interest that, on Monday, I heard a talk from Paul Chojnacky, the superintendant of the MacKenzie gem.

Paul made an excellent presentation about his water management of the property, but what we really wanted to hear about was the well publicized goats. He wisely started with water and finished on a high with his goat herd! The purpose of the goats is to clear the canyons that run through the property and provided such inspiration to Alister MacKenzie when he designed the course in the late 1920s. Paul shared the numbers on the goat program he initiated last year. The cost was less $15,000 for a herd of 175 goats to roam the property and eat everything in their wake for several months. The cost of removing the unattractive undergrowth using 2 legged workers would have been in the region of $105,000. Plus, and it a huge plus...what's the fun in that!
As I said at the conference, Paul is a great super and also a marketing genius. His annual goat spend has created hundreds of thousands of dollars of PR and raised Pasa's profile as it regains its rightful place in the World Top 100 following Tom Doak's wonderful restoration. The course is open to the public and only a 50 minute drive from Monterey. Don't miss it!

New pictures of Bandon Preserve

Our friend, Josh Smith, the golf landscape painter, just returned from the Renaissance Cup at Bandon and sent these pictures of The Preserve. The new par 3 golf course looks wonderful and his pictures are all the evidence you need to add this loop onto your next trip to Bandon! You can see Josh's actual paintings on his website here.