New Augusta National-based rule targets slow play

Bobby Jones, the legendary amateur and Augusta National co-founder, didn’t just play golf well — he also played the game quickly. There was little fidgeting or second-guessing when Jones stepped over a shot. Slide in, maybe a quick waggle and let it rip. Ditto on the greens, where he believed examining putts from multiple angles was unnecessary if not counterproductive.

A century or so after Jones’s prime, his proclivity for a peppy pace is alive and well at the club he helped establish — or, at the least, the club’s forward-looking chairman, Fred Ridley, has championed the cause. Look no further than Ridley’s state-of-the-union remarks at the Masters a year ago. In the weeks leading up to the 2025 tournament, the sluggish pace on the PGA Tour had become so offensive that CBS Golf reporter Dottie Pepper called it out on the air.

Pepper’s critique sparked much heated debate on the topic, which led Ridley to say in scripted comments to the press: “The subject of pace of play is top of mind. Playing without undue delay, as the rules and the game’s traditions dictate, is an essential skill of golf at all levels. Recognizing the challenges professionals face each week, I also believe pace of play is an important element of the examination of the world’s best players.

“Golf is a special game because it requires us to be considerate while also being competitive. Respecting other people’s time, including, importantly, the fans who support the game, is a fundamental courtesy. Therefore, I want to encourage continued dialogue on this topic, especially at the professional levels which serve as the most visible representation of our sport.”

But Ridley’s concern extended beyond the professional game and even the elite amateur and college games all the way down to the junior ranks. That much became evident when he was asked to reflect on a young golfer who had used the time-consuming AimPoint green-reading technique — which has become popular in the pro game — in the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals on the Sunday before Masters week. (There were, in fact, several players who employed the technique, but a reporter asked Ridley about one in particular.)  

“I, too, noticed exactly what you noticed,” Ridley said. “It’s interesting, but every phase of the competition has the same length chip and the same length putt, so it’s really not necessary to pace that off. They know how many yards that is. But nevertheless that’s what they were doing. I think it’s safe to assume that next year at the Drive, Chip & Putt you will see some sort of time limitations placed on the competition.”

Ridley wasn’t bluffing.

On Tuesday, the DC&P, which is jointly run by the Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America, announced a new rule — in essence, a shot clock — that will be instituted at the event’s finals at Augusta National in April.

Rules

At that stage of the contest, each of the 80 finalists hits only six shots a piece (two drives, two chips, two putts) so you can understand why they’re in full grind mode. Still, to alleviate some of the slog, the event is introducing a “pace of play bonus” by which competitors will earn half a bonus point for each shot they complete in 40 seconds or less, meaning players who execute all six of their shots in the allotted time will earn three bonus points in all. “This initiative aims to reinforce pace of play as an essential skill in golf,” according to a release announcing the new rule.  

Here, according to the official rules, is how the pace will be monitored:

First Shot

Second Shot

Scoring Procedure

Sensible? We think so! Now if only we could get the pros moving, because, after all, tomorrow’s stars are following their lead. As Ridley said last year, “These young people are looking to their heroes who play the game each week for a living as to how they’re going to approach competitively playing the game.”

If the DC&P’s new rule is effective, maybe that formula should get flipped on its head.