Speltempot bland tourspelarna har länge varit ett ämne som debatterats.
I våras publicerade italienaren Edoardo Molinari ett twitterinlägg där han la ut en lista över vilka spelare på Europatouren som varit på klockan för långsamt spel och hur många gånger.
Det i kombination med att spelare som Brooks Koepka och Rory McIlroy på senaste tiden uttalat sig kritiskt om tempot bland vissa av sina kollegor verkar nu också få de ansvariga för tourerna att vakna.
PGA-touren har redan sagt att de ska ta ett grepp om speltempot och nu har Europatouren tagit fram ett program på fyra punkter tillsammans med spelarrådet för att komma tillrätta med problemet.
De fyra punkterna kommer att sättas i kraft i och med 2020-års säsong.
– Jag tror att det kommer att göra stor skillnad och förbättra upplevelsen för både spelare och åskådare, oavsett om de är på plats eller framför teven, säger Europatourens Vd, Keith Pelley i ett uttalande.
Här är ett sammandrag av de nya reglerna:
• Om en boll hamnar ur position eller en spelare bryter mot tidsreglerna får denne ett slags plikt redan efter två överträdelser. Som det är nu krävs fler tidsöverträdelser innan straff utdelas.
• Om en spelare hamnar på klockan ofta utdelas böter och hamnar man exempelvis på klockan 15 gånger under 2020 så får man motsvarande ungefär 260 000 kronor i böter jämfört med ungefär 90 000 enligt dagens bestämmelser.
De fyra punkterna omfattar också teknik, utbildning och storlek på startfälten och finns i sin helhet här nedanför.
1. Regulation
” When players are out of position and either being monitored or timed, a one-shot penalty will be incurred after two bad times – currently a player would be ’monitored’ and if he breaches the time allowance (50 seconds for first to play, 40 seconds for second or third to play) he will then be ’officially timed’ and would then have to breach twice more before being given a one shot penalty. Players will, however, have the option to request one time extension per round, giving an additional 40 seconds to hit a shot on this request.
” In Position timing, introduced at the same time as Monitoring, has been strengthened. The time allowed to play a shot when being monitored in position (currently double the out of position times above), will be reduced by 15%, from 100 and 80 seconds down to 85 and 70 seconds respectively for first and second/ third to play. Referees are now mandated to be proactive in targeting known slow players for in position timing.
” Fines for consistently slow players who are regularly officially timed during the season will increase significantly. For example, a player who is timed 15 times in the 2020 season will have to pay £26,000 in fines as opposed to £9,000 this season.
2. Education
” All new members will be assigned a dedicated referee to help educate them on pace of play at the start of their European Tour career
” As part of retaining their membership, every member will be required to pass an interactive online rules test with this being implemented for existing members towards the end of the 2019 season and all new members early in the 2020 season. This will be repeated every three years for existing members.
” Regular educational videos will be produced by the European Tour’s social media team on key rules and pace of play policies and shared with the players throughout the season in an effort to avoid unnecessary rulings and ensure they better understand the Pace of Play policy.
3. Innovation
” A trial Pace-of-Play system will be conducted at the BMW PGA Championship from September 19-22, 2019. This will provide referees with the times for every group through every hole to make sure that no gaps are missed.
” As part of this system, and in a ground-breaking development, on-tee displays on a minimum of three holes will provide groups with their position in relation to the group in front.
4. Field sizes
” Field sizes at fully sanctioned events will be reduced from 156 to a minimum of 144 so long as all entered players in Category 18 (the final 111-125 on the previous season’s Race to Dubai) and above make it into the event. This will create space for referees to push groups over the Thursday and Friday rounds.
Larger starting intervals will be built into play on Saturday and Sunday to create a better flow between groups.
