EVERYBODY knows that golf can often be the kind of wearisome, plodding plooter that can be as onerous as chomping through a sturdy bowl of muesli. There are continued moves to get it moving, though, writes Nick Rodger.
Officials at Scottish Golf, the amateur game’s governing body, chose yesterday to unveil its 2018 schedule of events, presumably because nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit quite like opening an email to see when the Scottish Women’s County Finals are on.
Amid this list of diary dates and fixture lists, the top brass unveiled that they will be employing the use of Ready Golf at all of their championships,
The pace-of-play policy, which has already been put in place by the R&A in their own amateur events, means that in strokeplay competition, players should batter on when ready rather than stick rigidly to the age old “farthest from the hole plays first” doctrine, a traditional stipulation that often meant this hapless correspondent was always playing first.
That dreaded phrase “it’s still your turn” continues to ring in the lugs to this day. Many will sympathise.
Ready Golf has been well received across the board and Fraser Munro, Scottish Golf’s head of events, said: “We are committed to speeding up the game and making competitive golf more enjoyable for everyone.
“We acknowledge slow play continues to be a problem but believe adopting Ready Golf is a proactive step towards addressing this issue.”
On the events front, a new national 9-hole final will feature on the calendar for the first time as the governing body joins in the push to encourage shorter formats of the game.
The tournament will form part of the qualifying process for the R&A’s own national 9-hole championship which will see the winning pairs from around the UK competing in a final over the links of Carnoustie in the build up to the 2018 Open Championship at the Angus venue.
Selected 2018 Scottish Golf Championships
Apr 20-22 Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open, Troon.
Jun 5-9 Scottish Women’s Amateur, Elie.
Jun TBC Scottish Golf /R&A 9-Hole National Final.
Jul 31-Aug 5 Scottish Men’s Amateur, Blairgowrie.
Aug 27-29 Scottish Men’s Open Strokeplay, Gleneagles King’s.
Sep7-9 Scottish Men’s Area Team Championship, Cawder.
Sep 14-16 Scottish Women’s County Finals, Kilmacolm.
Sep 18-20 Senior Men’s Home Internationals, Southerness.
Sep 23 Scottish Men’s Club Championship, Kinross.
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