Nicklaus believes slow play must be punished by strokes not fines

Golf Correspondent

Thursday 28 June 2012

The cry for action on slow play has been getting louder and louder recently.

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Nick Rodger

Last night at Gleneagles, the roar from a Golden Bear was added to the pace of play chorus.

Jack Nicklaus has never been one to keep his strong opinions on the game to himself and, as a self-confessed "traditionalist", the 18-time major winner was pretty vocal on an issue which continues to provide plenty of talking points.

Officials of the LPGA Tour, the European Tour and the Royal & Ancient, have all issued slow-play penalties in recent weeks and Nicklaus is hoping the whip continues to be cracked."I'm 72 years old and I am very concerned about the game of golf because people will not take five or six hours out of their time," said Nicklaus, who dropped in to the Perthshire resort yesterday to cast his eyes over the alterations that have been made to the PGA Centenary course ahead of the 2014 Ryder Cup. "If you are going to penalise somebody, the amateur authorities use strokes. On the Tour, they also need to use strokes as a fine means nothing to these guys. I was penalised twice when I was younger and I didn't like it all. I never got fined, but I wouldn't have minded one. However, a two-stroke penalty? That gets your attention real quick. I finally learned how to move along and learned how to keep pace of play. The showcase of the game is taking too long and I don't know where we are going to end up with it."All the heroes and role models that kids follow, if they play fast, kids will play fast. If they play slow, the kids will emulate their heroes and play slow, but that will put them out of the game. They have to move along and learn how to play."Nicklaus was speaking after a long stint himself on the golf course yesterday. Despite the mist and the rain of a Scottish summer, the Ohio veteran was eager to spend as much time as possible surveying the numerous and expensive changes that have been made to the PGA Centenary track that he originally designed."The course, first of all, was not meant to be the toughest course in the world," he added. "It was a course for Gleneagles and its hotel and guests. I don't think it's going to be a course that breaks the back. It's more about creating good shots than difficult ones. I think it's a good golf course. I would still be out there if I didn't think the course was where it needed to be."

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Nicklaus believes slow play must be punished by strokes not fines

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