Awee while ago, this column visited the prickly issue of slow play and, a short time later, here we are again, treading over the same ground.

It's what's known in the business as environmentally friendly journalism: the recycling of hot topics.

Back in ye olden times, when golf events were started by a man with a whip, and a Hybrid was something you'd find in the stall next to the Bearded Lady at the local freak show, the thought of a round taking five hours would've been as preposterous as, well, a woman with triumphant facial growth.

The pace of play in the modern era, however, is enough to leave you pulling your hair out, so there was considerable relief expressed during last week's Amateur Championship when the Royal & Ancient top brass followed up their strong statements of intent with genuine action.

Nathan Kimsey may not be a household name in the wider world of the game but he made the headlines at Royal Troon when he was penalised a shot for slow play during the strokeplay qualifying rounds. Pace-of-play guidelines have been around for years at these type of events but they have never really been enforced. Kimsey became the first to actually feel the force.

Even though the English teenager still qualified for the matchplay phase, he seemed genuinely bewildered by the whole episode as he trotted out phrases like "pedantic" and "they have followed the rules to the absolute letter" in the aftermath. His pride had clearly taken a dunt but this is what happens when someone in authority actually takes a stance.

Players (and those coaches who preach the kind of laborious pre-shot routines that would make you weep) have been pushing it, and stretching the system, for far too long. Now they're going to have get used to dealing with the consequences for a change.

At the Amateur Championship, there were only a handful of referees trying to cover all the bases, so it would've been nigh on impossible to keep tabs on the movements of every player in the earlier stages of the event.

At next month's Open Championship, though, referees will be striding out with every match. On the biggest stage of them all, let's hope the powers that be continue to stand firm against the slow coaches and demonstrate the courage of their convictions.

With the officials on the LPGA Tour and the European Tour also having got tough on players in recent weeks, there have been some encouraging strides forward on a pace of play that has been going backwards in recent years. The impact of the snail-like tendencies is hurting the game at all levels.

"We do have a concern that the game is getting slower and slower and, in amateur golf, maybe more so than in the professional game," said Jim McArthur, chairman of the R&A's championship committee. "There's a potential for affecting the membership of golf clubs throughout the world because it takes so long to play and people don't just have the time required."

On the PGA circuit in the US, where a penalty stroke for slow play hasn't been doled out for 17 years, the tour commissioner Tim Finchem has his own views. "I don't think penalty shots make a difference, to be honest with you," he said recently. Perhaps they should experiment because, let's face it, a monetary fine means little to a multi-millionaire at the top. Penalising a player with shots hits them where it really hurts, though.

The problem of slow play is not going to be cured overnight. But at least the bandwagon to get the game moving again appears to be gathering a bit of pace.

AND ANOTHER THING

It seems there will hardly be any room to swing a golf club let alone a cat in Portrush this week.

Ever since the European Tour announced that the Irish Open would be heading to Northern Ireland for the first time in almost half a century back in January, anticipation levels have been building at a furious rate.

The fervour has transferred itself into ticket sales with the closing two rounds, on the Saturday and Sunday, being completely sold out, the first time in the history of the tour that has happened for a regular event.

Around 100,000 spectators will shoe-horn themselves into the links arena over the four days of competition and the good folk of this neck of the woods will surely generate an unforgettable atmosphere when they roar local heroes Graeme McDowell, Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy (don't forget new Amateur champion Alan Dunbar) on to the first tee.

Amid the throng, the Royal & Ancient spies will be lurking and watching with interest. The clamour to bring the Open back to Portrush for the first time since 1951 continues to grow and this will be a huge test of that ambition. Spectator movement, accommodation, transport, you name it. It's all under the microscope this week.