European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 9, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday augusts 1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 is Lisa Revard Coc a watch no is Par for this course by Ben Abrams staff writer Bill Schaffer Darryl Donovan Rick Glenn Gregg Boardman and All the rest of the Usa eur golfers would have been kicked off most Golf courses in Scotland. They took too Long to play especially the final round in the recent Usa eur Golf tournament. The Schaffer Donovan Glenn Boardman quartet required five hours and 12 minutes to wend its Way around the Heidelberg venue before Schaffer finally won the open division title by a stroke Over Donovan. The masters and women division contestants needed almost six hours to Complete their play. They teed off on no. 10 an hour ahead of the open players and then had to wait up to an hour after finishing nine holes of play to get off the first tee because the Good golfers still were teeing off. The first tee was so backed up that we had to wait for six groups to tee off said seventh army training come masters golfer James Robinett. We had enough time to have the full breakfast Buffet. It was Good but it did t do anything for our game. I was t going to do anything big like win or qualify for All army or anything like that. But when i play Golf i like to play straight through not waste an hour Between  Brown of the 21st support come was going to win and she definitely is going to go to the All army training Camp. But the slow play bothered her. It was so slow out there that it was hard to retain your concentration. At first i thought it might be us but it was t. We always were right up there with the Guys ahead of us she  average american golfer sees Jack Nicklaus Greg Norman Severiano Ballesteros Bernhard Langer and other pros Dilly dallying around the Golf course and believes that is the proper Way to play the game. Rounds taking 4 /2 hours Are considered fast and 5 /2-hour rounds Are commonplace. In Scotland four balls Are expected to play a round of Golf in 3 /2 hours. Four hours is considered  hit your shot and go straight towards the Ball for your next shot. You Don t necessarily have to wait for the other player to play. If you re on one Side of the Fairway and i m on the other we simply swing  old course at St. Andrews the most hallowed links of All where tradition has it this game of chasing Little White Ball All Over the Countryside got its Start always has been very popular. So popular in fact that it is necessary to fill in a ballot the Day before you want to play and tee times Are drawn and posted that eve Ning for the next Day s play. Visiting groups can arrange tee times far in Advance by paying a nominal  steady Stream of golfers goes off the first tee Start ing at 7 . And continues until Early  it is so crowded rangers on bikes constantly patrol the course to see that play keeps moving and there Are no wide open fairways. Once when some fellow stripers and i were playing St. Andrews we were locked in behind four of the slowest americans Ever to take to the links. They were lagging about two whole holes behind the group in front of them. After several holes they finally let us  that time the Ranger who had been told some americans were holding up play Rode up on his Bike and lectured  la have to be getting a move on laddies he said. Be re playing much too slowly and if i have to warn be again i la have to ask be to leave the  fortunately we had caddies and they spoke right up telling the Ranger that we had finally managed to get through the slow group behind us that they were the slow  the fast play style has run into snags in Scot land especially at St.  golfers going to Scotland for the first time go with the sole purpose of playing the old course. They will try others of course but the old course is a must. They make All the proper arrangements through their tourist agents. They show up for their Prear ranged tee times and then they clutter up the course for 4 /2-5 hours or longer or try  to custom the rangers have told them to Speed up or get off the  More than a few occasions it has been the latter. This was pointed out in a recent scottish daily express Story about 82-year-old Miami an Charles Duke. He spent a wad of Money and travelled several thousand Miles to play St. Andrews and other British courses. Duke s party was warned by a Ranger after taking Well Over an hour to play four holes and falling far behind the rest of the Field according to Alexander Beveridge Secretary of the St. Andrews links Man agent Trust committee which runs the course for the town of St.  it did t Speed up it was asked to leave. Duke was  do become emotional about Golf said Beveridge in a press interview concerning slow play during the recent British open. In Scotland 3 /2 hours is a Long time for a four Ball to play. If you left overseas golfers to their own devices they would take five hours. What we have noticed in Many visitors is they reach the first Ball and everyone stops Beveridge said. They discuss the next shot someone hits and they move on to the next Ball talk about that shot and move on to the next Ball and continue to do the same thing. Pretty soon there is a slippage in time. It would be easy to make allowances for people who have travelled thousands of Miles to play St. An Drews but that would be unfair to All the others who Are playing the course he concluded. Duke is one of More than 16,000 american tourists who make the trip to Scotland each year just to play the old course at St. Andrews. More than 2,000 of them were brought to St. Andrews last Yearby inter Golf represented in Scotland by Jim Dunan. Like Duke Dunan was indignant. While i appreciate what the St. Andrews links management Trust is trying to achieve i have doubts if it is either fair to the visiting american golfer or even a practical proposition he was quoted in the express Story. Visiting golfers to the most famous course in the world who Are Here for a once in a lifetime experience wish to savor the round to its fullest and will be anxious to Hole out All putts. I believe we have to be patient with our visitors Dunan added. The Royal and ancient Golf club of St. Andrews also is trying to do something about slow play. Nick Faldo knows  1987 Champion s threesome Drew a warning in the second round of the 1988 British open at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. It had been taking longer than the newly established 13 /2-minute-per-Hole limit set by the a a the official ruling Agency concerning Golf everywhere in the world outside the . Faldo was less than pleased when committee Mem Ber Tony Gray issued the warning. After the 12th Hole Faldo said in his Post round Chat with the press Tony Gray told us we had fallen Back on the group in front. But it was t us it was All the movement around us. We weren t going to hit when people Are moving especially people in the fluorescent Green jackets the press photographers. When we were told we were slow i told Tony Gray that if he d get the photographers to sit still i could hit. And besides i never saw the Guys behind us  the a a had imposed the new restriction on three Ball play beginning with the 1988 open. It also had instituted a 12-minute limit for two Ball Competition. We be had quite a few complaints the last few years concerning slow play in the open a a Secretary Michael Benallack said during his annual pre tournament address to the  a result we have established time limits that we think Are fair under Normal playing conditions and we will impose any necessary penalties. Of course if weather conditions become too bad we will make any proper  adjustments came on the tourney s third Day when atrocious weather forced cancellation of that Day s play. The time restrictions were waived the last two Days because the course was still  Safe Golf tournament is scheduled aug. 25 28 in Berlin. Perhaps the air Force competitors can get around the course in Jet time and preserve their Scot Tish playing privileges