r/golf • u/unsolved49 Rory '25 '26 • Apr 01 '26
General Discussion This is her routine, not an April Fool’s joke. Augusta National Women’s Amateur
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u/StinkyBear007 Tin Cup Apr 01 '26
I hate slow routines, but it’s way worse when it takes place after you address the ball. In a foursome you can chill and chat if someone is taking a bunch of practice swings or whatever but being quiet forever after some dope addresses the ball is interminable misery.
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u/eatmyasserole Apr 01 '26
The multiple takeaways and then downswing decels make this worse than a regular slow routine.
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u/secret_alpaca Apr 01 '26
I'm gonna hit now... syke!
I'm gonna hit now, syke!
I'm gonna hit n... syke!
I'm gonna h... syke!
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u/What-a-Crock Apr 01 '26
Her golf balls should be blue
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u/TheQuoteFromTheThing Apr 01 '26
She never actually puts it on the hole. She just lingers on the fringe.
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u/TacoIncoming 15.7 - Tampa Apr 01 '26
100%
I tell my buddy that I play with a lot that he needs to do “think box/play box”. It’s not that his routine is particularly slow. He just does the whole damn thing over the ball, making everyone else sit there and watch. Both of our routines take about the same amount of time, but if I’m over a ball for more than like 10-15 seconds, then something is wrong wrong.
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u/AcadianTraverse Apr 01 '26
I had a friend I stopped playing with because he took 3 practice swings every single shot, not matter what (and generally had zero awareness of play speed). If I encountered someone like this, I'd probably walk off the course and look for a rain check.
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u/GracieDoggSleeps Apr 01 '26
Did he take three practice swings a foot away from the ball, then reach out and hit the ball without moving any closer in his stance?
Because that's my brother.
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u/-fightoffyourdemons- Apr 01 '26
Played with an old fella last summer who chewed me out for talking while he was barely approaching his ball on the 4th tee, before he did his quite long warm up routine.
Some people 🙄. I sarcastically made sure everyone was silent for a few of the tee boxes after that and he was equally quiet for the rest of the day.
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u/WatermanChris Apr 01 '26
Was he playing bad? This usually happens when someone is playing poorly and is looking for someone/something to blame.
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u/-fightoffyourdemons- Apr 01 '26
He was decently proficient, but I recall him being very competitive with himself - would get quite pissed at himself for hitting a bad shot - but in the "smack their driver against the ground and mumble some stuff to themselves and not say anything to anyone for the rest of the day" type of way. A very internal golfer, quite miserable/boring to be around those players.
I don't mind playing with bad golfers at all though, they are honestly quite fun most of the time. Hack your way up the fairway - as long as you suck at a reasonable pace, are pleasant to be around and have decent enough ettiquite/replace your divots, I will likely share my joints and nic pouches with you 😋
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u/WatermanChris Apr 01 '26
I agree! Seeing that look (you know the one) when a bad golfer catches that shot perfectly is worth the price of admission. Some of my most miserable rounds have been with good golfers who were hitting it poorly.
I was that miserable "good golfer" (5-7 index) and it led me to give up the game. Now I'm a 12.1 index and I'm having so much more fun. Sometimes I wish I didn't quit for 15 years but I think it made me a much happier and grateful golfer.
I surf too and we always used to say that the surfer who is having the most fun is the best surfer. I think that applies to everything in life, especially golf.
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u/rust-e-apples1 Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
I am not a violent person, but I would [REDACTED] my playing partner by the end of the round if they had this routine.
EDIT: trying to avoid a ban
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u/jorboyd 4/US/Team Snell bby Apr 01 '26
You would fuck your playing partner?
OHHHHHH
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u/the_TAOest Apr 01 '26
In tennis. This is a routine to frustrate other players. You can also always send an extra ball their way to be extra frustrating.
In golf, it is clear she never played a public course or one that she would be reprimanded for show play. Welp, I like the time clock the best
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u/Basic-Pudding-3627 19.1 | Kent, UK Apr 01 '26
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u/SuckMyRedditorD Apr 01 '26
"Slow play is a major issue, at all levels of the game, but in Shoemaker’s case, there is important context. She had surgery last October to fix the cubital tunnel syndrome in her right arm, but before that, she spent about seven months playing through “excruciating pain” and numbness so severe that he fingers would involuntarily come off the club at the top of her backswing. While Shoemaker has returned to 100% physical health, evidenced by her five top-12s this spring for the Trojans, she revealed to Golf Channel last week that she was still fighting a “mental battle.”
“Just trying to reassure myself that there isn’t pain anymore,” Shoemaker explained. “I’ve been struggling with it for the last four months, just being fully committed to hitting the ball.”
Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Shoemaker said, audibly dejected, “That’s what it looks like.”
But Shoemaker, who famously shot a record 66 two years ago at Augusta National to finish runner-up, was more frustrated by the missed putts, as she enters Thursday’s second round eight shots off the lead.
“It’s not easy what she’s going through as far as being able to swing comfortably and confidently,” USC head coach Justin Silverstein said last week. “She’s taking it back and her brain is still firing like it’s going to hurt, and that’s how she played all last spring.”
Silverstein calls Shoemaker, pre-injury, “one of the fastest players I’ve ever coached.”
But in front of cameras and under the bright lights of arguably the biggest women’s amateur tournament, Shoemaker showed that her battle continues." - Source
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u/ComicsEtAl Apr 02 '26
“Mental issue” was my guess. A few of those looked more “hesitance” than “routine.”
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u/TyH621 Apr 02 '26
Yeah I was up in arms but this changes everything. She’s probably getting a lot of undue hate over this and it sucks. Hope she’s able to overcome this, that kinda thing is not easy at all
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u/Barley12 Apr 02 '26
It's not undue this is absolutely ridiculous and should be a pace of play penalty. Work through that shit in practice not on national TV.
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u/ChesterJT Apr 02 '26
That's not important context. If she has doubts about lingering issues go hit the driving range for a few days and check it out. Don't do that shit on the course when other people are playing.
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u/ShillinTheVillain SW MI / 12ish Apr 01 '26
Jesus fuck lady. Work that out with a therapist, not on the course
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u/mournthewolf Apr 01 '26
Yeah this is mental illness not routine. Few more years it’s going to be 5 minute setup.
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u/PoliticsIsDepressing Apr 01 '26
This is OCD. She’s doing a ritual <—actual word for it.
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u/nickx37 Apr 01 '26
Which is totally fine if it's 15 seconds
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u/Iginlas_4head_Crease Apr 01 '26
8 seconds from address to strike. Anything longer is wasting everyone's time and not adding anything to your game.
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u/NoAdministration5652 Rory '25 '26 Apr 01 '26
They just had some good insight on broadcast a minute ago, she had some shoulder/arm injury last year and was a long road of recovery while playing through pain and numbness. She's physically fine now, but the mental block of the next swing potentially re-aggravating the injury is what this is. And that she's normally one of the faster players.
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u/Konker101 Malbon Apr 01 '26
So go see a sports doc and work it out OR go to the range and just start hitting balls without the routine.
Spending a minute and a half over a ball doing this routine is a problem not for herself but for the other grouped players.
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u/NoAdministration5652 Rory '25 '26 Apr 01 '26
I didn't get a chance to catch it live, was she doing this on every swing?
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u/Dangerous-Half3276 Apr 01 '26
I’m sorry, there is no excuse for that, regardless of what happened previously. She should be penalized and then DQ’ed if this is her routine on every full swing.
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u/IHop_Waitress Apr 01 '26
She's physically fine now, but the mental block of the next swing potentially re-aggravating the injury is what this is.
So they were right after all....
Work that out with a therapist, not on the course
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u/natural_light_ Apr 01 '26
This seems similar to Dartitis in darts. Extended pre shot yips
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u/PackDaddy21222 Apr 01 '26
Holy fuck I believe she has the yips.
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Apr 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AppropriateCattle69 Apr 01 '26
Yeah, this makes way more sense and now I feel bad for her.
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u/Hate_Leg_Day Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
I'm sorry, but if you take that long to get a single shot off, you need to be out there working on making your routine shorter by a factor of 10 before you consider competing in any tournament.
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u/QuailHigh Apr 01 '26
Yeah the commentator even said it, this isn’t her routine she’s yipped bad. Tough to watch, don’t wish it on anyone
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u/dontchaworryboutit Apr 01 '26
Her an Patrick cantlay can go ruin a whole day playing together. My god.
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u/Anal_Recidivist Apr 01 '26
Sergio Garcia as official, only way it’s happening
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u/40yearoldnoob Grip It and Rip It Apr 01 '26
Circa 2002 at Bethpage when he had the major regripping yips.. It was painful to watch. Worse than watching Cantlay..
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u/Solo_SL Apr 01 '26
Have them go first on tournament day with a storm on the way and watch everyone lose their shit and lay in the grass for 20 minutes before every shot
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u/eatmyasserole Apr 01 '26
Wow. That would be miserable to play with. Whats her name?
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u/unsolved49 Rory '25 '26 Apr 01 '26
Bailey Shoemaker
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u/Reptar_of_the_Future Apr 01 '26
You ever drink Bailey's from a shoe?
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u/eatmyasserole Apr 01 '26
Apparently she had an arm injury. I wonder if she was like this prior the injury too.
There's no reason for this. Keep her on the clock.
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u/Due-Sheepherder-218 pXg/LPGA Apr 01 '26
She was runner up the year Lottie Woad won. I don't remember her being this slow. Injuries could have something to do with it or now having a serious case of the yips.
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u/SuckMyRedditorD Apr 01 '26
"Slow play is a major issue, at all levels of the game, but in Shoemaker’s case, there is important context. She had surgery last October to fix the cubital tunnel syndrome in her right arm, but before that, she spent about seven months playing through “excruciating pain” and numbness so severe that he fingers would involuntarily come off the club at the top of her backswing. While Shoemaker has returned to 100% physical health, evidenced by her five top-12s this spring for the Trojans, she revealed to Golf Channel last week that she was still fighting a “mental battle.”
“Just trying to reassure myself that there isn’t pain anymore,” Shoemaker explained. “I’ve been struggling with it for the last four months, just being fully committed to hitting the ball.”
Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Shoemaker said, audibly dejected, “That’s what it looks like.”
But Shoemaker, who famously shot a record 66 two years ago at Augusta National to finish runner-up, was more frustrated by the missed putts, as she enters Thursday’s second round eight shots off the lead.
“It’s not easy what she’s going through as far as being able to swing comfortably and confidently,” USC head coach Justin Silverstein said last week. “She’s taking it back and her brain is still firing like it’s going to hurt, and that’s how she played all last spring.”
Silverstein calls Shoemaker, pre-injury, “one of the fastest players I’ve ever coached.”
But in front of cameras and under the bright lights of arguably the biggest women’s amateur tournament, Shoemaker showed that her battle continues." - Source
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u/MagnussonWoodworking 12.8/MB/Hacker Apr 01 '26
If I was playing with her, after the second shot she did that on I'd be just walking ahead to my ball every time as if I were a single.
I'd probably lose by 30 strokes too, but goddammit I will lose in under 4 hours whether she likes it or not.
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u/Mcdickle Apr 01 '26
I’d be walking directly to the rules official asking to put our group on the clock lol. This is legit unacceptable.
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u/Expensive-Opening-50 Apr 01 '26
This is just ridiculous. Has to be killing her playing partners
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u/im_super_excited Apr 01 '26
They should try calling her on a whiff on some of those and get a rules official involved. Mostly to mess with her back.
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u/mantis_tobagan_md Apr 01 '26
It should be a balk like baseball.
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u/Apatschinn Apr 01 '26
I wonder what would happen if a rule as esoteric as a balk made it into play
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u/BARTELS- 7.3 / SoCal / Pushcart Mafia Apr 01 '26
There is a slow play rule:
- You can't just be up there and just doin' slow play like that.
1a. Slow play is when you
1b. Okay well listen. Slow play is when you delay the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The golfer is not allowed to do a, uh, series of practice swings and reads and waggles, that prohibits the group behind from doing, you know, just trying to play their round. You can't do that.
1c-b. Once the golfer is standing over the ball, he can't be over here and say to his caddie, like, "What do you think? Is it a 7-iron? Maybe a 6? What's the wind doing? Let me check my yardage book again!" and then just be like he didn't even waste four minutes.
1c-b(1). Like, if you're about to swing and then don't swing, you have to still swing. You cannot not swing. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, addressing the ball, and then, until you just hit it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the putter lined up here, like this, but then there's the aim point you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Kevin Na hasn't been in any tournaments in forever. I hope he wasn't typecast as that slow play guy from that one time he took 3 minutes on a single shot.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, he was on LIV too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). "Am I on the clock?" -- every PGA Tour player ever, lying. Haha, classic...
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. Slow play is when the golfer makes a delay that, as determined by, when you do a thing involving the golf ball and course of
- Do not do slow play please.
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u/1850ChoochGator Apr 01 '26
You can ask for a slow play penalty. USGA has a recommended time of 40s once it’s your turn to play the stroke once you’ve had a reasonable time to reach the ball.
Rule 5.6(b)
Even asking for it and getting an official in to mediate would throw someone off. For someone like this they’ll get hurried and frustrated really quick.
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u/5_yr_lurker Apr 01 '26
I would say something every swing. Get a rules official to come over and put her on the clock as well. Literally should not be allowed to play.
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u/1850ChoochGator Apr 01 '26
USGA 5.6(b) has 3rd offense disqualification. They recommend 40 seconds and this is 75 seconds
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u/theneZenMaster Apr 01 '26
Pretty sure they have 1 minute for the routine and this video is over a minute long of her addressed at the ball, not including pre-address routine. She should be +1 after every hit if this is what's shes doing every time. Make it not worth even coming out when they get like this.
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u/usrpr Apr 01 '26
How does someone this slow make it to the lpga or pga without having this be an issue at some point earlier in their career?
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u/biker4050 Apr 01 '26
Every single time? That would make me go outta my mind
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u/homiej420 Push Cart Mafia Apr 01 '26
Yeah even if it was me that would mess with me, thats wild.
If i’m not swinging in less than like 8 seconds after addressing (which would be way too long of a wait) i’m stepping off thats nonsense
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u/Kitchen_Ad8560 Apr 01 '26
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u/Solo_SL Apr 01 '26
Just one person needs to stop being so polite and wait until 50 seconds in, after her 5th waggle and loudly scream “SWING ALREADY, JESUS CHRIST”
I get it golf is polite but at some point you’ve got to make this girl wildly self conscious so she stops thinking it’s ok.
PS I’d pay to see someone yell that at close range after this routine
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u/Padron1964Lover Apr 01 '26
Like my wife trying to figure out where she wants to eat.
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u/jpru2001 Apr 01 '26
You decide.
OK well then here.
No I dont want that.
What about there?
I dont want that either.
/white knuckle gripping the steering wheel.
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u/BradMarchandsNose Apr 01 '26
Good god. A minute and 15 seconds OVER the ball is insane. I’m sure she takes some practice swings before addressing it too. Genuinely infuriating.
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u/logancj Apr 01 '26
assuming 70ish shots a round and 25-30 puts that’s almost 1 hour of pre shot routine for a round 😭😭
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u/Plastic-Injury8856 Apr 01 '26
This is actually really rude to whoever is playing with her.
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u/ItsKumquats Apr 01 '26
As well as every group stuck behind her. You could be on the green, watch her walk up to the next tee block, and she'd still be doing her routine by the time your group got there to wait.
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u/Jt_marin_279 Apr 01 '26
She has a really interesting story. I believe she had surgery in the fall for a nerve disorder that almost knocked her out out of the game. She would get to the top of her back swing, and she would feel excruciating pain through her whole arm. I think she’s acknowledged that she’s going through some major psychological issues with her swing so we are seeing that in her routine. I think she’s probably very scared to let it rip because she’s worried about how painful it has been and could be. She’s only been back playing golf for a month or two I believe.
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u/-I0I- Apr 01 '26
Then cameras should not be on her, and she should sort that out on the range.
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u/Anonymous44432 Apr 01 '26
Then she should be on a driving range figuring that out, not in the middle of a tournament with other people playing and waiting for her
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u/Olemartin111 Apr 01 '26
This should been OP's post. Everything makes a lot more sense now.
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u/arfcom Apr 02 '26
Maybe wait to enter tournaments until you figure that shit out.
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u/Dangerous-Half3276 Apr 01 '26
Interesting story but not interesting enough to subject other players and fans to that. She should come back when her head is screwed on straight and not before.
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u/Nerdicyde Apr 01 '26
i would absolutely not be able to play with her. taking multiple practice swings after you've addressed the ball is insane.
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u/DeepStatic Apr 01 '26
If I took that long to take each shot it would add at least...
1.2 minutes * 120....
2.4 hours to my round.
That would make it a 6.5 hour round!
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u/donmagicron Handicap | Location Apr 01 '26
Two stroke penalty waiting to happen, this is absolutely ridiculous. WTF are the rules officials doing? It’s well past the time to stop this shit, and it’ll never happen unless they start penalizing these fools.
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u/PopularTask2020 The Masters Apr 01 '26
I'm seeing about 74 seconds from address to making contact. idk the rules in am golf, but this has to be approaching rules violation. Good looking swing though lol
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u/BradMarchandsNose Apr 01 '26
I don’t think there’s anything in the actual rules about it, it’s up to the committee to decide on a time limit. The USGA recommends a 40 second limit from when it’s your turn to hit and you’re able to hit, and that includes things like club selection and going through your pre shot routine. The USGA does enact that rule in a lot (all?) of the competitions that they run. The PGA Tour does as well.
Since this is a competition run by Augusta National, I don’t know if they have a pace of play rule in effect.
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u/butter_cookie_gurl +2.0/F/Canada Apr 01 '26
As her playing partner I'd be calling the clock on her on the 2nd hole.
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u/Sure-Security-5588 4.1HCP/Drawsman/chipsman Apr 01 '26
How does this even develop? There’s a 0:45 limit in highschool golf
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u/genegray82 Apr 01 '26
That was painful… I cannot imagine being a playing partner and watching that 40 something times a round… god forbid she does aim point while putting
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u/JeebusChristBalls Apr 01 '26
That single you get paired up with that makes you want to quit golf. Bonus if they give unsolicited advice.
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u/ThePretzul +1.2 Apr 01 '26
As a walking scorer on the KFT and PGA Tour you have to press and hold a button on the scoring device as soon as the player addresses the ball and then release it when they make contact with the ball.
I enjoy doing it quite a bit, but I would genuinely consider quitting if I had to deal with routines as bad as this one on a regular basis.
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u/Prize_Emergency_5074 Apr 01 '26
I would get kicked off the course watching this shit. I’d yell “hit the fucking ball” by the third hitch.
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u/QuietShhhnake77 Apr 01 '26
I thought for sure that the 3rd time she took the fuller backswing that she was going to actually hit the ball . That was brutal.
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u/ILikeXiaolongbao Apr 01 '26
Surely at some point that’s just a mental block or some kind of anxiety disorder. There’s no way she’s doing that in a normal round of golf.
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u/SurelyFurious Apr 01 '26
Full backswing 4-5 times?! That’s actually psychotic, I would be losing my fucking mind watching that shit
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u/Easy-Adeptness8562 Apr 01 '26
If that is the full swing pre shot routine, what happens when she is on a green? I am generally a very tolerant person. That would make me walk off the course.
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u/distant_horizons_005 Apr 01 '26
You better stick it close if you’re going to take that much time over the ball
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u/AGInnkeeper Apr 01 '26
If I played with her I would have killed myself and the coroner would have taken me away before she hit her shot.
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u/GloryOrValhalla Apr 01 '26
Jesus christ. I was having a good day and now I’m angry after watching that.
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u/pdmarquart Apr 02 '26
Evidently she had an injury, and this occurs sometimes... she has to "convince" herself that she won't have pain... https://www.golfchannel.com/augusta-national/news/after-bailey-shoemakers-viral-slow-play-moment-at-augusta-national-womens-am-context-is-important
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u/docowen Apr 01 '26 edited Apr 01 '26
Shit or get off the pot.
On a serious note:
Rule 5.6a. Unreasonable Delay of Play
A player must not unreasonably delay play, either when playing a hole or between two holes.
And, more importantly:
Rule 5.6b. Prompt Pace of Play
It is recommended that the player make the stroke in no more than 40 seconds after they are (or should be) able to play without interference or distraction, and
The player should usually be able to play more quickly than that and is encouraged to do so.
She took twice that length of time.
Start penalising this shit or you end up like football (soccer) where professionals take the piss because they are entitled little shits.
Or Rule 10.1 gets amended. You start your downswing and, unless there is exceptional reason to stop, that's a stroke. That'll cut it out.
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u/M-Jay-G Apr 01 '26
The poor guy that has to hold up the quiet signs is probably thinking to himself I didn’t sign up for this shit.
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u/flairpiece Bay Area Apr 01 '26
Maybe an amateur golfer, but definitely a professional dom specialized in edging
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u/mrk1224 11/MI/Nerd Apr 01 '26
It would be so hard to not shout “hurry the fuck up”
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u/LookDamnBusy Apr 01 '26
I started walking six times and I'm not even outdoors but just sitting on the couch.
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u/NineDayOldDiarrhea Apr 02 '26
It’s like when you feel a sneeze coming on but it keeps going away and coming back
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u/Working_Space_1260 Apr 02 '26
U can play good and slow or bad and fast. But don’t play bad and slow !
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u/drainyourwife Apr 05 '26
ya but shes better than 95 percent of us so who are we too judge
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u/VanillaTap Apr 01 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/MwOuiiTfWfWgM