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Scott Van Pelt Knows How To Fix Golf's Slow Play Issue

Originally posted on The Spun | By Kameron Duncan | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 6:50 PM ET

Golf has always been played at a more deliberate pace than most other sports, and that has presented a challenge when it comes to television viewing. Players need time to set up their shots, choose the right club, account for wind, distance and other obstacles before addressing the ball.

For viewers at home, it can take an eternity to see a player's next shot after they hit from the tee or the middle of the fairway. It's not a problem out on the course personally because everyone's playing, but it can make for lackluster TV.

One longtime golf personality and ESPN host recently introduced an idea to help the pace of play in professional golf.

"Golf would benefit greatly if there were sort of a clock that we knew when it started and when it hits zero, you get a warning and then you get a penalty,” Scott Van Pelt said during an appearance on "The Dan Patrick Show."

“Because the game does take a long time to get moving.”

TGL, the indoor simulator league that features PGA Tour pros, introduced a shot clock in its inaugural season this year. Van Pelt, who called matches for TGL this year, applauded the league for adding the clock but noted that it's easier to implement indoors.

If there was an outdoor shot clock, it would need to be placed where golfers are aware of it at all times before addressing the ball. Players would need to see it whenever they're taking a shot, from any of the course's 18 holes.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 05: A general view of the tenth hole flagstick during a practice round prior to the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park on August 05, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Van Pelt noted that some players on Tour, like Brian Harman, are working to speed things up after being called out for slow play. Still, he says the problem will need to be solved by PGA and rules makers at an organizational level.

Golfers are are rarely penalized for slow pace of play on tour, and the last such infraction was way back in 2021. USGA rules give players 40 seconds to set up and take their shot, but players have grown accustomed to taking their time to circumvent the rules.

As more media members draw attention to the slow pace of play, we'll see if the PGA Tour begins to enforce the rules more closely.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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