The LPGA Tour has added a further update to the Pace of Play Policy introduced in February, with a season-long slow play tracker being brought in.
After complaints from the likes of Charley Hull and Nelly Korda, the LPGA brought in new measures in February, which included fines and penalty shots being handed out for players taking longer than allotted times to take individual shots.
Those measures have been well received by Hull and Korda among others, but the LPGA has now taken further action.
The LPGA and Epson Tours are introducing what a press release says is a "season-long tracking element for holes timed as part of a continuous effort to improve pace of play."
Players will be tracked all season and face sanctions if they exceed a certain number of holes with bad times throughout the campaign.
"Players who have 40 or more holes timed during the remaining scheduled events on the LPGA Tour will receive a fine," read the LPGA statement.
"This addition will also go into effect on March 27 at the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass, along with the previously announced changes.
"Players who have 20 or more holes timed for the remainder of the 2025 Epson Tour season will also receive a fine, which will go into effect starting April 25 at the IOA Championship presented by Morongo Casino Resort and Spa."
Times from the T-Mobile Match Play, US Women’s Open, Dow Championship and AIG Women’s Open won't be recorded as part of this new policy.
But the aim is to prompt players to continue to pick up the pace of play throughout full holes and not just on particular shots.
LPGA player president Vicki-Goetze Ackerman says that analysis has shown that the 40 mark for holes with a bad time was the tipping point for slowing down play.
“Looking at the data, we concluded that if a player had 40 or more holes timed over the season, that player contributed to a slower pace of play,” said Ackerman.
“We believe that this addition to the policy, along with penalty strokes being issued for plus times of +6 or greater, will increase the number of players who heed the initial warnings, leading to fewer players out of position and therefore timings."
Slow play is one of the biggest issues in both men's and women's professional golf, but the LPGA is leading the way in terms of tackling the problem.
Hull called for more draconian measures to speed up the pace of play, which includede losing a Tour card for offenders.
"I’m quite ruthless, but I said, listen, if you get three bad timings, every time it’s a two-shot penalty," said Hull. "If you have three of them, you lose your Tour card instantly, go back to Q-School."
Hull wasn't the only player, as World No.1, Korda, claimed “it's (slow play) a pretty big issue," adding "I just think it really drags the game down. I think that it really, really needs to change.”
With these big measures now in place it'll be interesting to see if this does speed up play in the coming tournaments.
