The issue of slow play is never far from the conversation, and it’s only a matter of months since there was considerable controversy over the pace of play during the final round of April’s Masters at Augusta National.
Now, a women’s Major is the focus of slow play, but, according to Jessica Korda, it has nothing to do with the players.
The American isn’t participating in the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in France this year as she's out for the rest of the season with a back injury. However, she is keeping a close eye on the action and has given her opinion on some of the holes via Twitter updates during the second round.
One of the holes she commented on was the par 3 16th. She wrote: “Guys.. 16.. it’s a stressful hole - always - and now you get to sit on the tee-box for 10-15th or more and watch the carnage that’s happening in the group in front. No wonder the rounds are 6+ hrs. Don’t blame slow play on the players today.”
Guys.. 16 😅 .. it’s a stressful hole - always- and now you get to sit on the tee-box for 10-15th or more and watch the carnage that’s happening in the group in front. No wonder the rounds are 6+ hrs. Don’t blame slow play on the players today @LPGAJuly 28, 2023
The hole in question doesn’t seem too troublesome at first glance. However, it plays harder than it looks thanks partly to a tee slightly more elevated than the green, meaning players need to hit down towards it.
Add some downwind and the hole becomes even more tricky, which is what players were faced with during the second round. To add to their dilemma, the pin for Friday’s play was also placed left over some water, which gave some players a hard time keeping the ball on the green.
The wind and pin locations were a factor throughout the course on Friday. Alison Lee, who heads into the weekend on five-under after an even-par second round said: "To be honest, shooting even par, it felt like really, really good round for me. There were - I would say more than half my round the wind was blowing quite a bit and it was very, very tough. I started on 10.
"Starting on 10 up until probably my 13th, 14th hole, was very, very windy, very stressful. A lot of the holes, especially with these pins that they were in today, it was very, very difficult."
With two days of play still to come, it’s too early to say whether the 16th will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the tournament, but it appears to be shaping up to be as controversial as the 17th at Royal Liverpool during last week’s Open.
That par 3, which has been completely redeveloped, features severe run offs into a brutal waste area and two steep bunkers either side of the small green. The tricky nature of it even led Matt Fitzpatrick’s caddie, Billy Foster, to describe it as “a monstrosity.”
For the second Major in a row, a par 3 is causing plenty of difficulties, only this time, according to Korda, with the effect of slowing the pace of play.
