Tips to avoid slow play

The Masters always seems to produce a good story or two and this year was no exception. In fact, there were several stories that we’d like to highlight.

Brooks Koepka looked like his old self through much of the tournament. He started the final round with a two-shot lead on Jon Rahm, but he wasn’t able to hold on to it. Rahm took the lead on Sunday afternoon and was able to win by 4 strokes and claim his first career green jacket. Congrats to Jon!

Phil Mickelson shot a 65 on Sunday and ended up tied for second with Koepka. He also became the oldest player to finish in the top-five of the tournament. Looks like Lefty still has some magic up his sleeve!

Sam Bennett, the 23-year-old amateur, shot back-to-back rounds of 68 the first 2 days and played in the final group during the third round. He ended up finishing T16 at 2-under and gained new fans throughout the world. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of him in the future.

The weather also made news. Heavy wind and rainfall caused multiple suspensions of play and three trees collapsed near the 17^th tee on Friday. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Another storyline came out that we’d like to address today. Patrick Cantlay was criticized for slow pace of play especially on Sunday, when he was in the group ahead of Rahm and Koepka. We decided to give a few pointers on how to avoid slow play.

• Be ready to hit the ball when it's your turn. This means determining your yardage and making your club selection before it’s your turn to play.
• Keep your pre-shot routine short. Avoid taking unnecessary practice swings or lining up your shot for too long.
• Use a buddy system when sharing a cart. Get out and walk to your ball with a few clubs and let your cart mate pick you up. Or drive to your ball after you drop your cart mate off and then pick him or her up after you hit.
• Be efficient on the green. Mark your ball and lift and clean it when you arrive at the putting green so you can replace it when it is your turn to play. You can usually line up your putt while others are putting, without disturbing them. Leave the green promptly after holing out. Wait until the next tee to record your score.
• Be aware of the group behind you. If you're falling behind, let them play through if possible.

We’ve been asked if using a Bloodline putter will slow pace of play. Bloodline can take even less time because putts start on better lines, players are able to quickly and easily self-diagnose whether they are aimed properly, and most players modify their putting pre-shot routine to blend in the element of lining up from behind in a way that has little (if any) impact on how long it takes for a group to putt out.