And still it goes on...
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by user Alex Holowczak
The 2006 Open Championship is taking place at Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, and as I write this play is still going on - 13 and a quarter hours after it started!
Play was supposed to start at 6:30am, but weather concerns (i.e. a passing thunderstorm) put the tee-off back to the still ungodly hour of 7:00am.
The three-balls have each taken 4 and three-quarter hours to get around the course, and the last people off at 4:51pm probably won't finish tonight until 9:30 or even later - 14 and a half hours after play began (it is 8:15 now).
Is this too long?
The BBC has been great all day, coverage started at 9:00am, and only finished a quarter of an hour ago. But surely the day has gone on too long, and with sunset an hour or so away, there is a danger that the First Round will not be finished tonight.
In Britain, we don't use two-tee starts at the Open, because the idea is that the 18 have to be played in that order. Also, at a course like St. Andrews, this woulddn't work.
Perhaps the field should be reduced. I believe there are 156 in The Open, and all it would need to guarantee the players' finishing is a reduction to, e.g. 135. That would reduce seven three-balls, and take 1:15 off the day.
The other alternative is to shorten the time it takes for the players to play a shot. 4 and a half hours for a three-ball is much too long. That is an average of 15 minutes per hole.
What do people think? Should golfers play faster, or should the tourneys be more exclusive?
Date
Thu 07/20/06, 11:18 am EST
