The topic of slow play was raised even before a shot was made at the 2025 Masters, and this time it was the young players who played in Sunday’s Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals who came under scrutiny.
If there’s a hot topic discussed in the game, you can be sure the Augusta National President will be asked about it during Masters week – and there’s no bigger debate in golf right now than that of slow reading problem.
THE Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals takes place in Georgia between the Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) and the Masters, and is one of the feel-good stories of the week.
This year was no exception, as the competition saw some of the best junior golfers compete at the famous venue and demonstrate their driving, chipping and putting abilities.
Golfers who reached the national finals earned their spot after hundreds of events across the United States, with boys and girls divisions in age groups 7-9, 10-11, 12-13 and 14-15.
With the current Masters champion Scottie Scheffler While watching, the players put on quite a show.
“I can definitely relate to the parents a lot more this time around,” Scheffler said.
“I don’t think you can really understand the feeling until you become a parent for the first time, but it’s a lot of fun to be able to come here and support the kids.”
Drive, Chip And Putt players had an unforgettable day ahead of the 2025 Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
However, this did not escape the attention of some people who observed that some players were taking a long time to throw shots, something Ridley was asked about on Wednesday, particularly an anonymous player who was using AimPoint.
“Well, I think this example really illustrates the problem and unfortunately these young people are looking to their heroes who play the game every week for a living for how they are going to approach the game competitively,” he said.
Ridley added that he noticed that the player in question was using AimPoint – a putting procedure that can be quite timely – and says it’s something that will likely be addressed in the future.
“It’s interesting, but every phase of the competition has the same chip length and the same putt length, so there’s really no need to pace that.
“They know how many meters that is. But that’s what they were doing nonetheless.
“I think it’s safe to assume that next year at Drive, Chip & Putt you’ll see some sort of time limit placed on the competition.”
Guan Tianlang was the last player to receive a penalty for slow play at the Masters
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Youth players are not exempt from being arrested at Augusta. At the 2013 Masters, 14-year-old amateur Guan Tianlang was given a controversial one-stroke penalty for slow play.
Additionally, last year, Anna Davis was penalized one stroke for slow play during the second round of ANWA, which saw the former champion miss the cut.
Speaking about the problem of slow play in the game, Ridley added: “I think it’s a good thing that knowledgeable people such as Dottie Pepper commented on this topic recently.
“She made the point, which I alluded to in my comments, about respecting others, including most notably the people watching the match, the supporters.
“So I think this could be a call to action that maybe we haven’t seen in the past.
“I’ve talked about this several times. We will address this issue this week.
“I’m not going to tell you I’ll be happy with the results, but I think I’m encouraged that the PGA Tour is doing some things, experimenting with some timing procedures that might be a little more aggressive than what we’ve seen in the past.”
