We can all agree that wishing someone ill is not exactly nice. Certainly, it’s not comforting. Even less so when it involves an athlete in their professional performance. However, there are times when, even if it’s just quietly, it’s impossible to stay silent. It’s not so much that anyone wishes him ill, but rather that few would regret if one of the golfers present at this Final Stage at Infinitum Golf doesn’t finish among the top 20 and ties. You won’t find many crying in the corners…
We are referring to Chase Hanna, a 30-year-old American player who ascended to the DP World Tour via the Challenge route two years ago and last year saved his rights by the skin of his teeth in the Race to Dubai. It has nothing to do with personal matters, but with his pace of play on the course. It’s absolutely unbearable.
In the first two rounds of this Final, Hanna has been grouped with the Spaniard Albert Boneta and the Dane Christoffer Bring. Today we witnessed a good number of holes from this group, and the American’s behaviour is unacceptable. He simply wouldn’t survive on the Tour if one day there were enough resources to have a referee in every match. Impossible.
Specifically, today we counted up to 23 waggles during his pre-shot routine on one of the drives he hit and up to thirteen on the tee of a par 3. Exasperating. He sets up and steps away from the shot several times, checks and rechecks distances with his caddie, and once he’s over the ball, it seems as if he’s frozen. It looks like a recorded image being played on an infinite loop.
It wouldn’t matter if it was just his issue, the problem is it also affects the other two playing partners. It harms them. Hanna is a usual suspect on the DP World Tour. We wouldn’t be wrong to label him as public enemy number one regarding pace of play, although no one on the circuit will publicly acknowledge it to avoid conflicts. The referees know he’s one of the slowest, if not the slowest, and have noted his details.
It’s practically impossible for his match not to be timed several times in a round. He, obviously, is used to it and doesn’t have major problems. When he sees the referee appear, he speeds up and accelerates his routines, and as soon as the buggy with the stopwatch disappears, he returns to his bad habits. It’s very easy for the other two players, if they play at a normal pace, to end up exasperated. No one wants to receive a penalty, especially when you’re aware it’s not your fault, so often, when the referee appears, always, or almost always because of Hanna, they are forced to speed up, even though it’s not their fault, and it ends up affecting their swing.
Today it happened to Bring and Boneta. The Spaniard didn’t want to make excuses, but he does feel he sped up a bit more than usual when the referee arrived with the clock, while the Dane, a rather quick golfer by the way, ended up simply exasperated. It all coincided with the three consecutive bogeys of the Spanish player on holes 1, 2, and 3 of the Hills course.
For all these reasons, there won’t be many worried or sad if Hanna doesn’t end up securing the card at Infinitum. If he does, good for him, but if he doesn’t, it will undoubtedly be good news for many of his peers, for a good handful of referees, and, of course, for the pace of play on the European Tour.
