During the 2024 Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Golf Club, Charley Hull took a strong stance against slow play. The focus returned to this issue when Carlota Ciganda, who had faced disqualification from the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship for rejecting a slow-play penalty, continued to play slowly at the Annika event and received a $4,000 fine. Frustrated by the situation, Hull proposed that players who receive three bad timings should face a two-shot penalty, risking their tour card and needing to return to Q-school. At this, Hull also noted, “It was crazy. I’m quite ruthless.”  Seven months later, Hull remains committed to her strict stance on the matter.

Recently, Charley Hull sat down for an interview on the No Laying Up Podcast. Starting with how she wants to “do a bit of boxing” because she “likes anything that pushes your body and turns your mind off stuff and being fit,” Hull jumped to the much-needed discussion on slow play.

“Not really. I didn’t really look at what people were saying; I just said what I thought, and that’s what I thought, and I said it. Do you know what I mean? Um, and it’s true, though, isn’t it? It’s not false. So, if people weren’t talking about it, it’s obviously got some truth behind it, and they do need a bit of a kick up the butt to speed up golf because it can be too slow. Like the other day, I and my friend played for two hours to play 18 holes. I was thinking sometimes it takes us three hours to play nine holes. It’s unbelievable,” she said, sharing her own experience at times.

While her stance might have upset some slow players, Hull’s comments drew support from two of the biggest LPGA stars: Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson. Discussing the issue and Hull’s comments, Thompson agreed that although Hull’s suggestion was “a bit of an aggressive comment,” she didn’t disagree with it since “It has to be done.” Similarly, Korda called Hull’s suggestion “funny, yes,” but agreed that slow play is “a pretty big issue.”

Considering the controversies surrounding the issue, the LPGA circuit announced a fresh slow-pace policy in February. According to the policy, players who exceed the allowed time by 1-5 seconds will receive a fine, while those who take 6-15 seconds longer will incur a 1-stroke penalty, and those exceeding 16 seconds will face a 2-stroke penalty. Additionally, players hitting first on par 4s and 5s will no longer receive an extra 10 seconds, except on reachable par 4s, while those hitting first on par 3s, approach shots, and putts will still receive the extra time.

Charley Hull backed the policy, saying gameplay at the Founders Cup was “lovely” and slightly improved. Fortunately, LPGA is serious about the issue.

The LPGA slow play policy is heavily in place this season

We have already seen the update in the USGA policy; however, one of the recent results of the policy appeared at the Black Desert Championship. When officials observed slow play during the 2025 Black Desert Championship in Utah, they enforced this policy without hesitation.

Officials were serious about maintaining pace, sending a strong message to the entire field, and young Japanese pro Chisato Iwai experienced the consequences of this enforcement. During the second round, she received a two-stroke penalty for slow play on the par-3 8th hole. She finished at -1, but the penalty was particularly significant because the cut line was at -3, causing Iwai to miss the cut. The two-stroke penalty changed her score from 70 to 72 for the round. Before 2025, the pace of play violations rarely resulted in stroke penalties, with only 22 players receiving fines for slow play last year.

More recently, the USGA employed the FSGA policy to crack down on the slow-play issue at the U.S. Women’s Open qualifier. Accordingly, nine players, including LPGA pro Aline Krauter, received one-stroke penalties for slow play while trying to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. The USGA enforced the Florida State Golf Association’s Pace of Play Policy, which requires players to complete each hole within a set time. Krauter maintained she was playing “ready golf,” but her group was penalized for missing a checkpoint, being 20 minutes over the allotted time, and 19 minutes behind the group ahead.