'Don't Blame The Players For Slow Play' - Korda On Evian Championship 'Carnage'

Jessica Korda has given her opinion on the par 3 16th at Evian Resort Golf Club

Jessica Korda takes a shot during the 2023 Chevron Championship at Carlton Woods
Jessica Korda has described the 16th at Evian Resort Golf Club as "stressful"
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The issue of slow play is never far from the conversation, and it’s only a matter of months since there was considerable controversy over the pace of play during the final round of April’s Masters at Augusta National.

Now, a women’s Major is the focus of slow play, but, according to Jessica Korda, it has nothing to do with the players.

The American isn’t participating in the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in France this year as she's out for the rest of the season with a back injury. However, she is keeping a close eye on the action and has given her opinion on some of the holes via Twitter updates during the second round.

One of the holes she commented on was the par 3 16th. She wrote: “Guys.. 16.. it’s a stressful hole - always - and now you get to sit on the tee-box for 10-15th or more and watch the carnage that’s happening in the group in front. No wonder the rounds are 6+ hrs. Don’t blame slow play on the players today.”

The hole in question doesn’t seem too troublesome at first glance. However, it plays harder than it looks thanks partly to a tee slightly more elevated than the green, meaning players need to hit down towards it.

Add some downwind and the hole becomes even more tricky, which is what players were faced with during the second round. To add to their dilemma, the pin for Friday’s play was also placed left over some water, which gave some players a hard time keeping the ball on the green.

The wind and pin locations were a factor throughout the course on Friday. Alison Lee, who heads into the weekend on five-under after an even-par second round said: "To be honest, shooting even par, it felt like really, really good round for me. There were - I would say more than half my round the wind was blowing quite a bit and it was very, very tough. I started on 10.

"Starting on 10 up until probably my 13th, 14th hole, was very, very windy, very stressful. A lot of the holes, especially with these pins that they were in today, it was very, very difficult."

With two days of play still to come, it’s too early to say whether the 16th will play a pivotal role in the outcome of the tournament, but it appears to be shaping up to be as controversial as the 17th at Royal Liverpool during last week’s Open.

That par 3, which has been completely redeveloped, features severe run offs into a brutal waste area and two steep bunkers either side of the small green. The tricky nature of it even led Matt Fitzpatrick’s caddie, Billy Foster, to describe it as “a monstrosity.”

For the second Major in a row, a par 3 is causing plenty of difficulties, only this time, according to Korda, with the effect of slowing the pace of play.

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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.