Amateur Champion Hit With Slow Play Penalty On First Ever Pro Start

Jacob Skov Olesen takes a shot at The Open

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 21 November 2024

Slow play is again the talk of golf, and just to illustrate the point, rookie Jacob Skov Olesen was given a one-shot penalty for a timing offence on his very first DP World Tour start as a professional.

Charley Hull reignited that slow play talk when she talked of a rather ruthless way of curing one of the biggest problems in the sport.

After her point was backed up by Nelly Korda, perhaps DP World Tour officials at the Australian PGA Championship were listening as they showed rookie left-hander Olesen no mercy whatsoever.

The Dane was given a one-shot penalty in the first round at Royal Queensland Golf Club in Brisbane for taking too long over a shot on the 10th hole.

The 25-year-old, who claimed his DP World Tour card by coming through Q-School, took 130 seconds to hit his approach to the 10th when the expected time is just 40 seconds.

Olesen made a bogey on the hole as a result of the penalty and finished with a three-over round of 74 on the opening day of his first professional start.

Slow play has been a burning issue in golf all season, with fans, media and especially players all complaining about the length of time being taking to complete rounds.

Handing out fines is not seen as much of a deterrent, but if slow play starts costing shots more often then you'd assume players will start to get the message.

And if the DP World Tour are looking to crack down on it then they've made an early statement with 2024 British Amateur champion Olesen being on the receiving end and getting a baptism of fire in his first steps in pro golf.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.

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