Slow play, unfortunately, is an inherent part of tournament play when the course is flooded with players. It should not be a problem is you are playing in groups of 3 or 4. As a TD I make a point in my player meeting to mention pace of play and to be respectful of all players in your group and the tournament.
TDs are not going to turn players away nor shoud they, but when you have 5 and 6 players in groups its gonna be slow. I hate slow play and do everything I can to help speed up the play in my tournaments. To deliberately be slow is not acceptible and should be dealt with by the TD. As a TD sometimes you have to work with the hand you are dealt and if that is large groups, you have to make sure you discuss and enforce slow play penalties.
For me one of the most frustrating scenarios is to be waiting on one card to come in after the first round 30 minutes or longer after everybody else is in. This absolutely sucks for the rest of the players who played within the rules of "pace of play".
The bottom line is, there is no place for slow play, especially in a tournament. As said before, it falls to the TD to follow the rules of pace of play and to enforce them. I absolutely hate to enforce stroke penalties, but it my responsibility to look out for ALL the players in my tournaments.
Ty
