Golf is a game where nothing happens very quickly. On the course and in the offices of the administrators things tend to be done in a measured and considered way.
So even when drug testing has been introduced into the professional game the Royal and Ancient has decided not to employ testers at this year's Open at Royal Birkdale.
The PGA Tour in America and the European Tour will introduce their drug programmes at the beginning of July, but despite playing a leading role in encouraging this move the R&A feels it is too soon to be testing for drugs at the Open.
Is this a cop out? Are they ducking the issue? These are legitimate questions and chief executive Peter Dawson (pictured) admitted it is a “slightly unsatisfactory” scenario.
The argument against following the initiative that will be in place on the two biggest tours is that Open competitors from the other tours around the world will be at a disadvantage.
Those players will not have been receiving the advice that is currently being handed out to PGA and European Tour members to ensure they don’t fall foul of the new regime.
“We thought it more prudent to set up our drug testing programme at the Open next year,” Dawson said. “By then it will just be a routine part of the 52-week-a-year job that is anti-doping.”
So it is the measured approach rather than to go for the headline-grabbing glory of being the first major to employ drug testing.
And it is clear the R&A will be following a similar path as it sets about dealing with the biggest evil in the game at the moment, slow play.
But it is clear that, like the rest of us, the St Andrews-based governing body has had enough.
The five-hour ten-minute final round from the last pair at the Masters has prompted the R&A to put the subject of slow play on the agenda when all of golf’s big wigs gather for a pow-wow in Florida next month.
“Some of the times taken at recent high-profile events have, frankly, been unacceptable. It does filter down through the game to grass roots and it has an effect on participation.
“We have put it on the agenda and very much hope that other golfing organisations share our concern and will be willing to join with us in trying to come up with some initiatives to improve the situation,” Dawson said.
“No one wants to see two-ball golf taking more than five hours as it has done recently. It shouldn’t take more than four hours and it deserves our attention.”
So the first steps will be taken next month. It will take time because the authorities have to set about creating a cultural shift within the game.
Players are being brought up to take their time, to have elaborate pre-shot routines and to not hit the ball until they are ready.
But golf is grinding to a halt. It makes for dismal viewing and takes up too much of our time when we go to play.
It is a huge issue that the authorities have to get right. Let’s hope they don’t take too long about it.
Finally, I was fortunate enough to play Birkdale this week and despite alterations to 16 of its holes in preparation for the Open it remains a majestic test and probably the finest course in England.
The new undulating 17th green will attract criticism. It is out of character with the rest of the course and will require careful management in Championship week to ensure pin positions remain fair.
The rest of the changes are excellent. There is a net increase of six bunkers and, at 7,173 yards, it will play 155 yards longer than it did when the Open was last held there in 1998.
Avoiding strategically-placed bunkers from the tees will be of paramount importance and expect Tiger Woods to follow a similar policy to the one he employed at Hoylake where his driver stayed out of action.
In the 2008 major season this is the one to look forward to. The Masters was too slow and lacked its usual magic. The US Open is following a West Coast time schedule and rounds won’t finish until 0300 British time.
But Birkdale looks set to prove a thrilling venue. The Open promises to be the jewel in the major crown this year.
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