Sleepy Hollow’s ‘Leaderboard of Shame’ Has the Golf World Divided

Finish your round in over four hours at Sleepy Hollow Country Club—and everyone will know about it.

The prestigious New York club has gone viral after a photo surfaced online showing its “Pace of Play Offenses” noticeboard, which lists the names and round times of players who failed to meet the club’s four-hour pace standard.

The post ignited a fierce debate across the golf world. Some hailed the move as a much-needed stand against slow play, while others accused the club of taking things too far in a game meant to be relaxing.

Slow play has long been one of golf’s most polarizing issues. Some players see golf as a meditative escape and enjoy taking their time; others believe nothing ruins a round faster than being stuck behind a slow group. To address the problem, many clubs post target round times on scorecards or around the course—but few enforce them as boldly as Sleepy Hollow.

And this isn’t just any course. Sleepy Hollow, a private club overlooking the Hudson River, has hosted elite tournaments including the U.S. Women’s Amateur and events on the Champions Tour. The course, renovated by Gil Hanse and George Bahto, is considered one of the most scenic in the country. Its reputation for excellence clearly extends beyond conditioning—to pace of play.

But not everyone’s applauding.

One golfer who played there described the experience as “awful,” saying their group “was basically running up the hill on 18” despite waiting on shots earlier in the day. Others admitted the halfway house was partly to blame—two drink stops can add 20 minutes to a round.

“I get the punishment—it’s funny, and the club can do what it wants,” one member said. “But we definitely had to hustle to make up time.”

Another golfer wasn’t as amused: “If I stop for a beer or bathroom break and you put my name on the wall for being 12 minutes over four hours? I’m done.”

Some suggested a more nuanced solution, like assigning early tee times to faster groups and later ones to slower players. Others pointed out that total round time isn’t always within a group’s control: “If you’re keeping up with the group in front, you shouldn’t be shamed for your total time.”

Still, plenty of golfers defended the club’s approach. “There isn’t a course in America that wouldn’t benefit from this policy,” one commenter wrote.

Love it or hate it, Sleepy Hollow’s “leaderboard of shame” has golfers everywhere talking—and maybe, just maybe, watching the clock a little more closely.