It’s a subject of pressing interest right now for the sport which is already looking ahead eagerly* to its Olympic return in Rio next year after an absence of just over a century. That is, golf.

(*may not include Adam Scott)

The issue of slow play in golf has become an increasing source of aggravation to those who run the game - and even more so to those left grinding their teeth in frustration on the course as players ahead of them run through an ever-more elaborate series of preparatory exercises before actually striking the little dimpled white orb in front of them.

A week after European Tour boss Keith Pelley made it clear that he wanted to combat the laggards, his counterpart at the R&A, Martin Slumbers, has held a conference on the subject at St Andrews.

There will now be a short delay which offers anyone so minded the chance to have a little giggle about a man called Slumbers deliberating on dull, slow, boring play.

To resume. Finally.  

Among the revelations at St Andrews, according to BBC Golf Correspondent Iain Carter, reporting for Radio Fife Live, was the fact that there have been 24 cases where players on the European Tour have been penalised shots for slow play, including Severiano Ballesteros, Jamie Donaldson and Nicolas Colsaerts.

No such penalties have been imposed in the last two years, however, as dissatisfaction within the game has risen over a problem which is perceived to have arisen primarily within the professional ranks, but has become increasingly adopted as par for the course by the average club player.

It is, in short, a very unwelcome imitation game, and there now seems to be broad agreement within golf that imposing scorecard penalties is the only effective deterrent.

This, of course, begs the question of what is an appropriate or admissible time within which to execute a shot – or to complete a round.

The current rule of thumb for golf is that holes will take a group of professional players up to quarter of an hour, so tee times are scheduled accordingly. The round can therefore take four-and-a-half hours, or even longer with additional delays at the tee.

Beyond the debate about presenting golf as a gripping sporting spectacle, however, lie deeper concerns about the motivation of some of these dallying drivers and painstaking putters.

As we have recently witnessed in the Rugby World Cup, slowing the ball up is a hugely important part of the game which exists, often, in a grey area, crossing from the domain of gamesmanship into rule violation according to the viewpoint of the officials operating on the day.

Call it what you will - a skill, a dark art - there are players who have made it a hugely influential part of their game. Did somebody mention Dean Richards?

Slowing play, with its dark reflective aspect of speeding up an opponent’s frustration, is a gamesmanship phenomenon in all sports.

I recall seeing a startling example of biter bit, however, at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, when Rafael Nadal’s well-known habit of bouncing, bouncing, bouncing the ball before serving, then halting to pick at the back of his shorts, then bouncing, bouncing, bouncing the ball before serving, was ruthlessly parodied on court by Robin Soderling.

The Swede had saved a match point before levelling the match to two sets all, and threw in some wickedly effective mimickry partly in order to get his own back, and partly in order to erode the concentration of his 21-year-old opponent. It didn’t work - but it was a good try.

Part of the difficulty golf has as it looks towards an Olympic future - Jordan Speith at any rate seems a little more enthusiastic about the prospect than Mr Scott – is that its culture is counterintuitive to the new guiding principle operating within the Olympic Movement: Faster, Higher, Stronger – but most of all, Faster.

The culture in football, for instance, ensures an immediate spur to action for those who delay over goal kicks or throw-ins.

But it is difficult to imagine golf spectators baying in annoyance as another method-acting, harlequin-jerseyed, golfing replicant runs methodically through his visualisation process before poking the ball in from two feet. Although it has been suggested that golfing galleries could take up the slow handclap in such cases.

In recent years, Olympic sports such as modern pentathlon have convoluted and contracted themselves in order to conform to the new guiding Games principles of grabbing the attention of The Youth (often wondered who this highly influential young man is – must make a point of interviewing him some time).

If golf stays the Olympic course, what might we expect in future years? A variation on lightning chess, perhaps, with five seconds only allowed before shots are played? Or maybe a version of cricket’s own response to restless spectators? Twenty20 Golf - five holes, 20 seconds per shot, Olympic Wreath for the Longest Drive…