STONEHAM’S Richard Bland and the rest of the PGA European Tour golfers will experience a world first next summer.

The European Tour are to set a time limit on every shot at next June’s re-branded Austrian Open in a bid to combat slow play.

The Shot Clock Masters will be the first tournament in professional golf to implement a restriction on every shot, with players facing a one-shot penalty for failing to play in time.

Each group will have 50 seconds for the first player to play any given shot, and 40 seconds for subsequent players.

A one-shot penalty will be issued for each bad time incurred, with each player given two time-outs per round which will double their allotted time.

The concept was trialled by the Tour on a single hole at the GolfSixes earlier this year, and will now be rolled out over an entire 72-hole strokeplay event for the first time at Diamond Country Club.

It is hoped the move will cut round times by around 45 minutes, and European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “It will be a fascinating addition to our schedule next year.

“Not only will it help us combat slow play and reduce round times, it is also further evidence of our desire to embrace innovation.”

Bland needs to finish in the top 101 of the European Tour Race to Dubai in order to retain his tour card.

The 44-year-old is currently 94th with just a handful of tournaments left.

On his most recent outing, the Andalucia Valderrama Masters, he won €16,333 Euros for finishing tied 30th.

That followed a € 23,770 payday for a tied 50th place in the Italian Open.

Bland’s best performance of 2017 was his superb tied second place in the BMW International Open, which earned him a bumper €149,140 cheque.

He also won €76,715 for finishing tied 22nd in the 146th Open, and €69,411 for coming tied 19th at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.