If you like to play slow on a golf course, I want to hear from you...

[Big money]

After reading this thread I believe everyone in the golf business deserves to get paid way more.Just dealing with this frustration would make me lose my cool and just walk off the job for good

[Golfspy_CG2]

And if you have ever worked as a Professional Staff at a club, you're not allowed to ever use the word no. They're a nuisance and they get away with it because they know that they can. My child is better behaved.

You are so right, our staff is trained in that very manor.  We're not a private club by any means, just a daily muni, but we are managed by a large management company that puts a big emphasis on Customer Service, and if you've read any of my posts in the past two years about the things we've done to accommodate complaints, it borders on unbelievable.   But nobody is going to say no, and run the risk of having a complaint lodged, they'll just deal with the Super griping at them a bit versus the getting called into the GM's office. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

After reading this thread I believe everyone in the golf business deserves to get paid way more.Just dealing with this frustration would make me lose my cool and just walk off the job for good

HA....I don't think anyone would argue about more money.  But in all honesty it's probably no different or worst than other hospitality or service oriented business.  I was a Hotel General Manager for over 10 years, and I'm surprised I have a tongue left at all, because of the number of times I had to bite it over 10  plus years 

[bens197]

You are so right, our staff is trained in that very manor. We're not a private club by any means, just a daily muni, but we are managed by a large management company that puts a big emphasis on Customer Service, and if you've read any of my posts in the past two years about the things we've done to accommodate complaints, it borders on unbelievable. But nobody is going to say no, and run the risk of having a complaint lodged, they'll just deal with the Super griping at them a bit versus the getting called into the GM's office.

Spot on, it's enabling spoiled children. I did 3 years time in the shop as an apprentice and as a topped out first assistant, my take home pay was $525/week before taxes on a 6 day, 65hr work week.

 

I made so little and worked so much that I really didn't have much debt; couldn't have any time away to spend it.

 

There was a list in my head of over a dozen members who were notorious problem children, each of whom deserved a time out for the way they treated staff and behaved.

 

I have the utmost respect for Golf staff and the nonsense they deal with, underpaid and incredibly patient people. The one positive was that it truly made me understand how to deal with people and realize that through 200 interactions with members during an average day, I would need to make 200 positive impressions. I could have been a snot to just one person and the 199 other great ones wouldn't have mattered.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[russtopherb]

I would like my rounds to be in the 4 hour range but anything under 4.5 is fine. 4.5+ is when I'm in the this is a slow round. We have some courses around here that are good at enforcing pace of play and all rounds are under 4.5. They are definitely the courses I prefer to play

I'm right here as well. I usually figure around 4.5 hours for a round of 18, if it's less then I'm happy. Any more than that is a bit much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Colcur]

My regular foursome plays ready golf. We usually finish in around 3 hours.  When I play by myself it take about 90 minutes.  On days we get behind other players it can take 4-5 hours.  I really do not mind that much.  The company is good and plenty of stories and laughter to go around.  There are some regular foursomes on the course that I play that you would think had a million dollars on the line the way they approach each shot and putt.  They definitely do not play ready golf.  lol.  

[bardle]

I play most of my rounds as a single and typically walk 18 holes (6000 - 6500 yards w/ elevation changes) between 2 and 2-1/2 hours. I don't take practice swings, but I do walk at a somewhat leisurely pace and always go through a pre-shot routine. In a cart with no one in front of me I've played multiple rounds in 2 hours or less. Too many times I see people not playing ready golf and/or taking multiple practice swings just to step up and duff it. Fix those two things and I don't think pace of play will ever be much of an issue.

You must play during weekdays or at a private? To play that fast where I am you have to be first off.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[revkev]

This thread pops now and then, surprised the proponents of slow play have not chimed in. I have been subjected to multiple 5 hour rounds since moving out here. It's unbearable. I blame the course staff for jamming as many people as they can. 3.5 hours is the optimal round for me. 4 hr 15 minuets is at my max patience level. Hit, repeat, finish.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Me as well - I'm surprised that our slow play champions have piped in - after all the OP invites them to say why.

 

Regardless I'm right with djahubes down to the second 31/2 is a nice pace for me @ 415 I start getting antsy.

 

Also someone made the remark that at 2 /12 hours putts must not have been lined up. Fuzzy Zoeller and Greg Norman completed an 18 hole US Open playoff in just over 2 1/2 hours. It was at the toughest of all US Open venues - Winged Foot. They discussed yardage's, club selection, wind direction with their caddies and lined up putts. But once they pulled a club they hit the ball.

 

Things have changed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[GolfSpy_APH]

I work at a weekend warrior course which is much better then it's old reputation from its early days.

We have the same 6 or so groups out every morning and they all finished anywhere between 3-3:45. However we have a lot of green fees and without any course knowledge they quite often can 4 hours. We try our best to keep things running smoothly even suggesting groups to play best ball(scramble) if they are slow or inexperienced, however when it gets busy I have seen 5 hour rounds which is super slow and not enjoyable. At the same time I've played rounds where it's been 5+ hours and nobody enjoys it, but unfortunately it seems like that is something that is very unlikely to ever change anytime soon

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[azstu324]

This post has 2 parts. Part 1 will give my take on pace of play. Part 2 is a scenario that recently occurred that I'd like some feedback on if anybody cares to chime in J.

 

Part 1: Myself and my usual playing partners are pretty good about pace when playing conditions allow. We're not sticklers and we're pretty understanding of our surroundings and variables that can occur. Depends on the grouping but if it's a 4-some and we're playing a course of 6k - 6500 yds, we'll do a round in just a smack under 4 hrs. Ready golf and 2 minutes for lost balls. Whether we're playing in traffic or not, It's just our own courtesy to each other that happens to work well for others just the same. Now we all know that the stars don't always align when it comes to keeping a standard pace. I look at the course like driving in traffic. Sometimes it's an open road, sometimes there's traffic but everything's flowing (maybe some breaks here and there).. and sometimes it's bumper to bumper. When it's bumper to bumper conditions, pressing the folks in front doesn't make any sense and won't do anything but cause unnecessary frustration.. so it's best to just relax and make the best of things. Beeping at the person in front of you won't make the rest of the cars go any faster.

 

Part 2: Now here's a scenario that I'd like some feedback on: Given my previous comment please feel free to add your $.02. Recently, I played a course with a buddy and we were paired up with a father and son. Really nice guys. I play this course quite often so I know the terrain and am able to give management pointers when I can. The course plays around 6400 yds from the tees we chose. Everything's going great and we get to about the 6^th hole and notice a group of 4 behind us really coming up fast. As we carried on, a few times we heard balls hit the ground not too far behind us.. Almost like a cautionary “speed up” warning. Now we knew there was another group about a full hole in front of us that were keeping roughly the same pace. I knew we were keeping decent time and thought there was no reason to alter our pace just to accommodate the pushy group, and letting them play through wouldn't have made sense either. We get through 9 and we're sitting at about 1 hour and 55 minutes so we're right on pace. We tee off on 10 and the group behind us disappeared into the clubhouse so we though that all was well.. until we tee off on 11 and the same group drove right up to the tee box.. it's almost like they skipped the entire 10^th hole!  If there was a new game called “too fast to actually enjoy the game” or “let's see how close we can get to the group in front of us” golf, these guys were playing that. They were literally pressing us every second of the back 9. We even ended up slightly catching up to the group in front of us and could see that the course was pretty evenly stacked from hole to hole (evenly flowing traffic). The group behind was waiting for us to putt at each green and on a couple of holes cheered when the last guy holed his putt (I'm slightly boiling over and am raising my hands to say “chill out”) This is definitely not my character and I have much more respect for people and the game but they were pushing every button that I had. The person cheering the loudest was actually a lady too! Well low and behold, the marshal shows up around the 13^th. He was cool. Waited for us to tee off and said that somebody called in about slow play. I asked if it was the group behind us and he told me that he couldn't disclose who it was but that we were the group that was complained about (he told us without telling us). I asked him what a standard round for a 4-some runs on a day like that (I knew the answer).. 4 hours 20 minutes. I then asked if he'd clocked our round from our start time.. He smiled and nodded and probably knew where I was going with my questions. He could tell by watching our mannerisms, our skillset, and just simply by the clock that we were doing nothing wrong. So I kindly asked him to please tell the group behind us to back off and let us finish the round and if they decide they want to keep pushing us like they have been, they'll have 4 - 6' something gentlemen waiting to have words with them at the club house. The Marshall said he'd chat with them. He drove on and shortly after that, the group disappeared. Not sure if they were asked to leave or if he held them back a hole or 2 as to not have us cross paths at the club house. I guess my question is..  Being cognoscente of game etiquette and pace standards should I have called them in? Should I have gone back personally and asked them to chill out? Were my overall actions justified? I'm a very easy going person but in no way am I a pushover. Everybody deserves a general level of respect, admiration, and patience but when that is returned with a lack of respect and discourtesy, I have a tendency to lose my cool (my wife will attest to that). On the upside, the starter was waiting at the clubhouse with some news that we'd all get a free round our next time out (super cool!). Anybody else ever had something similar happen?

[Rickp]

Where do I start. As for GS Rob problem the courses here have a strict stat time policy. The 1st tee Time is ON EXACT TIME unless the grounds crew says it's OK to let the “thundering herd” off a few minutes early. Groundskeeper is the Boss, Starter next in line. Nobody messes with them. I've seen newbies try to get out early but they are politely shut down.

 

Next we play approx 3.5 hours, sometimes a few minutes longer. Keep in mind my group age average is around 70+. Sometimes higher.

Course time expected is 4:15 but 4 hours is the target. Again, this is a Senior Community so you younger guys may have trouble keeping up with the 80 year olds

I'm just messin with you

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[palvord]

My little brother is a deliberate player and he drives me nuts because I feel that he doesn't need 30 practice swings. However, he and I can still finish a round in 4hrs or less.

 

One thing that I see on courses really impact pace of play is the hunt for lost golf balls. Lots of times it's because the first person ready to play just winds up and hits with no one watching.

 

It's easy to play a quick round when shots are always in play.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[gaussman1]

This post has 2 parts. Part 1 will give my take on pace of play. Part 2 is a scenario that recently occurred that I'd like some feedback on if anybody cares to chime in J.

 

Part 1: Myself and my usual playing partners are pretty good about pace when playing conditions allow. We're not sticklers and we're pretty understanding of our surroundings and variable that can occur. Depends on the grouping but if it's a 4-some and we're playing a course of 6k - 6500 yds, we'll do a round in just a smack under 4 hrs. Ready golf and 2 minutes for lost balls. Whether we're playing in traffic or not, It's just our own courtesy to each other that happens to work well for others just the same. Now we all know that the stars don't always align when it comes to keeping a standard pace. I look at the course like driving in traffic. Sometimes it's an open road, sometimes there's traffic but everything's flowing (maybe some breaks here and there).. and sometimes it's bumper to bumper. When it's bumper to bumper conditions, pressing the folks in front doesn't make any sense and won't do anything but cause unnecessary frustration.. so it's best to just relax and make the best of things. Beeping at the person in front of you won't make the rest of the cars go any faster.

 

Part 2: Now here's a scenario that I'd like some feedback on: Given my previous comment please feel free to add your $.02. Recently, I played a course with a buddy and we were paired up with a father and son. Really nice guys. I play this course quite often so I know the terrain and am able to give management pointers when I can. The course plays around 6400 yds from the tees we chose. The father/son couple were not horrible and could hold their own. We get to about the 6^th hole and notice a group of 4 behind us really pushing us. As we carried on, a few times we heard balls hit the ground not too far behind us.. Almost like a cautionary “speed up” warning. Now we knew there was another group about a full hole in front of us that were keeping roughly the same pace. I knew we were keeping decent time and thought there was no reason to alter our pace just to accommodate the pushy group, and letting them play through wouldn't have made sense either. We get through 9 and we're sitting at about 1 hour and 55 minutes so we're right on pace. We tee off on 10 and the group behind us disappeared into the clubhouse so we though that all was well.. until we tee off on 11 and the same group drove right up to the tee box.. it's almost like they skipped the entire 10^th hole! If there was a new game called “ignorant speed” or “let's see how close we can get to the group in front of us” golf, these guys were playing that. They were literally pressing us every second of the back 9. We even ended up slightly catching up to the group in front of us and could see that the course was pretty evenly stacked from hole to hole (evenly flowing traffic). The group behind was waiting for us to putt at each green and on a couple of holes cheered when the last guy holed his putt (I'm boil over and am raising my hands to say “chill out”) This is definitely not my character and I have much more respect for people and the game but they were pushing every button that I had. The person cheering the loudest was actually a lady too! Well low and behold, the marshal shows up around the 13^th. He was cool. Waited for us to tee off and said that somebody called in about slow play. I asked if it was the group behind us and he told me that I couldn't disclose who it was but that we were the group that was complained about (he told us without telling us). I asked him what a standard round for a 4-some runs on a day like that (I knew the answer).. 4 hours 20 minutes. I then asked if he'd clocked our round from our start time.. He smiled and nodded and probably knew where I was going with my questions. He could tell by watching our mannerisms, our skillset, and just simply by the clock that we were doing nothing wrong. So I kindly asked him to please tell the group behind us to back off and let us finish the round and if they decide they want to keep pushing us like they have been, they'll have 4 - 6' something gentlemen waiting to have words with them at the club house. The Marshall said he'd chat with them. He drove on and shortly after that, the group disappeared. Not sure if they were asked to leave or if he held them back a hole or 2 as to not have us cross paths at the club house. I guess my question is.. Being cognoscente of game etiquette and pace standards should I have called them in? Should I have gone back personally and asked them to chill out? Were my overall actions justified? I'm a very easy going person but in no way am I a pushover. Everybody deserves a general level of respect, admiration, and patience but when that is returned with a lack of respect and discourtesy, I have a tendency to lose my cool (my wife will attest to that). On the upside, the starter was waiting at the clubhouse with some news that we'd all get a free round our next time out (super cool!). Anybody else ever had something similar happen?

This post has 2 parts. Part 1 will give my take on pace of play. Part 2 is a scenario that recently occurred that I'd like some feedback on if anybody cares to chime in J.

 

Part 1: Myself and my usual playing partners are pretty good about pace when playing conditions allow. We're not sticklers and we're pretty understanding of our surroundings and variable that can occur. Depends on the grouping but if it's a 4-some and we're playing a course of 6k - 6500 yds, we'll do a round in just a smack under 4 hrs. Ready golf and 2 minutes for lost balls. Whether we're playing in traffic or not, It's just our own courtesy to each other that happens to work well for others just the same. Now we all know that the stars don't always align when it comes to keeping a standard pace. I look at the course like driving in traffic. Sometimes it's an open road, sometimes there's traffic but everything's flowing (maybe some breaks here and there).. and sometimes it's bumper to bumper. When it's bumper to bumper conditions, pressing the folks in front doesn't make any sense and won't do anything but cause unnecessary frustration.. so it's best to just relax and make the best of things. Beeping at the person in front of you won't make the rest of the cars go any faster.

 

Part 2: Now here's a scenario that I'd like some feedback on: Given my previous comment please feel free to add your $.02. Recently, I played a course with a buddy and we were paired up with a father and son. Really nice guys. I play this course quite often so I know the terrain and am able to give management pointers when I can. The course plays around 6400 yds from the tees we chose. Everything's going great and we get to about the 6^th hole and notice a group of 4 behind us really coming up fast. As we carried on, a few times we heard balls hit the ground not too far behind us.. Almost like a cautionary “speed up” warning. Now we knew there was another group about a full hole in front of us that were keeping roughly the same pace. I knew we were keeping decent time and thought there was no reason to alter our pace just to accommodate the pushy group, and letting them play through wouldn't have made sense either. We get through 9 and we're sitting at about 1 hour and 55 minutes so we're right on pace. We tee off on 10 and the group behind us disappeared into the clubhouse so we though that all was well.. until we tee off on 11 and the same group drove right up to the tee box.. it's almost like they skipped the entire 10^th hole! If there was a new game called “too fast to actually enjoy the game” or “let's see how close we can get to the group in front of us” golf, these guys were playing that. They were literally pressing us every second of the back 9. We even ended up slightly catching up to the group in front of us and could see that the course was pretty evenly stacked from hole to hole (evenly flowing traffic). The group behind was waiting for us to putt at each green and on a couple of holes cheered when the last guy holed his putt (I'm slightly boiling over and am raising my hands to say “chill out”) This is definitely not my character and I have much more respect for people and the game but they were pushing every button that I had. The person cheering the loudest was actually a lady too! Well low and behold, the marshal shows up around the 13^th. He was cool. Waited for us to tee off and said that somebody called in about slow play. I asked if it was the group behind us and he told me that he couldn't disclose who it was but that we were the group that was complained about (he told us without telling us). I asked him what a standard round for a 4-some runs on a day like that (I knew the answer).. 4 hours 20 minutes. I then asked if he'd clocked our round from our start time.. He smiled and nodded and probably knew where I was going with my questions. He could tell by watching our mannerisms, our skillset, and just simply by the clock that we were doing nothing wrong. So I kindly asked him to please tell the group behind us to back off and let us finish the round and if they decide they want to keep pushing us like they have been, they'll have 4 - 6' something gentlemen waiting to have words with them at the club house. The Marshall said he'd chat with them. He drove on and shortly after that, the group disappeared. Not sure if they were asked to leave or if he held them back a hole or 2 as to not have us cross paths at the club house. I guess my question is.. Being cognoscente of game etiquette and pace standards should I have called them in? Should I have gone back personally and asked them to chill out? Were my overall actions justified? I'm a very easy going person but in no way am I a pushover. Everybody deserves a general level of respect, admiration, and patience but when that is returned with a lack of respect and discourtesy, I have a tendency to lose my cool (my wife will attest to that). On the upside, the starter was waiting at the clubhouse with some news that we'd all get a free round our next time out (super cool!). Anybody else ever had something similar happen?

Not sure what else you could do other than stand aside just to avoid dealing w them. But you certainly weren't doing anything wrong.

I had a single hit into our foursome several holes in a row once, even as we waited for the groups in front of us. When we finally waited for him to see what his problem was, he declared that singles have highest priority on the course and everyone should stand aside for a single. Even though there was nowhere to go he insisted he hit through us, hit into the next group, and then hit through them and so on. The shop ultimately had to send someone out to remove him before things got violent

[Reesedw]

I agree 100% with Djahubes and RevKev, 3.5 is about right.. I want to enjoy my time without feeling rushed or Rushing someone else.. Yet I want the pace of play to keep moving.. I have played 3 hr rounds that seemed like they took forever, and I have also played a 5 hr rounds that seemed to fly by..

 

I do not think we all play and are comfortable at the same pace of play, yet we all should feel un-rushed while we play.. Play ready golf, play at a pace your comfortable with, and have fun.. 

 

A few weeks ago we were playing and i felt like we were being held up on every hole. I started to get frustrated and my partner said calm down we are on pace for a 3:30 round, we finished in 3:40. but it seemed to take a long time.. Maybe it was i was playing well and not having to look for balls, and knew what to do since i was playing great golf.. 

 

Lets not forget All of us here are into golf and probably play more then most others. Which means we probably understand our games better also.. We probably play quicker based on our game knowledge that we can quickly make the decision on what to do and play and move on.. 

 

 

Just my .02

[djahubes]

Not sure what else you could do other than stand aside just to avoid dealing w them. But you certainly weren't doing anything wrong.

I had a single hit into our foursome several holes in a row once, even as we waited for the groups in front of us. When we finally waited for him to see what his problem was, he declared that singles have highest priority on the course and everyone should stand aside for a single. Even though there was nowhere to go he insisted he hit through us, hit into the next group, and then hit through them and so on. The shop ultimately had to send someone out to remove him before things got violent

Wow, so many things to say, but I will contain myself. As for the single, SINGLES HAVE NO PRIORITY ON THE COURSE. I have no problem with singles, but they should never press or expect to be let through. If the course is open in front, courtesy should be given, but it should never be expected.

 

Second point, allowing through play jams up the course. On a busy day it should never happen. Singles should be paired up and everyone play to the pace.

 

Third, if you are maintaining pace with the group in front of you then you are doing nothing wrong If you are a hole behind then catch up, but if they tee'd off earlier you should not have to race to catch them.

 

Fourth, you should be banned for life if you intentionally hit into a group no matter how frustrated you are. In all reality, a golf ball traveling at high speed is a dangerous projectile that can seriously harm someone. You showed more respect and restraint than I probably would have at that point. People like that have no place anywhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Golfspy_CG2]

Wow, so many things to say, but I will contain myself. As for the single, SINGLES HAVE NO PRIORITY ON THE COURSE. I have no problem with singles, but they should never press or expect to be let through. If the course is open in front, courtesy should be given, but it should never be expected.

 

Second point, allowing through play jams up the course. On a busy day it should never happen. Singles should be paired up and everyone play to the pace.

 

Third, if you are maintaining pace with the group in front of you then you are doing nothing wrong If you are a hole behind then catch up, but if they tee'd off earlier you should not have to race to catch them.

 

Fourth, you should be banned for life if you intentionally hit into a group no matter how frustrated you are. In all reality, a golf ball traveling at high speed is a dangerous projectile that can seriously harm someone. You showed more respect and restraint than I probably would have at that point. People like that have no place anywhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Can't disagree with one word there.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Shankster]

Slow play is why this sport is dying.

 

I really don't like playing with other people, when I play it's hit, go find, hit again. I can do 18 in 1.5-2 hours. If I had to sit on the dang course for 4+ hours I'd quit. That's too dang long.

 

I hate being jammed up with 40 groups in front of me. That is why I skip the busy days and play when everyone else is still recovering from the night before.

[TR1PTIK]

You must play during weekdays or at a private? To play that fast where I am you have to be first off.

 

Sent from my Pixel 2 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

 

You are correct. I work a graveyard shift which means weekday rounds are somewhat common. I have done it on the weekends as well, but as you suggested I was one of the first to tee off. Still, 3hrs or less is not uncommon even when playing through multiple groups.

[HardcoreLooper]

Second point, allowing through play jams up the course. On a busy day it should never happen. Singles should be paired up and everyone play to the pace.

I play about 50% of my golf as a single. I'm starting to see some things that just freaking astound me:

 

1. Courses are giving times to singles. Not pairing them up with two and threesomes, but giving them whole times. If you get lots of singles, you should be pairing them up. It drives me nuts when I call in to get a time for a two or threesome and ask for the earliest time available, then go out an hour later than we could have because they wouldn't put us with one of the singles.

 

2. People rarely ask me to join up anymore. Sure, I have a face only a mother could love, but I haven't gotten significantly uglier in the last few years. But fewer and fewer people have me join them when I play up behind them.

 

3. People rarely accept my offer to join up. When I'm playing as a single and get stuck behind a group that won't let me through, I'll always ask the group behind me to join up with me if they're less than a foursome and they catch me (which happens fairly frequently). If I can't play as fast as I want as a single, I'd much rather play with other people and play at a more even pace. Plus, I'm a serious introvert, so I like to force myself to meet new people, and golfers tend to be the best people on earth (with some exceptions, as noted earlier in the thread). I hear all sorts of excuses as to why people don't want to join up, but whatever, they just rarely take me up on it.

[djahubes]

I play about 50% of my golf as a single. I'm starting to see some things that just freaking astound me:

 

1. Courses are giving times to singles. Not pairing them up with two and threesomes, but giving them whole times. If you get lots of singles, you should be pairing them up. It drives me nuts when I call in to get a time for a two or threesome and ask for the earliest time available, then go out an hour later than we could have because they wouldn't put us with one of the singles.

 

2. People rarely ask me to join up anymore. Sure, I have a face only a mother could love, but I haven't gotten significantly uglier in the last few years. But fewer and fewer people have me join them when I play up behind them.

 

3. People rarely accept my offer to join up. When I'm playing as a single and get stuck behind a group that won't let me through, I'll always ask the group behind me to join up with me if they're less than a foursome and they catch me (which happens fairly frequently). If I can't play as fast as I want as a single, I'd much rather play with other people and play at a more even pace. Plus, I'm a serious introvert, so I like to force myself to meet new people, and golfers tend to be the best people on earth (with some exceptions, as noted earlier in the thread). I hear all sorts of excuses as to why people don't want to join up, but whatever, they just rarely take me up on it.

That sucks man. Now that I'm new to the area I walked up as a single almost every time I've played. I basically force the pairing issue by saying I'll wait until a group comes along. I've met a bunch of good dudes and found a regular Sunday group. Moving from DC was definitely difficult on the golf front. Been playing with the same group for years. I just don't like playing alone. I get bored and don't take it as seriously.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[Kanoito]

I've gotten used to 3.5 hour rounds in my regular foursome. We tee up at 7am to avoid slow groups (which are usually the ones out there later to enjoy the sun, etc.)

 

Last month, played a couple of competitive rounds where my flight partner (lady in her 60s) told me 5 hour rounds were the norm. **** no... in which planet?

 

It was so painful that I asked the Marshall about handing out penalty strokes, but he said it was complicated. You gotta give warnings and s*** and by the time you are done warning them and putting them on the clock, well it's almost over.

 

But I agree, slow play makes me die a little inside.

[revkev]

This post has 2 parts. Part 1 will give my take on pace of play. Part 2 is a scenario that recently occurred that I'd like some feedback on if anybody cares to chime in J.

 

Part 1: Myself and my usual playing partners are pretty good about pace when playing conditions allow. We're not sticklers and we're pretty understanding of our surroundings and variable that can occur. Depends on the grouping but if it's a 4-some and we're playing a course of 6k - 6500 yds, we'll do a round in just a smack under 4 hrs. Ready golf and 2 minutes for lost balls. Whether we're playing in traffic or not, It's just our own courtesy to each other that happens to work well for others just the same. Now we all know that the stars don't always align when it comes to keeping a standard pace. I look at the course like driving in traffic. Sometimes it's an open road, sometimes there's traffic but everything's flowing (maybe some breaks here and there).. and sometimes it's bumper to bumper. When it's bumper to bumper conditions, pressing the folks in front doesn't make any sense and won't do anything but cause unnecessary frustration.. so it's best to just relax and make the best of things. Beeping at the person in front of you won't make the rest of the cars go any faster.

 

Part 2: Now here's a scenario that I'd like some feedback on: Given my previous comment please feel free to add your $.02. Recently, I played a course with a buddy and we were paired up with a father and son. Really nice guys. I play this course quite often so I know the terrain and am able to give management pointers when I can. The course plays around 6400 yds from the tees we chose. The father/son couple were not horrible and could hold their own. We get to about the 6^th hole and notice a group of 4 behind us really pushing us. As we carried on, a few times we heard balls hit the ground not too far behind us.. Almost like a cautionary “speed up” warning. Now we knew there was another group about a full hole in front of us that were keeping roughly the same pace. I knew we were keeping decent time and thought there was no reason to alter our pace just to accommodate the pushy group, and letting them play through wouldn't have made sense either. We get through 9 and we're sitting at about 1 hour and 55 minutes so we're right on pace. We tee off on 10 and the group behind us disappeared into the clubhouse so we though that all was well.. until we tee off on 11 and the same group drove right up to the tee box.. it's almost like they skipped the entire 10^th hole! If there was a new game called “ignorant speed” or “let's see how close we can get to the group in front of us” golf, these guys were playing that. They were literally pressing us every second of the back 9. We even ended up slightly catching up to the group in front of us and could see that the course was pretty evenly stacked from hole to hole (evenly flowing traffic). The group behind was waiting for us to putt at each green and on a couple of holes cheered when the last guy holed his putt (I'm boil over and am raising my hands to say “chill out”) This is definitely not my character and I have much more respect for people and the game but they were pushing every button that I had. The person cheering the loudest was actually a lady too! Well low and behold, the marshal shows up around the 13^th. He was cool. Waited for us to tee off and said that somebody called in about slow play. I asked if it was the group behind us and he told me that I couldn't disclose who it was but that we were the group that was complained about (he told us without telling us). I asked him what a standard round for a 4-some runs on a day like that (I knew the answer).. 4 hours 20 minutes. I then asked if he'd clocked our round from our start time.. He smiled and nodded and probably knew where I was going with my questions. He could tell by watching our mannerisms, our skillset, and just simply by the clock that we were doing nothing wrong. So I kindly asked him to please tell the group behind us to back off and let us finish the round and if they decide they want to keep pushing us like they have been, they'll have 4 - 6' something gentlemen waiting to have words with them at the club house. The Marshall said he'd chat with them. He drove on and shortly after that, the group disappeared. Not sure if they were asked to leave or if he held them back a hole or 2 as to not have us cross paths at the club house. I guess my question is.. Being cognoscente of game etiquette and pace standards should I have called them in? Should I have gone back personally and asked them to chill out? Were my overall actions justified? I'm a very easy going person but in no way am I a pushover. Everybody deserves a general level of respect, admiration, and patience but when that is returned with a lack of respect and discourtesy, I have a tendency to lose my cool (my wife will attest to that). On the upside, the starter was waiting at the clubhouse with some news that we'd all get a free round our next time out (super cool!). Anybody else ever had something similar happen?

This post has 2 parts. Part 1 will give my take on pace of play. Part 2 is a scenario that recently occurred that I'd like some feedback on if anybody cares to chime in J.

 

Part 1: Myself and my usual playing partners are pretty good about pace when playing conditions allow. We're not sticklers and we're pretty understanding of our surroundings and variable that can occur. Depends on the grouping but if it's a 4-some and we're playing a course of 6k - 6500 yds, we'll do a round in just a smack under 4 hrs. Ready golf and 2 minutes for lost balls. Whether we're playing in traffic or not, It's just our own courtesy to each other that happens to work well for others just the same. Now we all know that the stars don't always align when it comes to keeping a standard pace. I look at the course like driving in traffic. Sometimes it's an open road, sometimes there's traffic but everything's flowing (maybe some breaks here and there).. and sometimes it's bumper to bumper. When it's bumper to bumper conditions, pressing the folks in front doesn't make any sense and won't do anything but cause unnecessary frustration.. so it's best to just relax and make the best of things. Beeping at the person in front of you won't make the rest of the cars go any faster.

 

Part 2: Now here's a scenario that I'd like some feedback on: Given my previous comment please feel free to add your $.02. Recently, I played a course with a buddy and we were paired up with a father and son. Really nice guys. I play this course quite often so I know the terrain and am able to give management pointers when I can. The course plays around 6400 yds from the tees we chose. Everything's going great and we get to about the 6^th hole and notice a group of 4 behind us really coming up fast. As we carried on, a few times we heard balls hit the ground not too far behind us.. Almost like a cautionary “speed up” warning. Now we knew there was another group about a full hole in front of us that were keeping roughly the same pace. I knew we were keeping decent time and thought there was no reason to alter our pace just to accommodate the pushy group, and letting them play through wouldn't have made sense either. We get through 9 and we're sitting at about 1 hour and 55 minutes so we're right on pace. We tee off on 10 and the group behind us disappeared into the clubhouse so we though that all was well.. until we tee off on 11 and the same group drove right up to the tee box.. it's almost like they skipped the entire 10^th hole! If there was a new game called “too fast to actually enjoy the game” or “let's see how close we can get to the group in front of us” golf, these guys were playing that. They were literally pressing us every second of the back 9. We even ended up slightly catching up to the group in front of us and could see that the course was pretty evenly stacked from hole to hole (evenly flowing traffic). The group behind was waiting for us to putt at each green and on a couple of holes cheered when the last guy holed his putt (I'm slightly boiling over and am raising my hands to say “chill out”) This is definitely not my character and I have much more respect for people and the game but they were pushing every button that I had. The person cheering the loudest was actually a lady too! Well low and behold, the marshal shows up around the 13^th. He was cool. Waited for us to tee off and said that somebody called in about slow play. I asked if it was the group behind us and he told me that he couldn't disclose who it was but that we were the group that was complained about (he told us without telling us). I asked him what a standard round for a 4-some runs on a day like that (I knew the answer).. 4 hours 20 minutes. I then asked if he'd clocked our round from our start time.. He smiled and nodded and probably knew where I was going with my questions. He could tell by watching our mannerisms, our skillset, and just simply by the clock that we were doing nothing wrong. So I kindly asked him to please tell the group behind us to back off and let us finish the round and if they decide they want to keep pushing us like they have been, they'll have 4 - 6' something gentlemen waiting to have words with them at the club house. The Marshall said he'd chat with them. He drove on and shortly after that, the group disappeared. Not sure if they were asked to leave or if he held them back a hole or 2 as to not have us cross paths at the club house. I guess my question is.. Being cognoscente of game etiquette and pace standards should I have called them in? Should I have gone back personally and asked them to chill out? Were my overall actions justified? I'm a very easy going person but in no way am I a pushover. Everybody deserves a general level of respect, admiration, and patience but when that is returned with a lack of respect and discourtesy, I have a tendency to lose my cool (my wife will attest to that). On the upside, the starter was waiting at the clubhouse with some news that we'd all get a free round our next time out (super cool!). Anybody else ever had something similar happen?

It's hard to answer the question which was - should I have gone back and talked to them. I think the best solution would have been to call the clubhouse yourselves after the clapping incident but I'm pretty sure that I would have talked to them and said - you may not see them but there's a group less than a hole ahead of us so we can't let you through. Something like that.

 

Posts like this make it clear that I'd have trouble going back to regularly playing public courses. I don't mean to be snooty at all but I haven't encountered anything like this since I joined a club. Generally my travel rounds are at reciprocals or if on public courses at off hours.

 

Regardless whoever made the traffic analogy was right - you have to stay in your lane, whatever the pace of play may be that day, that's your pace.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[gaussman1]

I play about 50% of my golf as a single. I'm starting to see some things that just freaking astound me:

 

1. Courses are giving times to singles. Not pairing them up with two and threesomes, but giving them whole times. If you get lots of singles, you should be pairing them up. It drives me nuts when I call in to get a time for a two or threesome and ask for the earliest time available, then go out an hour later than we could have because they wouldn't put us with one of the singles.

 

2. People rarely ask me to join up anymore. Sure, I have a face only a mother could love, but I haven't gotten significantly uglier in the last few years. But fewer and fewer people have me join them when I play up behind them.

 

3. People rarely accept my offer to join up. When I'm playing as a single and get stuck behind a group that won't let me through, I'll always ask the group behind me to join up with me if they're less than a foursome and they catch me (which happens fairly frequently). If I can't play as fast as I want as a single, I'd much rather play with other people and play at a more even pace. Plus, I'm a serious introvert, so I like to force myself to meet new people, and golfers tend to be the best people on earth (with some exceptions, as noted earlier in the thread). I hear all sorts of excuses as to why people don't want to join up, but whatever, they just rarely take me up on it.

I don't understand the pro shops not pairing up players either. If I'm out on the road and happen to go play somewhere I'll specifically ask to be put with a 2 or 3some so I have someone to spend the day with. I mean they're other golfers, right? Why wouldn't we want to spend time together? Meeting new people is one of the great things about this game

[Zylem]

 

 

Regardless whoever made the traffic analogy was right - you have to stay in your lane, whatever the pace of play may be that day, that's your pace.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

 

Couldn't agree with you more here. On slower rounds I just make sure I am not part of the problem then try and use the extra time to my advantage. I have a few swing drills I can work on or I'll grab my putter and work on my putting stroke.

 

I try to remember a rough day on the course beats any day in the office!

 

 

Sent from my Pixel using MyGolfSpy mobile app

[palvord]

I play about 50% of my golf as a single. I'm starting to see some things that just freaking astound me:

 

1. Courses are giving times to singles. Not pairing them up with two and threesomes, but giving them whole times. If you get lots of singles, you should be pairing them up. It drives me nuts when I call in to get a time for a two or threesome and ask for the earliest time available, then go out an hour later than we could have because they wouldn't put us with one of the singles.

 

2. People rarely ask me to join up anymore. Sure, I have a face only a mother could love, but I haven't gotten significantly uglier in the last few years. But fewer and fewer people have me join them when I play up behind them.

 

3. People rarely accept my offer to join up. When I'm playing as a single and get stuck behind a group that won't let me through, I'll always ask the group behind me to join up with me if they're less than a foursome and they catch me (which happens fairly frequently). If I can't play as fast as I want as a single, I'd much rather play with other people and play at a more even pace. Plus, I'm a serious introvert, so I like to force myself to meet new people, and golfers tend to be the best people on earth (with some exceptions, as noted earlier in the thread). I hear all sorts of excuses as to why people don't want to join up, but whatever, they just rarely take me up on it.

I agree 100% with joining up or being paired at the start.  I play as a single often and will always look for ways on the course to have someone join up with me as that helps with pace pf play.  The course can for sure help with the pace by ensuring that singles are always paired up at the start with other two or threesomes.

[EthanSterlingPrice]

Everyone complains about pace of play, and it's a seemingly never ending conversation. And in all my years (40+) of playing golf, I have yet to have someone say to me, "I sure do like playing golf in 5 or 6 hours; the slower the better."

 

Everyone I have ever talked to always says that they hate slow play. Yet, once again, I found myself in the bowels of despair this weekend as I was playing in a "tournament" where both my Saturday and Sunday rounds were met with a 5 hour round, where we waited on the group in front of us on every hole and every shot. In the defense of the group in front of us, they were waiting too, as was the group in front of them, etc, etc, etc.

 

I emailed the tournament director about this, and as kindly as I could put it, simply said that I doubt that I would return to play with this group ever again, simply because of pace of play.

 

I mean, pace of play is probably the most talked about subject in golf, and yet no one seems to ever be able to fix this "problem."

 

Now, I realize that pace of play could be a subjective term as well. Because if you give me a cart and an open course in front of me, I am done as a single in 90 minutes tops. I grew up playing as a threesome with my Dad and my brother, and we'd finish 18 holes in 2 1/2 hours.

 

But I'm not even suggesting those times as what anyone should realistically expect on a golf course. But I know for a fact that the standard for pace of play on a fully loaded golf course at St. Andrews is 3:22. See http://www.popeofslope.com/paceofplay/pace.html

 

Is your normal round and expectation for a foresome for 18 holes about 4 hours and 30 minutes? Is it 4 hours?

 

I'll just end this by saying that I refuse to be the group in front of me's gallery for 18 holes. If I have to wait on every shot, I'll quit the game first.

I recently played in a tournament (individual stroke play, all decent golfers, etc) and the round took five and a half hours. I play in events like this plenty of times now to know that it's just gonna happen sometimes like anything else in life. A tournament round is always gonna be slower than a casual round and the pace is never the same between any two of them. My casual rounds typically take around 4 hours all things considered. For some people that may be slow some not, but golf is never gonna be a 2 hour sport like some want it to be, too much has changed. Still a long round of golf sure beats a lot of other things I could be doing...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[MDGolfHacker]

I play about 50% of my golf as a single. I'm starting to see some things that just freaking astound me:

 

1. Courses are giving times to singles. Not pairing them up with two and threesomes, but giving them whole times. If you get lots of singles, you should be pairing them up. It drives me nuts when I call in to get a time for a two or threesome and ask for the earliest time available, then go out an hour later than we could have because they wouldn't put us with one of the singles.

 

2. People rarely ask me to join up anymore. Sure, I have a face only a mother could love, but I haven't gotten significantly uglier in the last few years. But fewer and fewer people have me join them when I play up behind them.

 

3. People rarely accept my offer to join up. When I'm playing as a single and get stuck behind a group that won't let me through, I'll always ask the group behind me to join up with me if they're less than a foursome and they catch me (which happens fairly frequently). If I can't play as fast as I want as a single, I'd much rather play with other people and play at a more even pace. Plus, I'm a serious introvert, so I like to force myself to meet new people, and golfers tend to be the best people on earth (with some exceptions, as noted earlier in the thread). I hear all sorts of excuses as to why people don't want to join up, but whatever, they just rarely take me up on it.

 

 

You can join my foursome anytime

 

MDGolfHacker

[azstu324]

You've written that there was a hole open in front of you., and if I read you correctly, that situation remained the same for multiple holes.

So, since you asked for feedback, mine is that you should have let the group behind you play through.

in case I forgot to mention.. or mentioned and just can't remember.. the gap in front of us was closing and the course was stacked from hole to hole. Letting the group play through would have just put them in front of us to harass the next group. They really wouldn't have gotten any further than that due to how the course was playing. 

[erickson2315]

I've been a caddy for 6 years at a private club in Chicago. The course is very easy to walk to not a hard course at all however there are about 5 different 4 sums that you can end up with that will take 5:30+ on a wide open course with nobody in front of you. I've played one 5 hour round in my life and that was pebble beach which as you would think isn't the worst place to be waiting around:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[cksurfdude]

I've been a caddy for 6 years at a private club in Chicago. The course is very easy to walk to not a hard course at all however there are about 5 different 4 sums that you can end up with that will take 5:30+ on a wide open course with nobody in front of you. I've played one 5 hour round in my life and that was pebble beach which as you would think isn't the worst place to be waiting around:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

So.... What are these slow groups actually *doing* during all of that time?