Ready Golf vs Waiting for everyone at the green

[gregsandiego]

I play with some guys that are usually one stroke ahead of me. Sometimes I'll be waiting to pitch on to the green but they are already putting. So then it seems like the whole thing slows down because I can't hit until they put or move aside. Almost like it divides the group into two groups of 2.

Is what they are doing permitted under any kind of ready golf etiquette?

 

 

[RandallT]

2 minutes ago, gregsandiego said:

I play with some guys that are usually one stroke ahead of me. Sometimes I'll be waiting to pitch on to the green but they are already putting. So then it seems like the whole thing slows down because I can't hit until they put or move aside. Almost like it divides the group into two groups of 2.

Is what they are doing permitted under any kind of ready golf etiquette?

 

 

I've always felt that "ready golf" is not necessarily play if you're the next guy ready, but somewhat close to it. It's more like: if you can play your shot and be out of the way before the guy whose turn it really is (the guy away), then go for it. 

If there are guys on the green putting while you are off the green waiting- that's not really an etiquette I see (or really want to be a part of). I wouldn't mind if a guy putted and marked before I was ready to chip, however.

[Dave325]

Very odd and it seems a bit rude if you are paired together. If I put myself in your position, I might just offer them to play through ahead of you. 

[Rip62]

I'm fine with ready golf from the tee and even from the fairway but I don't think anyone should putt until everyone is on the green.

[Dave325]

30 minutes ago, Rip62 said:

I'm fine with ready golf from the tee and even from the fairway but I don't think anyone should putt until everyone is on the green.

Agreed. I believe the term "ready golf" is applied to play from the tee as everyone is making their way to the next hole. 

[Fourputt]

My question to the OP is, if you are always a shot behind, then maybe it's time you examined the reasons which cause that situation to occur.  Are you that much slower than the rest?  If so then that's an issue that you need to deal with before you worry about the etiquette of others.

[Missouri Swede]

1 hour ago, Rip62 said:

I'm fine with ready golf from the tee and even from the fairway but I don't think anyone should putt until everyone is on the green.

That's not in the Rules. Other than on the tee, farthest from the hole hits first, whether on the green or off. In stroke play, there's no penalty for playing out of turn, but in match play the stroke could be recalled.

[ZappyAd]

For me ready golf is about getting your group around as fast as possible, as opposed to everyone trying to get themselves around as fast as they can with the assumption that will then mean that the group is fast too.  If someone takes a shot that blocks the slowest player, especially around the green, then that just seems to be missing the point.  

I regularly play with a couple of guys that are just starting out at golf and they can have holes where you would have enough time to gnaw your knuckles down to your elbow waiting for them to make it to the green.  So sometimes I'll putt out before they get on then tend the flag for them when they arrive.  But only if I can do it without slowing them down so that we are only ever as slow as our slowest player, never slower.

Maybe there are some things you can do to speed up (pretty much everybody can, even if they don't recognise it themselves) but if you are choosing who to play with then being ok with each other's pace of play is a pretty big factor.  

[MacDutch]

True, its not in the rules to play ahead. And its not proper etiquette to putt while someone else stil is a shot behind. But........

why would the other players do so? Are they just rude, or are they fed up with this slow poke?

 

[gregsandiego]

10 hours ago, Fourputt said:

My question to the OP is, if you are always a shot behind, then maybe it's time you examined the reasons which cause that situation to occur.  Are you that much slower than the rest?  If so then that's an issue that you need to deal with before you worry about the etiquette of others.

Well not always. And when I reach the green first I wait.

[arturo28mx]

10 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

That's not in the Rules. Other than on the tee, farthest from the hole hits first, whether on the green or off. In stroke play, there's no penalty for playing out of turn, but in match play the stroke could be recalled.

That is correct. I've seen many articles and books that say that farthest from the hole hits first, regardless if they are on or off the green. And regardless if the others are on or off the green.

Edited December 21, 2015 by arturo28mx

[vangator]

11 hours ago, RandallT said:

I've always felt that "ready golf" is not necessarily play if you're the next guy ready, but somewhat close to it. It's more like: if you can play your shot and be out of the way before the guy whose turn it really is (the guy away), then go for it. 

If there are guys on the green putting while you are off the green waiting- that's not really an etiquette I see (or really want to be a part of). I wouldn't mind if a guy putted and marked before I was ready to chip, however.

+1.

Ready golf for me is most prevalent when teeing off since we often have a mix of walkers and cart players.  Same for the fairway up to the green.  If it's even close, I always allow the farthest to play first.  It's annoying when people don't play when it's their turn.

Around the green I always play farthest from the hole even if someone is off the green and others on.  If I'm reading a putt and someone closer wants to putt, I say "if you're ready you can go".  I stop moving and let them putt.  It speeds up play but more importantly allows me to see any subtle breaks around the hole.  But generally it's always according to the rules around the green.

[bkuehn1952]

12 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

... Sometimes I'll be waiting to pitch on to the green but they are already putting...Is what they are doing permitted under any kind of ready golf etiquette?

No.  "Ready golf's" approach is to allow someone to hit while another member of the group is unready but further away from the hole. Typically once a ball is on the green, "Ready Golf" is suspended.   Strict adherence to "who is away" shouldn't be allowed to slow things down on the green, either. 

[DaveP043]

13 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

Is what they are doing permitted under any kind of ready golf etiquette?

The simple answer is NO.  Ready golf, at least to me, means its OK to go ahead if you're ready and the "away" player isn't.  If he's ready to play, the away player should never be forced to wait.  Its that simple, in my mind.

Like others have said, be sure to honestly evaluate your own pace of play, you could be part of the issue.  Another thing I'll mention, be sure to communicate with your playing companions.  I often see players either:

Standing around assuming that someone else will play first, or,

Assume its their turn, and playing at the same time as someone else.

All it takes is "I think its your turn" or "Do you want to chip up before I putt?" or "I'll go ahead" to clear up that kind of confusion.  

 

[Fourputt]

2 hours ago, gregsandiego said:

Well not always. And when I reach the green first I wait.

All I could go by was your initial description of the situation.  If these are guys you regularly play with, then tell them to get out of your way.  Tell them that what they are playing isn't ready golf, because ready golf takes all of the players in the group into consideration.  You don't step ahead of another player and block him from playing his shot if he is ready to go.  As mentioned above, ready golf is a tool that is aimed at keeping the entire group moving at a good pace, and interfering with another player's shot defeats that purpose. 

We should all step back on occasions like this and examine our own play and see if there is something we are doing that makes it seem as if our companions are acting out of frustration for our slow play, or if they are simply being rude.  

I consider myself to be a fast player,  but I still would ask myself if I was doing something different from my norm that would make someone feel that he has to step in front of me to keep pace.  He is still being rude, but maybe he is also making a point.  

I have on certain occasions reached a point of terminal frustration with a companion, so that I was forced to say something about it.  I would never ignore etiquette to make a point, but I'm not above speaking up to tell the group that we need to pick up the pace.  

In the OP's case I would ask them to please not block me when I'm playing.  And I would ask myself what I could change to improve my pace.

[allenc]

13 hours ago, Rip62 said:

I'm fine with ready golf from the tee and even from the fairway but I don't think anyone should putt until everyone is on the green.

I agree that you should not try and putt if someone will be pitching on any moment.  Normally however this comes up when someone blades it over the green and they are about to walk 70 yards to search the woods on the other side for their ball.  Or maybe hit from the front bunker to the back, and they'll have to rake their bunker, climb out, make their way to the back one and prepare their next shot.

If you are playing ready golf, it implies you care about playing reasonably fast or are trying to fill a gap on the hole in front of you.  I think you should definitely putt under these circumstances and save several minutes.

[GangGreen]

I can only speak for myself, but depending on the situation, there are many times that I may putt out (or hit my approach shot) if I'm already on the green (at my ball) and a playing partner still isn't.  I certainly wouldn't hold someone else up, though, if they were away and truly ready.

[jgreen85]

I think the key to the OP is he's ready to play and away. I would putt out if he was away and not ready. That does seem strange they're making you wait while they putt out; if you were still walking to your ball, I would putt though.

I do not think they need to wait for the OP to reach the green to putt out though. 

Edited December 21, 2015 by jgreen85