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USGA Recaps Industry Takeaways From Pace and Innovation Symposium [PRWeb]


nevets88
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Not so sure I agree w/the USGA, while it'll be nice to have smoothly flowing rounds that "feel" faster, I want the rounds to be actually faster, time wise. We have places we have to be, other things to do, etc... I appreciate the effort, maybe they'll come up with something other than flow. 

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Pace of Play: 

  •     Golfer experience is determined by flow, not round times.
  •     Studies show an increase in round times of as much as two hours between the first group on the course and later groups. Most of that time is spent waiting.
  •     USGA recommendations for pace:

o    Set an aggressive pace for the lead group. 
o    For non-lead groups, control the cycle times (gap between groups). 
o    Balance starting intervals with cycle times (gap between groups).

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2016/02/03/usga-recaps-industry-takeaways-pace-and-innovation-symposium#axzz3zdJPj0k5

http://www.usga.org/content/dam/usga/pdf/2016/pace-and-innovation-symposium/Flagstick-Tool-for-Pace-of-Play.pdf

Steve

Kill slow play. Allow walking. Reduce ineffective golf instruction. Use environmentally friendly course maintenance.

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I've never had a foursome that played under four hours that didn't have good "flow" and I can't conceive of a five hour round that has "flow". WTF are these guys talking about??? 

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I think I understand the idea of "flow" versus elapsed time and agree to a certain extent that "flow" is more important than total time. I have had rounds that took 4.5 to 5 hours feel not too bad and under 4 hour rounds that seemed like a death march. The longer round felt better because our 4-some could match the general pace of the group in front in all aspects of play, from time to tee off to time to clear the green.  Yes, each hole was a bit slower but we never ground to a halt.  On the other hand, the sub-4 round found us trailing a group that was blindingly fast until they reached the green.  So we literally stood in the fairway watching these guys pace around the green, plumb bob, mark, re-mark, etc... but never waited on a tee.  

Brian Kuehn

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I certainly enjoy the golf more when there is better "flow," but it has no impact on the amount of golf I can play. I already enjoy golf even with 5hrs rounds, but even 4hr rounds limit how often I can play. 

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I agree flow is more important and have never had a 4.75 hour round that 'flowed' well. With some courses going to 2 tee times every 15 minutes (8 minutes then 7, 8 then 7...) there is no chance of flow. Even 8 minutes between tee times is not enough IMO. 9 is better but 10+ is the best. The only way I play the courses with 8/7 or 8 minutes between times is when they are dead. Otherwise it is just painful.

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I guess a good flow but a slower round would be waiting 1 minute before your group could hit their first tee shot on a par 3, and 1 minute before non-tee shot approaches to the green and 2nd shots on par fives.  By my count that would be 22 minutes of waiting for the group ahead.  About a 4 and 1/2 hour round.  More than that and I'd think it would have to be considered a bad flow.

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On the topic of "flow" I think motorized carts have a big influence. With riding carts players can cover ground at about 4x the rate of a walking player. This allows groups to play from tee to green very quickly but once they reach the green the speed advantage disappears. The result is that players now stack up in the fairways rather than on the tees which feels like a larger interruption to the flow of a hole.

Add to this the irrational over-seriousness of golfers when they get close to the hole and things get even worse...

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11 minutes ago, fr0sty said:

On the topic of "flow" I think motorized carts have a big influence. With riding carts players can cover ground at about 4x the rate of a walking player.

Given a course that is well set up for walking, I don't think the carts result in increasing the pace of play.

In practice, you have to wait for all four players ahead of you to hit before you can hit.  Walking gets me there soon enough, as a matter of fact walking gets me there soon enough to have to wait for the group ahead.  Especially true when it comes to the shots were you're hitting to the green.  So it makes no difference whether I'm in a cart or not.

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On 2/11/2016 at 3:53 PM, No Mulligans said:

Given a course that is well set up for walking, I don't think the carts result in increasing the pace of play.

 

I didn'ty say "pace" I said "flow". Carts make going down the fairway and between holes faster, but you end up spending all that savings driving the other player to his ball, or just goofing off on the greens. It's the difference between slowly moving and stop-and-go traffic. The former is much more pleasant (to me at least) to drive in.

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2 hours ago, fr0sty said:

I didn'ty say "pace" I said "flow". Carts make going down the fairway and between holes faster, but you end up spending all that savings driving the other player to his ball, or just goofing off on the greens. It's the difference between slowly moving and stop-and-go traffic. The former is much more pleasant (to me at least) to drive in.

This is yet another argument in favor of walking the golf course, as opposed to riding in a cart.  Cart players get to their ball quickly, and have to wait.  Walkers get to their balls less quickly, and so have much less waiting time, and better flow to their rounds.  

Certainly carts can make the ideal playing time for a round much shorter, but unless there's nobody in front of you, you'll never attain that ideal playing time.  Similarly, for most courses walkers do NOT slow down play, walkers are limited by the pace of play of the group(s) in front of them.  

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1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

This is yet another argument in favor of walking the golf course, as opposed to riding in a cart.  Cart players get to their ball quickly, and have to wait.  Walkers get to their balls less quickly, and so have much less waiting time, and better flow to their rounds.  

Certainly carts can make the ideal playing time for a round much shorter, but unless there's nobody in front of you, you'll never attain that ideal playing time.  Similarly, for most courses walkers do NOT slow down play, walkers are limited by the pace of play of the group(s) in front of them.  

Well said. At my last club we rode, everybody did, and the pace is basically the same to slightly worse than my current club where everybody walks. The only advantage for the carts in my opinion is when you fall behind the carts can help to catch up faster then when we are walking. 

Michael

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