Ultimate Etiquette Challenge... yours?

Last Friday I teed off as a single at my usual course. Robert Trent Jones 1924, was a country club when I was a kid but sold to Wichita State University in the late 60s. I became bogged down by a mixed foursome of nice people who invited me to join or play through. I declined and hit several balls a while, finally meeting back up with them at #6 tee they said "you know if you just skip to the 8th tee you will have the whole course in front of you... we are all being held up by the foursome on the 7th tee". So I bailed to the 8th and as I passed within sight of the 7th there were four Japanese players who from the looks of them were probably guests of the university and were playing as if they were on tour. Their pre-shot routines were glacial and the interaction among them was also very time consuming. So,what should someone do? Should the pro come out and tell them to hurry up? Should people hit into them? Should people just get gypped out of two holes to get by them? I don't think anyone did anything about it, and it was true, there was no one on 8, 9, 10 or 11; they had back up four holes!

The "appropriate" response is to call the pro shop and have a ranger take care of it. I recall a topic on here regarding people hitting into the offending group and verbal confrontations. It might seem like a rewarding experience at first, but golf is a gentleman's game. IMHO, act like a gentleman on the course and you will be rewarded for good behavior.

Agreed...that's what the rangers are paid for. Make 'em work for their dough.

... but if they are Japanese nationals getting to play while visiting America. Does that change things? After all you would want to "enjoy" a game in Scotland. I really hope they had a good time, they looked and acted like they were in heaven.
(Is pace slower in some countries/cultures?)

I don't care if you're red, yellow, purple, or green--I'm hitting one off the tee and buzzin' their tower. Haha, I shouldn't be saying anything because I am somewhat slow myself.

If you you want to enjoy the landscape - take a walk, if you want to play golf, and you realize, you are holding up the play, be polite and speed up. IMO this has nothing to do with being foreigners or not and wanting to enjoy a slow round of golf. As others mentioned before, call the ranger or talk to them.

My understanding is that most courses in Scotland view 4 hours as too long to be on the course.

And my understanding is that in Japan, one rarely gets to actually play on a golf course. Most of the time they spend hitting balls off of 2 and 3 story driving ranges. Not that I like slow play, but in this instance I would probably give them the benefit of the doubt. Skip two holes and not worry about it.

There is never a situation that justifies hitting into a group on purpose. You can kill someone doing that and slow play doesn't justify manslaughter.

What I have done when confronted by such an unreasonable situation is to insist on playing through. Someone needs to ride up to the group and explain that you are going to play through. You'd be surprised at what one can accomplish (in life and in golf) simply by being firm. That doesn't mean making an ass of yourself, but rather pointing out the siutation and telling them to move aside while a faster group plays through on each hole. What usually happens though is that one group chooses to stew over the fact that they are being held up rather than press the issue. When you take the time to press the issue and confront the slow group in a civil manner I've always found the slow group isn't aware that they are causing a problem and are willing to let faster groups through.

I was totally KIDDING when I said that i'd hit into a group. Hahaha I know i'd get kicked out of the club if i did. But you are absolutely right about confronting a group regarding their rate of play.

I like the thought here. I've never been confronted by a literally 4 holes behind. The courses I play are slow because they book too many tee times and because there's always a dozen slow groups out, rather than just one. But I agree that being polite but firm is often a good way to get things you want. In a situation where the ranger won't respond, your worst choice is between sucking it up and playing slowly or, if the slow group is pissy and incalcitrant, just going ahead and hitting your drive right after the slow group has finished teeing off, ie before you could drive into them standing on the fairway, and just force your way into playing through. I suppose you could end up having to take a drop approximately where you drive ended up if the group in front is particularly bull-headed and picks up your ball.

I'd agree with that. If I was holding a faster group up, I'd usually just let them through (unless I was being held up as well), but if I didn't realise that I was slowing them down and they politely either asked or told me they were playing through I'd have no problem waiting a couple of minutes for them.

It's much better to ask than stew on it and wait 10 minutes at each tee getting more annoyed each time - most of the time they probably arent being arrogant about it, they just genuinely aren't aware. I wouldn't hit at them though :) I've had people hit their drives as I'm about to take my second shot (mostly on fairways where you can't really see the second shot position and there's a bell) - sometimes I'm tempted to nab their ball or foot wedge it into a ditch! If it happens I still ring the bell in the hope they realise that we were still there when they teed off.

I believe you play at the pace of the course. If it's a country club, play that pace, if it's a muni you play that pace. As far as confronting the group, no one should ever be offended by a person or group wanting to play through. That is just pure ego if it bothers you.

The ranger should have been on the ball with a group backing the course up be 4 holes.

LOL - i knew there was something i forgot...

Here is another article of the oddities of golf in Japan:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0090609ev.html

Huh, so you are saying, same layout same course, one is a cc and the other a muni - and you should play a different pace? That doesnt make much sense, does it? You think people enjoy playing slow, having to wait and waste time standing around?

Now that was funny. As for the mandated lunch break..WOW!! I'm usually ready for a nap after I eat. Customs are often funny in others eyes, huh?

I think what he's saying is that a country club is going to be faster because they're not trying to pack in tee times. Munis are going to be a lot slower regardless of the course layout. You're not supposed to play slower at a muni, you just end up doing so because there's too many groups out there and you've got to just deal with it sometimes.

Oh and here's a gem from that article: "One of the biggest differences between golf in Japan and in the West is that in Japan there is a compulsory hourlong lunch break after the first nine holes." Maybe the slow group were just making up that time on the course!?

I'm saying that the Japanese students need to respect the fact that they are on a course that is teeing off a group every 8 minutes. If they were at a country club, they may have more time to chit-chat and line up every stroke, twice. That is why I also stated that the ranger needed to be watching the pace of play a little closer.

This is why I love my membership. If play is slow on one side, I go to the other. If I need to skip 2 holes and come back to them I can. Local custom here is to play wherever you want AS LONG AS YOU DON'T CUT ANYONE OFF.