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Bad golfers cause slow play like flies cause garbage.


denver_nuggs_15
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Well, here's the deal: too many threads on this forum say or imply that bad golfers cause slow play. And, I've had enough of it because it's simply not true. Slow golfers cause slow play. Complain to them instead of telling high handicaps to "NEVER play in front of me."

P.S. - I forget whose quote I used, so sorry. It's not an attack at you, just a quote that stood out in my mind on the subject. My appologies.

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No, its not true. I have never held up another group, even when I was a 40+ HC. Sometimes that meant that I waited to play until there was a pretty good gap between starting groups; other times it mean I picked my ball on half the holes I played.

Slow play is and always has been the result of inconsiderate and/or ignorant players.

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Well, here's the deal: too many threads on this forum say or imply that bad golfers cause slow play. And, I've had enough of it because it's simply not true. Slow golfers cause slow play. Complain to them instead of telling high handicaps to "NEVER play in front of me."

You're right - I ran into two guys that were 30+ handicaps, and one of them probably hasn't been on a course more than 5 times in his life on the third hole, and played the front nine with them. However, they kept pace, dropped balls when they couldn't advance, or picked up if they were holding up the pace. We got around the front in a little less than 1:45. I think slow play is mainly caused by people who have unrealistic opinions of their own ablilities, play off the wrong tees, and take way too much time 'evaluating' a shot they are probably going to screw up 7 times out of 10 anyway.

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bad golfers are slow only when they take 10 practice swings on every shot, chip and putt, and are not ready to hit when it's their turn. I've seen scratch players that play slower than 30+ handicaps, so it's not really the handicap, it's all the extra stuff being done before the shot.

That being said, will all else being equal, it does take longer to hit the ball 112 times than it does to hit it 72 times. Granted, it's not much longer, but still longer. What really adds up is looking for golf balls in the water and the trees. If you do that every other hole, it's going to take forever to play.

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- Negative thinking hurts more than negative swinging.
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- Full extension back and through to the target. - I swing under not around my body. - My club must not twist in my swing. - Keep a soft left knee

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Nuggs:

I say the same thing every time one of these threads comes up, but nobody pays much attention. They all have their pet peeves, and that seems to blind them to the realities of slow play. There is no demographic that can be pinpointed as THE cause for slow play. Working as a starter at a busy public course, I can state positively that slow play comes from every type of golfer. It's an attitude, not a category.

I've seen them all, and I've seen some of the worst offenders totally change their pace of play from lethargic to active and responsive just by learning a few simple techniques. Saving the chat sessions for when you are walking or riding between shots; being ready to play when it's your turn and playing ready golf; exiting the green promptly and discussing the hole or marking your score at the next tee box. It's amazing how just a few little things can shave 20-30 minutes off an 18 hole round.

The answer is awareness and education, not golf lessons, or sex change operations, or rejuvenation, or denial of golfing privileges.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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I think high handicappers get blamed because most of the ignorant, rude and slow players happen to be bad golfers as well. I play really fast. Whatever it takes (dropping balls, picking up, etc), I will keep up with the group ahead of me.

More should be done by the courses, in my opinion, to encourage fast play. A lot of people who rarely golf or who are just getting into it don't understand how important pace of play is.
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I think there's a sway in favour of high handicappers on the forum and that it's a minority who try to link high handicappers to slow play.

The things that really get to me are people taking a billion practice swings then duffing a shot, discussing/marking scores on the green, and people who wait until people are 400 yards away from the tee box before teeing off. If everyone stopped doing the above, and I mean everyone, because I was behind a group of people who amongst them can't have had a handicap in double digits and they would stand around on the greens and talk banter before moving on.

I encountered their foursome on a teebox and after they didn't offer for us to play through (twosome) I made a comment and explicitly asked to play through. They looked a mixture of puzzled and a little outraged, but agreed. I took my tee shot, and as is common in front of a group of people I messed it up somewhat but it was still in play in semi-rough at least 150y down the fairway. Not a duff, but not exactly my finest hour.

One of them laughed.

We shook the group by the end of the hole, possibly because they were still joking around about that guy who didn't hit the fairway.

Just goes to show that slow players aren't necessarily always the worst ones. Also I decided to go off on a tangent apparently~
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The things that really get to me are people taking a billion practice swings then duffing a shot, discussing/marking scores on the green, and people who wait until people are 400 yards away from the tee box before teeing off. If everyone stopped doing the above, and I mean everyone, because I was behind a group of people who amongst them can't have had a handicap in double digits and they would stand around on the greens and talk banter before moving on.

Those things tick me off, too. I think there's a thread about it already but I also really really really hate it when a golfer hits a bad drive and then stands there on the tee box making a few more practice swings while staring out at the fairway in disgust. I would love to know who, exactly, they think they are (after they get off the dang tee box, that is).

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and people who wait until people are 400 yards away from the tee box before teeing off.

I agree with everything else except for this. Contrary to popular belief, there are those who drive the ball 300+ consistently.

A situation happened a few months ago when I was playing with my father. We were at the tee box on #1. There was a group about 250 yards in front of us, and an older gentlemen rudely yelled at my father who was stretching, "Hit the **** ball, you aren't going to hit them." We preceded to allow the man to tee off and when he reached the spot where the original group was (on his 3rd hit mind you), I unloaded a ball about 40 yards over his head. Perhaps it was a jerk move on my part, but you should be considerate of the groups ahead of you as well.

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I never mind being hit into and tell people to feel free to do it. I always tell people who are letting me play through to hit into me as I play through.

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I agree with everything else except for this. Contrary to popular belief, there are those who drive the ball 300+ consistently.

Sure there are, I'm not denying there are people who have hit a 400 yard drive that one time they had wind behind them on a downhill rock hard fairway etc etc etc, but the point I was getting at was "captain average" that drives 200-250 yards who waits until the green is clear on a 400 yard par 4.

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Sure there are, I'm not denying there are people who have hit a 400 yard drive that one time they had wind behind them on a downhill rock hard fairway etc etc etc, but the point I was getting at was "captain average" that drives 200-250 yards who waits until the green is clear on a 400 yard par 4.

Totally valid point, no excuse for letting people get 400 yds in front of you. But I

do not like being hit into, so I make sure not to risk doing it to the group in front of me. I average 250-270 off the tee, but that includes 220 yard drives and the occasional 300 yarder, and I don't know when I'm standing on the tee box 285 yds behind the group in front which drive I'm going to produce. But it does make sense to have the shortest hitter in the group tee off first, especially if they're the most likely to lose a tee shot and need to re-hit.
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We always have the shortest players hit first if others have to wait for the landing area to clear.

About hitting into people, my friend suggests that it's OK if it rolls up on them, but not if it lands near them. While I agree with him as far as safety goes, it's still in my eyes inconsiderate.

Now, if my buddies are playing in front of me in a foursome, yeah, I'll roll one up on them and not worry about it.

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I never mind being hit into and tell people to feel free to do it. I always tell people who are letting me play through to hit into me as I play through.

Ha!

I'm with moe in that looking for lost balls on practically every shot is probably the one of the worst ways high handicappers/bad golfers can add to the time it takes them/me to play. This is a tough thing to overcome unless the golfer who keeps having trouble finding his ball has a large supply of balls and is willing to drop one everytime it looks like they are going to have to spend some time trying to find their last shot. I've seen this a lot and while you feel for the guy after a while you really don't want to play with him anymore.

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so i recently played with a friend of mine who is a high hcp... i mean he's a terrible golfer... the starter stuck us with this guy who im guessing was low single digits... great great ballstriker... the definition of target golfer... on every shot this guys preshot routine was agonizingly slow... from tee to green...
1. get behind the ball for 5 mins picking a target
2. take a few practice swings behind the ball
3. step up to the ball take a few more practice swings
4. address the ball taking 2 backswings stopping at the ball
5. looking down the line to reestablish his target
6. waggle
7. waggle some more
8. deep breathe
9. swing
10. watch the ball fly
11. take 2 more practice swings
this was on every frikken shot...
my buddy plays grip it an rip it... granted it sometimes would take him 3 shots just to get to our balls... but those 3 shots were jump out of the cart... grab a club... swing... jump in the cart... rinse lather repeat...
we actually ditched the guy at the turn... ate lunch... noticed 3 groups pass us... got onto the back behind a 4some who was complaining that a single was holding 2 4somes up in front of them... lol
RUSS's avg drive - 230yrds and climbing
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I agree with everything else except for this. Contrary to popular belief, there are those who drive the ball 300+ consistently.

ive done that before. but it was because i was behind a foursome that wouldnt let me play through so i waited till they got to their drives and cranked it over them. i think they got the hint cuz the next hole i was ahead of 'em. i dont think it was the right thing to do but i have a little problem with turning the other cheek when i shouldnt have to

Forget your opponents; always play against par. ~Sam Snead

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I agree that the problem is not your score but manner of play. I like the term, bleed through, vs play through. What I mean is too many people want the group being passed to sit on the tee box and wait until the faster party is far enough ahead and then continue to play, well guess what, now you have someone else on your rear pushing. What I try and encourage is everyone teeing off and just play your ball when you get to it, the group playing through will probably get to the green faster, because they are quicker. You can still be respectful of everyones shots, but the group gets through without you having to stop. I have played through and been played through this way and it works great. Maybe I am stating the obvious, but seems to me most groups just stop and kill 10-15 minutes while the other group goes through. By bleeding through it is less painful to let a group through and less anxiety playing through (less likely to duff your drive)

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I agree with everything else except for this. Contrary to popular belief, there are those who drive the ball 300+ consistently.

Being from the frozen north (Canada - where time travels forward at 1.0 x regular speed) this has me confused. An older gentleman in your group (or a group teeing off after you) is now on the fairway in front of you. So you let him tee off as a single then waited until he was in range and hit over his head? Is that right?

Anyway, my opinion is that bad golfers playing in foursomes riding in powercarts are definitely one major cause of slow play (not the only cause of course). I've played with a few low handicappers I'd consider slow, but they typically know what club they need and don't have to zig zag all over the place looking for each other's lost balls or on their way to their next shot from the rough/trees/hazard with the wrong club to get back to the fairway. Low hdcpers are also not typically offended if you get ready to hit your ball while they're in the middle of their preshot routine - hell you can even head down the fairway on your way to your ball and they probably won't mind. Ready golf.

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Note: This thread is 5266 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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