What's your pet peeve: How the course is run/marshalled

A follow up on the pet peeves about players let's talk about course management and how courses could do better managing pace of play.

It seems to me that part of the problem is how the expectations are set by courses and then enforced.  I've played on many different courses and in many tournaments where slow play is a problem.  I'm always amazed how the marshalls don't do their jobs.

One of my top pet peeves is that a course will clearly state that if you fall behind pace of play (based on time not on following a groupt) that they will make you skip a hole.  NEVER seen it happen, though it should!

Another one is not convincing groups of players that playing from the tips is not for them.  Though KUDOS for some courses who remove the tip markers on weekends.

What's yours?

1) ive never agred with the "skip a hole" ruling,..although ive never seen it enforced myself,....ive paid my money if i happen to be slow that day then im slow,....if im following course etiquette by allowing groups behind so im not holding anyone up then i should be allowed to play the 18 holes i paid for,.....

my biggest pet peeve is when there are slow players a few groupd behind you and the marshall starts hanging around the green im firing at so as soon as ive putted out he can hurry me off to try and create some space for people to start leap frogging the slower groups,......ive had this several times at a certain course i play at and the last time he did it i told him in no uncertain terms to leave me and my group alone, we were at a good pace and half a hole or more ahead of the group behind and "im trying to make space cus of slow people behind you" doesnt warrant you badgering me and putting me off my golf game

No course is going to penalize you as long as you're right behind the group ahead. (After all, where would they make you skip to if there's no open hole?)

The policy being discussed with regard to forcing someone to skip a hole is if they're slow *and* there is an open hole or more ahead of them. In that case it's definitely their group that's causing the slowness.

Lately it would seem that on a semi-regular basis as my group is finishing the front...the pro shop sees fit to send a group off #10 ahead of us. Granted we walk the course...but even if the group going off 10 are using a cart there's a 50/50 chance they'll play erratically and be slower than my group. Very frustrating...especially when you're in a good rhythm.

I think your average public courses could, on weekends, eliminate the back tees (like you said), cut down the rough so there's less time wasted searching for balls - also the course will play easier and thus faster - use easy center of the green hole locations (also speeding up play), and not allow 5-somes.

I think some courses I've played at could greatly increase pace of play by marking yardages better.  I typically play pretty fast, I will walk 18 holes in around 3 hours with mild traffic on the course in the evenings, but when I play poorly marked courses, it really slows me down.

When I can walk 240 yards down the fairway and never see a marked sprinkler head or yardage marker, there's something wrong. I've walked courses that only mark with lines on the cart path.  If I'm walking, a lot of times I can't even see the cart path, so the painted line on it is no help. I've also played a course where the yardages were marked every 50 yards, but the markers were sprinkler head sized and were recessed in nice thick fairways so you couldn't see them unless you walked right over them.  I typically end up guessing on yardage and being wrong and costing even more time.

get rid of the cart path only rule and just allow walkers if the course conditions are that bad.

Can people just chill the hell out on the golf course? It is the most frustrating thing when you have been looking forward to a nice relaxing day playing golf in the sun, and then you get there and it seems like everyone is playing speed golf trying to get home as soon as possible. Just take it easy already! Its golf, not a triathalon. I've been yelled at by a course attendant (not a marshall - that word carries way too much respect for a time keeper in a golf cart) because I spent 5 minutes looking for my ball. I thought that was in the rules? Just TAKE IT EASY out there, jeez.

Unfortunately, that's a double-edged sword.  There's more complaints about slow play than speedy golfers on the course, so if you're out there taking your time, and the group in front of you is pulling away and people behind you are waiting, the people behind are complaining about your slow play.  Most courses nowadays are only spacing tee times 8 minutes apart, so if you take that 5 minutes, although it's allowed by the rules, they see it as the beginning of a back-up that will slow down people starting and hence complaints, and then less money for the course.

Golf courses are typically about making money, keeping a course in good shape is expensive and they rely on cramming as many people on the course on the weekends to recoup some of their losses during the week when things are slow.  If you want to play a nice leisurely round, the best time to go is a weekday afternoon.

No one minds if you take 5 mins to look for a ball. They mind when you take 5 mins to look for a ball on every hole.

I played a course recently where they talked a big game about pace of play.  The score card even showed the number of minutes you were alloted for each hole.  Unfortunately, though, the marshall was only interested in making sure people stayed on the cart path, etc, and never did one thing to move people along.  It got slower and slower as we played.  When we got to hole 7, there were 2 other groups waiting to tee off.  We decided to quit and go get some drinks so we just drove the cart back to the clubhouse.

What did we pass on the way?  A freaking 6-some all dressed in golf clothes high-fiving each other on the 8th green like they were in some kind of Grey Goose commercial.  Totally oblivious to the huge backup behind them.  Where was the marshall now?

Our only interaction with the marshal that day was when he came over and told us not to drive the cart off the path (we were driving up the OB line looking for a ball - we were driving on dirt so we thought it would be OK).  Luckily we have some other options around so I never need to play that course again.

Cart path only courses are miserable to begin with when it comes to pace of play.  I won't play in a cart ever again on a course that's cart path only.  I once made a tee time at a course just outside of Myrtle Beach that was cart path only for the day I went, and it was the most miserable day of my life.  Once I got down there, and found out, I asked them if I could just walk.  The answer was no, they required the use of a cart.  I love the course, but always call before I play there now to ensure that it's not cart path only.

And further, I love it when it's cart path only & the marshal drives up - off the cart path - to tell you two wheels of your cart are off the path.

What, are the wheels on your cart exempt from causing damage, Mister Marshal?

In the amateur tournaments I play in, they have a triple bogey rule. You have to pick up after you have a triple. And marshals out there making sure everyone is not behind.

And we still have 5+ hour rounds. I'm not for speed golf either, but anything over 5 hours is so painful. I get out of my game when I have to wait for every single shot.