Golf rules for pace?

Just sharing the experience I've had playing at this particular for the past 3 times.

1. I had to wait for about 5-10 minutes for each hole because the groups infront of me refuses to pick up the ball

2. I called the pro shop and the marshal doesn't do anything.

3. The Excuse I got from the pro shop was that there's a difficult par 4 and 5 and after that it'll open up...

not true, I still caught on to the groups and ended up with 4 groups on a tee box. At this point, the GPS says 30+ min behind.

4. I got paired with a man who has been making bad shots and he became upset, and he acted like a kid by throwing tantrum.

One of the tantrums was he kept walking ahead of me when I'm trying to make a shot.

He never yelled fore to anyone...

So... my opinion is that I don't really care the level of players on a course, no matter how hard the course is, but

pick up the ball if you keep making bad shots and don't back the entire pace.

Spineless marshals need not be a marshal who can't do his job correctly. Sending messages to the GPS in the cart

doesn't work.

And lastly, about this guy... I almost want to just do a chip shot and aim at his head. And no, I didn't,... but I was pretty damn well

frustrated for 9 holes.

What do you guys think?

Try playing during the week early in the morning. Usually better golfers up early to tee off and they're quick.  I go as a single during the week and its hardly ever backed up, obnoxious golfers tend to multiply during the weekend.

Yeah there's not much you can do except find another course or play later in the day (2pm should do it) or earlier in the morning (before 8 am).  You just have to expect a slow round and be pleasantly surprised if it's not.

I was recently at a course with very aggressive marshalls who were also totally misguided.  I was waiting for the green to clear before trying to hit my 3 wood 230 yards and he was in my face questioning my decision.  Of course I had been waiting to hit EVERY shot so far that day, so I was going to catch up anyway on the next hole.  Meanwhile, a group a few holes ahead had fallen an entire hole behind.

I've always looked at a slow golf game like this:

The slow players whoever or whatever reason they are slow are paying customers and to me as long as they aren't dicking around on the course breaking any rules than they have just as much right to be there as me.  No group should have to pick up the ball because they are playing poorly, It's golf you gotta learn somehow.  However they should let you play through if they don't ask politely and they will be more than willing.

Also you shouldn't be in a rush to play golf, heck I enjoy the scenery as well as the weather a day at the golf course is amazing for me and I don't care how long it takes.

The marshals should do a better job at managing the time however sometimes if it is jam packed there is nothing they can do.

Like others said try golfing at different times if you are free on saturdays go in the morning, or sometimes the twighlight specials courses have are great because the sun stays up late and it can sometimes be a bit cheaper.

That's why you go to the range to practice. If your poor play wrecks everyone else enjoyment and time then you should be picking the ball up.

Everyone paid a green fee, to finish a game and not to be waiting around for 5+ hours on a 4 hour course. It's called consideration for others.

When I started playing, I had to pick up my ball after a snowman on each hole. Embarrassing , but at least the others who are also a paying customer

would be able to enjoy their day and I won't feel guilty for ruining their play.

True but I still have respect for anyone that is on the golf course.  It's a great game and by people making it unfriendly to beginners it is discouraging others from playing,

I agree with you. It's not meant to be unfriendly, rather to be fair for everyone.

If a person is too sensitive to follow the pace / rules, then it's really their problem though =\

To me there are a few types of slow players...

1) the kind that don't optimize there time on the course, like getting there yardage while others or hitting, or reading there putting line while others are putting.

2) the kind that just have a bad round.

3) the kind with long preshot routines and take forever to hit the ball

I hate when golfer's don't optimize there time. I play ready golf, meaning while other's are hitting there shot i will be doing my decision making on the shot, so when its my turn i can get into my preshot routine and go. I tend to go ahead to my ball, i hit it past 99% the people i play with. Its rare i am out driven, so if i hit one way left or right i will walk ahead and look for my ball while others are hitting, or if i know i am out of the way i will go ahead so i can get the club i want. If i know my ball is in the way of another person or i would be in harms way, i will stay back.

As for number 2, i am a big fan of setting a stroke limit per hole. I think it should be 9 strokes on any given hole. Its hard to right in a two digit number, so 9 works for me. If you hit that your done, move on..

Number 3, i have no problem with someone having a long preshot routine or stand over the ball, that is there style. As long as they optimize there time with there style then i have no qualms.

Groups should always be open to let a group lay through. If your not keeping up with the ground infront of you and are being pushed, let a group through.

For some reason, this season, the courses here are plagued by players who block other players and we ended up with 3-4 groups per hole.

Another thing is that ppl also play courses which are too difficult for them to play plus they play from either gold or black tees and I think this is a problem.

Heh... this weekend I was in a group of 4, there were two pushing behind us. We let them play through and within two holes and another group of two comes up on us. We were walking off a green and the new twosome were on the box politely waiting on us. A marshal came up and told us we had two holes open in front of us, ok? We are letting guys play through and our cart had us at 7 minutes ahead! Sometimes the course staff just needs to do better at grouping than worry about distance between groups... It's not a perfect system but in the end as long as you are being courteous and letting people enjoy their round, have fun and play your game. It is after all, just a game, enjoy.

I am a pretty quick player and the two guys I had with me are both sub 10 handicaps, they are all about ready golf. We had a "member" tossed in with us who was a very nice guy but failed to mention he was about a 30 handicap and felt obligated to play blues with us. Despite everything that could have made it a bad day, we all had a great time and played near our normal scores. Don't let stuff get to you, enjoy your day away from the office and have fun.

I can deal with slow play, our course has a lot of older members and we have very, very few single digit handicaps so most of the play is slow. I am a pretty quick paced player and I do have patience, it only decreases when I see someone hit a chip shot on the far side of the green and they only take their wedge, then they walk back to get their putter, and so on. That drives me nuts, but someone who is trying, I just enjoy the fresh air and take some time to practice my swing if needed or talk with my partner.

There have been a lot of slow play thread on this site and it is the number 1 bitch of most golfers.  I don't know what can be done about it if the Marshals won't respond and the slow golfer can't/won't speed it up.  Truth be know I suspect we all have been on both sides of the problem.  But I know when I'm having a tough day and it looks like I'm going to max out the ESC I just pick up and move on.  My groups almost always play ready golf, but do it safely.  But I have said this before that slow play isn't a direct result of poor golf, it is a result of not understanding or caring about the other golfer's on the course.   When I first began playing I usually played with my mother's husband and he was an experienced golfer.  I would shoot 130 or so and walk and we would finish in about 3 1/2 hours.  So it is not high scores that cause slow golf it is poor playing habits.

I've seen the following things in the past few rounds which were contributors to slowness.

1.) The groups in carts who move as one unit. Golf is called a social game, but that doesn't mean you need to play as a 4 person unit socializing from tee to green. I've seen this with walkers too, and it's pretty painful to watch, but cart riders could potentially be moving so much faster than a walker that it seems that much slower.

2.) Playing just fast enough to stay ahead of the group behind you. If we're playing in front of a group that has even one long hitter, it's not hard to play just fast enough that they can't catch up and ask us to play through. Rest assured they're waiting on every hole, and maybe even on every shot, but when we're all ready to tee off and the group behind is still not all on the green, well we must be fast enough, right?!? WRONG.

Someone in our group has to stand up and admit we're slow. We need to pick up the pace or let them through. And we need to actively let them through. How do you do that? You have someone in your group make eye contact with them and make a "waving up" motion. Then you sit your a** down and wait for them to zoom past you. Some groups will slow their pace when it's obvious they're not getting waved through. It doesn't mean they're playing the same pace - it means they're being polite, sucking it up, whatever..Even worse if the slow group is in carts and the faster players are on foot. I've been in the fast group more often that not, but I've been in the slow group too. Somebody needs to swallow their pride.

3.) If you can see from the outset that a following group is faster, why make them wait an obligatory number of holes before playing through? If they're waiting on every single shot and you're not even on the third hole, why make them wait until #10? Do they have to pay some dues or earn your respect as a person before you'll step aside? Just have some respect and move aside already - who knows, maybe next time out they'll be paired with a beginner and let you through!?!?

Hmm... I didn't know that slow play has been the #1 complaint here... I thought it's just the casual golfers who play in this state.

1) The courses I played at when this happened, is cart only, no walkers.

2) The elderly and the women that play there know their pace and the "wave" option. But usually they are always on pace or just 5 min behind, which is no big deal.

3) I actually noticed that the group that held the 4 groups in 1 teebox had the nerve to tee off, duff the shot, then

proceeded to flirt and buy beer from the cart girl which is another 5 minutes of us waiting for them.

4) On one occasion we complained to the marshal and all he said was : "Well, there's good and bad players, just put up with it".

we finished the front 9 and we saw that this group backed everyone up and hole 10 and 11 were completely open...

So we decided to skip to hole 11. We finished hole 11 and at 12, the marshal came, told us to get back in line because

there were 3 hot and pissed off women complaining. So we waited at hole 12 for almost 15 minutes doing absolutely nothing

and finally they arrived and they were grumpy unattractive women... we watched them tee off and they duff the ball into the water...

After that, me and my business partners just left the course. It wasn't worth it.

5) My trouble club is usually my driver... and if I hit it to the rough, I time 1 minute or less to look for the ball and the moment I see ppl behind me,

I'll count that as a $4 loss and drop a ball.

PS: well we all have been on the slow side of course, and for me, that's when I first learned and I didn't know the rules.

But you know what? I remember than since day 1 I set foot on the course to play, I have been taught to pick up my ball...

and to be considerate to the players behind me. In USA everyone is different, but in Japan, that's just mandatory and it's rude

not to be considerate.

If they are slow and there is nobody in front of them, then just drive past them and skip the hole.

EDIT: Did not read your #4 above. Sounds like you need to find a new golf course.

Nah, it sounds like the course need to get their marshals and players in check, or those players need to go elsewhere like an executive course, instead of a USGA / PGA / National team course.

After you round, you should have walked into the pro shop. And told them your frustrations.

And that you will be taking your money elswhere, because the marshalls can't do their job.