What's the rush? Golfs obsession with slow play

Why did you play with the guy if he was pushing you the whole time and there was no one else out?

 

I'm fine with a 4 1/2 hour round, anything over means that a group is not following proper etiquette.  You can talk, have a good time, and play golf and still play in 4 hrs if you know etiquette.  The biggest problem with me is 4 people in 2 carts, that all wait for one person to hit, then move to the next person, and wait, so on and so forth.  Is it that big of a deal to grab a club and walk 20 yards so your ready to hit when one person hits??

I think the title of this thread should be your playing partner's obesssion with slow play, not golf's. Dude needs to chill out. Maybe smoke a joint.

There is a difference between rushing and playing ready golf. There is no need to rush if you keep a steady pace and play ready golf.

I'm sure there are some people out there that is afraid of losing minutes, which is kind of the opposite of the slow players. I don't enjoy playing with either. In my experience though, there are more of the slow players. Personally I don't think I've played a round with someone acting like you explained.

There are extreme ends of every discussion. The ideal is to find a spot in the middle.

I`ve played 5 and 6 hour rounds which isn`t necessarily any fun either, but it sounds like your playing partner was taking it to an unnecessary extreme- you should have said something to him early on about not wanting to be rushed.  OTOH, 3.5 hours for a 3 some who doesn`t have to wait is not completely unreasonable, depending on the course.

 

If you don`t have to wait, it is probably best to play with guys who like to play about the same speed as you.

 

Last week I joined a few "polo" players (their cart barely slowed down to hit a shot) stuck behind a foresome who said that they weren`t good, but they were fast.  I was walking and definitely taking more time over each shot than they were, but hitting less often.  I am not sure if it was my slower pace on each shot (first time on the course so I had to figure some things out) or the fact that I hit it about 100 past them, but when we no longer had a group in front of us on the back 9, one of the guys suggested that I go ahead of them as they were "holding me up."  They other guy said that I didn`t seem to mind playing with them, but the first offered me his hand and pushed me towards the next tee.

I suppose there are different definitions of slow play. I don't mind a moderate pace, it's not a race, but I attempt to keep up with the course's recommended pace of play. If we're a couple of minutes slow no big deal. It's not often I have people waiting on me and if they are it's because I am waiting on the groups ahead. But some don't get it and they're not just a little slow but extremely slow. I booked a tee time last night to play 9. We had a slow group two ahead of us. They played the back tees with their hundred yard grounders off the tee and spent too much time standing over the ball when they weren't searching for it in the brush. Nobody in the group was ready to play when it was their turn. We were off the first tee at 6:25 and finished at 9PM. The last two holes were played in very low light. 2.75 hours for 9 because of a slow group ahead is a bummer and it affected our round. We had to rush our own play in an attempt to finish before dark. The group ahead of us had to do the same. The quality of the golf boths groups played coming in from 7-9 wasn't what it should have been.

If he is a friend and you want to continue playing with him, try talking to him.

 

It might also be worth looking at it from his perspective.  Are you ready to play when it is your turn, etc.  I have had rounds with my dad where he is talking or day dreaming when it is his turn to play.  I don`t mind it if nobody is behind us, but if we are holding the group behind up, then it drives me nuts.  I think it is possible to play a reasonably paced round and get in some good conversation, especially if you do most of your talking while walking from your tee shots to your drives and in between other longer shots (assuming you hit it the same direction at least some of the time).

4 - 4.5 hours is a reasonable time for a round.  Anything over 5 hours and its pushing it.  A lot of people complain about slow play because they have other things to do.  They need to get back home so wifey doesn't go ballistic on them for being gone so long.

 

Since I dont have a wife or kids to worry about, my issue with slow play is that for me personally I like to be or get into a little rhythm while I am playing.  I feel i play much better (especially off the tee)  when I get to play with a normal paced foursome and even better when its less than 4 and there isnt a lot of waiting on shots.  When you are waiting on tee shots and approach shots on each hole it just throws the whole rhythm of the round off.  Its really tough to stand or sit in a cart and wait for longer periods of time then you are used to.  i really dont know how the tour pros do it or the people on Big Break shows.  How you can you stay sharp with all the waiting and downtime?

3.5 hours is a fine goal if you're by yourself and feel the need to meet a self-imposed deadline, but it's rather ridiculous if you're with a threesome and nobody is waiting on you.  Honestly I may have told the friend to play ahead if it was that important to him.  

 

It wasn't an issue when I started because back then people didn't care about hurting a new golfer's feelings. They'd tell us (before even teeing off) to, "keep up or pick up", and they'd stay true to that. When you learn early on to play quickly you soon learn to play efficiently so you can do it without feeling rushed.

 

Well sure, and I would agree that slow play is a major issue in golf.

 

But in the instance you initially described, this wasn't an issue of playing too slowly, just not playing at a pace this guy wanted to see.

 

I would put it this way - were you holding up anyone? if not, then who cares how fast or slow you play. This guy wanting everyone to play at his pace is a totally different issue. He sounds like a real jackass.

 

3.5 hours? That's quick. 4 hours should be normal.

 

Then perhaps just a pre-tee-off chat is in order - 'Dude, we're not going to race around the course, got it?'