Do you tee off while the group ahead of you is putting out? - Page 4

The real question is.. Why would you not tee off? There is no reason to wait, is there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

 How many of you can hit a 3W from the fairway farther that you hit your driver off the tee?

I've hit my second shot MUCH farther than my tee shot way to many times to remember all of them. So I guess the answer is no I can't hit my 3W farther than I can hit my driver UNLESS I hit a crappy tee shot. 

Pretty sure I'm not alone. A few weeks ago I was playing with a scratch golfer that topped a tee shot and it rolled down the fairway probably not much over 100 yards. After taking a minute to get over his embarrassment he hit a 3 wood on the fringe from about 250 yards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS256 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

 How many of you can hit a 3W from the fairway farther that you hit your driver off the tee?

I've hit my second shot MUCH farther than my tee shot way to many times to remember all of them. So I guess the answer is no I can't hit my 3W farther than I can hit my driver UNLESS I hit a crappy tee shot. 

 

Pretty sure I'm not alone. A few weeks ago I was playing with a scratch golfer that topped a tee shot and it rolled down the fairway probably not much over 100 yards. After taking a minute to get over his embarrassment he hit a 3 wood on the fringe from about 250 yards.

I thought it was obvious enough that I was talking about the guy who hits a good tee shot 240, then waits with the 3W in hand until the green clears 260 yards ahead of him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

I thought it was obvious enough that I was talking about the guy who hits a good tee shot 240, then waits with the 3W in hand until the green clears 260 yards ahead of him.

I thought maybe you were following me around the course. Ha ha!

I even got chewed out by a course marshal one time because I was waiting for a green to clear from 250 out after hitting a bad tee shot. He told me to go ahead and hit the shot, and told me the green was further away than the tee box I just hit off of.

Of course I totally ignored him and after the green cleared I hit the ball over the green just to prove a point. I don't think the point I made was worth the bogey it cost me, especially when I found out after the round that the guys behind us (also part of our group) had put the marshal up to messing with us just for a joke.

If I think there's even a once a year fluke chance I can reach the green and hit somebody I'm going to wait. Since my average time to play a round with nobody in front of me is less than 3 hours, if the pace of play is slow it's not me that's causing it. Yesterday my wife, my son, and I played 18 holes in 3 hours with cart path only, and my wife can only hit the ball a little over 100 yards at a time around the course. If she can play a 3 hour round there's really no excuse for slow play from anybody. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS256 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

I thought it was obvious enough that I was talking about the guy who hits a good tee shot 240, then waits with the 3W in hand until the green clears 260 yards ahead of him.

I thought maybe you were following me around the course. Ha ha!

 

I even got chewed out by a course marshal one time because I was waiting for a green to clear from 250 out after hitting a bad tee shot. He told me to go ahead and hit the shot, and told me the green was further away than the tee box I just hit off of.

 

Of course I totally ignored him and after the green cleared I hit the ball over the green just to prove a point. I don't think the point I made was worth the bogey it cost me, especially when I found out after the round that the guys behind us (also part of our group) had put the marshal up to messing with us just for a joke.

 

If I think there's even a once a year fluke chance I can reach the green and hit somebody I'm going to wait. Since my average time to play a round with nobody in front of me is less than 3 hours, if the pace of play is slow it's not me that's causing it. Yesterday my wife, my son, and I played 18 holes in 3 hours with cart path only, and my wife can only hit the ball a little over 100 yards at a time around the course. If she can play a 3 hour round there's really no excuse for slow play from anybody. 

The one caveat I would add is that in such a case, you should make sure that the shorter hitters of your group (who may not be as pace aware as you are) either play while you wait or be ready to play as soon as you have so that they aren't held up by your delay.   I make the point because I've seen this happen all too often.  The entire group gathers at ball of the guy who's waiting, then they go and play their layup shots 100 yards short of the green.  They have just lost 2 or 3 minutes on the hole in addition to the time spent waiting with you.  

I'm not specifically targeting you or your friends, but using your case to make a generic example of a not unusual type of behavior.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MS256 

If I think there's even a once a year fluke chance I can reach the green and hit somebody I'm going to wait. Since my average time to play a round with nobody in front of me is less than 3 hours, if the pace of play is slow it's not me that's causing it. Yesterday my wife, my son, and I played 18 holes in 3 hours with cart path only, and my wife can only hit the ball a little over 100 yards at a time around the course. If she can play a 3 hour round there's really no excuse for slow play from anybody. 

That is pretty darn fast for 3 people that are cart path only. 

The biggest issue I have with slow play is people searching for a ball for 10 minutes EVERY time they lose a ball left or right.  I understand that balls can add up quickly, but start using a ball that is better suited for your game.  I have a high handicap and I have lost plenty of balls, but if you lose a ball on every other hole then do a quick check and drop if you can't find it. 

odd thread - I have one rule on this topic

1 - I hit when I think those guys are out of range plus a little buffer.  Doesn't matter what hole or what shot.  pretty simple philosophy.  So Par 4's and 5's, hit when out of range + a bit.  Par 3's off the green and out of the way.  The caviat is, I don't piss around when I get to the ball.  Check distance, pick the club/shot, do the 'short' routine, hit the ball, keep moving.

as for actually choosing to hit a shorter club just to hit away

that's an odd assumption that this would in any way quicken up the pace of play.....

2 - I'm not sure waiting on a single short par 4 is going to affect the total pace of play - certainly never pick a shorter club for that reason - that's pretty goofy.  Usually, there's a specific hole or short series on the course that's the pace choke point.  It's not usually a short par 4.  It's usually a couple Par 3's in a row.   The short way to understand this is to realize that you ALREADY are being paced by the group in front of you or you wouldn't be considering the option in the first place.  How does hitting 3w instead of driver going to make THEM play faster (or the group in front of them?)

frankly, if the pace is slowing in front of you and you actually "choose" to hit with a shorter club - then you are likely just allowing the crush to get denser all around you.  that's nonsense.  Now we aren't going faster and the course is just more crowded.  Seriously, hit the club you'd hit normally.

So I don't get too worried about pace of play at any single hole if I know we'll catch the next group at the choke point regardless.  Following rule 1 consistently is pretty much the best anyone can do.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourputt 

 

The one caveat I would add is that in such a case, you should make sure that the shorter hitters of your group (who may not be as pace aware as you are) either play while you wait or be ready to play as soon as you have so that they aren't held up by your delay.   I make the point because I've seen this happen all too often.  The entire group gathers at ball of the guy who's waiting, then they go and play their layup shots 100 yards short of the green.  They have just lost 2 or 3 minutes on the hole in addition to the time spent waiting with you.  

 

I'm not specifically targeting you or your friends, but using your case to make a generic example of a not unusual type of behavior.

Yeah, I also see no reason to not play ready golf for everybody in the group. It would be silly for my wife to wait for us when it's going to take her 3 good shots to get to the green.

There is one good thing about her play and that's that her ball is always in the fairway so no looking for the ball (it doesn't go far enough to miss the fairway).

Another is that she actually has a very good short game so once she gets close to the green there's a better than average chance she is going to get up and down.