What's wrong with slowing it down a bit.....

Let me say first that I play ready golf and rarely will people be waiting for me to play.....

That said....I hear tons of bitching about slow play. I wonder how many of you guys are the ones that like to get out in a two some and fire golf balls up my ass all day because I'm playing a 4 1/2 hour round instead of a 3 hour speed golf session. While I play at local courses a lot and I'm often on a limited time frame, I don't show up expecting to be at the course from my tee time and back to my car in exactly four hours. This is unreasonable. And often I play out of town and spend anywhere from $80-150 for a round of golf. When golf costs that much you are often paying for the view as much as for the golf. I'm not endorsing six hour rounds, but I think that some of us need to take a chill pill and enjoy the time on the course. 4.5 to 5 hours should be expected at a nice course on the weekend. Far too many people end up stressed out and pissed off over the amount of time it takes to complete a round. Why not enjoy the view. Enjoy the company. Drink a beer. Is an extra hour on the golf course really that bad??? If so, your wife must be a lot hotter than mine.

For me slow play is an inevitabillity, not purposely, I too play ready golf with few practice swings, no mulligans or do-overs per se but I'm a newbie and thus it may take two or three shots to get where some folks get in one, more shots means more time my default. My ettiquette I can control my skill level I can not...at least not in the course of one round. That said I do get frustrated when I'm behind a group of seniors who do not play ready golf, they walk up to each ball and all watch eachother shoot and so on...but that's different from the situation I am describing.

-Adam J.

Amen, I like to take my damn time. 4.5 hours is a perfect time for a round for me. Golf is the only time in the week when I can get out and enjoy nature and unwind from a week of working.

I agree with taking your time playing theres nothing worse than paying $100 for a green fee then having 4 guys ripping golf balls into you all day trying to get done in two and a half hours. The only thing I can do is just let them play through if they are in that big of a rush and not let them ruin my round.

I like to take my time, too. My definition of taking my time however, is a different thing. I hit my ball, drive up to it, pick a club, aim at the hole, and fire away. Then I jump back in the cart, and drive up to it again, repeat again for 18 holes. I'm just fast. I can make 18 in 2:30 without breaking a sweat when playing by myself, and I think I've taken my time. I get into a rhythm, and keep going at that speed.

When I get held up at each tee by the foursome of seniors who won't let me through, I lose my paitence pretty quickly. I'm here to hit my ball, not enjoy the view. If I wanted to do that, I would go to the park. When I sit around for 15 minues on each tee, my muscles cool off, I get irritated, and my golf game inevitably suffers.

When in a twosome, I can make it around in 3:30 with my buddies, maybe 4 hours with my father. Any more is obscenely slow (and I constantly harp on my father about slow play - he throws it back at me by saying my alignment is all F-'ed up and tells me to slow down). Especially since I'm not a morning person. I want to get done before dark. A five hour round is ridiculous, unless you're playing in a tournament and you're in a foursome. Six hours...get the hell out of here.

My outlet, especially to people who are just plain old pricks, is to go ahead and hit a ball in their direction, so they get the idea. There's a few things that have to happen before I get that aggressive - either someone's on their cell phone, playing slower than molasses and still can't hit the ball properly, or four old ladies who hit the ball an average of 15 yards each shot and manage to take 20 minutes on a par 3, or if they've said something smartass to me already.

Play faster or let me through. If they pick it up I'll hit another, and another - I get balls for only 5 cents or so, so I can afford to lose a few. Eventually I'll bean one of them.

Edit: I know by doing such things I'm not much better than the other prick, but, eh, it's an outlet for me. I think it beats putting holes in the ground with clubs, or worse, breaking them on my knee, or something.

Second Edit: There's one of my buddies I normally play with - he's about half a year older than I am, and I've known him for years. I got him to pick up golf two years ago, and I've sort of passed the bug onto him. He can't break 150, even after two years, but he learned from me, I think - he plays ready golf, hates slow play, and doesn't hesitate to call the ranger out. (He also picked up my bad habits, such as not scoring higher than an 8 on any hole no matter how bad it is - but I do it for handicap purposes, fluffing up his lie, kicking his ball out from trees, and so on. I've dropped the habits but he hasn't.)

Wow. Did you pick the wrong forum to post such idiocy. You are what's killing golf in this country. Re-read your post. Does it not ooze selfishness? Why yes, it does. Congratulations. You are the protypical American golfer on public courses. I am thrilled you have posted your opinion because you are exactly the bane of all other golfers, golf course owners, and golf as a sport.

Golf and golf courses are dying because most people aren't as lucky as you to have the time to waste an entire day trying to play a round of golf. You must be either so rich or so poor that your time is worthless. And that's what you are to other golfers and the sport as a whole. Worthless. You are clogging the course, preventing others from playing, and making the entire experience a hassle. Congratulations. You're smug in your beer drinking and scenery gazing and 150 other people are pissed. Well done. Golf on any level does not take more than four hours do to unless you're playing for a million dollars or are so tanked up on beer you can't see straight. Bars are made for drinking, golf courses are made for golf. Actually, I think you'd have more fun at a NASCAR event. Please, please take up another pastime. It's obvious you don't know what golf is about. So maybe consider bowling. It's cheaper. The beer is colder. And most times nobody cares how long you take to bowl. Idiot. Ugh. Not only is my wife hotter than yours, she can count to ten without using her fingers. Please give up the pastime. For you it's not a sport, it's an excuse to be a creep. One other thing: The greens fee you choose to pay, not matter how high, is not license to take your own sweet time. A hundred or more golfers behind you have paid the same amount and expect you to respect that.

I thought that was a bit unnecessarily agressive and hostile comming from a site's admin, who usually sets tone by example...a post like that is borderline flaming...but that's just me.

-Adam J.

Wow!

This forum is kind of like MSNBC......

Either you agree with their view or you don't post.

You guys are ****ing pricks.

I'm out.............

Mr. Wahoo - you're joking - right? Ha - that's funny stuff.
Are you a a three course meal guy too between the front and the back nines? Slow play isn't the end of the world but it isn't something to celebrate either. I'm 65 years old - I've seen all the freaking scenery I need to see in my life - I wanna play golf!!! Move it!!! dayll

I see where your coming from but, as a fast pace player, I get no rythme playing behind a foursome that takes like 15-20 minutes per hole or 4.5-5 hours to play 18.

I exagerated quite a bit there, 4.5 hours is when I am playing with my high handicap buddies shooting the shit. When I play with my other friend who is a single digit handicap we have a fun round in 3:30.

And guess what? I NEVER inconvience the golfers behind me because i either play early in the morning or late in the evening. In the off chance the group behind me is in a rush I am more than happy to wait for them to play through. My golf etiquette is superb if I dont say so myself. I repair all ball marks I find, sand my divots, and obey cart rules.

i think everyone here is being selfish. if u take 5 hours you are being selfish, if you press forward to get done in 3 you are being selfish. look at the score card, check the pace of play. on mine its 4:12. if i get done in 4:12 or less, ive got NOTHING to complain about in regards to pace. ok yes, i will complain, but i know if im getting done in the allotted time then the course held up its end of the deal.

if you know you dont have 4:12 to play a round (or whatever pace of play is), and you go out to try to squeeze in 18, then you cant complain that you didnt get done in time because you knew ahead of time that you were pushing your luck.

now of course its nice to let a fast group thru if there is room in front.. but at my course, unless the group ahead is behind pace, the rangers cant force them to let us thru.

play in foursomes by strict rules and see if you can finish in less than 4 hours, honestly, slow play only really is a problem on a weekend (or in leagues) when you dont have a foursome out there so you cant get a steady pace, I know it seems really slow when i play by mysel or in a 2some but if you have four it feels fine.

I shoot in the 100s and I think a 4 hour round is unacceptably long. Heck, I played 18 this weekend and finished my round in 3 hours, drank 2 beers, AND enjoyed the scenery (from the rough searching for my ball on several holes). How ANYBODY could suggest that a 4.5 hr round is fine and to quit moaning and sit back and enjoy it is beyond me. It takes me 3-3.5 hours to play a round. If I have to wait 4.5 hours, 1-1.5 hours of my life are lost and they weren't spent playing golf... when you have to sit around and wait for an hour and a half, YOU AREN'T PLAYING GOLF.

You want to have a beer and enjoy the scenery? Be my guest. Do it while I play through your slow group.

is a 4 some supposed to let every single go thru? if im out there alone and no one in front the whole day i can finish 18 in less than 2 hours easy.. sometimes 1.5 hours if im not losing any... but if there are 4 singles in a row and a foursome.. are they supposed to sit at the tee and let 4 singles go thru one by one for the next 30 minutes? the rangers should pair you up into 4somes then