When even a normal pace is too slow

I play a lot by myself and its often late afternoon when no one is on the course. I can play 18 holes in about 2 hours. When I do this I play great. Roll up, get distance, grab club, hit shot, move on.

My problem now though is that when I play in a normal group at a normal pace I start to struggle. Its not a slow pace so I can't push people but its slow for me. A great example was yesterday. Front 9 was about an hour. 2 rough holes to start but then 7 straight pars. On 10 it bogged down with a group in front of me (I played 7 holes to their 2 on the front). I then doubled 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18.

Obviously I've got some mental issues but does anyone have any advice? I'm thinking maybe next time I just sit in the cart and not pay attention until its my turn and then jump out and play quick like I would if I just pulled up.

This.

Take a chill pill and just enjoy the game. Sometimes if I get used to something at a certain pace or doing it a certain way and I stop for a few days/weeks and start it back up again what was comfortable, isn't the same and I might try doing it differently. Maybe that will help with relation to your pace of play.

My guess is it isn't the pace but the distraction of playing with others.

Maybe that's the problem, try walking.

I love to walk but here in Houston it gets really hot and humid and by the end that also starts to affect me. Its getting cooler though so I may start doing just that.

That's one of the major reasons I like to walk. I hate hitting a shot and 5 sec later you're sitting next to your ball fidgetting, tapping your fingers...

Speaking of Houston, I went there once in October I believe, it was like 93 humid as hell, and the locals were saying, "Thank God the heat finally broke!". I was like

Park a little way from your ball, then only drive up when there is only one person left to play before you.  That way you can pick your club, line up your shot and be ready to make your swing as soon as he makes his.  But any way you look at it, that's just a temporary solution.  You just have to learn patience.  Play more often under those conditions - even try to play slower when you are playing alone.  Socialize with the others in your group when you have to wait.  Look at the course around you; smell the breeze; listen to the birds.  When you learn to enjoy the entire experience you find that playing golf is so much more than just hitting a ball around the course.

What you focus on expands, if you think you can't play when it's slow your right.  It's all mental, example would be not wanting to hit it in the sand trap, that's where your going.  The power is in the pre-shot routine.  When your playing by yourself or others it really shouldn't matter, although I find it very hard to concentrate when playing by myself.  Develop a pre-shot routine that takes the same amount of time before each shot so you get into the zone with the right tempo.  If you take more than 30 seconds for your pre-shot routine that would be to much thinking, around 30 seconds for your routine seems to be the magic number for the pros, get a stop watch and time them and have someone time yours.

I just don't understand the point of playing hurry-up golf unless a) you're trying to get in multiple rounds per day; b) you're trying to beat an approaching storm; or c) the only way you could get in a round on a busy day is if you play quickly.  Maybe it's a symptom of ADD?  My best friend (who has ADD) is like that on vacations, which is why I don't really like going on trips with him - he's got to have the whole family packed up and ready to go by 8am on the last day and can't wait to rush home to sit there for the entire rest of the day, basically wasting the day.  To me, playing a rushed round of golf (anyone playing a round in 2 hours is rushing, no question about it) is a waste of the experience of being outdoors doing something fun.  Most of my rounds this summer have been in the 4 to 4 1/2 hour range and they have not felt too slow.

OP, ask yourself if you'd rather be on a golf course or stuck at work.  If you have to think even a second for the answer, you're either playing the wrong sport for you, or you're a lucky individual who has made better vocational choices than most of the rest of us.

Yeah 2 hours is a crazy fast round.  Of course, I've never played solo with a cart on a wide open course, so I don't really know.  But to me that sounds like a rushed pace, not just a quick golfer solo with no one in front pace.  Maybe you use that rushing strategy to make sure you have zero time to destroy your own game mentally?  Do you find lots of other things can easily derail your round?  Do you play like a 7.2 solo at a 2 hour pace but like a 20 any other way?  Sounds to me like your mental game must really struggle.

Sure, getting taken off your preferred pace and lack of waiting can take anyone off if they have a nice groove going, but the problem is your own mental game if that kind of change of pace results in going from +2 or +3 on the front to +12 on the back!

If you generally are playing when the course is pretty open (so doing the following doesn't screw non-singles behind you), then maybe you should do what you proposed, and not tee off until you can play the tee to green at the pace you want.  If you're hyperactive maybe practice putts on the previous green or pitches by the tee box?  In general I think it might be worth it to play in a foursome at some times that are busy and eventually force yourself to be able to play as well in 4 hours as you can in 2.

I'm not sure how a single digit index player in a cart with a wide open course could possibly play slower than 2 hours. Is that even possible? That's one of many reasons I never cart when solo at twilight. If I got used to that pace, then a regular round at ~ 4 hours would drive me insane.

Have to agree Im around a 20 and I can get a round in a about 2.5 hrs with no one in front of me at a reasonable pace. Not rushing by any means.

OP I have a similar problem. I think its actually a rhythm issue.I get out of it so to speak when I have to wait.

I think it's possible in the same way and in the same frequency that people who claim on internet forums that they drive the ball 300 yards actually regularly hit it beyond 290.

I've never played 18 holes by myself driving a cart - I've always walked (it seems rather lazy and self-absorbed to be riding by oneself absent a medical need to use a cart) - but I've played plenty of rounds by myself on courses where I didn't have long walks between holes or waits for groups in front of me.  I've also played lots of rounds with a friend on a cart when we were just a twosome with no one in front of us.  In either of those circumstances, I've never finished a round in under 3:00, maybe not even 3:15.  Even taking into account that a single plays faster than a twosome, a player on a cart can play faster than a walker, and a single-digit handicapper will have more balls in the fairway and will spend less time hunting for balls than someone who shoots in the 90's, I cannot conceive of how numerous people can be playing nearly 50% faster than I have ever played.

So yeah, sure many of you are playing 18 holes in 1hr 45 minutes.

And I just had a threesome with two blonde 20 year old women

Who were beautiful.

And Swedish

And twins.

My best guess is you take too many strokes tee to green in random directions. It's difficult without ever seeing your swing or pre-shot routine where you waste time or why you hit the ball so short. Walking speed - to the ball and on the greens - is also a likely factor. That you had to clarify the Swedish twins were women might be clue as well.

Lots of good responses. I'll address as many "OP" questions/comments as possible here.

Getting a cart as a single on an open course is far from lazy for me.  I grab a cart for 1 of two reasons and maybe both. First, I play quite often. My wife is very understanding but if I go out after work to play and its open, I want to get a full round in and minimize the time away from home so I get a cart so I can finish in 2 hours. Second, I have a slight case of plantar fasciitis and if I walk too often my feet will hurt and my game will suffer and subsequent energy level at home will be zero.

I am a fast player. I don't chit chat a bunch or at least do so between shots or even while I'm hitting (I can carry on a conversation right up to my trigger and then right after contact). I get a distance, take in the variables (wind, elevation, trouble etc which I usually already have figured out before I get to the ball), decide on my shot (cut, draw, punch whatever) and then go. I LOVE playing golf. I don't LOVE being in nature and taking my time. I like those things and they are a big part of my golf enjoyment, but I am there to play golf so I get to it and get it done. I've played in 1.5 hours before. Yes this includes jogging from cart to green and back and hustling on and off the tee box. I love hitting golf shots so I want to get to the next one as quick as I can.

When I slow down, or am forced to slow down, I completely agree that it is mental. I OVER think things during my wait, tense up and start leaking oil. That then leads to frustration and then its a downward spiral from there. I am working on it.

Finally, you wold be amazed in the amount of golf that someone could play in the time it takes many people to just get their head cover on. Add up the time for the extra 15-25 strokes (accounting for ranges of 90s to 100s) people take over me, the searching time for bad shots, the time wasted on inefficient pace strategies (I'll watch you hit and you watch me hit instead of you going and hitting your shot while I go and hit my shot) and the endless time spent reading putts only to miss by 6 feet and then start all over and I will be in the club house before they make the turn. I don't even mark my ball unless it is muddy or I'm in someone's way (and by myself there is no one's way to get in)

I'll close with an example: I played Sunday. 2pm tee off with a buddy, in a cart. It was wet and thus cart path only. We played in 2 hrs 15 minutes. We had a good time. Chatted, checked the NFL and Ryder Cup scores, etc but when it was time to hit we hit. We didn't watch each other hit other than on the tee box and if he was walking up to the green after pitching on then I putted out and then replaced the flag for him to finish. I shot an 84 (not great but I didn't warm up and started slow) but it was my best day of driving the ball in 3 months and my ball striking was awesome.

So it can be done. I'm not saying you should play that quick, but I don't agree that it is analogous to the 300yd drive

I'd get Angry Birds on your phone (joke).

A few TST'ers will understand this comment.

First of all, I only take a cart when it is late and I am in a rush, and I never play well under those conditions. So I prefer to walk and it doesn't matter if I get 18 in, I will always enjoy it more while walking. And if the golf course is busy at all, you will be fighting that with a cart. I only need to play 18 holes if I am in a tournament or a friendly match with my friends.

Plus, I don't think always playing by yourself will ever challenge you as a golfer. I can get into Zen mode when i am by myself and hit great shots. But the ones that last, the ones that I always remember, are the ones in competition when I take somebody down with a great golf shot. It is the challenge of HAVING to hit the shot for the win.  I get a lot more satisfaction playing in a group and having a friendly match. Even doing that in a little nassau is very satisfying.