What is going on?

Hey guys,

I was playing golf yesterday and play was super slow. There was a foursome in front of us who would not let us play through. We had three players total. Every hole we were waiting around five minutes on the tee box. Then after the turn we tried to go in front of them on number 10, but one of the carts pulled right up by the tee box and would not let us play through them. They even had one of their players drop out after 9. It took everything in my power not to just start screaming at them I was so irritated.

To make it even worse, on hole number 13, this slow threesome in front of us played through a twosome!! I could not believe it. I asked them what was going on, and they said, "We've been losing a lot of golf balls." Ok. Fine. Well you will not believe it, but they were playing from the back tees!! I could not believe it. I watched them hit several shots when I could and there is no way they should have been playing from the back tees.

These events were unfortunate, becuase it was a beautiful day for golf. Folks, what is going on?

1) were there open holes in front of them?

2) did you ask if you could play through?

1) There was a slight opening, but the course was crowded because it was a nice day.

2) We did not ask but on the 10th hole we tried to sneak by. But that didn't work real well.

Finally by about the 15th hole things started moving but even on hole 16, one of my friends actually hit into them. The ball took a huge bounce, but he also hit the drive of his life.

If the course was crowded then they must have been waiting also? Why are you trying to sneak in front of someone instead of asking like most people would, I think I can understand why they blocked you. And why is your friend hitting into them if the course is crowded? Doesn't matter if he hit the drive of his life if there is any chance of reaching someone you wait.

Looking at it from the other side, and I don't play much during the busy times, but it's difficult to let people play through on busy days. If there's not a gap of at least 2 holes, then you're just trading spots in line which means their round is now 15m longer because they're waiting on one more group (yours) in front of them.

Now, having said that I played with 3 players I'd never played with before a couple weeks back, and was shocked when one of them kind of threw a fit when welet a twosome play through on #10. His complaint was that foursomes "have precedent" over any other size group, and therefore it wasn't right for them to play through. I have never heard that argument and it doesn't make any sense to me. Some courses don't let singles go out alone, but once you're on the course I've always thought it was the faster groups should be allowed to play through when appropriate.

To me, it sounds like you let them get inside your head, and ruin your day on the golf course.

I wonder, could this type of situation fall under course management?

Sneak by to where? If the course is crowded there is nowhere to go.

The course was crowded but there was a bit of a gap, I think, after the foursome and the twosome that were playing from the back tees. They were holding everybody up because there were four groups behind us that were really bunched up.

I heard someone say something similar to that also, unless there is some rule I don't know of about this I would just say "hogwash".

I've played with people that didn't want others to play through. That's courtesy, something our society is losing. I feel if I'm holding someone up, I let them play through. If the course is crowded and there's really no place to go, I just accept it and realize a slow day on a golf course still beats just about anything else I could be doing anyway. Slow play doesn't bother me really. If there are holes open and I come up to a group that is playing slow, I ask them to let us play through. If they try to ignore us or say no, I tell them we're calling the clubhouse to send out a ranger (player assistance now). That usually works. If they still won't let us play through, I start teeing up my water balls and start hitting into them. I use water balls because they might start messing with them when a ball sails over their head. When they try to confront us, I just smirk and say, "Excuse me". Then I reiterate if they'd like us to play through. I've had some drunks get riled up and get out of their carts before. I just pull out my putter and say "come get me". They always just back off. I remember a couple that just left the course. Too bad. Sometimes you just have to be ready to rumble. Didn't I open this post with something about courtesy? :-D

I was playing solo Tuesday and got paired up with another solo for the back 9. I was walking and he was riding. We made pretty good time and caught a 5-some of older ladies on the 15th. They we're unbelievably slow but had no intention of letting us through. Drove both of us crazy. We waited 5+ minutes on each remaining hole. No courtesy anymore.

the course is jammed up, your group didn't ask to play through, you tried to sneak around them at the turn without communication, your group hit into the group in front of you. If those are the facts I am not sure that the group ahead of yours is the one with an etiquette issue.

I can't say that I've experienced that... I tend not to play through as the pressure I put on myself results in some really lousy shots. I'll just hang back and let them do their thing and I'll take the opportunity to spend a little extra time on the green practicing my putting or chipping. I only do that IF there aren't others pushing me from behind. If there are, then I'll keep pace... otherwise I'll drop back and enjoy myself.

Sorry OP to hear that you ran into some people that lacked courtesy...

'Bout that life, huh?

Perhaps another side of the coin. I was in a walking foursome the other day. We had a single, in a cart behind us. He was not causing us any grief, but we offered to let him play through on several occasions. There was no one in front of us. From what we could tell he was playing pretty good shots, while taking his time. He turned us down on our play through offers. Finally, I guess he got tired of our offers, and tee'd off on the same tee box we were on. After a couple of very poor drives, he left the tee box frustrated, and told us that was why he did not want to play through.

Root cause of the problem sounds like a crowded course.  I do not know your area but in crowded Northern NJ since I became an empty nester I adjusted my playing times and the courses I play years ago to avoid crowded conditions.  Hot Summer afternoons and Sunday afternoons in the Fall when the Jets of Giants are playing often give me a 3 to 3 1/2 hour round.  Weekday afternoons are closer to 2 1/2 hours.  One other recommendation I would make if you have a regular foursome, which is to find a course that sells seaonal tee times during the most busy hours - typically Saturday and Sunday morning.  When my children were at home and I had more obligations on a Sunday afternoon, my group would tee off at 8:08, and the pe-booked tee times went from 7 to 11AM.  It should be noted that we had to pre-pay the green fees for 20 rounds by March 1st, but any group that was willing to make that commitment was likely to consist of dedicated golfers.  It was an unwritten rule that we would play at a brisk but pleasant pace and finish in 4 hours or less.  Immediately we would hit a provisional if there was any doubt, spend only 2-3 minutes looking for a balls, and took our putting seriously but understood that it was not the Masters.  I would be home by 12:45 ready for barbecues, softball games, or just cutting the lawn.

Problems like you had are almost inevitable under packed conditions.  If there was an empty hole or two in front of them they should have allowed you to play through - I would have asked them under those circumstances.  But try and go with it and not let it ruin your round.

Not sure what this means. I'm an old fart, so I don't know what a lot of things mean these days. I remember years ago a group hit into us and almost hit us. My brother-in-law is a pretty big dude and can look menacing if he wants to (I wouldn't mess with him). Well he turns around and hits the ball back at the tee box. Pretty good shot actually. Well the group that hit into us comes rolling up the fairway yelling at us about hitting their ball back at them. My bro-in-law gets out of the cart and starts running at them yelling and waving his driver. That other cart took off like it had after burners. :-D He wouldn't have hurt them too bad. That was a classic moment I'll never forget.

Doesn't mean much of anything honestly. I just thought a golfer standing there gloves off, putter drawn, ready to brawl was a funny visual. You don't mess around on the course!