{"id":1770,"date":"2007-05-01T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/columns\/the_numbers_game\/slow_play_calculations"},"modified":"2007-05-01T07:00:04","modified_gmt":"2007-05-01T11:00:04","slug":"slow_play_calculations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/the_numbers_game\/slow_play_calculations","title":{"rendered":"Slow Play Calculations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheThis week, The Sand Trap<\/em> is throwing hard light on slow play on America’s golf courses. We’re fed up, tired, and sick of spending five hours traversing four miles of course, especially when there are so many incentives to play more quickly: more time with family, more time at the 19th hole, more time to play another 18 holes, and the increased likelihood that our spouse will let us play to begin with!<\/p>\n

In this week’s The Numbers Game<\/em>, we’re going to look at how much time one can save doing simple, efficient things on the golf course, ranging from walking more quickly to being ready to play when it’s your turn.<\/p>\n

Read on, because I think the amount of time you can save may be impressive.
\n
\nFive Hour Rounds<\/strong>
\nI’ve played 18 holes of golf at my club, a 71.2\/136-rated par 72, carrying my bag in 110 minutes. That’s an hour and 50 minutes. Clearly adding a second, third, and fourth player would not subsequently add 110 minutes apiece – there’s a lot of overlapping time spent walking the fairways.<\/p>\n

Today, in the U.S. of A., we’re faced with five hours on the course. Once you factor in your driving time, chipping and putting, and general loosening up, you can easily spend six or seven hours away from your family just playing 18 holes.<\/p>\n

Just Walk Faster<\/strong>
\n7000 yards is equivalent to 21,000 feet, or 3.977 miles. Due to green-to-tee walks, let’s say the average golf course is five miles, an added 20%. That should also cover walking around on the greens.<\/p>\n

The average human being walks about 3.5 miles per hour, which means that, at a leisurely pace, the entirety of a golf course can be walked in under 90 minutes. The average human takes about 110 steps per minute. Simply increasing that rate to 130 steps per minute shaves nearly 15 minutes from the 90 it takes just to walk. Since every member of a foursome can shave this time equally, that’s 15 minutes we can save off the top simply by walking faster.<\/p>\n

People in carts can drive much faster than they can walk, but due to the location of cart paths, cart riders still walk a good bit and can easily shave 5-10 minutes from their times by walking faster.<\/p>\n

Time Saved: 15 Minutes<\/em><\/p>\n

Halfway House != Half an Hour<\/strong>
\nIt’s not uncommon for the wait at the turn to last thirty minutes. It’s routine for three groups to get backed up on the tenth tee.<\/p>\n

Speed it up. Call the halfway house from the ninth tee or from your cart when possible, pack your own lunch, or simply forego the four-course meal at the turn.<\/p>\n

Time Saved: at least 10 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Play Faster<\/strong>
\nImagine your typical foursome. Each golfer shoots 90 and has a good pre-shot routine. Let’s imagine 18 shots per golfer are the type that take little to no time – a tap-in. Each golfer takes 72 strokes on which they must concentrate. Four golfers, each with 72 strokes, for a grand total of 288 strokes.<\/p>\n

Let’s imagine each golfer is prepared to play when it’s his turn and has, in fact, already begun his pre-shot routine. He lines up his putt while others are putting, he has the correct clubs near the green and doesn’t need to return to the cart, and so on. On some shots, he’ll save only a few seconds, if any. On others, he’ll save 30 seconds or more. Let’s assume each golfer is able to save only 10 seconds per stroke – again, excluding the 18 tap-ins we’ve given each golfer. How much time, over the course of 18 holes, would these golfers save? Would you believe 48 minutes? I do: 288 shots * 10 seconds\/shot \/ 60 seconds\/minute = 48 minutes<\/code>.<\/p>\n

And here’s the thing: ten seconds is not a long time. My hunch is that every golfer could reasonably save 15 to 20 seconds per shot simply by being ready. If you spend five seconds trying to find a tee in your pocket, five seconds wrestling to get your headcover back on, and five seconds watching the beer cart girl a few fairways over on your tee shot, you’ve wasted 15 seconds. Some people manage to waste 15 seconds on every tee box just recounting their own scores!<\/p>\n

Imagine if each golfer could save 30 seconds per stroke<\/em>, again conceding 18 tap-ins per round. A foursome would save 144 minutes – nearly two and a half hours! Indeed, a foursome of very prepared golfers can play a full 18 holes in well under 2½ hours. I’ve been a part of such foursomes.<\/p>\n

Time Saved: 45 minutes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Already Saved an Hour<\/strong>
\nWe’ve already saved an hour: 15 minutes simply walking faster between shots and 45 minutes by being prepared to hit your shot and saving only 10 seconds. Where else can we save time?<\/p>\n

That varies by golfer. The 20-handicapper who waits for the green to clear 300 yards away isn’t doing anyone a favor, least of all the people waiting behind on the tee for him to move out of the landing area. The same 20-handicapper probably doesn’t really need to know if he has 156 yards in or 152 – it’s a 6-iron all the same, and even that likely won’t find the green.<\/p>\n

The better golfer can sometimes get too caught up in an elaborate pre-shot routine that involves checking the wind, rehearsing a swing move, and general Ben Crane-iness. Such golfers would do well to take the advice of most sports psychologists and realize that their first instinct is usually the best one.<\/p>\n

All golfers can benefit from a little common sense. Park your cart at the back of the green so you can exit quickly. If you putt out first, get the flag and round up the wedges scattered around the edges of the green. Let the short hitter tee off first. Walk ahead to your ball in the fairway or rough if you’re not on someone’s line to the hole. Help your friend look – for a few minutes only – for his lost ball. Play provisionals when appropriate. And play from the correct set of tees, for crying out loud.<\/p>\n

The next time you’re on the course, ask yourself where you can save time. Or use the slow foursome in front of you as a learning example.<\/p>\n

Five to Four<\/strong>
\nSimply walking faster and shaving a few seconds per stroke can convert the five-hour round into a four-hour round. Personally, I believe four golfers should be able to play a golf course of average difficulty from the appropriate tees in three hours or less<\/em>, but we’re trying to take some baby steps here. Bringing five-hour rounds down to four is biting off enough for now.<\/p>\n

I’ll leave you with this final bit of math. If you play golf every other weekend for 30 years and are able to save one hour per round, you’ll have an extra 780 hours (or 32.5 days, or more than one full month) to spend with your family, to do yard work, to veg out in front of the TV, or to otherwise spend as you wish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How much time can you save just by walking 15% faster? The answer may surprise you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the_numbers_game"],"yoast_head":"\nSlow Play Calculations (The Numbers Game) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/the_numbers_game\/slow_play_calculations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Slow Play Calculations (The Numbers Game) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"How much time can you save just by walking 15% faster? 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