The "Mythical" 6-Hour Round?

[NM Golf]

The other day at work I had a group come in and ask for a rain check after nine holes because of slow play. According to them, “The front side took 3 hours and it was going to take 6 hours to play 18 holes.” Upon hearing this I checked their tee time only to discover they had teed off exactly 2 and a half hours prior. The fact was they were on a pace for slightly less than 5 hours. I still gave them a rain check, but did have to point out the fact that their claim of a 6-hour round didn’t hold water.

Another example just last week, a bunch of the old guys were complaining about the high school kids again, “taking 6 hours to complete their tournament.” I just happened to be at the course that day and took advantage of the completion of their shotgun start to play an empty back nine in about an hour. Their tournament started at 8:00am, I was on the back nine at 1:15 and done by 2:15. I never saw a single high school kid because they were all finished already.  In reality their round took closer to 5 hours, maybe 5 ¼ to complete.

I hear this all the time, “it took 6 hours to play.” Every time I have actually been able to check the facts it’s never been close to that long. I, myself, have been playing golf for over 20 years. I have played in all types of competitions from USGA qualifiers to charity scrambles with 144 players in them. Perhaps I am lucky, but I have NEVER been involved in a round of golf that took 6 hours. The longest I can even remember took 5 hours and 20 minutes and that seemed like an eternity.

So it is now my belief that the-6 hour round is golf’s Sasquatch, golf’s UFO so to speak. Lot’s of people have supposedly seen one, but no one can actually prove it’s existence to me. Your thoughts? 

[rehmwa]

My wife and I had a 4.5 hour round which included playing through a 2 some that started 9 holes ahead of us.  They simply just talked and stood around (except between green and tee - they'd quickly go to the tee to get off before another group could play through them at those points - then they'd piss around in the fairway again.)  One guy was angry and clearly looking for conflict with all the players.  We played one hole with them before just going ahead and leaving them and he was muttering about the group behind us the entire time.  I'm sure that was their entire day.  I'm certain they took over 6 hours total, but this was very specific case and I think their goal was to spend the entire day there.

[mcanadiens]

Worst ever for me was about 5 hours for 18.

It's human nature to exaggerate when they complain. You don't say the steak was a little off. You tell em it tasted like shoe leather. 

I think there are a few occasions where three-hour nines happen. Most people won't make the turn for a second helping of that. 

 

 

[DeadMan]

I play on some slow courses, but most of the time the rounds are around 5 hours. The closest I've probably come to a 6 hour round is at a charity scramble. That's a different experience than playing a round of golf, though.

There can also be a difference in perception on how slow rounds are. Some slow rounds feel fast when you get into a rhythm. If you wait during your fast rounds, it will feel slow, too. For example, this past weekend, I played 9 in about 2 hours, 5 minutes, which is quick for the course I was playing at. But since we were a threesome behind a foursome, we were waiting a bit, and it felt slower than it actually was.

[NM Golf]

2 minutes ago, DeadMan said:

But since we were a threesome behind a foursome, we were waiting a bit, and it felt slower than it actually was.

That makes a big difference. My buddy and I played as a twosome behind 4-5 foursomes 3 weeks ago. We waited on every shot. It seemed like an eternity to play but the round ended up being just a hair over 4 hours. Perception is everything.

[pganapathy]

I have done a couple of six hour rounds.  NEVER AGAIN. I was playing on a weekend at a very busy course in Bangalore and it took six hours or more.  We waited on every shot literally and it didn't help that the group in front of us were short hitters and inaccurate, and hence we waited for them to find a ball on virtually every shot.  And then to make it worse, it was like watching a super slow pro putt on the green, but they couldn't putt properly.  Three putts on every hole with everything checked for a two to three foot putt.😞

[bones75]

My old home course was Rancho Park in LA, it used to be a PGA stop with the LA Open thru the 70's. Local's refer to it as "the most played course in the U.S." all the time.  This appears to be true at one point, but not sure in recent years (see link below).  It's the only full length public course on the western half of LA. I've played plenty of 6 hour rounds there on a weekend, with 5.5 hours also being very common for a mid-day weekend. On those days, it's common to find a 3-4 group wait (no joke) on #3 teebox, as well as #11 (par 3's).

The article said in 1974 127,000 rounds were played there, which I don't know how to gauge. Not sure if its gone up or down in the last 30 years.

Golf : Rancho Park Ranks as the Busiest Course - LA Times

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Rancho Park, the West Los Angeles course that was the site of the L.A. Open for many years, retained its reputation as the busiest 18-hole municipal course in the country last year when 125,894 rounds were played. That...

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by bones75

[Chasing_Bogeys]

I played Diamond Bar GC in SoCal the Saturday after New Year's this year. Family was out of town so when I was eating breakfast at 8am I checked a tee time app to look for a deal. 10:00am tee time for 30% off! GREAT!

The added me as a 5th to a 4-some. Every group that I saw that morning was going out as 5-somes. Front 9 took 3 hours and 5 minutes. 10th and 1st tee are right next to each other. Looking at the group ahead of us ALL hitting their 3rd shot from the fairway and looking at an empty 1st tee and empty 1st hole we decided to play the front 9 again. Got around that 9 in 2:05.

I am CERTAIN that we would have been over 6 hours for that round.

In So Cal on a Saturday morning (unless you get out by 7am) you can count on 5 hours to play. 5-1/2 isn't at all uncommon. But to the OP's point, I don't think I've ever actually played a 6 hour round.

[billchao]

I have never play a six hour round. I played a 3:30 front nine once and went home.

[NM Golf]

10 minutes ago, bones75 said:

My old home course was Rancho Park in LA, it used to be a PGA stop with the LA Open thru the 70's. Local's refer to it as "the most played course in the U.S." all the time.  This appears to be true at one point, but not sure in recent years (see link below).  It's the only full length public course on the western half of LA. I've played plenty of 6 hour rounds there on a weekend, with 5.5 hours also being very common for a mid-day weekend. On those days, it's common to find a 3-4 group wait (no joke) on #4 teebox, as well as #11 (par 3's).

The article said in 1974 127,000 rounds were played there, which I don't know how to gauge. Not sure if its gone up or down in the last 30 years.

Golf : Rancho Park Ranks as the Busiest Course - LA Times

---

Rancho Park, the West Los Angeles course that was the site of the L.A. Open for many years, retained its reputation as the busiest 18-hole municipal course in the country last year when 125,894 rounds were played. That...

 

Meh, the course I work at used to be in the top 10 busiest golf courses in the country. Still never saw a 6 hour round, ever.

[Patch]

I think alot of times golfers look at their watch when getting out of their car. Then look at it again when they get back to their car after their round is over. It might even include the 30-45 minutes spent in the 19th at the turn. 

There are quite a few ways one can measure the time spent for a round of golf.

I am pretty sure I have been involved in 6 hour rounds of actual play, but those have been very few, and far between. I played quite a few 5 hour rounds, and even more 4+/- hour rounds. 

It is what is. 

Edited April 10, 2019 by Patch

[Chasing_Bogeys]

9 minutes ago, bones75 said:

 It's the only full length public course on the western half of LA.

I'm not from the West Side of LA and I struggle with neighborhood definitions in LA, but this struck me as an odd claim that needed really narrow definitions.... then I looked at Google Maps.... wow! I mean, you're not far from Griffith Park with 2 full length courses, and you can go down to Long Beach or up to Camarillo and find a bunch of courses. But yeah, West of 110, N of 105, S of 101 - it's country clubs or 9 holes or 5000yds from the tips. Crazy! No wonder it got so much traffic.

[boogielicious]

I've had a few 5 hour rounds, but never a 6. One guy in my regular group is pretty slow. He is older so I don't harp on him too much, but I do mention it once in a while. I think time gets distorted when you are waiting on the tee or for your next shot. It can get to me sometimes. I seem to get more fatigued when I'm just standing around than when I'm walking.

[bones75]

5 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

Meh, the course I work at used to be in the top 10 busiest golf courses in the country. Still never saw a 6 hour round, ever.

I just went to yelp and searched Rancho Park's reviews for the term "6 hours". 10% of the reviewers have that phrase. Sasquatch is real, but it is tinseltown afterall!

@Chasing_Bogeys You nailed it. Everyone on the Westside had to play either Rancho or drive 30-45 minutes to get to Wilson/Harding, or play the vastly inferior Balboa/Encino. 

[Groucho Valentine]

Ive endured 6 hour rounds on bethpage black. Usually from some early group trying to play the championship tees. 

[JxQx]

I haven't. I was on pace for a 6 hour (maybe longer) round, but left mid round instead of enduring that pain.

[Chasing_Bogeys]

4 minutes ago, bones75 said:

 

@Chasing_Bogeys You nailed it. Everyone on the Westside had to play either Rancho or drive 30-45 minutes to get to Wilson/Harding, or play the vastly inferior Balboa/Encino. 

Long Beach has a few munis. I've played SkyLinks a few times and it's a nice track. I assume the other LB City courses are about the same. Maybe it's just me, but a 30 minute drive to get to a course that isn't stupid busy is worth it. Or maybe I've just gotten used to driving 30 or more minutes to whatever golf course I'm going to play because I have a friend in the IE that I play with frequently and the courses out there are slightly less expensive and slightly less busy so I usually make the drive.

Either way... I'm glad I checked Google before I replied the 1st time!

Since I'm on a tangent... worst boss I ever had was a member at Bel-Air CC. 2 years I worked for him. 2 years I mentioned every round I played every bucket I hit every hour of putting I put in. Not a single invite to play with him. To make matters worse, his brother worked for the company, was a member of the CC and never got an invite from him either. F that guy!!!! 😛 

[chspeed]

11 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Ive endured 6 hour rounds on bethpage black. Usually from some early group trying to play the championship tees. 

Same. I've noticed a few things on Black:

-In general, it moves better than you'd think. 5-hours is typical.
-Douchebags trying to play from the closed tips always take longer
-The caddies there always slow groups down