I Thought I Was the Fastest Player, but Was I?

[Yukari]

12 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I know that I do. I can't stand slow play. Whether from the group in front of me or from members of my own group! I have a buddy who is on the slow side, and it gets worse if he is not playing well. One time, he was fussing around, taking forever, when I stepped up and hit my shot even though I was not away. He yells, "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled back, "Playing ready golf. What the hell are you doing besides taking forever?!" 

To tell you the truth, I sometimes think he does this on purpose because he knows I hate slow play! 

I too have a friend I played golf with a few times that was slow.  He is still my friend, but I do not play golf with him.

Slow play is one of the most frustrating thing for me on a golf course - besides my game. 🤣

[mcanadiens]

9 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Your pre-shot routine should start before your partners ball is in the air. So often I see players who watch their playing partner's whole ball flight, pause for a second, then get out their gps or start thinking about club selection. Particularly if you are "behind" (left of a righty, right of a lefty) them, you can even start your practice swings while they are doing their thing. The ball could leave your club-face 5 seconds after theirs instead of 40.

This alone would cut down on a lot of slow play. If everyone used the time available to them to prepare to hit their shot, we'd have a lot less waiting to do.

9 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

2. I don't think so. I once played with a guy that had a golfbike that had been motorized. He was always first to his ball, but didn't play ready golf. He wouldn't do a thing before everyone farther away hit. Then he would take 1:30 to play his shot. Sure, his traveling was quite fast, but it didn't do a dang thing for his pace of play. There is a 40 second clause in the rules, but it is a "should" rule, so it isn't hard and fast.

I can't tell you how disappointed I am to hear that "Golfbike Guy" is slow. He always looks very about things as he whizzes around the course on that thing.

[Bonvivant]

1 hour ago, mcanadiens said:

This alone would cut down on a lot of slow play. If everyone used the time available to them to prepare to hit their shot, we'd have a lot less waiting to do.

Yup. I can't stand it when I am behind someone (not ball up the hole but left of righty as I mentioned), and they know I am going to let them hit first because I have waved or something, and then they break their routine to look back at me to make sure I am not hitting. I am not making any noise (I don't do this when I am close to them) taking these practice swings as I choke up on the club so there isn't any turf interaction.

 

1 hour ago, mcanadiens said:

I can't tell you how disappointed I am to hear that "Golfbike Guy" is slow. He always looks very about things as he whizzes around the course on that thing.

There are a couple of golfbike guys, but have only played with one of them. He just took way too much time over the ball. He wouldn't read his putt until it was his turn as well. I know you can't always get right on your line, but you can still survey and get a really good idea of how the green is going to play while others are putting. I'd rather go to the dentist than play with extremely slow players. Note: I don't think the OP here is extremely slow, but I do think he could work on speeding up a bit.

[colin007]

15 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

 One time, he was fussing around, taking forever, when I stepped up and hit my shot even though I was not away. He yells, "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" I yelled back, "Playing ready golf. What the hell are you doing besides taking forever?!" 

Why is the whole away vs not away thing even a thing?? It should ALWAYS be ready golf

[Darkfrog]

7 minutes ago, colin007 said:

It should ALWAYS be ready golf

True. I don't understand why this concept is so unusual to many people. I've gotten to the point where on the first tee I announce to the others in my group that I play ready golf, and that they can feel free to do the same.

[FlyingAce]

13 hours ago, Mr22putt said:

Hi Ace:

This is so true....in all my practice swings including chips and pitch shot my practice swings are great....perfectly sweeping the ground only to chunk most real shots....ugh....I'm such a MENTAL MIDGET.

So how have you been playing?....I haven't heard of any DRAMA stories now that you're playing Paako more often....any good gems to share?

Our June weather has been brutal....rainy, cold and windy.....standing water on the courses and no roll out....my game is OK....in the last 6 rds I've had 9 holes under 40 (35-39) but can't replicate it on the other 9 holes.

It's been frustrating lately...either paired up with or playing behind really slow and lousy old couples that really have no business playing a regular length course.....lousy etiquette too....all rds over 4.5 hours.....very rare here to play under 4 hrs.....blah. 

The hardest part of the golf game is between the ears and I am terrible at it!

There is no drama at my new club yet and I have been playing well. I am waiting for them to reactivate my GHIN so I can update my hcp. It is nice to learn/play a new course after spending 4 seasons at the same course.

I am also having lots of fun finding golf balls all over! Every weekend I come home with 40+ balls, mostly new ProV1/x, TP5/x and Callaway. I am not sure why people don’t retrieve their balls unless they never saw where they hit their balls...I recently switched to AVX and was very happy to find two lost AVXs!!! 

I cannot stand slow players either. We used to play with 2 guys on weekends who’d take multiple practice swings before chunking their balls. Their actual swings were never like their practice swings...glad to not have to play with anyone now and finish in 3:30!

[Double Mocha Man]

2 hours ago, Darkfrog said:

True. I don't understand why this concept is so unusual to many people. I've gotten to the point where on the first tee I announce to the others in my group that I play ready golf, and that they can feel free to do the same.

I think the culprit here is that most people mimic the Tour.  Very rarely do you see "ready golf" on television.  And when you do it's usually some poor chump getting a ruling on his lost ball on the other side of the fairway and it'll be another 5 minutes to go through all the protocols.

[bones75]

38 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I think the culprit here is that most people mimic the Tour.  

It's funny. I watch holes an hour of the Taylormade Driving Relief last night and timed a few guys (not exhaustively or selectively). No claims on whether this is fast play or not. I believe they finished their round in 4:10 (which I'm sure is slow play to many)

DJ, Rory, Wolfe, Rickie are all about 30+ seconds off the tee, when not hitting first (from when last guy hits).  Felt a little bit faster for iron shots, although it's harder to tell because of camera switching. It seems they all take the same practice swings as me (although they usually take the swings, then walk behind the ball, eye their line, then go up for final address), so I don't feel this part of my routine is unusual at all. I personally don't walk behind the ball before swinging, but I've been told I should.

For putting, they seem to take 10-15 seconds when standing above the ball (even if a bit further away for practice strokes), and sometimes up to another 15s if they spend time lining up the ball first (line on ball to putt line). I did find a few examples I could time. For example, on #7, where DJ had nearly the same 10' putt as Wolfe, but was putting 2nd, DJ took 22 seconds to putt (and he was walking to putt as soon as wolfe's ball was rolling).

I'm pretty sure I'm as fast or faster than any of them off the tee. (again, pre-shot routine starts only after club selection, lie reading, line reading etc)

For putting, it's hard to tell. I'm slower over the ball, but I don't do the line up the ball thing (ball line to putt line), so start to finish I still feel like I'm faster than any of them (except maybe DJ).  

So while my routine may be not that slow, I'm pretty sure it *feels* slower to others.  Since I stand over the ball looking like I'm about to hit, you just can't tell if I'm exactly gonna pull the trigger, so it's like your holding your breath forever (5-15 seconds). While for most others, you only need to be "deadly quiet" for like <5 seconds.

If you had certain things in your routine that you felt helped you, like lining up the ball carefully, or walking behind the ball before you swing, would you consider stopping it for pace of play reasons? ***

I'm still on the fence if I should just force myself out my comfort zone and walk up and hit it in a few seconds. When I play regularly, it gets easier, but my routine just slows down when I haven't played recently. 

*** 100% NOT suggesting these are slow-play mechanics, I know a million fast players that do these things too. Just posing the question of how far you will go for fast play.

Edited June 15, 2020 by bones75

[Double Mocha Man]

6 minutes ago, bones75 said:

Just posing a question of how much some would "sacrifice" their comfort to play faster.

I'd give up my home, my car, my afternoon cocktail and my heated blanket to play faster.

[phillyk]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

I'd give up my home, my car, my afternoon cocktail and my heated blanket to play faster.

Should’ve been out there today! Played 9 holes in 45min. 

[Double Mocha Man]

2 hours ago, phillyk said:

Should’ve been out there today! Played 9 holes in 45min. 

Phil, guessing you got a little wet.

[phillyk]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Phil, guessing you got a little wet.

As Washingtonians, nah... drizzle. Ground was certainly soggy though. 

[boogielicious]

9 hours ago, phillyk said:

As Washingtonians, nah... drizzle. Ground was certainly soggy though. 

I’ve heard the term, “dry rain” from folks I know who lives in Washington State.

[darthweasel]

guys I play with pretty routinely take carts because it is faster. I walk and ush my clic-gear. There is no doubt they get to their balls quicker most often...but by the time they get out, assess the lie, pick the club, o their routine, I have already hit and am moving towards my next shot if it doesn't interfere with their line of play. As soon as I hit it and know where it is landing I am moving. So despite it taking me longer to get to my ball and, when boxes have distance between them, longer to get to the next box, I routinely am ready to tee off and almost always waiting on them to get to the green. But they sometimes complain I am slowing them down because of the walk time to get to the tee box and the time it takes them to get to their tee shots which is admittedly less than the time it takes me to get to my tee shot.

 

Hilariously, times with them tend to be in the 4:20-4:30 range and times with random 3-somes walking tend to be 3:20-3:40. For the OP, the thing we have in common, it is easy for people to see a part of the tee to green that takes longer and not see that overall that time can be less. You are likely just fine and awareness of it is appreciated. If we were to ever meet and play a round, I might not know it was you, might not say anything, but I would recognize and appreciate it.

 

To the OP,

[Double Mocha Man]

33 minutes ago, darthweasel said:

But they sometimes complain I am slowing them down because of the walk time to get to the tee box...

Is it 3 guys?  Tell 'em to play friggin' "Ready Golf"... just walk up on the tee and hit, even if you were the only one to birdie the preceding hole.  I bet that's their teebox problem... they are hung up on who has the honors.

Everyone is giving you the benefit of the doubt because you're very cognizant of and sensitive to the speed of play.  And, in a sense, total time IS what really counts.  You seem moderately fast in all areas except your pre-shot routine/practice swings.  What if you speeded up there, as well?  Then you would surely make your power cart buddies look like turtles!

[p1n9183]

I play with really slow players. It never crossed my mind that i could be slow. As a matter of fact i'm really quick to play around the green and putting, despite my low handicad. But after a few comments i realised that i take a little to much over the ball in my long shots. I take less than 40 seconds to hit the ball but i was looking also to have a quicker routine to avoid the need to harry up.

Now i only take a practice swing just to loosen up the muscles (that i can do when other players are hitting their shots) and quickly proceed to take a proper stance and hit the ball. I'm not a fast player but at least i'm faster than before and never received those comments again. 

[darthweasel]

3 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Is it 3 guys?  Tell 'em to play friggin' "Ready Golf"... just walk up on the tee and hit, even if you were the only one to birdie the preceding hole.  I bet that's their teebox problem... they are hung up on who has the honors.

Everyone is giving you the benefit of the doubt because you're very cognizant of and sensitive to the speed of play.  And, in a sense, total time IS what really counts.  You seem moderately fast in all areas except your pre-shot routine/practice swings.  What if you speeded up there, as well?  Then you would surely make your power cart buddies look like turtles!

I am usually waiting on them to tee off. I have been trying to get them to increase their speed of play and I think they are finally getting it. The last couple of they have had individual carts and found me waiting on them shot after shot. W borderline had had an argument not long ago where they were insisting I take a cart and I was insisting it would slow me down so they were paying attention to prove me wrong...but reality intruded when they were seldom or never waiting on me while I often had to wait on them to take my shot.

Also, it is possible you may be confusing me with the OP. My preshot routine is literally choosing a club as I walk towards the ball, the overwhelming majority of the time I have club in hand when I get there and am shoving my cart to the side as I step to the ball if is my turn, if not I am leaning on the club waiting for my turn, one to zero practice swings, go.

When putting, I make a point of telling people on the first green, "let me know if my ball is in your line of site or line of play as otherwise I seldom mark" and it is true. Unless the ball is in its pitchmark or has obvious dirt, I never bother to mark it, pickit up and clean. I have my putt sighted from approaching the green and unless it is a really hard to read green, I go with my read. Maybe once every two or three rounds I will look from above the hole as well.

 

In truth I have seen two people ever that I thought were faster than me, cart or not. Knowing my distances, my TYPICAL tendencies, and using golfpad to get the yardage as walking...I am not such a good golfer that the flag being 164 as opposed to 168 will matter, either way I am taking my 170 club and aiming center of green at that point, from the time it is my turn until the ball is in the air is very short indeed.   Those two guys though...they flew! cart to the ball, pay no attention to who was in front or behind them, swing, in the cart before ball crested, pick up when they reach the green and head to the next hole. Lightning fast they are...although to my mind they miss part of the game.

[Mr22putt]

On 6/15/2020 at 10:25 AM, FlyingAce said:

The hardest part of the golf game is between the ears and I am terrible at it!

There is no drama at my new club yet and I have been playing well. I am waiting for them to reactivate my GHIN so I can update my hcp. It is nice to learn/play a new course after spending 4 seasons at the same course.

I am also having lots of fun finding golf balls all over! Every weekend I come home with 40+ balls, mostly new ProV1/x, TP5/x and Callaway. I am not sure why people don’t retrieve their balls unless they never saw where they hit their balls...I recently switched to AVX and was very happy to find two lost AVXs!!! 

I cannot stand slow players either. We used to play with 2 guys on weekends who’d take multiple practice swings before chunking their balls. Their actual swings were never like their practice swings...glad to not have to play with anyone now and finish in 3:30!

Hi Ace:

Glad you're happy at Paako and finding a ton of golf balls......I find many premium golf balls and also have new golf balls lying around from corporate swag that I have not purchased a golf ball since 1992 when I got transferred out to Vancouver.

Are there a lot of snakes at Paako when you go hawking golf balls?.....not too many women will hawk golf balls....my wife is dead scared of snakes.

There's a guy on another golf forum who is also a marshal and he and other marshals go hawking balls in honey holes....... the guy has literally found 100's of dozens of grade 5A premium balls and garbage cans full of shag balls....hawking can get addictive.

I'm not too fond of the AVX.....not enough spin on irons shots and it feels a bit too clicky....the AVX was pretty popular when 1st introduced...but not so much anymore...I don't think a PGA or LPGA pro has ever played an AXV???...but then again....elite players aren't their target market.

I hope you find some of the newer Taylormade Tour Response balls....supposedly a Project (a) replacement....I hope to find one soon to demo.

Edited June 17, 2020 by Mr22putt