Is There a Correct Way to Let a Group "Play Through"?

[Double Mocha Man]

49 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I think carts ( or handheld device for walkers) should have a button to call the marshall in the way you can buzz a flight attendant on an airplane. Group A needs a good education from the marshall. Ya know, I think I’d like to be a marshall on a golf course.....🧐

Ah, Mr. Dr. Golf Nazi.  "You, no golf for you today." 😁

34 minutes ago, StuM said:

I agree this is best when needing to beat the sunset

Once upon a time I would quite often play nine holes at twilight. I would back time my arrival on the first tee to exactly 1.5 hours before sunset. Invariably I would bump into a slow group on #4.  They would let me play through, no problem. Out of morbid curiosity I would always ask how many holes they were playing. Usually the answer was, "18".

[David in FL]

If the faster players are significantly better, and often they are, my preference is to play through on the tee box on a par-5.  
 

Slow players wave to let the faster group know that they’re going to let them through...that will keep them moving on the previous green.  If they’re smart, they won’t necessarily even wait for each other to putt out.  They’ll proceed directly to the tee when they finish or are out of the hole.  Slow players hit and wait.  Fast players hit, and they all drive/walk to their balls together.  Fast group plays, and is gone.

if you do that for my group, you’ll barely notice we went through.

[StuM]

5 minutes ago, David in FL said:

If the faster players are significantly better, and often they are, my preference is to play through on the tee box on a par-5.  
 

Slow players wave to let the faster group know that they’re going to let them through...that will keep them moving on the previous green.  If they’re smart, they won’t necessarily even wait for each other to putt out.  They’ll proceed directly to the tee when they finish or are out of the hole.  Slow players hit and wait.  Fast players hit, and they all drive/walk to their balls together.  Fast group plays, and is gone.

if you do that for my group, you’ll barely notice we went through.

Yup, just like passing a car on the highway, they keep moving and simply need to get out of the fast lane to allow you to pass.  No need for them to stop and wait for you.

[Double Mocha Man]

36 minutes ago, StuM said:

Yup, just like passing a car on the highway, they keep moving and simply need to get out of the fast lane to allow you to pass.  No need for them to stop and wait for you.

In this case the fast lane is the slow lane...

[ChetlovesMer]

20 hours ago, StuM said:

My question is, Should Group A have played their tee shot before letting Group B play through?  It seemed to me that by them waiting to tee off the actually caused more congestion then was fixed by allowing Group B to play through. 

Yes, in all cases. Definitely if its all 2-somes. With 2-somes allowing them to play through is simple. Play as a 4-some until you all reach the green or near the green. Then Group B does all their chipping and putting and moves on then Group A begins all of their chipping and putting. Very similar to what @rvanculin said about par-3's. It can be done on none par-3's as well. Just play together until all the short game stuff starts and then split back up again. 

19 hours ago, rvanculin said:

I always prefer playing through on par 3’s, and never on a par 5 or driveable par 4. I think the following works best:

Group A hits tee shots to green. When Group B gets to the tee, let them hit tee shots. Both groups go to green, where Group B finishes and heads to the next tee, while Group A finishes. 

I think this is usually the best practice. If I'm playing behind a slow moving group my expectation is that they are just waiting for a par 3 to let us pass. If a par 3 comes and goes and they don't offer to let us through I start to think they are not only slow, but also rude. 

16 hours ago, iacas said:

The fastest way to play through is just to skip a par three. 🙂

This method also improves my score quite a bit. It usually shaves at least 3 strokes off my card. 🤪

[Double Mocha Man]

10 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

If I'm playing behind a slow moving group my expectation is that they are just waiting for a par 3 to let us pass. If a par 3 comes and goes and they don't offer to let us through I start to think they are not only slow, but also rude. 

... or their rear-view mirrors are broken.

[ChetlovesMer]

16 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Yep.  And keep your middle finger unfurled...

Careful here. I remember once a buddy and I were playing with 2 dudes we were paired up with. The group in front of us was slow, but not unbearable. I think they were probably normally pretty good golfers, but having a bad day and there was probably no more than one open hole in front of them. 

To make a long story short, one of the guys we were playing with (not me, not my buddy) was losing his mind over the open hole in front of the group in front of us. He yelled something. One of the guys yelled something back. Profanity started flying from both these two guys. Anyhow, the guy that we were playing with was like 6'4" and looked to be a pretty good athlete. (Good golfer anyway) The guy shouting back was like 5'5". The gist of the story.... The little guy beat the big guy bloody, very literally beat him bloody. The little guy obviously liked to fight as was good at it. The big guy probably got by on being a big guy. 

So after we all witnessed that, the big guy took his clubs off the cart and left. Kind of just sulked away licking his wounds. We asked the other guy if he was going to take care of his buddy? He said "He isn't my buddy; I just got paired up with him when I showed up at the course today." 

The story ends with the group in front of us letting us (now a 3 some) play through a few holes later on a par 3. Even if they didn't we weren't about to pressure them to let us. 

[StuM]

26 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Careful here. I remember once a buddy and I were playing with 2 dudes we were paired up with. The group in front of us was slow, but not unbearable. I think they were probably normally pretty good golfers, but having a bad day and there was probably no more than one open hole in front of them. 

To make a long story short, one of the guys we were playing with (not me, not my buddy) was losing his mind over the open hole in front of the group in front of us. He yelled something. One of the guys yelled something back. Profanity started flying from both these two guys. Anyhow, the guy that we were playing with was like 6'4" and looked to be a pretty good athlete. (Good golfer anyway) The guy shouting back was like 5'5". The gist of the story.... The little guy beat the big guy bloody, very literally beat him bloody. The little guy obviously liked to fight as was good at it. The big guy probably got by on being a big guy. 

So after we all witnessed that, the big guy took his clubs off the cart and left. Kind of just sulked away licking his wounds. We asked the other guy if he was going to take care of his buddy? He said "He isn't my buddy; I just got paired up with him when I showed up at the course today." 

The story ends with the group in front of us letting us (now a 3 some) play through a few holes later on a par 3. Even if they didn't we weren't about to pressure them to let us. 

It is unfortunate that what should be a simple courtesy resulted in a fight.  I guess you could have just played through while they fought with each other.

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, Vinsk said:

I think carts ( or handheld device for walkers) should have a button to call the marshall in the way you can buzz a flight attendant on an airplane. Group A needs a good education from the marshall. Ya know, I think I’d like to be a marshall on a golf course.....🧐

The marshals need sharks with Fricken Lasers on their head to help speed up play.

[rvanculin]

9 hours ago, David in FL said:

If the faster players are significantly better, and often they are, my preference is to play through on the tee box on a par-5.  
 

Slow players wave to let the faster group know that they’re going to let them through...that will keep them moving on the previous green.  If they’re smart, they won’t necessarily even wait for each other to putt out.  They’ll proceed directly to the tee when they finish or are out of the hole.  Slow players hit and wait.  Fast players hit, and they all drive/walk to their balls together.  Fast group plays, and is gone.

if you do that for my group, you’ll barely notice we went through.

My issue with playing through on a par 5 is that the group who let you play through will then stand in the fairway with hands on hips for 300 yards so they can go for the green in 2. So the group behind them waits on the tee while they wait for you to finish so they can top their 3W from an unreachable distance.

[Double Mocha Man]

2 minutes ago, rvanculin said:

My issue with playing through on a par 5 is that the group who let you play through will then stand in the fairway with hands on hips for 300 yards so they can go for the green in 2. So the group behind them waits on the tee while they wait for you to finish so they can top their 3W from an unreachable distance.

Then again, maybe that's Bryson you played through.  In disguise, of course.

[David in FL]

39 minutes ago, rvanculin said:

My issue with playing through on a par 5 is that the group who let you play through will then stand in the fairway with hands on hips for 300 yards so they can go for the green in 2. So the group behind them waits on the tee while they wait for you to finish so they can top their 3W from an unreachable distance.

That’s an entirely different issue...

[billchao]

On 6/24/2020 at 8:09 PM, iacas said:

The fastest way to play through is just to skip a par three. 🙂

Or a short par 4 

[dennyjones]

2 hours ago, billchao said:

Or a short par 4 

when you hit it as far as you do, they are all short!