What Constitutes Slow Play?

[TRUCKER]

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

I played at 3:30 yesterday, and 2:00 today.

🤔...Yeah, you're on the bubble...🤷‍♂️

[iacas]

What bubble? Neither of those times are anything like what you said.

Part of the problem is that we have too many people willing to accept that 4:15 is "fine."

[Zippo]

36 minutes ago, iacas said:

I played at 3:30 yesterday, and 2:00 today.

Was that walking or riding? I'm a tad older than you but I think I'd have trouble walking 6 miles in 2 hours even skipping the golf portion. I walked 12 holes today in just under 2 hours but I was by myself, played through a threesome, and hit more than one ball on more than one occasion. Get me in a cart, though, and I'd have no trouble with a 2 hour round.

[Darkfrog]

Those of you playing sub 3:30 rounds, just curious how crowded the courses are?

Before the pandemic, I could easily tee off between 630-730am, or 5-6pm in the summer, finish 18 in the 2:30-3:30 hour range, especially playing solo, and it was easy to play through or simply skip over a slow group ahead to an open hole (and then circle back later if I wanted).

Once golf opened up after the pandemic, unless I get the first tee time of the day, playing in anything less than 4 hours is practically a miracle because the course is perpetually packed. It's usually impossible to skip a hole because there are no open holes, and playing through has a similar hurdle, assuming a group ahead is amenable to it.

I agree, 4:15 is slow, however being accustomed to it now, I'm not miserable playing at this pace like I probably used to be.

[TRUCKER]

41 minutes ago, iacas said:

What bubble? Neither of those times are anything like what you said.

Part of the problem is that we have too many people willing to accept that 4:15 is "fine."

What are you talking about? I said between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. You played way after that. You also didn't say what days you played. Yes 90% accept 4:15 is fine. So they're all supposed to accept you, and your 10%? 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

Was that walking or riding? I'm a tad older than you but I think I'd have trouble walking 6 miles in 2 hours even skipping the golf portion.

3:30pm and 2:00pm.

55 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

What are you talking about? I said between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. You played way after that.

Those players going out at 12:30 would not be done until 4:45. In my 2:00 round I was done at 5. We didn't run into any of those 12:30 players.

So, no, that's not "way" after that.

Besides, you said:

2 hours ago, TRUCKER said:

There are options for those that need to play fast, or normal to them. When I do, which is probably less than 10 times a year, play a public course, between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

I played outside those ranges and still played quickly. Did you forget what you said before, or misspeak, or…?

56 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

Yes 90% accept 4:15 is fine. So they're all supposed to accept you, and your 10%? 

Where's this 90%? Oh, a made-up number?

Even if you conducted a poll of actual golfers, maybe they're thinking 4:15 sounds like a dream since they're typically taking 5 hours. The poll results — not that you conducted a poll, you made up the numbers — doesn't mean it's the right amount of time, either Plenty of people here are telling you that 4:15 is slow.

[Dunit507]

For a majority of us playing on local public courses slow play means not keeping pace with the guys in front of you. If it’s a bunch of 4’s on the course then each 4 should be relatively playing at a pace where there is no massive gap to the group ahead and holding the rest up. 

[StuM]

6 hours ago, iacas said:

Those players going out at 12:30 would not be done until 4:45. In my 2:00 round I was done at 5. We didn't run into any of those 12:30 players

If I am reading this correctly you are saying you never had a group in front of you. That is a big advantage in regards to POP that I do not experience often.

[Vinsk]

11 hours ago, TRUCKER said:

I do. I actually enjoy golf. Apparently you don't. 

Honestly you’re just one of those players who’s part of the problem. You’re a slow player and you have no idea you’re slow. You justify it by stuff like this, ‘ I enjoy it.’ Right. And you couldn’t care less if you’re f****** it up for others because they don’t understand how to enjoy it like you. You’ll never change or bother to understand slow play. 

[woodzie264]

48 minutes ago, Dunit507 said:

For a majority of us playing on local public courses slow play means not keeping pace with the guys in front of you.

Yeah, on a busy day with folks in front of you, I think this is the short and simple definition. 
 

With no one in front of you, 3.5hrs is more than enough time for a foursome to “enjoy” a round at a comfortable pace. Playing as a single  with no one in front, 1.5 hrs.

[StuM]

10 hours ago, TRUCKER said:

Oh, and no I'm not "part of the problem." I'm a member of a private CC. My rounds are usually 3-3 1/2 hrs. MAX...🙂

 

5 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Honestly you’re just one of those players who’s part of the problem. You’re a slow player and you have no idea you’re slow. You justify it by stuff like this, ‘ I enjoy it.’ Right. And you couldn’t care less if you’re f****** it up for others because they don’t understand how to enjoy it like you. You’ll never change or bother to understand slow play. 

@Vinskin a prior post @TRUCKERindicated he often plays in 3:30.

[ChetlovesMer]

16 hours ago, dennyjones said:

I played Monday.  The front nine we played in 1:45, we waited a bit but not too bad.  When we made the turn we were the third group on the hole!   Every hole we played on the back nine, when we finished the previous hole, we were the third group on that hole.  That pace continued until we finished.   We finally saw a ranger at 17 and I commented but I should have called them on the 11th hole.   We still finished in about 4:15 but that was a grinding slow pace of play and nobody asked to play thru.   My mistake, I won't be hesitant to call the clubhouse in the future.  There were at least 3 open holes in front of them. 

 

I have to agree with you on this. 
I'm a very patient person. Truthfully, I NEVER get upset about pace of play. This is NOT to say that I want everyone to play slowly. However, I simply assume the people playing slow are new or haven't been coached/taught how to keep pace. So, I don't get upset about it. I try to help them. 

Sounds like for the course you are referring to 1:45 per side is "a bit" slow. So a 3:30 round would be slow but not painful.

If the back nine took 2-1/2 hours that's a 4:30 round which for a course where 3:30 is "a bit" slow must have been brutal. 

Everything is relative. 4:30 for a tournament round on a monster sized course might be just fine. 

 

13 minutes ago, woodzie264 said:

With no one in front of you, 3.5hrs is more than enough time for a foursome to “enjoy” a round at a comfortable pace. Playing as a single  with no one in front, 1.5 hrs.

@woodzie264 I agree with your foursome comment. I don't think I can play my home course comfortably in 1.5 hrs, unless I take a cart. Even if I was playing alone with nobody in front of me. That's only 5 minutes per hole. I like to walk when playing alone and to do that comfortably I'd say 2 hours would be enough. 

 

[woodzie264]

21 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

 

@woodzie264 I agree with your foursome comment. I don't think I can play my home course comfortably in 1.5 hrs, unless I take a cart. Even if I was playing alone with nobody in front of me. That's only 5 minutes per hole. I like to walk when playing alone and to do that comfortably I'd say 2 hours would be enough. 

 

Agreed; I should clarify, as my wife’s only issue with my playing golf is the time commitment, I always use a cart as it minimizes resistance to future rounds 😀

[boogielicious]

12 hours ago, David in FL said:

No.

It’s at least 30 minutes slower than a “grinding slow pace of play”...  

Our 3-some got around in 2:50 today, but we watched every shot the 4-some ahead of us made once we caught them on 12.  Damn slow players, I bet they took at least 3:20...  

Most of us on this forum desire to play faster than we are able to on the courses we play. Your times are fast and our target, but almost unattainable at most courses. The general golfing public is just slow everywhere I’ve played including Florida. When you play other courses than your home course, do you get to play that fast? At peak tee times?

[iacas]

1 hour ago, StuM said:

If I am reading this correctly you are saying you never had a group in front of you. That is a big advantage in regards to POP that I do not experience often.

You are not, no. There were many groups between 12:30 and 2:00.

[StuM]

I am going out on a limb and will voice an opinion with no facts to back it up.  I doubt many on this forum are the POP problems.  Sure, we have some that feel 3:30 should be the norm and others that feel 4:15 is acceptable given crowded course conditions, but I do not think any of us are those that take 4:15 when the course is empty or play 5+ hours causing the extreme backups that can occur on many public courses.

I have, when course is open, completed 18 in 3:30.  Maybe it is the courses I choose to play but the tee sheets are full well into the late afternoon and getting around in 4-4:30 is not uncommon.  I hear some say, "just play through 3-4 groups" to get around in 3:30 but I am of the opinion that if the groups are all one each other all I would do by playing through is cause the group in front of me to have to wait for me as I jam in between them and the group in front and that may actually slow more groups down and not speed up for anyone but me.  I feel that would be like a driver in rush hour cutting from lane to lane forcing others to hit the breaks as they push in, it causes the "Accordion Effect" and that is what I hate the most...Start-Stop-Start-Stop........

[Dunit507]

1 hour ago, woodzie264 said:

Yeah, on a busy day with folks in front of you, I think this is the short and simple definition. 
 

With no one in front of you, 3.5hrs is more than enough time for a foursome to “enjoy” a round at a comfortable pace. Playing as a single  with no one in front, 1.5 hrs.

I have one good friend who is a member of the local course with me. We play as a 2 frequently. If we have nothing in front of us 2-2.5 hours at most and that’s reading putts and playing fairly serious. If I’m by myself out to just get a round in I play notoriously fast. No more than 1.5 hours. We played a slow one Sunday as a 3 some. Frost delay backed the tee up. We waited a lot.... was 4 hours and 15. We understood the backup and delay but the 4 in front of us at times let the group in front of them get a hole to a hole and a half ahead. The guys in front of us were not keeping pace.

[mcanadiens]

There can be a lot of different causes of slow play, but one I see frequently here in mid-Ohio is people not understanding how to use carts efficiently. 

Obviously, these people aren't regular, every-week golfers. They get out there and sit in their cart until it is their turn to hit the ball. To us it sounds stupid, but, maybe, for them it's kind of like paying the rent on the cart means being off your feet for the maximum time possible. 

If everyone took the attitude of getting to your ball as soon as it is safe to do so, half these problems would disappear.