What Constitutes Slow Play?

[mohearn]

1 hour ago, DaveP043 said:

but if there's a faster group behind you and there's consistently space in front of you, you should ask them to play through.  That's not a slow play issue, its a "show consideration for others" issue.  And of course there's never any excuse for intentionally hitting into anyone.

Yeah, I let them through no worries.  Funniest (not) thing was playing once with a stranger, walking, and very fast twosome behind us.  I waved them up on a long par 3, and my partner started shouting "no, no, we're not slow, you're not coming through".

 

Only in NY.

 

[mcanadiens]

8 minutes ago, mohearn said:

Yeah, I let them through no worries.  Funniest (not) thing was playing once with a stranger, walking, and very fast twosome behind us.  I waved them up on a long par 3, and my partner started shouting "no, no, we're not slow, you're not coming through".

 

Only in NY.

 

Not just NY. I've seen that act a few times over the years. 

It's the same kind of guy that feels insulted when you pass him on the road and speeds up to make sure you can't get past him.

 

[greatgolfahead2]

4 hours ago, DaveP043 said:

I said it earlier, but I'll repeat it.  You can be playing at a very good pace, well within the acceptable pace at a specific facility, but if there's a faster group behind you and there's consistently space in front of you, you should ask them to play through.  That's not a slow play issue, its a "show consideration for others" issue.  And of course there's never any excuse for intentionally hitting into anyone.

Good point!  It's about showing consideration to others and being aware of the time you are taking to play.  My family plays in junior events and golfers including parents can get impatient.  Instead of waiting another few seconds to ensure space between groups, parents have their kids or other golfers Go Ahead and hit. Some tips I'll try when I know we'll be right up on another group at our current rate of play:

- walk a little slower and have a conversation

- stop to have a candy bar

- clean the clubs

- talk about we experienced on the last green and hole

[iacas]

LPGA Rookie Fined $10,000 For Slow Play - Golf Monthly

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At last week's Kia Classic, Yealimi Noh, an LPGA rookie, was fined $10,000 for slow play after lodging two bad times with a rules official present

 

Quote

It isn’t the first time Noh has been penalised for this infringement. In January last year, playing in the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, she also received a slow-play fine, along with some other fellow rookies.

“A couple rookies got fines. Like OK, it’s a heads-up for us rookies to catch up or whatever,” she said.

However, it’s because of this that Noh was punished so severely this time around. Had she come into event without any prior transgressions, the fine served would’ve been half the amount.

 

[ChetlovesMer]

My last round took exactly 4.25 hours. I played in a foursome where I was the youngest guy in the group. 

The time to play the round doesn't always tell the whole story, however. 
We played the front nine in about an hour and a half. Which is moving right along. We weren't racing. We were just playing golf. 

Then at the turn we caught up to the rest of the world. The back nine took 2 hours and 45 minutes. I'm a patient guy. The guys I was playing with are patient guys. But around hole 15 we all started to get a little annoyed. 

I don't know what the solution is. My perception is that people who are slow are just slow. They don't even realize they are slow. I try to coach people on how to speed up, because I really don't think its that difficult to learn to play a decent pace. 

[Double Mocha Man]

I like that observation. Why is it that the back nine always is or seems to be slower than the front nine?

It can't just be player fatigue or that Polish sausage dog weighing their gut down.

[DrvFrShow]

Another one. If you can't find your ball, use the "local rule" and drop on the edge of the fairway and take the two stroke penalty. The USGA allowed it for pace of play in 2019. Whether courses actually use it is another thing. Maybe your foursome can agree on that rule before the round? It is a USGA local rule.

[Billy Z]

3 hours ago, DrvFrShow said:

Another one. If you can't find your ball, use the "local rule" and drop on the edge of the fairway and take the two stroke penalty. The USGA allowed it for pace of play in 2019. Whether courses actually use it is another thing. Maybe your foursome can agree on that rule before the round? It is a USGA local rule.

Good point, but it's sort of funny that many, if not the majority, of golfers do not play be the rules, but are more concerned with finding their $3-4.00 golf ball, and when they do they just give it a foot wedge back into play. Golfers do spend too much time looking for their lost ball, yes.

[DrvFrShow]

8 hours ago, Billy Z said:

Good point, but it's sort of funny that many, if not the majority, of golfers do not play be the rules, but are more concerned with finding their $3-4.00 golf ball, and when they do they just give it a foot wedge back into play. Golfers do spend too much time looking for their lost ball, yes.

golf courses can help this by keeping the underbrush in the woods cleared. My home course does and it's pretty easy to find a wayward ball unless you hit it way off line. The worst time about lost balls is in the late fall and real early spring when the rough is long and too wet to mow. I just play a 6i off the tee and move up a tee box to keep it on the short stuff. 

 

 

[ZenShot]

Slow play is not doing simple things that help the flow of the pace.  For example, when two people are riding a cart and waiting on the group ahead, the cart driver should drop the passenger off at their ball and the driver can go to his (or her) ball.  That way they both can go through their pre shot routines at the same time when the group ahead moves on.  Obviously, this won’t always be possible when one player’s ball is way ahead of the other, but just little things like this can make a difference.

[KMP]

I learned in Dubai, and at the time the 4 hour standard was considered a max time. Our typical round was 3 1/2 hours walking in 100+ heat, wind, dust, and often 90%+ humidity. I am proof that poor golfers can play fast, and that you can miss a putt much faster too! Slow play is always bad but it's worse when one group with more than one open hole ahead is holding up a chain of groups; much like that damned camper/giant RV driving 45 and holding up a line of vehicles behind.

[Double Mocha Man]

29 minutes ago, KMP said:

I learned in Dubai, and at the time the 4 hour standard was considered a max time. Our typical round was 3 1/2 hours walking in 100+ heat, wind, dust, and often 90%+ humidity. I am proof that poor golfers can play fast, and that you can miss a putt much faster too! Slow play is always bad but it's worse when one group with more than one open hole ahead is holding up a chain of groups; much like that damned camper/giant RV driving 45 and holding up a line of vehicles behind.

They have "Pull-Over" areas for that RV.  There should be Pull-Over areas for slow golfers... with signage.  😁

[boil3rmak3r]

I hate to say this, but most of us on this site would be considered "golf snobs" by casual golfers...  This site consists of a community of people where golf is a big part of our lives.  We are different :).

Reading through this entire thread made me realize why I pay a premium to be a member of a private club.  We have a "choose up" every Saturday and Sunday and four walkers will finish the round in 3:30 or less.  It isn't uncomfortably fast, it's just ready golf.  

When we do an occasional round outside of our club, we KNOW it's going to be 4+ hours.  There's no telling what kind of golfer's you'll get behind at a public course...

[darthweasel]

this last Thursday I randomly decided to head out and golf since it was the last projected non-rain day for a while. Pulled into the parking lot at 3:57 and teed off at 4:05. 

 

A few things to know:

1, I have to use a push cart ever since getting rear ended in an auto accident a couple years ago

2, my back hurts pretty much always and this slows my walking speed

3, As I often mention, I am at best a mediocre golfer...I would hit 3 greens in regulation all round. The first hole took me 4 shots to get on the green....took 30 putts on the round, no penalties,  managed to dial up an 86 (lowest score of the year for me so far) that would impress I would think exactly nobody. 

Furthermore, I looked like one of "those" golfers...wearing what I wore for work (t-shirt with minions on it, basketball shorts), had music rolling, have iron covers as well as wood and driver covers, but there was nobody in front of me and off I go.

When i caught the twosome on hole 8 I was 32 minutes into my round. I puttered along behind them for that and a disastrous 9th hole where I was waiting on them every...single...shot. They were only playing 9, huzzah...

until a guy decided to go off the back and they had him join me. He was one of those guys with a long pre-shot routine and a weird hitch in his swing that took me four holes to not start walking before he hit the ball. We got caught on hole 17 by a single who played 17 and 18 with us. 

Finished the 18 in 2:39 according to the time on golfpad. And I was the best of the three golfers from a skill standpoint from what I saw. 

Slow play can come from a lot of ways. I took a lot of shots, the guy who played the entire back 9 I would guess shot a 50 or 51 and the guy who joined on 17 bogeyed the par 3 and doubled the par 5. Many strokes were taken.

The front 7 holes did not feel rushed or anything. I was in a great mood...open holes in front of me, clothes I personally find comfortable and nice looking (that most golfers will NOT agree with me), singing along to the music...I was not exactly race-tracking.

But what I was doing is I know the club I will use on pretty much every shot by the  time I reach the ball. I often have the club cleaned and the cover back on by the time the ball lands, unless the ball is in someones line  or has noticeable dirt I don't mark on the green, and so forth. Going straight to the ball, being ready to hit, moving towards my ball as soon as possible...I play fast without hurrying.

I routinely walk down people in carts despite being slowed down by injuries and having to push the cart. 

This is purely anecdotal, but I have been watching this thread for a bit and just thought some takeaways might be had...I can take 95 shots in essentially the same time frame easily.  There are a lot of ways to be fast and a lot of ways to be slow.

[Double Mocha Man]

25 minutes ago, darthweasel said:

I looked like one of "those" golfers...wearing what I wore for work (t-shirt with minions on it, basketball shorts), had music rolling, have iron covers...

Guessing you weren't playing Pumpkin Ridge.  You work in basketball shorts?!  Are you a Trailblazer?

Edited April 27, 2021 by Double Mocha Man

[boogielicious]

I was in a twosome yesterday with an older guy who talked a bit too much. 😀We were behind a foursome, but they were playing pretty fast, 1:45 for the front nine. On 11 they waved us up, but my partner was a bit nervous to do that so I thanked them and let them putt out. On the next tee I thanked them again and complimented their fast play. We finished in 3:40.

[Missouri Swede]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

On the next tee I thanked them again and complimented their fast play. We finished in 3:40.

My course.  (Not saying this is how it always goes. If it did, they wouldn't need to post it.):

[darthweasel]

13 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Guessing you weren't playing Pumpkin Ridge.  You work in basketball shorts?!  Are you a Trailblazer?

 

I pick and choose when I play courses like Pumpkin or the Reserve. I do it when I have to....tournaments for example, heading to palm springs next month, when I do I will wear clothes I find ugly and uncomfortable but other than special occasions like those I tend more towards courses that are....lets say more relaxed. Personally, Pumpkin is maybe 10th or 12th on the list of courses I enjoy in and around Portland and that is one reason. Course itself is...okay, I guess, and I prefer the Ghost side to Witch which is not the prevailing opinion, but to me that is a good thing...different people can enjoy different things.

 

The particular course I played  is called Meriwether. Good track for getting to use all the clubs, has some really challenging holes (number 11 comes to mind...from the middle tees it is over a 400 yard par 4 that takes driver out of your hands, 13 is a par 5 with a sharp dogleg that requires an 8i off the tee (or whatever your 160 yard club happens to be)...and some really easy holes...shockingly from the tips it is one of the longer courses around and got in a solid 10,896 yards walked.

As for the shorts and tee shirt, right now I am blessed to be working from home so I get to wear pretty much whatever I prefer. brings me great joy

 

but for the topic, I think it is pretty illustrative that someone who looks and sounds nothing like a traditional golfer can still maintain pace just fine even with some physical limitations. there are people I know who cannot for similar reason...age has reduced their speed even more than mine...but for most people it is within reach