How do you cope with slow play?

[kekoa]

I guess its just life out in Cali. Almost every muni course will take you upwards to 5 hrs for a round. Its ridiculous. How do you guys cope with this? I'm a very fast player. Maybe one practice swing for drives and no practice for irons.

Its especially frustrating when guys in my group are slow. This actually hurts my game.

thanks.

[ERC7.5]

If I'm playing alone, I'm probably there to work on things anyway so I will usually end up playing two or more balls per shot until I get to the green then I will just work on putting until the group ahead is far enough to repeat the process (providing there are no groups behind me). I really don't like playing through (not good with an audience).

If I'm in a group.....I usually just shoot the breeze with my playing partner(s).

[r7 425]

i just pray that theyll let me play thru

[Wisco-Kid]

I have a hard time dealing with slow play. It depends on the situation. I am a member at my club so if I go out and there is slow play that I don't think I can get around then I will just leave or go to the practice areas.

I have left courses where I am not a member as well, and went to the club house and requested a "rain check" due to the ridiculously slow play. The course will usually give you a rain check (provided you were not on the 17th hole) because slow play to some extent is their fault.

Also I always try and play when I dont think there is going to be alot of people out hacking the ball around. Just before twilight rates kick in is usually pretty good and so is EARLY morning.

[kekoa]

I have a hard time dealing with slow play. It depends on the situation. I am a member at my club so if I go out and there is slow play that I don't think I can get around then I will just leave or go to the practice areas.

you are damn lucky. i can only dream about joining a club. :(

[Shindig]

I guess its just life out in Cali. Almost every muni course will take you upwards to 5 hrs for a round. Its ridiculous. How do you guys cope with this? I'm a very fast player. Maybe one practice swing for drives and no practice for irons.

When the guys in your group are slow, lecture them on slow play. See Erik's slow play promise thread (

http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthr...w+Play+Promise ) and the articles from slow play week ( http://thesandtrap.com/extras/site_n...week_2k7_recap ). Remember to mention it in terms of the group behind you, not in terms of messing up your game (they couldn't care less). If the group ahead of you is slow, do not hit into them ! It could be the group ahead of them. Plus, as the recipient of tee shots from the group behind me, one of which caught me between the shoulder blades almost a year ago, it hurts. However, if you catch up to them and know things they did that are slow, alert them to it and ask to play through. Be polite in it, though. If they're playing cart derby - drive to one ball, take a club, practice swings, change club, hit ball, put club away, go to next person's ball, etc - alert them to how to do this quicker. If they're marking their scores on the green, alert them that it's in appropriate - if they're young enough to play golf, they can remember their score long enough to get to the next tee. If they're taking 15 practice swings only to send the ball 20 yards, ask them to speed that up. If they persist, refuse, or are rude, call the marshal. I keep my cell phone - on silent, mind you! - in my bag every round I play. Otherwise, there's not a lot you can do. And you need to accept it: it's like strong winds, or a pin position at the peak of a ridge, or bunkers that people didn't rake. You could get mad, and as you say it affects your game, but you can't do anything about it. Make a decision not to let it affect you. Stretch at each tee box. Chat with your buddies.

[MrKadash]

I usually will give them two holes leeway. If they then don't let me through, I go driver off the deck on my approach to the green they are putting on.....

Not really.

[SubPar]

I pay attention on the first tee. If the group in front of me is screwing around on the tee and the fairway is clear out to 310+ I will jokingly ask who among them can carry their drive 300+. They will usually get the point and get going.

After that, if groups are stacking up, I'll call the starter and suggest they send a marshall out to see what is going on. Most of the time they get right on it because it is in their interest to keep things moving.

If there are just some poor players ahead, I can accept that, but if I see someone playing more than one ball at any point I wave down a marshall and they usually set them straight.

Last weekend I looked ahead to the second hole and saw a group on the green, one in the fairway and two on the tee. I called the starter and asked him to find out why there were four groups on the second hole. They sent someone out and we had no further problems, and actually finished in 4.5 hours.

The rule of thumb on par-3s is that you wave the following group up if the next tee is not open. So, if that looks to be the situation, I will ask the group leaving the tee if they would wave us up. That sometimes helps the pace.

If the course is stacked up and there are no real openings up ahead, then you just have to live with it. Getting out early helps.

SubPar

[total consciousness]

I don't mind, it gives me more time to drink.

[JaY_B]

Depends, if the slow play is in the summer, in beautiful weather and I'm playing with some good company then I really enjoy the day, that is what golf is all about - regardless of the pace of play -

However If it is a monthly medal in the middle of winter, its pouring with rain, howling with wind and I'm playing with an octogenarian I could think of better things to do.

I usually just keep myself to myself (when in the latter of the two situations) and work on my swing, putting or my frame of mind.

[ganjagolfer]

smell the flowers

[Lemay427]

relax and enjoy the day.

[Doctorfro]

I play my best golf when the pace of play is quicker. I have also realized that playing on the weekend is a time when most golf courses are at their busiest. Hence, because many golfers are just recreational golfers, the pace can become quite slow. I don't like playing on the weekend but sometime that is the only opportunity I have to play. Over time I have learned to get into a mode of not letting it bother me. Concentrate on staying loose, interact with your playing partners more, assess your risk/reward on your next shot and figure out the best strategy (but don't overthink it), enjoy the great outdoors. Our individual golf games can aggravate us enough. We don't need to let the people playing in front of us aggravate us even more. If it's your playing partners who are slow, I find that leading by example can be a good method of speeding them up. Play ready golf even when it's slow and keep your group moving. If someone you are playing with just doesn't get the hint, well, you just have to be brutally honest sometimes. They'll get over it.

[tm22721]

Moved to a remote mountain area 30 years ago. Fewer and friendlier people. Cheap club membership. 300 yd golf range in my front yard.

Quality of life dontcha know.

[chingali]

I play most Saturdays in the member comp and I always do my best to try and book in for the first group or as near as possible to it, that way I don't get stuck behind a slow group (or many) as I am first out.

I also make a note when playing of where other members of my group hit their ball when it goes offline, pick a tree or a bush where the ball went in to the trouble and that's where I begin looking for their ball, I also suggest to them if they are constantly looking in the wrong place that they try the "pick a tree where it went in" method. You'd be surprised just how many people begin searching for their ball in completely the wrong area.

I also suggest early on that we don't mess around with who has the honour on the tee, if you are ready then get up and have a bash. However that being said, I am usually the longest off the tee in the group, so if there are people in front I'll suggest that I hit off last, by the time the other three have played the group in front is sufficiently clear for me to have a crack, rather than them having to wait for me to wait until it's clear before they tee off. I also make sure that as a group we mark our cards when on the next tee instead of standing around the green holding up the group behind.

There are a million things you can do to help speed up play. If I do get stuck behind a slow group as happens from time to time, I just sit around and chat with the players in my group. I always try if possible to steer the conversation at some point towards slow play and the many little things that we as golfers can do to avoid being the ones that cause the delays.

[golf_junkie27]

The best tip I've received is to stay back for an entire hole. Hopefully, you'll be able to play at a good pace and not "catch up."

However, if you do, let them know what you've done and how you would like to play through.

[Craig Mac]

( Sarcasm Warning! )I usually just bitch and moan about it, talk about how I should hit one in to them to speed them up and then do nothing about it, oh yeah I blame all my bad shots on them too.

That's what most of the guys I play with do, I usually just relax and enjoy it. I am usually the one who doesn't have anything else to do, and I can't think of a better place to be.

[meenman]

I drink heavily and use the downtime to better prepare for my next shot.