How to Cope With Slow Play?

[Carl3]

59 minutes ago, Sandy Lie said:

I rarely do this but today on Pinehurst #4 was probably a top 3 in my slow play experiences.  Tee time was at 8:30.  1st tee time at 7:30.  First 3 tee times were Resort, and starting at 8:00 it was Members.  10 minute spacing between times. We go at 8:30 and as we got to our 2nd shots the first green is clear so that’s good.  As we arrived (walking) at the 2nd tee we see this, players on the green, players in the fairway and we’re on the tee box.  Ok sometimes it can bunch up on the par 5 relative to the 1st hole being an easy hole.

But those thoughts came crashing down on the 3rd hole and that’s how the day went, 3 groups a hole.  It went that way through the first six holes for me.  So, once again it was decision time. I asked if anyone wanted to jump to the 13th hole.  I was the only one who did and played the rest of the way in.  At the 6th hole we had been playing for 1hr 50min.  Definitely a 5 hour pace was more than likely.  I did look back and saw that the others from my group only lasted one more hole and jumped from hole 7 to 12.

So I played 6 holes a side.

 

I really feel bad for you. Today I played a course in the Southern Tier of Western New York in record time on 2 hr and 22 minutes. Of course I had the fastest snowmobile out there and luckily I had my 12v snow shovel charged, because wouldn't you know it the grounds crew was lax in their duties on a couple of the greens.

Putting was easy on those as you just remove the snow on the path to the cup. Never 3 putt on those.

I even had a cup of hot chocolate and a peppermint stick at the turn.

I did have to wait on the number 16 tee, par 3 for some ice fishermen to get out of the way on the water hazzard.

[roejye]

For me there are a couple of things that make slow play difficult. My worst story was catching and getting stuck behind a group on a hot, muggy, sunny day. I had already played through 1 group, and it was very early COVID, so even though I tried to join the group I played through, they didn't want to. The weather and getting out of my rhythm threw me off and it wasn't a fun time. I don't remember if my golf suffered because of it, but the experience was rough. I think it ended up being about a 5 hour pace.

Another time where I had slow play I was expecting it, it was an afternoon tee time after work, I had googled the course expecting to read about slow play and saw some reviews mention 5 hours. It was another hot day, but cloudier, so that helped. Because it started out slow, the guy I was paired with was nice, the weather being different, and I was hitting it pretty well, the experience was enjoyable.

I find when I get out of a rhythm my game does suffer.