should 5 somes be allowed on the course

[heather stevenson]

At my golf course we have an ongoing battle on whether and when should 5 somes be allowed to play on the course. Busy or not? I would like to get some thoughts on this issue

[Smallville]

In my opinion, no. HOWEVER, I am not a course owner and they are the ones making the decision. They put out the cash outlay so they get to make the rules.

[goblue107501]

I think it depends on how busy the course is and what type of course. I think you will find it more at the private courses than public. It would bug me if I was behind a fivesome and they couldn't keep up. However, if 5 people can keep up then I don't see a big deal about it.

I played Sunday at 11:00 at my friends semi-private course and we played with five. The place was packed but we played that way anyway. We did reserve two tee times so it was actually a benefit for the people behind us that we played five instead of three and two. We played a two on three shamble so we were able to keep up and in fact after five holes we were about a hole ahead of the threesome behind us.

[firstcut]

No freekin way... The average public course stinks it up bad enough as it is. And you are not going to be able to control whether its 5 2HCPs or 5 30HCPs. Hell, as it is I dread it when I realize that I'm stuck in a foursome with three other guys at *my* skill level.

[toogood]

It all depends on the course. At a public course, no chance. There are too many variables as to who the group is made up of.

Here at my club we allow 5somes and most do just fine. Sometimes we even have 6+ in groups. Today for example there's a group of guys that will probably go out in a 10some late this afternoon and play a scramble. 99 times out of a 100 there's no problems with it.

[Fourputt]

As with most things, it isn't necessarily fivesomes that slow things down, it's still just slow golfers. My course (very busy public course) allows fivesomes only with special requirements. They must all be in carts (i.e. 3 carts for 5 riders.... 2-2-1), and they must commit to keeping up with the group in front of them. If they don't keep up, one of them will be asked to drop out, and they are informed of this requirement before they hit from the first tee. We do NOT take reservations for fivesomes.... they are only spur of the moment situations.

As far as pace of play is concerned, I've played in a fivesome and easily completed the round in under 4 hours. I've also played in a threesome with 2 other golfers who couldn't finish in 4-1/2 hours if they were the only players on the course (ultimate frustration when you are having to constantly prod them to keep moving). I've played in a group of five when we were pushing a threesome all the way around the course.

So it's a decision that has to be made by the course management, and it should be made with careful consideration, as just allowing it without restriction can lead to a loss of revenue if it's mishandled. If a course gets a reputation for slow play because of such a policy, the better players will simply find a more player friendly course.

[Big_M]

Here at my club we allow 5somes and most do just fine. Sometimes we even have

WTshizzle sticks... that's the craziest tom-foolery I've ever heard of... a 10-some. No way in hell that's legit or reasonable in the game of golf.

My gut reaction to the original question was - BAN ALL 5-somes... but truth is it wouldn't be a problem if they were fast enough or the course was deserted. Problem lies in ascertaining who will be fast enough and/or have the good sense to let another group through if they get caught by a group despite an empty course.

[whip_it_out]

On weekedays only, but if the course is packed, the staff should split the group up, or make them wait.

Besides, good marshalls can fix any slow play problem. theres a military course I know of, and their rule is, if youre a hole behind when the marshall catches you, he pulls you aside, you wait for 2 groups to play through, then you can go. If it happens again, youre off the course. I know its a military course, but I think it's a good way to do it.

[Dub]

Generally....I'd say no....it simply would slow play down too much.

[erniebanks]

The course I play allows 5somes 'cause the owner plays in a 5some every frikin' day. They don't cause a problem because they play very fast.
However, not all 5somes are that "speedy".
We have NO MARSHALS to control speed of play.
Why is it that every 5some I get behind NEVER looks back to see if they are holding anyone up?
If there is a 5some on the course everyone behind them spends up to an hour longer on the course.
SUCKS! STOP THIS CRAP!

[dave s]

I have an open invite with a 'pickup group' of guys at work each Wed evening. We play behind the regular Wed night leagues. Sometimes we have exactly 5 players who can make it.

The course always makes us split into 3/2 groupings. They also follow us around if we decide to make it a 5-some and threaten to throw us off the course for not following the rules!

The league in front is typical--everybody waits on every tee; everybody waits on every fairway.

If we were allowed to play as 5, we'd all get to interact with each other and we'd play a bit slower as a group which would reduce waiting time.

I think courses use the 'no 5-some' rule as a defense mechanism more than anything. When play is slow, it would be really easy to point the finger at a 5-some as the cause of slow play.

What causes slow based on my experience is:

• People show up late for tee times
• Spacing of tee times too short
• People looking for lost balls
• Few golfers understand the importance of playing 'ready golf'
• A few players treat EVERY putt like its the 72nd hole of a US Open
• A whole bunch of other things

I guess my long story short is that I'm in favor of 5-somes because play is usually slow no matter when you play or where you play.

dave

[toogood]

WTshizzle sticks... that's the craziest tom-foolery I've ever heard of... a 10-some. No way in hell that's legit or reasonable in the game of golf.

I don't see why not. They're playing a 2-man scramble. So really just an exagerated 5-some I suppose. Plus, if a faster group comes up on them they always let them through.

You've got to realize this is at a private club, on member's day. It can't and doesn't happen at any other time. But things like this happen at a private club, way more than at any public course.

[wagon b0y]

At the country club i play at, they allows 5 somes. On the weekdays you can play 6somes if you wanted.

But if it was a public course, i would say hell no to 5 somes. Takes forever as it is.

[bogeyhitter25]

No. No way. I've had experiences where it took 3 1/2 hours just to play what I thought would have been a quick nine. We got trapped behind a 6some. It was a living hell.

[Eore]

i think a twosome and a threesome can join up if there is a bunch of foursomes ahead of them and no chance of playing through

[DLR]

Occasionally if a group of friends and I play and there happens to be five of us we will play a fivesome if it is allowed and if we ever see anyone waiting on us we will glady wave them by. Tonight I decided to play a quick nine at the local course and after four holes of having no one ahead of me I caught up to to a fivesome of older women playing very slow. I was in no hurry so when I saw that I was catching up to them I kind of slowed down my pace of play figuring that I wouldnt catch up to them. Well I ended up catching up to them and they never waved me through. I ended up waiting patiently while they spent about 5-10 minutes on the green. So basically I am usually in favor of fivesomes but in some cases I dont think it should be allowed. I really wasnt upset by having to wait since I wasnt in a hurry but the only thing that kind of pissed me off was that I could hear them talking and laughing and carrying on and Im pretty sure that they didnt care that they were playing slow and holding me up.

[tonyy]

I don't really mind with any kind of group ahead of me as long as they're keeping the pace.

There have been some instances where a 5 some was faster than a 2 some for me. Guess it all depends on the levels of play.

Slow players aggravate me though. I have a friend that literally takes 5-7 practice swings, addresses the ball, takes a half back swing, sets up again, looks at the target, concentrates, and looks at the ball for another 15-20 seconds before he actually swing. Kills me!

[Cody]

My golf team plays some games that require us to play together for a while and we had an 8-some that was faster than a foursome.