IM SICK OF THIS *$#! whats ruining golf...

[WilsonWill]

Listen Bud you seem like a good guy,,,i hope you let faster golfers through when on the front nine or early back nine...

First things first...take a breath...

Now, again, why didnt you just go around? The guys in front of you should have done the same. Its obvious that the group in question didnt care what effect they were having on everyone elses pace of play, so why waste so much of your time letting them upset you? Seems as if they are the greater victor here, as we are still talking about this how ever many days later. I just cant comprehend allowing these guys to get you so worked up. Granted Im a very relaxed individual for the most part, but if you had just gone around them to the next hole, or wherever you decided to land, youd of had no problems and conitinued on your way w/ an enjoyable round w/ a small asterisk noting the crazy 15 minutes you spent waiting for these douches on one hole, instead of the huge amount of time of your life youve now effectively wasted by complaining to the pro shop, sitting behind these guys for however long and now complaining about it on an internet golf forum. Im not defending anyones behavior, and I share in your being upset w/ their lack of class and consideration for others. All Im trying to say is look at the bigger picture and the small steps that can be taken by everyone to allow themselves to enjoy their golf a little more.

[Mr Eagle]

Blame it on the TV. I see it every week ,Weekend Hackers taking 20 practice swings,studying the line of the putts as if every shot was for he Open,people just need to get real,Its a game with your mates

Get a Bloody move on!

[Jared]

what i think a rule should be is if you can't hit it past the ladies tees, you have to pull down your pants and walk to the ball and hit it pantsless.

I have seen that rule enforced. OMG

[TheNatural]

Steve,



I'm following through on a complaint about the play at the course yesterday. Sure it's public, I am aware.



I witnessed on 18 separate occasions a 4-some playing from Black. They tee'd off twice directly in front of the starter who said he was also the ranger( at 1 and 10). Two of the four found themselves either still on the tee after a stroke or in the grass below 1 and 10.



I asked the starter, whether they should be advised to go to the whites. He gave me a rude response that displayed his lack of professionalism. There were at least 6 groups behind us at the time.



There were actually 2 slow groups in front of us, with a 3 or 4 hole gap beyond them easily observed at the 5th fairway. Oddly the front group did delay the 4-some playing the black tees up to the 15th hole, then they slowed to a crawl and lagged behind by 2 holes.



We have played slow rounds before, but this was awful. We went to express our dissatisfaction in the pro shop and were snubbed. A "sorry for your delay" would have been great but we were told that what we witnessed did not happen. Ice delays are unavoidable, but when the pro shop clerk knew that this particular group was extremely slow, they should have been asked to play whites or tee off the back nine at the start. I play your course 20x a year or more and bring clients. If steady pace of play can't be observed I have no reason to continue playing the course.



While on the topic

the "ranger" in the shop yesterday(glasses 40something 6ft tall) was seen stealing one of our balls from the fairway last fall on 10,,, below the crest of the fairway. We saw where it landed and even saw his dew footprints to the ball and back to the 1st hole rough, one of our group witnessed him getting back to his cart from our fairway. Never did understand that one....



we have seen at least 5 or 6 times a 5-some or 6 play the course and delay the entire field, or there was the time when 3 ..4somes held up the course so they could play closest to the pin on the par 3's. 6hour rounds are always fun.
Bottom line, you are losing an avid golfer who drives an extra 20 minutes to play your course and someone who introduces others to it. I play CB at Rising Sun, and still haven't seen the delays like at Pilgrims Oak. Its not every round but too high a percentage. Maybe the topic should be addressed, good luck.



Thanks for your attention to this matter.




MY email to the pro at the course....not too scathing,....but on point

[TheNatural]

First things first...take a breath...

LISTEN DR PHIL...no really if we go around and the ones behind us go around and the ones behind them go around it would be anarchy,,,cats and dogs living together,,John Daly clean and sober,,,,yes anarchy......see the letter i emailed to the pro. If I get a 18 hole raincheck ,,,fat chance...I will be happy and shut my trap until the next group of slugs tee off in front of me...... the rants help, no they really do...I JUST LOVE THIS $*@& game so DAM MUCH!!!!

[sacm3bill]

Itd be like being on a 4 lane highway and getting upset at someone for being in the fast lane and driving slow (another occurance that happens all the time). Guess what, theres a whole other lane over there, go around and just be happy. Same applies here, there are 17 other holes out there, go around and be happy...

You've made our point for us with your "driving slow in the fast lane" analogy. Yes, it's exactly like that, only in most cases you can't "just go around" because everyone else is driving slow in every other lane.

Similarly, you can't "just go around" on the golf course either. Please take a minute to think about it. As TheNatural explained, multiple groups that are being held up can't just wander over to other holes *hoping* there will be one open, hoping that if there is then jumping on won't affect other folks who were in front of them but now are behind them, and hoping they'll be able to just jump on the middle of the course again after the 18th to play the holes they missed and paid good money for. None of that would need to happen if more people just showed some common courtesy and respect by either: 1) Playing from the correct tees, 2) Picking up at a certain point, or 3) Playing on courses more beginner/hacker friendly until they get better. But common courtesy and respect for others is going the way of the dinosaur, and that's exactly why people drive slow in the fast lane too. For me at least, it's not just rude golfers that get me worked up. It's that it's a symptom of rudeness in society in general. Yeah, I know we shouldn't be getting upset. But since we can't all be spiritually enlightened boddhisatvas like you, get out of our way and let us vent, ok?

[DJYoshi]

i know it's a stupid question... but did you ask if you could play though?
if that fails, you could always politely ask the ranger if they could help you move thru.

[Bamma]

Being a new golfer or a bad golfer is no excuse for slow play. From the time I started playing, I was taught that the #1 rule was to keep up the pace. No matter what I would shoot, I would always play 18 in under 3 hours with a walking foursome (assuming a clear lane ahead). We were always the 2nd group off, with the first being quick and on carts. I could shoot 100+ and never hold up the group. It is as simple as "here's the ball, there's the hole..hit it." Sure, take a practice swing if you like. But don't sit there debating between a 7 and 8 iron when you are most likely gonna top the damn thing anyway. Play the correct tees. If you are way struggling on a hole, pick up and move on to the next. And if you are holding other people up, get out of the damn way. I hate to be rude, but go practice some more if you can't keep up. But the real problem is you just move too slow and are too indecisive. Just hit the ball and move on.


I always said that Jack invented slow play, Bernhard Langer perfected it, and Tiger made it popular.

[TheNatural]

i know it's a stupid question... but did you ask if you could play though?

yea..they said.they were backed behind the group in front...issue here is that they werent really pressing them...remember 4 off the blacks 2 cant hit it past 100....so they MIGHT be able to catch them at a fairway driving away .....the group ahead was more of a crutch for them if anything....

[DJYoshi]

maybe Erik can chime in with this one. he dropped some knowledge on me last year when I was a single rockin it and got caught up behind 2 groups and what would've been a 2.5 - 3 hour round turned out to be a 6+ hour round.

[1UnderU]

I live in Manhattan and play mainly NYC-Long Island and northern NJ Courses. Slow play is the norm and it drives me crazy. Seriously making me consider a move down south or somewhere less populated. On average I will play a 6 hour round, and 6 hour is a good short round. Mostly 6.5 hours. It's impossible to play well like that.

It's one of my biggest pet peeves; I would rather pay $100 to play in 3.5 hours than pay $50 for 6 hours. As well it does come down to three things, 1) courses over booking, which is routine in NYC and surrounding areas, 2) Caliber of players, i.e. level of game play and respect for picking up 3) the rangers.

[Prairie Golfer]

I hate slow play more than everything else related to golf put together.

As a kid (ten in 1980) I was required to take a "proficiency exam" on ability and etiquette with the club pro before being allowed on the big course. I passed and was told to play the red tees until I regularly broke 100 then move to the white tees. Even better, this is a public course.

We need...
1. PGA Pros need to play MUCH MUCH faster, monkey see monkey do
2. US golf courses need to be more playable for the average and below average player, less 7000 yard TPC types and more 6000 yard parkland types and executive courses
3. Clubs, pros, starters, marshalls, etc. need to confront slow players, the ignorant ones educated and the intractable ones REMOVED



I loved the shouting matches the club pro had with groups that were pulled off the course back in the day for slow play. One ended this way...

SLOW PLAYER: "We're never playing this course again!"

CLUB PRO: "Exactly"

[TheNatural]

I live in Manhattan and play mainly NYC-Long Island and northern NJ Courses. Slow play is the norm and it drives me crazy. Seriously making me consider a move down south or somewhere less populated. On average I will play a 6 hour round, and 6 hour is a good short round. Mostly 6.5 hours. It's impossible to play well like that.

I just played crab meadow...i like it...have you? Northport, NY

[flanagan]

A couple of weeks ago I really enjoyed The Golf Channel announcers, Faldo and someone else, who were calling the match play, making a point of letting viewers know how fast some of the groups were getting around.

Slow play is my number one pet peeve, but as I've gotten older, I've had to realize it's relative. I try to play when I know pace won't be an issue, and the course I play at isn't all that short, and not at all flat, but I can walk it in 2 1/2 hours if I'm playing well. The regular groups I play in, 3 or 4, can easily get around in 3 to 3 1/2.

Obviously part of the problem is ignorance, and just the stubborness of some people, and sometimes you just have to adjust to pace of play.

One of the trends I've noticed where I play, and I keep providing gentle reminders, is allowing groups of 5 (with 3 carts) - can't turn down that extra cart revenue during peak weekend hours, or letting groups of 4 during peak weekend hours play their own personal scrambles. That is ridiculous, slows play down for everyone behind those groups, and is just plain ignorant, in my opinion. When the course isn't taking a stand on those kinds of issues, you just need to try and get enough of the regulars to let them know how you feel, sometimes it helps. Flying off the handle, though, never works.

Frankly, 4 and 1/2 hour rounds, where I play, are tortoise-like (and totally inexcusable for a foursome), if I was stuck on a golf course for up to 6 hours, I'd probably be more frustrated than the original poster.

[Bamma]

I remember when Golf Magazine (or was it Golf Digest?) used to run a "Keep Up The Pace" scorecard each month. John Daly was always rated as one of the fastest players, and Faldo/Langer/Norman were among the slowest. I have always been one who says that the cameras should spend less time on Tiger during tournaments because of its impact on pace of play. Not that he is a slow player (I have not seen any stats on that one way or the other), but because tournaments are so slow, and they show every single thing he does between shots, which often he only does because he has to wait, and people who want to be like him do all those things too. Take your time, drink a whole bottle of water between shots, eat a banana on the tee, etc. Granted, he has to kill the time, but the average guy on the course needs to get his butt in gear, not eat a banana.

[laconic517]

slow play is annoying as hell

but dont come out on the weekend in a 2some and expect to breeze through in 4 hours. On most courses, especially busy ones, thats just not happening on the weekend.

[HarrowGolfer]

[]Quote:
Originally Posted by TheNatural
..."you see that shiny red thing in the sky,,itll be there all day"....

LOL! that was funny

Not even the slightest bit funny! Typical stupid comment by a ranger who doesn't give a s***

[Guest]

Dude, I am totally with you I am a member of a veryvery difficult course outside of SD, CA...and don't usually run into this issue until I go walk Torrey South (2-3 times a week). I know I know...the Buick is there every year and OHHH MY GOD the US OPEN was there!!!! Holy S%@^!!!! But I will give it up to the course staff...they usually lurk around the (back back...you must carry the ball 260 or it goes in the canyon/ocean) tee's and ensure that the tourist's who pay a rediculous feedon't wander where they don't belong. But god help me when it does happen......the thought of playing in traffic comes to mind....great post dude!!!