Slow Play

[jetsknicks1]

I agree that stinking a hole up in general will make for a longer time playing that hole, but I disagree that slow play is all about sucky play. I had a discussion about this yesterday during my round. The people in front of us were slow, but they weren't horrible except for the first 4-5 holes. They just took their damn time with everything. They would stop the cart girl every time she passed to get drinks, spend time talking at their carts on the side of the green, spend time talking on the tee box while the fairway was clear, and (my personal favorite) every guy had to follow each other guy to their ball to hit.

That drive me crazy! it also drives me nuts when one guy hits into the woods and everybody goes to look for his ball. Let the guy who hit it look for his own ball while the rest go to theirs and either gets ready to hit or go ahead and hit while the first guy is looking for his ball.

[Shindig]

However, that's not why the round was slow, they had a group in front of them that was slow (had a walker with them), we would be 3 groups queued up at par 3's...........problem is there are long sections of the course in between some holes, and since they charge a lot of money extra for golf carts, i saw a lot of walkers. Add to that, they send groups out 4 minutes apart, and you have a recipe for slow slow slow play. Needless to say I won't ever be going back to that course again.

The walkers aren't why it's slow. The time between holes matters very little if you have to wait on the tee when you get there. If the course puts out people 4 minutes apart, there is going to be a wait regardless. A foursome of Ben Crane, Sean O'Hair, Kevin Na, and Padraig Harrington would have no trouble keeping up with the group ahead in these conditions.

So now I am sitting on the 2nd tee for close to 20+ Mins and I still cant hit because they are still about only 200 yards out. Having a grand time it looked like. With no other Tee around I waited until they were done and off the green 30ish minutes it took. I par'd the hole so did my friend and they were still on the next tee by the time we were done. With the kids running around hitting there balls about 6ft each time and the women not much better I said "You know this is what the driving range is for"..

I hope you alerted the head pro or the director of golf. When something is obviously causing a backup in play, and upsetting customers such as yourself, you need to alert someone in charge - if not during the round, at least afterwards. If not for yourself, for the others who may play a course that might be inclined to do this again.

[BostonSully]

That drive me crazy! it also drives me nuts when one guy hits into the woods and everybody goes to look for his ball. Let the guy who hit it look for his own ball while the rest go to theirs and either gets ready to hit or go ahead and hit while the first guy is looking for his ball.

Yep, i was playing at a local pitch and putt a week or so ago. Caught a 4some of ladies on the 5th hole(note: no holes here over 100yds) there is alot of "tall grass" hazard everywhere and these ladies couldnt even get the ball in the air. Off the Tee all 4 of em would hit the ball straight into the tall grass than like peasants working a field in Fuedal England they would take their wedges and in straight line work through every inch of grass for about 15 minutes hole. None of them found any of their balls but I found about 15+ of em in 30 seconds or less.. Those ladies were clueless I just hopped around them and teed it off on 6 when I realized what they were doing.

[Fat Slice]

I think if I can mount one of these on my golf cart I will be able to speed up the group in front of me considerably:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6297149.stm

[toddmlazarchick]

Recently went to a local 9hole Par 4. Nobody infront of us on the first hole so we tee'd it and played it pretty quick. Got to the second hole and lo' and behold there is a group of 6! 4 Kids under age 10 and 2 women in their 40-50's. Now the women were typical croket' players I dont think I saw one ball go in the air(they also took about 1,000,000 practice swings every time) and the kids were well kids. But the women had each kid play each and every of their own balls.

Well I have to agree with her you are an ••••••• for saying that. What would have been wrong with saying..."Excuse me, would it be ok if we played through?" Then they are out of your hair. I dont understand the mentality of some people. If waiting is such a problem then play through its not that hard of a concept to understand. When I play with my normal group of friends we play at a normal pace. When playing with my grandfather or younger brother I will take more time then normal to help them or point some things out to them that they should pay attention to or should be looking at. My chipping game seemed to get worse over the last half of the season so my last time out my best friend and I played ourselves and spent 6+ hours correcting my wedge game. Whenever I would come up to a shot where I would use a wedge I would pull 5-7 more balls out of my bag and drop them next to the ball im playing and hit them all. I would play the original shot but by the end of the round I did correct my flaw and was chipping very well by #18. I had about 6-8 groups come up behind us and I let them all play through without them having to ask me. When they were close enough we just waited and they played through. Its not that hard to do.

[ohiolefty]

Lots of a-holes in this thread. Lots on the course.

Unless you're playing with people that are TERRIBLE, or you're stuck behind a group that's TERRIBLE, there is no reason to play a round of golf in more than 4 hours. NONE. Unless someone in your group is shooting in the 100's...it's impossible to play a round longer than 4 hours unless you're being irresponsibly stupid. Why pay to walk around the course for 5 hours when you can do it in a public park for free, and nobody'll give a sh*t if you stand in one place telling d*ck jokes for 25 minutes.

And - walking is FASTER unless you're a hack. People go to their own ball instead of driving in circles. It also keeps the chatting and farting around to a measured, manageable level. You can have plenty of fun on a golf course, tell tons of stories and jokes, and do it in 3 hours and 45 minutes...or less.

[Fourputt]

Lots of a-holes in this thread. Lots on the course.

Dude... it ain't a race.

Walking isn't faster if you know how to use a cart. That just silly. Riders win on the reduced travel time alone, hands down. I played yesterday with 3 of us riding and one walking.... guess who we waited for on every shot? I don't really give a shit that you can play in 3:45. My regular foursome can do it faster than that and still play all the way by the rules and hole every putt. But..... it still ain't a race. And speaking of a-holes... I get feeling that you really don't like people very much... your comments on this forum tend to be confrontational rather than helpful.

[SouthernILGolfer]

I simply hate playing in foursomes, i play most of the time alone or as a twosome with one other person. Ive seen even larger groups than that playing together at times. 4 good players(or me and 3 better players I should say) might not be so bad but if 2 or more are always looking for a lost ball, would drive me nuts. Ive played with terrible players before and once took over 2 1/2 HOURS TO PLAY 9 HOLES!!!!! Kept having to let every group behind us play through as we were holding them up. I can play 9 holes alone in just over an hour, 2 people in about hour and a half or 18 in about 3 hours. If i have to wait to long to play my shot in a large group, i cant keep my focus and play poorly. As far as walking vs riding, although i usually ride, i had to walk thursday as is the case many times during the winter nobody was working in the clubhouse so if you wanted to brave the elements(was windy and eventually rained) you had to walk but they did leave the pushcarts out to use. I played from the senior tees to save time and played pretty well, shot a 41(+6) on the front 9, best 9 hole score of the year. Was about a 2 club wind, was hitting 7 iron approach shots at distances that would normally be 9 iron or maybe even pw and with the wind I was inside 100 yards on all the par 4's(which was only 2 holes). Took me about an hour and 15 minutes so about my average time for 9 but playing well helped as I knew exactly what path to take to the ball most of the time and about how far away my approach shot would be so I already knew what club i would use.

[Zach Attack]

I think 4 hours is pretty good. If a faster group comes up behind you, let them pass! As long as you're not holding any body up, play at your own pace. Be respectful to others!!

I couldn't agree more

[ohiolefty]

And speaking of a-holes... I get feeling that you really don't like people very much... your comments on this forum tend to be confrontational rather than helpful.

Oh no you di'iiint.

[jetsknicks1]

I've always found it amusing how some folks feel the need to sprint thru a round. I play with a guy sometimes who will literally speed walk from the cart to the ball, swing like he's on fire, then speed walk back to the cart. Relax, have fun with your buddies and enjoy the day.

[sean_miller]

I've always found it amusing how some folks feel the need to sprint thru a round. I play with a guy sometimes who will literally speed walk from the cart to the ball, swing like he's on fire, then speed walk back to the cart. Relax, have fun with your buddies and enjoy the day.

What a dope. Running with one club is way faster.

[Chas]

Yep, i was playing at a local pitch and putt a week or so ago. Caught a 4some of ladies on the 5th hole(note: no holes here over 100yds) there is alot of "tall grass" hazard everywhere and these ladies couldnt even get the ball in the air. Off the Tee all 4 of em would hit the ball straight into the tall grass than like peasants working a field in Fuedal England they would take their wedges and in straight line work through every inch of grass for about 15 minutes hole. None of them found any of their balls but I found about 15+ of em in 30 seconds or less.. Those ladies were clueless I just hopped around them and teed it off on 6 when I realized what they were doing.

That is hilarious. You should get them to shoot the scene in Caddyshack-2.

As a solo walk-on at my local "Executive" course (part 62), I sometimes end up with a group of elderly ladies. It is often s..l..o..w, but I've learned to ask whether it's OK to play 2 balls and they never seem to mind. It can be a lot of fun - it's all good. That's the great thing about golf - you have sole responsibility for your own round. Unlike tennis, where a slow opponent used to drive me round the bend sometimes (gamesmanship usually).

[golf nut]

125 min for 5 miles is a 25 minute mile, 2.4 mph - that's a very leisurely pace assuming a healthy, normal weight adult.

I would have thought that at 4 mph you would walk 4 miles?

[colin007]

I would have thought that at 4 mph you would walk 4 miles?

hour and 15 minutes.

[golf nut]

I stand corrected, must have been a long day.

However everything is within walking distance IF you have enough time.

[Leftygolfer]

Walkers and Riders are slow at different times. After the tee shot to your ball (4 or 5 par) riding is so much faster. But if one guy hits it on the total opposite side of the hole so while the one is hitting the other is waiting then go across and do the same thing, I'd put my money on two walkers. It also has alot to do with the course. If you are walking up and down hills it wears on you and I am sure I could play a little quicker in a cart. But if I had my pick, I'd rather play with walkers. They tend to be better players. I've never seen a walker shot a 100. I walk because of various reasons. I enjoy it more, I like the quiet time between shots, I can play 27 for the cost to ride 18, and it makes it feel more like a sport. I walk with two of my friends riding and I rarely fall behind at all. I am always faster off the tee and greens just b/c I don't have to go to the cart.

But slow play has nothing to do with walking or riding. It has to do with presence of mind, being ready to play when it is your turn, not BSin when you should be hitting, and not looking for your ball all the time. That is the biggest time killer for me. If I hit one wild in play and can't find it. It is annoying and slows down your group. I understand why slow play is such an issue. Most people suck and it takes a long time to play really bad.

[newtogolf]

It varies with the course and weather. We had carts, but due to rain the day and night before we were limited to cart paths only. In this case the cart was definitely slower than walking, because we were constantly walking from the cart to the ball and back again. I definitely logged more time and miles that way than I would have just walking.