Why should I fastplay?

[Paradox]

I experience the opposite problem at my club. I understand those who want to take their time on the course and your point but I find that lately I've been getting very frustrated at players in groups in front of me. According to those I play with, I'm one of the fastest players at club. My aim is to finish a foursome in less than 4 hours and when I'm playing with my buddy we should be able to get 18 holes done in just more than 3 hours. I don't understand slow play because to me, I take plenty of time on the greens to read the line and line up every putt, other than a tap-in. I might be quick in everything else because I take less than 50 shots to get to the green, compared to the 65/70+ of most players.

My aim is always to shoot the lowest score possible, not play as fast as possible. Do you have a stopwatch that you carry with you on the course?

[Blades4me]

So there have been a few threads around for slowplay in the past - but where is the point in fastplaying when all the good players slowplay? Thats probably one of the reasons why they are good!

LOL, you are a 7.5 hc and you have to ask this question.

Personally I'd like to see them get tough with pace of play on the tours, but it comes down to money with the PGA and as the old poker expression sez, "money talks and bulls__t walks", all bow the the mighty dollar. I've always felt that if you are keeping up with the group in front of you then its not you who has the problem.

[normdamarine]

If your gonna suck, suck fast...

[andef]

My aim is always to shoot the lowest score possible, not play as fast as possible. Do you have a stopwatch that you carry with you on the course?

I try to finish my round following the time schedule that the club has set up. More than 4 hours for a round is too long for me, especially considering that I take one hour to warm-up before every round. If you, or any golfer in front of me, want to spend 5 hours (6 if they warm up on the range) playing a round of golf you're more than welcome to do so,

just let me play through if I'm waiting every time you're hitting a golf shot . Shooting the lowest score possible for my game means shooting close to even par, so an average 3.2 minutes per shot, walking to the ball and waiting for other players seems reasonable.

[kafka01]

LOL, you are a 7.5 hc and you have to ask this question.

Well - very constructive comment to a serious topic - but i guess in the land off cliffnotes reading & understanding anything beyond 2 paragrahps is just overwhelming the brain......

[MSDOGS1976]

Play at a 'reasonable' pace, that is a speed that most people will find reasonable and an 18 hole round in 4 1/2 hours is not unreasonable. An 18 hole round in 5 1/2 - 6 hours is unreasonable and that's what annoys most people.

I would quit golf if our daily group took 4 1/2 hours to play a round. Of course I'm spoiled, I'm retired and there are not a lot of golfers on the course in the mornings, during the week at our private club. Our 4some play ready golf and we easily get through in 3 hours without rushing. Everyone lines up their putts while someone is putting and the next guy approaches his putt when the previous putter finishes. Drives me crazy to see someone wait until it's his turn to start the process of studying his putt. Now when I play a resort course, I expect a 4 hour minimum. You are unfamiliar with the course and more people are playing typically.

[ohiolefty]

I just played in a threesome and then, due to course backup, a 5-some for the last 7 holes....


Elapsed time: 3 hours and 40 minutes. We didn't rush. The greens were slow and bumpy, so I felt like we even took longer than normal on greens.

I shot 76. My other playing partners were in the 80s.

Rationalizing shooting a round in more than 4 hours unless the course is backed up beyond your control is a flatly wrong point of view. Using PGA-based arguments to support this wrong point of view is hilariously wrongheaded.

[sean_miller]

I just played in a threesome and then, due to course backup, a 5-some for the last 7 holes....

Are people reading a different thread then posting here?

Anyway, I'm tempted to call bullshit on your 3 hour and 40 minute round, but that might be jealousy. I got stuck being the fourth with the slowest 3-some in history yesterday. It takes a long time for three guys to 130 shots each - thank god we were in carts since I was waiting a long time between my shots. If it wasn't possibly the last nice golf weather of the season, I'd have walked off after 9 holes.

[ohiolefty]

Anyway, I'm tempted to call bullshit on your 3 hour and 40 minute round, but that might be jealousy.

Started at 8:10. Done at 11:50. We hit it pretty straight, I guess. And, admittedly, we didn't run into ANYBODY until the back 9 (which was actually the front, we got started on the back by the starter to avoid a sunday morning traveling league).

[colin007]

2 people, 3.5 hours. thats how long it should take.

[don28]

I hate playing in front of guys who insist on rushing, but refuse an invitation to play through. Because they were friends of the marshal on duty, our group was given "warnings" twice about playing slowly. Despite the fact that we finished in exactly the time that the course suggested a round should take. Nothing says BS like a marshal expecting a foursome to keep up with a twosome in front of them.

Thankfully, the next time I played that course, that particular marshal was not on duty.