Slow Play: Causes and Cures

[Will]

People play at different speeds. Golf should be fun for everyone, no matter how slow you play. The solution is simple, and is easy to implement.

Just require that slow groups let other groups play through. That's the whole solution.

I played 54 holes yesterday. Shotgun at 7:30, 4 hours. Shotgun at 12:30, another 4 hours. Then went out at 5 by myself, finished in 2 hours.

[Fourputt]

I have virtually no paitence for slow play. I bend some leeway for four and fivesomes, but I have no sympathy for someone who is taking all week to play a round of golf...or old, retired people who frankly...don't belong out there anymore.

So.... what are you? Twenty something... if that? Can't be much older than that or you wouldn't make such ignorant generalizations. I'm 60... in 10 years I'll be 70, and I guarantee that even then I'll run you into the ground. Old people my ass!! My partner in my club's better ball match play tournament is 89 and still plays to a 13 handicap... used to be scratch but he can't hit the ball far enough anymore to reach par 4's in 2 most of the time. But HE would run you into the ground too. There is a foursome at my course that plays every day at 7:30 in the morning... they are all over 70, they all walk, and they NEVER take more than 4 hours to play. They generally make the turn in 1:30... I'm a starter there and I clock them through at the turn.

Wake up and smell the daisies dude. In 50 years you'll be looking back at this and wondering what you were thinking....

[lamebums]

So.... what are you? Twenty something... if that? Can't be much older than that or you wouldn't make such ignorant generalizations. I'm 60... in 10 years I'll be 70, and I guarantee that even then I'll run you into the ground. Old people my ass!! My partner in my club's better ball match play tournament is 89 and still plays to a 13 handicap... used to be scratch but he can't hit the ball far enough anymore to reach par 4's in 2 most of the time. But HE would run you into the ground too. There is a foursome at my course that plays every day at 7:30 in the morning... they are all over 70, they all walk, and they NEVER take more than 4 hours to play. They generally make the turn in 1:30... I'm a starter there and I clock them through at the turn.

I had a hunch that sooner or later someone was going to jump on me for what I said. Problem is, I've been given the short end of the stick way too many times from older golfers to

not have the right to complain and generalize...doubly so since I've never had any positive experiences from being behind said foursome. I know there's exceptions to this somewhere in the world; I just haven't seen them. So, man, just take a chill pill and take my rant with a grain of salt.

[Fourputt]

I had a hunch that sooner or later someone was going to jump on me for what I said. Problem is, I've been given the short end of the stick way too many times from older golfers to

Sorry, but you're the one who poured salt on the wound. I play often with a group of 4 or 5 guys who are all over 60, we play 18 holes in under 4 hours as a fivesome as long as we aren't slowed down by any slow playing youngsters.

I sit in my starter's booth and clock the groups coming through on 9 and 18, and I have never been able to see any specific relationship in the demographics of slow players. This is a busy public course that supports up to 140,000 rounds a year.. and this is in Colorado where we even have some winter. I see old and young, men and women, walking, riding, low and high handicappers, and there are slow players and slow groups in every category. But we always have a course ranger on duty to "encourage" slow players to keep pace with the group in front of them. The worst I've seen this year was just the last day I worked, when one group of Friday afternoon players took 4:30 to finish... and at that they made up 15 minutes on the back 9 after a word of "encouragement" from the ranger. They were all 40-something businessmen taking a half day off on Friday for a round. By the time 4 four more groups had finished we were back to our typical 4 hours to 4:10 for a busy Friday. One question... do you play on a public or private course? Not that it probably makes a difference.... just curious.

[Q.Q.Quillume]

I'm not trying to deliberately bait anyone into a flame-war, but I seriously believe that people over 70 or so shouldn't be allowed on the course during peak hours. I'm sick and tired of the times I get behind a foursome (or worse, an outing) of retirees, and I burn up four hours trying to play 9 holes.

It sounds as if you are . . .

[iacas]

Let's get back to the original question(s). Jeff has two articles to write this Friday.

BTW, I've added large text and a link to a promise/petition in my sig file. I encourage everyone else to do the same.

[NM Golf]

.I have virtually no paitence for slow play. I bend some leeway for four and fivesomes, but I have no sympathy for someone who is taking all week to play a round of golf...or old, retired people who frankly...don't belong out there anymore.

I can say myself, the older guys at my course are probably the fastest players there. I play with quite a few 60+ retired guys, my father included, and not only are they very fast they are very good. So you better watch what you say cause the older guys I play with would not only play faster than you, they would kick your a$$ while they were doing it.

[$2 Nassau]

Foolish comment about older players being slower. I've noticed quite the opposite actually.

[niblick]

It seems to me that most of the slow rounds I've suffered through were just the result of the course getting backed up. It's like a big cruise ship; once it starts turning, takes a long time to get it straight again.

I had a guy in our group once get absolutely steaming mad at me for taking two practice swings, when we were waiting for the group in front of us on every tee box. That's a little extreme to me. I hate slow play as much as the next guy, but the "hurry up and wait" thing bugs me too.

[hammer84]

The biggest contributing factor to slow play is the Pro V1 I'm being a little tounge and cheek but I see soooo many people using $40+ dozen balls and then spending 10 minutes looking for theirr $4 ball on every third hole, it just kills me.

My tolerance is about 2 minuts once I reach the site of my shot. If I take a prolong look for my ball it affects my game.

As for seniors, my g-pa is 80+ and plays as fast as anyone. A few groups at my local course ( play on M-W-F at 10am ) do not and will not allow anyone to play thru. Just shows you cannot generalize (sp?)

Just a basic lack of understanding of the game kills play time. If your only true exposure to golf is Sunday TV and you hit the links once a month you don't get what golf is really like. For those of us who grind out 36 and practice before/after of both a 4.5 hours plus round just kill us.

[lamebums]

One question... do you play on a public or private course? Not that it probably makes a difference.... just curious.

It's a public course, owned by the county.

To the other guys who've posted to the contrary, I know that exceptions to my generalizing exist...I just haven't had any in my experience. Just today, I got stuck behind two foursomes, none of which were under 75, I think. Four guys, and four ladies in their own foursomes. I drive up to the 6th tee, and watch as the four ladies flub their shots 20 feet at a time, re-hit, drive around, fish up their balls, flub the shot another 20 feet...all told, I had to wait about 20 minutes for them to hole out on a 160 yard par 3. I drilled my five to the left side of the green, two-putted, drove up to the next tee, and began the waiting game again. The second time, I wasn't so patient...after about 15 minutes they were near the green on the par 4 7th, and I just killed my driver down the fairway, landing near where they were, about 20 yards short of the green. (Admittedly, I didn't think I would hit that far - the hole was 320 yards from the man's tees - but I think they got the idea and got out of the way in a hurry. I didn't see them again, so I don't even know if I played through or what... but I finished the rest of my round at normal speed.)

[Q.Q.Quillume]

It's a public course, owned by the county.

You sound like a real charming person . . . .

[royalwulff]

I hate spending a lot of time looking for a ball. If I hit mine wild, I go to where I think it landed, look for 30 seconds and then take my penalty and drop another and hit. If we are looking for a friends ball I will take out a ball toss it on the ground and say there you are, they get the hint. Another thing I do is if i know how far my shot went the I get out the club I will need when I put up the club from my last shot.

[lamebums]

You sound like a real charming person . . . .

Actually, 9 out of 10 times I am

I just have a real peeve about waiting for stuff. Waiting for someone to hit, waiting in line for (insert reason here), waiting at long red lights (I floor it on yellow), and well, you get the idea. I admit to being really impaitent, though.

[Fourputt]

Lamebums:

When you play as a single on a public course, you really have to take what the course dishes out. My home course is so busy that even playing in a twosome is a rarity. Even today, a Monday, I had a packed course from 8 AM till after noon when my shift ended. I had singles looking for a tee time and having to wait over an hour just to get grouped with another threesome. So you can imagine what it gets like on the weekends. On those very rare occasions when I do play alone, I completely change my approach. First, I slow everything down. I spend a lot of time practicing my chipping, either on the green I just finished, or on the next tee box. I will often play several holes with 2 balls.

Face it. A single golfer is ALWAYS going to spend time waiting when following several foursomes, and he really can't expect everyone on the course to cater to him. A foursome playing slower than a single doesn't constitute slow play. If you always go to the course to play alone, then you better find yourself a backup plan, because you're going to be doing a lot of waiting.

[greenail]

Two biggest causes of backups are

1. 8 minute tee time intervals.
2. No rangers/rangers who don't care

[lamebums]

Face it. A single golfer is ALWAYS going to spend time waiting when following several foursomes, and he really can't expect everyone on the course to cater to him. A foursome playing slower than a single doesn't constitute slow play. If you always go to the course to play alone, then you better find yourself a backup plan, because you're going to be doing a lot of waiting.

I am by no means a fast golfer (it takes me the better part of three hours to hit 18 holes if I had the course entirely to myself - which only happens a few times a year, either because I got up obscenely early or because it's 30 degrees). And, many times if I'm not under the gun myself to get moving, I won't hesitate to drop another ball if I mis-hit a shot, or take extra chips and putts.

Left to my own devices, I don't spend a lot of time waiting on foursomes when I do play as a single, but when for insert reason here, the impatience builds pretty quickly. Especially if the people in front take two or three shots plus several practice swings and ten different alignments.

[tbjohnston]

Two comments on what causes slow play, two observations, and two questions:

1) Not being prepared when it's your turn to strike the ball - this means knowing the right club, having taken your practice swings (during a fellow competitor's practice swings, ideally), etc.

2) Not thinking ahead - about where to put your bag / cart, drop off a partner or fellow competitor from a cart, etc.

Two observations:

i) Age doesn't seem to be a huge predicter of pace in my experience

ii) Particularly for resort / destination courses (and any cart path only course or hole) help the players by showing distances to hazards, etc.

Two questions:

a) is there a site or article that I can point people to teach them how to play more quickly? Unfortunately two of the people I can think of who play slowly are the sort who will push back *hard* if they are told they are the course of slow play, and will likely ignore what is said

b) no one in my regular golf trip group shoots in the 70's. How do I convince them to play from the whites, instead of from the blues or tips?