impatient waiting for others at golf course

[onesome]

Not sure what's more annoyng, the slow player you get grouped with or the guy who just chomps at the bit the whole round cause he wants to be done in less than 3 hours.Gotta say the slow players are more common than the other but I was paired up with this one guy that would do everything possible short of teeing my ball for me to speed our round up.This guy would always be first to putt out and then would grab the flag and freaking stand 5 feet from the cup breathing heavy while we tried to manage our putts, or take off in the cart speeding all the way behind the green while we were hitting our approaches. We were not holding anyone up and in fact were a half hour ahead of a 4.5 hour pace after 9 holes. Some people get a little too obsessed with playing fast that finishing in 3 hours seems to be the objective versus shooting a good score.I know that I'm not a slow player cause I have played plenty of 3.5 hour rounds in foursomes that played in a relaxed but steady pace but any faster than that means your just not giving yourself the necesary time to focus on every shot and need to just take it a bit easier.

[coolbrees]

I live in south Mississippi and the course I play on is the cheapest one around. Mostly played on by older men and women so during the summer it is a ghost town after 11 am. The last few rounds we played we had the course to ourselves...seriously. When I started playing in February we were letting around 4 groups per round play through. Not because it was the right thing to do but because I didn't want them breathing down my neck when I looked for my balls in the woods, lol.

[Pablo68]

Originally Posted by sam004

I hope that wasn't on a weekend. Isn't always the ones that hit it a 100 yds at a time are the ones that oblivious to people behind them and ignorant to golf etiquette.

It was yesterday (Friday) so just as bad. To complicate matters a guy had his wife/girlfriend out there (both around 50+) 'learning' the game on a Friday morning. Take her to some par 3 course or better yet, to the range for a solid 6 months beforehand.

At least those two were waving people through whereas the corpses were just teaching their grandsons how to seriously irritate the p!ss out of everyone behind them.

I think a lot of the blame for that falls on the pro shop though. The ranger needs to be more active and if the group won't speed up ask them to leave. Seriously; 35 minutes behind after only 7 holes?!!!

[golf55]

worse is when there's 4some in front you and nobody is ahead but they won't let you pass. One time I tried skipping two holes and as I'm walking by this guy starts cursing at me for passing them.

[westcyderydin]

I don't mind slower players so much when they let you play through...but when the course is packed that still slows things down for everybody.  But then i also wouldn't like to be told to play faster if the ranger is timing me.

I don't think there is a perfect solution, it's just best when people are considerate of others.

[saevel25]

I've skipped a hole before on this group, we all took pars and moved on. These guys were slow, we ended up like 6 holes ahead of them by the time we finished. It was horribly slow, this foursome was playing two man best ball and they would not play ready golf, they would be standing there around one ball watching each on hit. It was just crazy.

As for slow play, if its a packed course, then deal with it. Enjoy the day, don't push into the group infront of you. I don't understand people who bitch and complain when there is nothing you can do about it. Its just waist of energy and makes you look like an idiot.

[Jon Robert]

Originally Posted by golf55

It takes me 4-5hrs to play 18holes cause people are freaking slow. If I had the course all to myself I can finish it in 90minutes. How do you guys deal with long wait period? I'm sure more expensive course($100) have fewer people but I can't afford that.

TO CURE YOU OF THIS

Watch the fist rounds of a golf tournament via the Internet

On Thursday I tuned into the 1 st round of the 2012 PGA Championship that is on TV as I type.. The first thing I saw was Phil Michelson waiting and waiting for the green to clear in front. He must have done the practice routine 3 or 4 times. He was not angry nor were the announcers the slightest bit surprised.

Do not watch the last rounds that are abbreviated for the TV instant gratification attention span of a humming bird crowd.

I guess that is the key to the matter People are the instant canned laughter, punch line every 15 seconds generation.

[sean_miller]

There are countless reasons why slow people are slow, but "relax and enjoy the day while they dilly dally about emulating the people on television" is sure not benefitting the golf industry as a whole. It reduces the number of players who can pass through the gates and it drives avid golfers to other courses where they care about pace of play, or more likely to play fewer rounds annually. There are so many golfers who can't seem to figure out how to walk with a purpose, who never approach their ball knowing which shot to play before setting down their bag parking their cart  and getting all their geographical and meteorological data. In reality they could pull the club on either side of the one they chose (or even a club out of their buddy's bag), and still end up in the exact same spot. Just hit the ball, go find it, and do it again.

[dak4n6]

Originally Posted by golf55

It takes me 4-5hrs to play 18holes cause people are freaking slow. If I had the course all to myself I can finish it in 90minutes. How do you guys deal with long wait period? I'm sure more expensive course($100) have fewer people but I can't afford that.

90 min for 18 holes? Holy crap you are slow. I normally do 18 in 50 min. Glad I don't have to play with you!

[fireman1153]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

90 min for 18 holes? Holy crap you are slow. I normally do 18 in 50 min. Glad I don't have to play with you!

I'm glad I don't have to play with you!  I'm not a fan of speed ball.  I like to actually enjoy the game.

[Motown88]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

90 min for 18 holes? Holy crap you are slow. I normally do 18 in 50 min. Glad I don't have to play with you!

50 Minutes!!! Dang...last time I played mini-golf it only took like a half hour!!!!!!!

[dak4n6]

Meh...I could probably play 18 in 30 min if I could get my cart up to 60mph.

I'm getting really pissed off at people who take more than 1 hr to play 18 though...they are being really selfish by not realizing that I want to get done with my round as fast as possible. Sheesh. Who do they think they are, enjoying themselves like that, lining up putts, checking the damn wind, taking more than 0.1 sec to decide on a club... It's insane.

[Tuflehundon]

I don't worry to much about how long the round takes. Sometimes there are new people ahead of me that take forever. I just let them play there game and have fun with it. Everyone has to learn somehow.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Tuflehundon

I don't worry to much about how long the round takes. Sometimes there are new people ahead of me that take forever. I just let them play there game and have fun with it. Everyone has to learn somehow.

I played 7 holes with a couple guys from work - 30 minutes to play the first hole. I parred, the second guy took a double bogey and we lost count for the third guy. On the second hole he put two balls in the water, took a drop, chipped back and forth across the green, twice in the trees, and took 4 putts. It's an 85 yard hole and it took us 20 minutes. It was 7 holes in 2.5 hours and he was exhausted. 18 would have required life support. Imagine someone following us if refused to let them play through? We played just before dark with nobody pushing us thank goodness.

[Hoganwoods]

Originally Posted by Jon Robert

I tell impatient people to get lost. They are the same people on the freeway that think everyone should get off their personal freeway and stop slowing them down. I have no Patience for the speed golfers.  I paid for 72 holes at Lasonia and after 9 holes I left. I told the manager that I am not going to pay money to have a ranger/ timer at every other hole and a GPS in the cart telling me that I am 1 minute behind. Now that golf is not so popular as it was, these speed freaks are begging the people to come back but I say sorry pal you blew it. I go elsewhere.

2008 "More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third."  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/nyregion/21golf.html?pagewanted=all

If you want to play speed golf then go to the range and fire away as fast as you can.

The rangers wouldn't need to time anyone if people like you stayed home.

People on the highways wouldn't get angry if you didn't feel the need to go the speed limit in the passing lanes.

If you don't like the pace of this generation, may I suggest you build yourself a time machine and go back to where you feel more comfortable.

If you want to play slow golf then go to the range and fire away as slow as you can.

[LovinItAll]

You could finish 18 holes with a cart in 90 minutes by yourself???  You play fast!!!  If you can play that fast then you'll always be waiting sorry to say.  [b] A standard round should take 4.5 hours so if it's taking you between 4-5 hours to play 18 holes then I don't see a problem.  [/b]If you can just slow down your game a little and take more time between shots, this should help so you don't have to wait as long.

I've never played a golf course anywhere in the world that should take longer than 4 hours to play, walking or otherwise. Our foursomes regularly finish in 3.5 or so, and we're not trying to set any speed records or anything. Once we get past four hours, it feels like a mighty long round. Five hours is stupid long. We had a 4.5 hour rounded yesterday, though, and here's why: One of our regulars didn't show up, so a tourist go paired with us and rode with me. He wasn't a very good golfer (shot 105), but his score wasn't what made the round so long. I couldn't get him to grab a couple of clubs when he was inside the cart markers and walk up to the green, and when I asked him to take the cart, he'd say, "You're the driver today! Haha!" The one time I just left the cart anyway, he parked 30 yards behind the cart that had already pulled up to the green. There were other things he did that slowed us down, but the point is that it just took one guy to make us play an hour longer than we ordinarily play. The guy was nice enough I guess, but I swear I didn't say 100 words the entire round while we were riding, and he wouldn't stop talking. If I ever here these phrases on the golf course again, it will be too soon: "Relax and have fun!" after every shot I hit that wasn't a GIR or if I missed a fairway. Mind you, I love being on the course and don't get bothered by the types of shots that, for whatever reason, he thought he needed to say that. "I don't usually play this bad!" Heard that every hole from #1 until #16. Dude thinned his approach to the green on 17 and finally made a par. He said, "I told you I was a golfer!" He was serious. He took quad on 18. "Good try, kiddo". I'm in my fifties. So was he. "The greens weren't this fast the other day."...after his eigth and every sunsequent time blowing the ball ten feet past the hole. Btw, yes, they were. I played that day, too. "You" - "Came out of that one!" - "Looked up" - "Gotta play it a little left/right from that lie." (before I hit a shot) No shit, man. Plus a plethora of other golfing cliches. I shot 78....not a great score, but damn. Got off on a tangent. The point is that a round of golf should never take more than four hours. If you're taking longer than that and there is no group in front of you, you're doing something wrong. Btw, there was no group behind us yesterday or I may have been a little more aggressive. I figured dude paid $125+, so I was trying to be as pleasant as possible.

[atomheartmother]

I sincerely hope that there aren't many beginners perusing this thread, as I'm sure they'd immediately quit golf. The smugness, self-centerdness, and sense of entitlement of a few of the people posting in this thread is nauseating. I honestly feel sorry for such people; living with such an outlook must choke the life out of you.

[SloverUT]

I don't really care about the speed of play of my group.  I do get a little aggravated if a slow foursome won't let my twosome (or me solo) play through, but that is it.  I always encourage our group to always stay just behind the group ahead of us, but if it doesn't happen, I don't fret.  I always let faster groups play through so nobody gets upset and I thoroughly enjoy my round of golf.  I honestly don't see how many of you enjoy golf so much when you are so worried about how fast you are doing it.