Pace of Play - Etiquette Question

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by Spyder

The tee times are fine, I see that as a benefit and a plus to be honest.

The "2 minutes to look for your ball, after that the ball should be played as if the woods are water and we are making up our own rules and this is no longer golf" rule is completely moronic. No course, or club, is going to tell me how to play my round or override the USGA if I'm anticipating playing by the rules of golf on an actual golf course.

Tee boxes are touchy as well. I learned to play some of my best golf from the tips because it really opened my eyes to course management and making smart moves in terms of approaching the course's holes from different angles and areas to set up the next shot properly. Should my handicap happen to dip back over 10, or hit 11... I am still not going to be told to move up a box either. Would this be the case at a course that is <6000 yards? Say you have a 12 hc golfer that is really struggling with his putting/short game at the beginning of this season, yet the guy has a ridiculous swing speed and carries the ball 270-280. This club would have the audacity to try and tell him to move up, even though he's perfectly fine playing from the tips?

I definitely would have had a lot to say at that meeting!

The point of the "local rule" was to force everyone to hit a provisional while at the tee box if they believe their first ball might be lost.  They want to ensure if you can't find your first ball you'd play the provisional and not attempt to go back to the tee box holding up the group behind you.

There are some dense wooded areas on the course so without a gallery of fans or forecaddie to see exactly where the ball landed, the chances of finding your ball in 2 minutes is pretty slim.

The tee box based on handicap rule will likely be their big stick to use if someone is really playing slow and not hitting from the right tee box.  I can't imagine they are going to diligently police this, but simply use the rule to get the worst offenders to comply.

[David in FL]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

The tee box based on handicap rule will likely be their big stick to use if someone is really playing slow and not hitting from the right tee box.  I can't imagine they are going to diligently police this, but simply use the rule to get the worst offenders to comply.

Back in the day, the Marine Base in Camp Lejuene had two golf courses.....the gold and the red.  In order to be allowed to play the gold course (somewhat better, but by no means spectacular) you had to have a current handicap card and carry an 18 or better index.  That definitely helped keep the pace of play up on the gold course.......not so much on the red.

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

The point of the "local rule" was to force everyone to hit a provisional while at the tee box if they believe their first ball might be lost.  They want to ensure if you can't find your first ball you'd play the provisional and not attempt to go back to the tee box holding up the group behind you.

There are some dense wooded areas on the course so without a gallery of fans or forecaddie to see exactly where the ball landed, the chances of finding your ball in 2 minutes is pretty slim.

The tee box based on handicap rule will likely be their big stick to use if someone is really playing slow and not hitting from the right tee box.  I can't imagine they are going to diligently police this, but simply use the rule to get the worst offenders to comply.

Oh okay, I get it now. It sounds like it's fairly lenient and laid back, but the rules are being implemented "loosely" so that they are in writing when they need to be enforced - even though they may not be policed as the law of the course . This makes much more sense now.

When I first read these rules I was wondering whether or not you flew off the handle in your meeting lol.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

There are some dense wooded areas on the course so without a gallery of fans or forecaddie to see exactly where the ball landed, the chances of finding your ball in 2 minutes is pretty slim.

Have they not considered marking some of these as hazard?

[phan52]

After watching Jack Nicklaus last night on the Golf Channel playing in the 1971 US Open, there should be no mystery as to why there is a slow play problem in golf. Damn, he was slow, especially on the greens.

[Dave2512]

Originally Posted by phan52

After watching Jack Nicklaus last night on the Golf Channel playing in the 1971 US Open, there should be no mystery as to why there is a slow play problem in golf. Damn, he was slow, especially on the greens.

For real and I've seen quite a few of the old pro's on Golf Channel claiming they were fast and that slow play is a new era thing. My buddy was watching it with me and he commented on how slow they were. He watches golf now but he doesn't play and even he picked up on it. Some of those guys were down right fidgety over the ball.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by phan52

After watching Jack Nicklaus last night on the Golf Channel playing in the 1971 US Open, there should be no mystery as to why there is a slow play problem in golf. Damn, he was slow, especially on the greens.

That's the one at Merion, right?  I recorded it but only had time to watch about 10 minutes of it.  One of my first impressions was "damn these guys take a while to putt, they couldn't edit some of this out?!?"  It wasn't just that they took a lot of time reading the putt, they also seemed to stay still for a long time over the ball before pulling the trigger.

Also, I watched the Winged Foot US Open and got irritated watching Furyk back off a putt 3 times and re-reading it.  If I remember correctly, he's still like that, no?

I think somebody should start a "Greatest Rounds -- Golf Channel" thread.  Seems like it is a recurring series?

[Spyder]