Pace of Play - Etiquette Question

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by David in FL

No one in this thread got bent out of shape over anything......except Wisdude. Fourputt commented that a single playing in 3 hours wasn't terribly fast, but only in the context of the OP's initial question.

All anyone has said, very nicely I might add, is that if someone is playing faster than someone else, if there's room to do so, everyone will be happier if they're allowed to play through.

Again, only Wisdude thinks that he owns the course, and to Hell with anyone else, they can just pick another sport.... I'll refrain from responding to that, no matter how much I'd like to.

No, I don't think I own the course.  I let people play through if it makes sense to do so, just as I sometimes play through a group in front of me if I'm playing faster.   I give up looking for a lost ball after a few minutes, I bring my putter with me when I pitch/chip onto the green, park my cart on the side of the green closest to the next tee,  watch my buddies' tee shots to help them find errant balls, move away from a green before updating a scorecard, etc....   Your sense of logic is faulty - disliking overly impatient golfers does not mean that I am a slow golfer.  You're simply making things up because you don't like to be told, rightly so, to stop whining.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by thescarecrow

It sounds like organisers dropped the ball here, how many played?   Shotguns SHOULD move quicker as long as everybody is in position at start time.

It's not the first time we've had this long of a round with a shotgun start.  I'm not sure how many played, but I'm sick of it.

To be fair, the course plays a part in it.  We did a tee-time start last year at the same course and it was a similar disaster because the first three holes are very tough.  Par 5 with water hazards on both sides to start and then hazard left of the green.  Par 3 second hole with hazards surrounding both sides and rear of the green, and a huge bunker protecting the front, which is about 10-12 feet below the green.  What's worse is that the layout of 2nd hole tee boxes is NOT well designed.  The closer tees are angled more and more towards the front bunker, which takes away almost any option of very bad players or women/seniors from being able to bail out and run the ball up to the small portion of green that isn't protected by the bunker.  Those two holes are the #3 and #5 handicaps respectively.

[Spyder]

One thing I have never done is leave the house knowing that I have X hours/minutes to finish my round, and I never will. My lovely wife knows and understands that I may be home in 3 hours from the time I leave, or potentially 5.5 hours. The great thing is, I leave at 6:45 AM and I still have all day to do whatever important tasks my life, or wife, has lined up for me that day. But, none of that is on my mind during my round.

I like Dak4n6's outlook on this and I agree. I'm never going to get bent out of shape on pace of play within my group, ahead of me or behind me. I'm a relatively laid back person in terms of what pisses me off and how large my fuse is, so I'll have a laugh with you and wave you through if you're playing faster than me. Or, I'll pull up and ask if I can play through if it is a really, abnormally long waiting game behind you (pushing a 5.5 to 6 hour round).

Aside from that, I usually make sure that my portion of the honey-do list is completed (house is clean, dinners are planned, get-togethers are planned, laundry is done, yard is maintained, etc.) on Fridays so that I have a laid back downhill ride on Saturday and Sunday full of cookouts, golf, good drinks and good company.

More people should relax and take in life's offerings.... the guy in the harley cutoff and jorts hacking down the fairway can be really entertaining when you're relaxed and calm.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Wisguy

Quote:

Originally Posted by David in FL

No one in this thread got bent out of shape over anything......except Wisdude. Fourputt commented that a single playing in 3 hours wasn't terribly fast, but only in the context of the OP's initial question.

All anyone has said, very nicely I might add, is that if someone is playing faster than someone else, if there's room to do so, everyone will be happier if they're allowed to play through.

Again, only Wisdude thinks that he owns the course, and to Hell with anyone else, they can just pick another sport.... I'll refrain from responding to that, no matter how much I'd like to.

No, I don't think I own the course.  I let people play through if it makes sense to do so, just as I sometimes play through a group in front of me if I'm playing faster.   I give up looking for a lost ball after a few minutes, I bring my putter with me when I pitch/chip onto the green, park my cart on the side of the green closest to the next tee,  watch my buddies' tee shots to help them find errant balls, move away from a green before updating a scorecard, etc....   Your sense of logic is faulty - disliking overly impatient golfers does not mean that I am a slow golfer.  You're simply making things up because you don't like to be told, rightly so, to stop whining.

Dude, you really need to get over yourself.  You are one of about 140 odd players on the course at any time.  Your way isn't the only way.

[BostonBrew]

Originally Posted by Spyder

One thing I have never done is leave the house knowing that I have X hours/minutes to finish my round, and I never will. My lovely wife knows and understands that I may be home in 3 hours from the time I leave, or potentially 5.5 hours. The great thing is, I leave at 6:45 AM and I still have all day to do whatever important tasks my life, or wife, has lined up for me that day. But, none of that is on my mind during my round.

I like Dak4n6's outlook on this and I agree. I'm never going to get bent out of shape on pace of play within my group, ahead of me or behind me. I'm a relatively laid back person in terms of what pisses me off and how large my fuse is, so I'll have a laugh with you and wave you through if you're playing faster than me. Or, I'll pull up and ask if I can play through if it is a really, abnormally long waiting game behind you (pushing a 5.5 to 6 hour round).

Aside from that, I usually make sure that my portion of the honey-do list is completed (house is clean, dinners are planned, get-togethers are planned, laundry is done, yard is maintained, etc.) on Fridays so that I have a laid back downhill ride on Saturday and Sunday full of cookouts, golf, good drinks and good company.

More people should relax and take in life's offerings.... the guy in the harley cutoff and jorts hacking down the fairway can be really entertaining when you're relaxed and calm.

Definitely this.

I'm just as competitive as the next guy and I take my golf game seriously, but I don't let pace of play ruin anything for me. At the end of it all, we're playing a game and a fantastic game at that. If you lose sight of that, you're probably the type that ruins the round for the rest of us when you're in our group.

If you're in a time crunch, maybe consider playing only 9 or just practicing on the practice facilities.

In my opinion, the only person who should really be upset about pace of play is the Course Marshall and Course Management. Slower play means fewer rounds per day, and that's bad for business. But let them deal with it. You can't let it frustrate you and put you in a bad mindset.

[MSchott]

Originally Posted by Wisguy

To the handful of speed golfers who get their panties in a massive twist on every one of these too-frequent pace of play threads, I have some suggstions:

1)  Get your *ss out of bed and get that 5:54 a.m. tee time so that you can play as fast as you want.

2)  If you have a tee time at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday or Sunday, you will have more than a 4 hour round at most courses - accept that and deal with it or don't play at peak weekend hours.

3)  See if there's a private golf club in your area with a minimum handicap for members and join there to avoid the high-handicap rifraff clogging up the course.

4)  Call around to courses and ask the head pro "Say, I'm a really, really impatient guy and I'm looking for a course that does not tolerate even moderately paced play.  Do you have one or more super cranky rangers cruising the course to keep people moving?  I'm looking for a course with a grumpy old bastard ranger who won't hesitate to yell about playing too slowly at a group standing in the middle of the fairway 150 out waiting for the group in front of them to finish putting - you know, the kind of ranger who will tell me 'Nice swing' when he sees me deliberately hitting into the foursome ahead trying to speed up the five backed-up groups in front of me."

5) "Borrow" a few tabs from your kid's Ritalin bottle before you head out to the course.

6)  Buy your own golf cart and add a nitrous burner to it.

and most importantly:

7)  STOP YOUR INCESSANT WHINING OR PICK ANOTHER SPORT

Seriously, I can't recall seeing anyone bitch so much about any aspect of any sport or hobby or other enjoyable activity as you several guys do about slow play.   It's almost as if it is physically painful for you to be outside.   You're worse than a pair of little kids in the back seat on a long car ride constantly whining "Are we there yet?  Are we there yet?" and "Jimmy crossed over to my side of the car!"   "Billy stuck his tongue out at me!"

Dude, you are my hero. Exactly right.

[ShawnPennington]

Didnt mean to open a can of worms, but thanks for the all the great replies...will surely help me decide on how i will handle this in the future

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by ShawnPennington

Didnt mean to open a can of worms, but thanks for the all the great replies...will surely help me decide on how i will handle this in the future

Then never post anything where opinions are going to differ within the subject of GOLF! What the heck is wrong with you?

Just kidding!

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

To the handful of speed golfers who get their panties in a massive twist on every one of these too-frequent pace of play threads, I have some suggstions: 1)  Get your *ss out of bed and get that 5:54 a.m. tee time so that you can play as fast as you want.

I'm so tired of seeing people on golf forums suggest this as a way to play a fast round. Here's a tip, being the very first tee-time of the day does NOT equal playing a fast round of golf. Ever hear of double teeing? Almost every single one of the 100+ golf courses here double tee. Meaning, they send groups off both hole #1 and hole #10 from 7am to 9:20pm at 8 minute internals. Then there are no tee-times from 9:30 until noon. If you are the first group out in the morning off hole #1, you can not tee off on number 10 until the 9:20am tee-time starting at #10 tees off. If you play the front 9 faster than 2hrs 20min, you will be waiting at the turn until 9:30am. There are only about 3 or 4 courses around here that do not double tee like this....and it's only because the course doesn't "turn" back at the clubhouse, but instead the 9th green and 10th tee are about 2 miles out away from the clubhouse. Sorry to say it, but no matter the time of year, it's just not possible to play a fast round of golf in this resort town. You are looking at 4+ hours no matter what. Being the very first tee time of the day will not speed up your round in any way.

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Dude, you really need to get over yourself.  You are one of about 140 odd players on the course at any time.  Your way isn't the only way.

This comment makes very little sense.  I'm not quite sure what "way" Fourputt is even talking about - my "way" is to play ready golf, to try to keep up a proper pace of play and to be conscientious to others, but to have a relaxing, enjoyable time out on the course while doing so, things that can be entirely compatible.  However, I'll put on my Dr. Phil hat and try a translation of what Fourputt is really feeling inside:  "I think you are a jerk for complaining about people who have a habit of whining excessively every time this topic comes up on this forum because I am one of those people."

[Spyder]

Originally Posted by MyrtleBeachGolf

I'm so tired of seeing people on golf forums suggest this as a way to play a fast round. Here's a tip, being the very first tee-time of the day does NOT equal playing a fast round of golf. Ever hear of double teeing? Almost every single one of the 100+ golf courses here double tee. Meaning, they send groups off both hole #1 and hole #10 from 7am to 9:20pm at 8 minute internals. Then there are no tee-times from 9:30 until noon. If you are the first group out in the morning off hole #1, you can not tee off on number 10 until the 9:20am tee-time starting at #10 tees off. If you play the front 9 faster than 2hrs 20min, you will be waiting at the turn until 9:30am.

There are only about 3 or 4 courses around here that do not double tee like this....and it's only because the course doesn't "turn" back at the clubhouse, but instead the 9th green and 10th tee are about 2 miles out away from the clubhouse.

Sorry to say it, but no matter the time of year, it's just not possible to play a fast round of golf in this resort town. You are looking at 4+ hours no matter what. Being the very first tee time of the day will not speed up your round in any way.

The individual you are responding to, as well as many others on the golf forums you are a part of, most likely do not live in an area with a high volume of tourists who intend to golf. I would venture to say that this applies to the majority of golfers since the sheer number of courses that are not vacation destinations outnumber the number of courses that are vacation destinations.

Though many courses in my area apply the logic you are referencing, there are just as many if not more that do not stagger tee times accordingly.

[Wisguy]

Originally Posted by Spyder

The individual you are responding to, as well as many others on the golf forums you are a part of, most likely do not live in an area with a high volume of tourists who intend to golf. I would venture to say that this applies to the majority of golfers since the sheer number of courses that are not vacation destinations outnumber the number of courses that are vacation destinations.

Though many courses in my area apply the logic you are referencing, there are just as many if not more that do not stagger tee times accordingly.

Yes.  I believe that most of the courses I have ever played only double-book tee times to start both the 1st and 10th tees if someone calls up asking for an early tee time for only 9 holes - they'll tell the person that they'll fit them in on the back nine.

=======

Weird thing happened on my last post.  I drafted up the response that appears above, didn't post it right away as I was doing something else, then decided to delete the last several sentences to avoid being excessively confrontational, plus I added a paragraph addressing MyrtleBeach's point about the double-teeing.  However, I must have had it in "Reply" mode for so long before hitting "Submit" that it submitted the original comment, not the final version.  And it locked me out of edit mode, to boot, apparently giving me only a certain time period for both composing and editing.

[Meltdwhiskey]

So, this is more or less on topic, and I think I saw differing opinions in the previous posts in this thread.  Suppose the course is relatively empty and a twosome is playing AHEAD of pace.  But as a single, I am playing a good bit faster than them.  There is no one in front of them - wide open.  I wait on every tee shot and approach after the point of catching them.  But they never offer to let me play through.  Should they have? (this was saturday evening btw.)

And the same scenario for a 2ball behind a 3ball?

[BostonBrew]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

So, this is more or less on topic, and I think I saw differing opinions in the previous posts in this thread.  Suppose the course is relatively empty and a twosome is playing AHEAD of pace.  But as a single, I am playing a good bit faster than them.  There is no one in front of them - wide open.  I wait on every tee shot and approach after the point of catching them.  But they never offer to let me play through.  Should they have? (this was saturday evening btw.)

And the same scenario for a 2ball behind a 3ball?

If it were me playing alone and waiting behind a two-some, I would have walked up and asked if they would mind me playing with them. If they did, I would then ask if they would mind if I played through. Or if I'm not planning on posting the score, I'd sit back and practice some more and let them get a gap between us.

As for the two-some behind a three-some, if they waved me through, awesome. If not, let's enjoy our round a little more and take the extra time we have to focus on our game or enjoy the weather.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by Meltdwhiskey

So, this is more or less on topic, and I think I saw differing opinions in the previous posts in this thread.  Suppose the course is relatively empty and a twosome is playing AHEAD of pace.  But as a single, I am playing a good bit faster than them.  There is no one in front of them - wide open.  I wait on every tee shot and approach after the point of catching them.  But they never offer to let me play through.  Should they have? (this was saturday evening btw.)

And the same scenario for a 2ball behind a 3ball?

Some will say a "single has no standing" and that they shouldn't allow you to play through.  I say it takes a special kind of jerk to see a wide open course in front of them, a single waiting every shot behind them, and NOT invite the single to play through.  The only detriment to allowing them to play through is them waiting, what, 5 minutes at most?

[Paradox]

IF they don't ever wave me through as a single..I'd just skip a hole in front of them and play on.  I could then come back and play the hole I skipped if its a big deal.  ONLY DO THIS IF THE COURSE IS VERY EMPTY!

[Meltdwhiskey]

Yeah, I ended up throwing down a ball here and there and taking a few practice shots while waiting.  And they weren't playing slow or anything.  I just don't know why they wouldn't let me through.  Didn't seem like it cost them anything and I could have easily finished before dark.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by bplewis24

Some will say a "single has no standing" and that they shouldn't allow you to play through.  I say it takes a special kind of jerk to see a wide open course in front of them, a single waiting every shot behind them, and NOT invite the single to play through.  The only detriment to allowing them to play through is them waiting, what, 5 minutes at most?

if there is a gap in front of us, we will always wave a single through.  It's better for all parties rather than having them push us the entire time.

Some singles believe they are entitled to play through other groups even when there isn't a gap (like the person who flashes their headlights at you in the left lane when everyone is sitting in traffic).  In those cases, we make them wait their turn just like everyone else which seems to irritate them.