Pace of Play - Etiquette Question

[unabowler]

Originally Posted by dak4n6

Good tirade. I grow weary of this whole pace of play issue. To me any round in 4.5 or under is a non-issue. When I hear people stating that any 4 should complete a round in 3.5, or boasting that their 4some can finish in 2.5, that is an issue. Would you go to a nice restaurant with the sole purpose of eating as fast as possible? Do you go fishing simply to get done as fast as possible? Why would any moderately sane person do ANYTHING enjoyable with the sole purpose of finishing as fast as possible???? I just don't get it.

The reason it's not fun to play rounds of golf slower than necessary is that the extra time is spent waiting rather than doing what you enjoy (playing).  It's fun to play longer if you PLAY more but not if you WAIT more.   I'm an awful golfer and I play solo most of the time and I can walk 9 in about 1:15 without rushing at all.  If I walk 18 it takes more than double because I get tired and slow down, but it takes about 2:45 if I don't have to wait.

[bplewis24]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

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.

I agree, if there is no gap, there really is no point.  As a single, that's when I simply drop a couple balls and/or work on my short game around the green.

[mad max]

Yeah or wait for another empty group and invite them to join you.

[jetsknicks1]

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.

Your posts really are comical. You accuse others of whining yet, most of your posts sound like they were written by some butthurt 12 year old. In the tobacco thread you whine about somebody smoking on the course because you have allergies, nobody here gives a shite about your allergies. In this thread you whine & bitch about fast golfers, to the extent of accusing them of not even liking to be outdoors simply because they don't play at the same pace as you. Your post then devolves into some rant about a "chick" in a Porche wanting to pass you (btw, slowing down and speeding up like you did screams douche bag move). Pace of play is the simplest thing in the world to figure out: If there's a group behind you, keep up with the group in front. If you're unable or I'm thinking in your case, unwilling to do that, let the group behind play thru. Whether you think they're too fast or not is of no consequence.

[dak4n6]

Originally Posted by unabowler

Quote:

Originally Posted by dak4n6

Good tirade. I grow weary of this whole pace of play issue. To me any round in 4.5 or under is a non-issue. When I hear people stating that any 4 should complete a round in 3.5, or boasting that their 4some can finish in 2.5, that is an issue. Would you go to a nice restaurant with the sole purpose of eating as fast as possible? Do you go fishing simply to get done as fast as possible? Why would any moderately sane person do ANYTHING enjoyable with the sole purpose of finishing as fast as possible???? I just don't get it.

The reason it's not fun to play rounds of golf slower than necessary is that the extra time is spent waiting rather than doing what you enjoy (playing).  It's fun to play longer if you PLAY more but not if you WAIT more.   I'm an awful golfer and I play solo most of the time and I can walk 9 in about 1:15 without rushing at all.  If I walk 18 it takes more than double because I get tired and slow down, but it takes about 2:45 if I don't have to wait.

I think we're finally boiling it down to the essence of this issue: the waiting. Unless it's due to excessive or blatant dawdling, waiting doesn't bother me much. If the pace is slow, I take my time walking, clean my grooves, check out the pair of red-headed woodpeckers at their nest hole, wonder about where the stripers are, daydream about a fall deer hunting trip, look at my next shot, think about what wine to get for dinner tonight, look out at the scenery across the bay, chat with my playing partner, focus on the swing that keeps me from smother-hooking the ball, etc.

IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

I think we're finally boiling it down to the essence of this issue: the waiting. Unless it's due to excessive or blatant dawdling, waiting doesn't bother me much. If the pace is slow, I take my time walking, clean my grooves, check out the pair of red-headed woodpeckers at their nest hole, wonder about where the stripers are, daydream about a fall deer hunting trip, look at my next shot, think about what wine to get for dinner tonight, look out at the scenery across the bay, chat with my playing partner, focus on the swing that keeps me from smother-hooking the ball, etc. IT'S ALL GOOD!!!!

All of that is great when I'm on a golf vacation or have the day off. But when I'm trying to get 18 holes in before I have to get to work, all the wasting time starts to build frustration. I just want everyone to play ready golf. Don't rush. Enjoy the round. But when it's your turn to hit, be ready to go.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by MyrtleBeachGolf

All of that is great when I'm on a golf vacation or have the day off. But when I'm trying to get 18 holes in before I have to get to work, all the wasting time starts to build frustration. I just want everyone to play ready golf. Don't rush. Enjoy the round. But when it's your turn to hit, be ready to go.

Then living in a location where everyone there is likely on a golf vacation or retired probably wasn't the best choice for you.

[JamesMorgan]

Being new to playing golf regular this is a bit of a worry for me, i made sure i put a lot of time onto the range before i went out but i never know what kind of round i will have so i avoid afternoons and weekends. i try to tee off about 3.pm on wednesday/thursdays  that way most of the people are either in work or picking their kids up from school. I also try not to take ages looking for my golf balls and i havent had a problem yet. I had more problems off this one old guy at the range before telling me i should have lessons before swinging a club on my own because i wouldnt jump into the deep end if i couldnt swim, so i told him the driving range is my practice/shallow end unless he is willing to pay for my golf lessons (i could afford them but i wanted to teach myself) and he complained about me! i wasnt even doing badly on the range i wouldnt of minded if i was slicing every shot!

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

Then living in a location where everyone there is likely on a golf vacation or retired probably wasn't the best choice for you.

Lol, yes. Part of the issue in this town is that no one is in a hurry. Especially on the golf course. I understand that. I didnt move here because of golf. My business is here and I'm required to be here for that....at least for the time being.

[RayG]

Even if I AM going to Myrtle Beach for a few rounds while on vacation, I certainly don't want 6 hour marathons. I expect that at Pebble Beach and a FEW other top name super duper courses. But even in Myrtle Beach it is my experience that there is absolutely no course like a Pebble that should take that long. IF someone who takes forever goes on vacation, they will take forever there, if not more "because they're on vacation". And as I have said in a couple of threads- it isn't the "pace of play", that is the issue, it's the "speed of play". A 5 hour round can seem faster if things move along at a steady pace. And there's a few times that 4.5 seemed like forever for some reason. But just doing 18 holes in 2.5 just because you can takes away the issue of actually enjoying your time. Would you go to Pebble with the course all to yourself and then put your head down and blast around in under 2 hours? IF you're rushing to get some golf in before work, take Golf Digests suggestion and just play nine. Get a few courses to allow a small block of tee times for 9 holes only that will get you nine holes in under 1.5 or 2 hours.

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

Even if I AM going to Myrtle Beach for a few rounds while on vacation, I certainly don't want 6 hour marathons. I expect that at Pebble Beach and a FEW other top name super duper courses. But even in Myrtle Beach it is my experience that there is absolutely no course like a Pebble that should take that long. IF someone who takes forever goes on vacation, they will take forever there, if not more "because they're on vacation". And as I have said in a couple of threads- it isn't the "pace of play", that is the issue, it's the "speed of play". A 5 hour round can seem faster if things move along at a steady pace. And there's a few times that 4.5 seemed like forever for some reason. But just doing 18 holes in 2.5 just because you can takes away the issue of actually enjoying your time. Would you go to Pebble with the course all to yourself and then put your head down and blast around in under 2 hours? IF you're rushing to get some golf in before work, take Golf Digests suggestion and just play nine. Get a few courses to allow a small block of tee times for 9 holes only that will get you nine holes in under 1.5 or 2 hours .

I'm going to assume the section in bold was directed at me, mainly because I mentioned trying to play golf before I need to be to work. My work schedule is approx 4pm-3am. It's not like I need to be to work at 9am and am trying to squeeze in 18 holes at 7am. But when I need to be into work at 4pm and I tee off at 9:20am and am still on the course at 2:30pm, I'm no longer happy to be enjoying the day. I'm annoyed that a round of golf is taking 5+ hours and I need to rush to work. As much as I love golf, I'm not a fan of playing 9 holes. Most courses here do not have a 9 hole rate. I'd much rather play 18 holes in a timely manner. Anything under 4.5 hours is fine with me. Just play ready golf.

[newtogolf]

Originally Posted by MyrtleBeachGolf

Lol, yes. Part of the issue in this town is that no one is in a hurry. Especially on the golf course. I understand that. I didnt move here because of golf. My business is here and I'm required to be here for that....at least for the time being.

Was more sarcasm that criticism I've been to Myrtle Beach a few times and while I love it there, it's definitely not the place to go if you're in a hurry to do anything.  I haven't been there in a few years but I'm guessing pace of play is even slower now than I remember.

[RayG]

I'm going to assume the section in bold was directed at me, mainly because I mentioned trying to play golf before I need to be to work. My work schedule is approx 4pm-3am. It's not like I need to be to work at 9am and am trying to squeeze in 18 holes at 7am. But when I need to be into work at 4pm and I tee off at 9:20am and am still on the course at 2:30pm, I'm no longer happy to be enjoying the day. I'm annoyed that a round of golf is taking 5+ hours and I need to rush to work. As much as I love golf, I'm not a fan of playing 9 holes. Most courses here do not have a 9 hole rate. I'd much rather play 18 holes in a timely manner. Anything under 4.5 hours is fine with me. Just play ready golf.

Point taken... But there have been other threads and posts about folks having to be someplace, and want to blast through everyone because they play fast and think that entitles THEM to plow through everyone else who might actually be enjoying their round at a reasonable pace to most others. Wasn't there someone who wanted to tee off as a single when all the other groups were foursomes, and didn't want to be paired up? And THEN expected everyone else to get out of HIS way because he was faster than they were. On any Saturday (or ANY day, for that matter) around here, you wouldn't play or, if I was running things, I would make you pay for a full foursome to make up for lost revenue. IF you want to pay to play alone, fine. Come out at a reasonable time when others aren't' around. But don't expect any special treatment while you're out there on a busy weekend. You come across these people on the roads as well... you might be keeping up with the majority of traffic at a few klicks above the speed limit, no real place to go in traffic... but what happens, someone wants to go faster and tries to edge their way into every little space looking for that position that's ahead of you... and then slows down to fall into the pace of everyone else. why?

[rustyredcab]

Originally Posted by MyrtleBeachGolf

Lol, yes. Part of the issue in this town is that no one is in a hurry. Especially on the golf course. I understand that. I didnt move here because of golf. My business is here and I'm required to be here for that....at least for the time being.

Played MB this Spring. 9 rounds in five days. LONGEST round was 4.5 hours. Part of that was luck of the draw. Part was a bit of research. Some courses have reputations for long rounds and we avoided those. Most rounds we played at Barefoot -- there are four courses. Several days, we changes our afternoon round to a course with less traffic. We were not in a hurry but enjoyed playing at a wonderful pace every round.

[MyrtleBeachGolf]

Played MB this Spring. 9 rounds in five days. LONGEST round was 4.5 hours. Part of that was luck of the draw. Part was a bit of research. Some courses have reputations for long rounds and we avoided those. Most rounds we played at Barefoot -- there are four courses. Several days, we changes our afternoon round to a course with less traffic. We were not in a hurry but enjoyed playing at a wonderful pace every round.

Barefoot Resort is the premium golf complex in this area. Even with my MB Passport discount card, they still charge over $100 per round. I have played all 4 of their courses multiple times and the pace of play is usually quite good there. Those courses get quite a bit of play, but aren't nearly as crowded as some of the more middle range priced courses. If I could afford to play there twice a week, I would make it my home course (complex).

[mp33 man]

I played a 3 1/2 hour round (par 70) on Monday and my group of three was told by the ranger, aka huge douchebag, that my group was a half hour behind the pace for a "normal foursome". I want to kinda set the stage so that everyone can see how objective "slow play" is. U showed up at the course with my threesome (myself, my brother-in-law who has just started playing and his girlfriend who is a good golfer) fourty five minutes before our tee time so that we could all three split a small bag of balls and putt a little before our round. Fifteen minutes before our tee time and the "douchebag" wanders up to tell us that if we don't start than he will give our time to the next group, to which I responded no problem we can wait. Ten minutes later we started our round (five minutes early) and started to play at what I thought was a decent pace. At the third hole I happened to look up at the gps and I noticed that there was a clock that showed time elapsed and whether or not you were behind the pace. The clock said that we were 8 min behind pace so I told them that we should pick up the pace (I just assumed that I had lost track of how long we were taking). On the 9th hole, which was a par five, I waited for 7 min while the group in front of me played "army golf" before finally deciding to hit a hybrid just to keep pace. On the 10th hole "douchebag" rides up to tell us that "we were behind and that we were holding up play". He then followed us up to the 11th tee and watched us play the entire hole, including putting out. The 11th is a par three and we played it in four minutes. DOUCHBAG. I won't repeat what I told him after that hole but it ended with him driving off while I flipped him off.

[mp33 man]

Im curious if anyone knows what "proper etiquette" for the ranger is? Did he really need to follow us to the next hole and supervise us?

[Ernest Jones]

Originally Posted by mp33 man

I played a 3 1/2 hour round (par 70) on Monday and my group of three was told by the ranger, aka huge douchebag, that my group was a half hour behind the pace for a "normal foursome".

I want to kinda set the stage so that everyone can see how objective "slow play" is.

U showed up at the course with my threesome (myself, my brother-in-law who has just started playing and his girlfriend who is a good golfer) fourty five minutes before our tee time so that we could all three split a small bag of balls and putt a little before our round.

Fifteen minutes before our tee time and the "douchebag" wanders up to tell us that if we don't start than he will give our time to the next group, to which I responded no problem we can wait.

Ten minutes later we started our round (five minutes early) and started to play at what I thought was a decent pace.

At the third hole I happened to look up at the gps and I noticed that there was a clock that showed time elapsed and whether or not you were behind the pace. The clock said that we were 8 min behind pace so I told them that we should pick up the pace (I just assumed that I had lost track of how long we were taking).

On the 9th hole, which was a par five, I waited for 7 min while the group in front of me played "army golf" before finally deciding to hit a hybrid just to keep pace.

On the 10th hole "douchebag" rides up to tell us that "we were behind and that we were holding up play".

He then followed us up to the 11th tee and watched us play the entire hole, including putting out. The 11th is a par three and we played it in four minutes.

DOUCHBAG.

I won't repeat what I told him after that hole but it ended with him driving off while I flipped him off.

That's a drag. How can you be behind the pace when the group in front of you is still in range? That's like the prick that tailgates you when it's a traffic jam. I've met some really grouchy friggin' starters but thankfully it's a rarity.