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A cure for slow play


jfrain2004
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As an ex weekly golfer that can't hack 5hr+ games of golf who thinks this would work in club golf.

Bit like you have for speed control on a road except in reverse.  Every 4 ball is clocked out,  at a given time,  then they're told,  see ye back in the clubhouse at 4Hr from now.  If not then ye're disqualified unless the 4 ball directly infront of ye did not make it back in the desired time.  Then the other 3 guys in the group are your time keepers and vice versa.

If that's too fast for your pace then yopu could have different blocks of Tee times say 10Am to 11Am where the alloted time is 4:15 ,  11Am to 12Am alloted time is 4:30 etc   That way you can pick the pace that suits you.

I hate to say it guys but the game is dying on it's feet and I'm not the first player in our club to call it a day because the pace of play is too slow.

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Really?? the game is dying because of slow play. The golf courses were i am at are still packed. I've never seen anyone walk off a golf course because of slow play. If you have a problem with slow play, call the clubhouse to get a ranger. Or push a bit and play through.

To disquallify someone for not playing a 4 hour round is absurd. 4 hours i a benchmark, but honestly to adhere to it as some sort of gold standard that must never be breached is a horrible idea. You'd allienate every golfer out there, and other golfers who happen to play good, and be in a slow group. You'll kill the game. Imagine if your in a slow group, your 3 under par. You get to the 16th tee, ranger comes out and disqualifies your round. I would go postal, i mean postal, that ranger be verbally abused to the point he would be crying for his mom.

Really all your idea will do is diminish the game worse than slow play. Because now bad golfers wont want to play, so they wont get better. And good golfers who get hit in the crossfire will be pissed off as well.

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Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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"Nobody goes to that restaurant any more because it is too crowded"  Forget who said it, but that's what I thought of as I read the first two posts.

To the OP- disqualified from what?  That days club competition?  Being able to play that course again in the future?  Do guys get to pick their own groups are is it bad luck if you get paired with an extremely slow player?

I do think that slow play is an issue a lot of places, but not sure if having a simple "disqualification" is the answer.  I have read some articles that having a target play time along with rangers giving consistent encouragement to adhere to that time has helped some courses.  Maybe some courses could combined this with a $5 refund for those groups that beat the clock, but that might open it up to some people getting more pissed off when they get stuck behind a slow group.

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"Nobody goes to that restaurant any more because it is too crowded"  Forget who said it, but that's what I thought of as I read the first two posts. To the OP- disqualified from what?  That days club competition?  Being able to play that course again in the future?  Do guys get to pick their own groups are is it bad luck if you get paired with an extremely slow player?   I do think that slow play is an issue a lot of places, but not sure if having a simple "disqualification" is the answer.  I have read some articles that having a target play time along with rangers giving consistent encouragement to adhere to that time has helped some courses.  Maybe some courses could combined this with a $5 refund for those groups that beat the clock, but that might open it up to some people getting more pissed off when they get stuck behind a slow group.

That was Yogi Berra. If somebody's playing at a course where 5 hr rounds are the norm, that's the fault of the club, not the golfers. Because golf can tend to be an expensive hobby, it's already difficult enough to get new people playing. Kicking a new golfer off the course because he might be playing slow sure as hell isn't going to help grow the game.

my get up and go musta got up and went..
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I don't agree with the notion that it is only new and unexperienced golfers that play slow. More often than not I'm by far the one with most shots by I also make a habit of being prepared to play when it's my turn so not to slow down the ball.

The thing that really takes time in my experience is practice swings, especially when they are followd by a change of club and a whole new procedure. This is not dependent of skill, it's all about the mindset of the players. If you want to be fast it is easy, regardless of skill.

Just look at the pros, it's not like they don't have the skill but they still play slower than what is necessary for a high handicaper.

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I don't know if the game is dying because of it . .. but slow play sucks and I have walked off the course because of it a few times.  I won't walk off over 4.5 hours . .but if the round is taking over 5 hours there is a chance I will walk off and never return to that course.

Personally .. I'd like to see a system implemented where players are tied to a pole in front of the clubhouse and publicly whipped - 1 lash for every minute over 4.5 hours.  I could see some complaints and other issues coming from this type of system, though.

What I would be totally onboard with is a sliding scale for payment . .but the longer it takes, the less you pay.  So, if it's 50 bucks for 18 holes in 4 hours, it would be 40 bucks for 4.5 hours, 30 bucks for 5 hours and anything over 5 hours is free.


That would put the pressure on the course to get the marshalls out there doing thier jobs!

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Originally Posted by AmazingWhacker

I don't know if the game is dying because of it . .. but slow play sucks and I have walked off the course because of it a few times.  I won't walk off over 4.5 hours . .but if the round is taking over 5 hours there is a chance I will walk off and never return to that course.

Personally .. I'd like to see a system implemented where players are tied to a pole in front of the clubhouse and publicly whipped - 1 lash for every minute over 4.5 hours.  I could see some complaints and other issues coming from this type of system, though.

What I would be totally onboard with is a sliding scale for payment . .but the longer it takes, the less you pay.  So, if it's 50 bucks for 18 holes in 4 hours, it would be 40 bucks for 4.5 hours, 30 bucks for 5 hours and anything over 5 hours is free.

That would put the pressure on the course to get the marshalls out there doing thier jobs!

I would think that you would want the opposite.  The faster you play the less you pay.  You would get a lot of people milking out a 6 hour round to pay that 20 dollars.

I don't get bugged by a ton of slow play were I am at.  Yesterday I walked 18  in 2 hours 15 minutes with waits on 3 holes.  Slow play persists because it is "impossible to remedy."  If you get a four ball driving 2 carts and they are all shooting 120 it is going to take a long time.  It doesn't matter if they are playing ready golf.

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Originally Posted by trackster

I would think that you would want the opposite.  The faster you play the less you pay.  You would get a lot of people milking out a 6 hour round to pay that 20 dollars.

I don't get bugged by a ton of slow play were I am at.  Yesterday I walked 18  in 2 hours 15 minutes with waits on 3 holes.  Slow play persists because it is "impossible to remedy."  If you get a four ball driving 2 carts and they are all shooting 120 it is going to take a long time.  It doesn't matter if they are playing ready golf.

Paying less for playing faster would just lead to golfers getting po'd when the group ahead was the reason they didn't qualify for the discount.

Paying less for slow play puts the honess on the course.  If there is a slow group backing up the golf course, they are looking at 40+ discounted or free rounds . .you bet they are going to intervene with that slow group!

As to your statement about slow play being impossible to remedy . .I disagree.  If a group is playing slow and is out of position, they should be warned a couple of times and then forced by a marshall to pick up thier balls and walk to the next hole and get back in position.  One course I play at specifically states that having to skip holes is a possible consequence of slow play . .but they never enforce it.  If greens fees were on the line, I bet they would.

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SO, SO, SO agree.  I have played with more than a lot of shitty players that play ready golf and at a reasonable pace.   More often I find the biggest offenders to be the 20-something Backwards Hat "Dude" Brigade of pseudo-good golfers.  You know the type.  You may be the type.  Typically, 4 "dudes' or "bros" who dress like they can play and have the sticks that say they can play...then head to the bar and each come out with a cooler of Coors Light.  Then they proceed to each take a breakfast ball on the first hole since none of them "flushed one, bro" and battle it out for the best double bogey of the group.  All the while enjoing the finest of todays new country on their "smart phone" while playing. On the third hole, a 550 yard Par 5, two of them pop up their drives 180 yards but proceed to wait for the green to clear before hitting their second shot.  One puts it in the 9th fairway, complete smother hook, the other a weak pop fly to right field splash down.  After the exchange of "dude!" disbelief they proceed to the the other two balls(15 yards ahead of them) who are using one laser range finder to tell them that they have 340 to the front.  Both pull 3 woods because "dude, DJ gets there from here ALL the time" and TaylorMade told them they have 17 extra yards to play with, so go for it. An easy 5 on the 4th hole(a 142 yard par 3 from the whites but these players are too good for that, they are tippers) puts them over the hour and 1/4 mark for the front nine.  Right on pace! After a 3 hour front 9, you can bet they refill their coolers and maybe do a shot of Jag at the turn which apparently has a negative impact on their hearing as they proceed crank up  the country tunes in their carts that is obviously helping their awesome tempo.  Guess how slow their back 9 plays out...cuz it's the tougher nine and they are now buzzing and bad.  More country music, louder, will probably help.  Right?  You get the picture.  THIS is the problem with pace of play...not beginners.  To me, it's the influx of sausage-fest NFL/NASCAR mentality mixed with the need to emulate what the they see on TV.

You and I must play at the same course. :)

my get up and go musta got up and went..
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Originally Posted by clarkgriswold

SO, SO, SO agree.  I have played with more than a lot of shitty players that play ready golf and at a reasonable pace.

More often I find the biggest offenders to be the 20-something Backwards Hat "Dude" Brigade of pseudo-good golfers.  You know the type.  You may be the type.  Typically, 4 "dudes' or "bros" who dress like they can play and have the sticks that say they can play...then head to the bar and each come out with a cooler of Coors Light.  Then they proceed to each take a breakfast ball on the first hole since none of them "flushed one, bro" and battle it out for the best double bogey of the group.  All the while enjoing the finest of todays new country on their "smart phone" while playing.

On the third hole, a 550 yard Par 5, two of them pop up their drives 180 yards but proceed to wait for the green to clear before hitting their second shot.  One puts it in the 9th fairway, complete smother hook, the other a weak pop fly to right field splash down.  After the exchange of "dude!" disbelief they proceed to the the other two balls(15 yards ahead of them) who are using one laser range finder to tell them that they have 340 to the front.  Both pull 3 woods because "dude, DJ gets there from here ALL the time" and TaylorMade told them they have 17 extra yards to play with, so go for it.

An easy 5 on the 4th hole(a 142 yard par 3 from the whites but these players are too good for that, they are tippers) puts them over the hour and 1/4 mark for the front nine.  Right on pace!

After a 3 hour front 9, you can bet they refill their coolers and maybe do a shot of Jag at the turn which apparently has a negative impact on their hearing as they proceed crank up  the country tunes in their carts that is obviously helping their awesome tempo.  Guess how slow their back 9 plays out...cuz it's the tougher nine and they are now buzzing and bad.  More country music, louder, will probably help.  Right?

You get the picture.  THIS is the problem with pace of play...not beginners.  To me, it's the influx of sausage-fest NFL/NASCAR mentality mixed with the need to emulate what the they see on TV.

Ha - I came up on this group last week!  I caught them on the tee box of hole 8.  They each took 3-4 drives as I stood there watching then gave me a "wassup" as they drove off to find thier balls - which took considerable time.  Luckily, I passed them at the turn when they stopped to refill thier coolers!

They were all dressed like Rickie Fowler, too.

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Originally Posted by AmazingWhacker

Ha - I came up on this group last week!  I caught them on the tee box of hole 8.  They each took 3-4 drives as I stood there watching then gave me a "wassup" as they drove off to find thier balls - which took considerable time.  Luckily, I passed them at the turn when they stopped to refill thier coolers!

They were all dressed like Rickie Fowler, too.

Same haircut too

funny rant up there

Bill - 

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And nothing WILL change unless they show a PRO (and not some bottom feeding journeyman on Thursday) on TV getting a penalty for slow play, AND they can show full back nine coverage in less than 2.5 hours. Example: This past weekend, Sergio misses a relatively benign putt of about 12 feet to less than 8 inches away. He walks up, sizes up the putt...and then MARKS it. He will NOT be stepping on anybody's line from his side or coming the other way. His turn again, he goes through his full routine and finally sinks the putt for a bogey or something. Average Joe Lunchbox sees this all the time and figures, "I better take my time, all the pros do it". 4 guys in a group do it and you've just added 4 minutes to that hole.
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Originally Posted by RayG

And nothing WILL change unless they show a PRO (and not some bottom feeding journeyman on Thursday) on TV getting a penalty for slow play, AND they can show full back nine coverage in less than 2.5 hours.

Example: This past weekend, Sergio misses a relatively benign putt of about 12 feet to less than 8 inches away. He walks up, sizes up the putt...and then MARKS it. He will NOT be stepping on anybody's line from his side or coming the other way. His turn again, he goes through his full routine and finally sinks the putt for a bogey or something. Average Joe Lunchbox sees this all the time and figures, "I better take my time, all the pros do it". 4 guys in a group do it and you've just added 4 minutes to that hole.

Amen.  I am not a slow-play Nazi, generally.  This type of slow play just rubs me the wrong way...in the same way that kids can't make free-throws in basketball anymore...why not?  Because when did Sportscenter last show a made free-throw over a dunk?  That's right, the next time will be the first time.

Worse than the marking of a putt, "like a pro", is the standing behind your ball whilst you think(presumably!) about distance, wind and the next time you need to take a dump.  Then pull a club.  Then take practice swings.  Then get behind the ball to visualize.  Then take a practice swing.  And finally, pull the trigger for the 125 yard Kate Winslet into the front right bunker.

Thank you GolfChannel and NBC for this fun new golf routine.

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Originally Posted by saevel25

Really?? the game is dying because of slow play. The golf courses were i am at are still packed. I've never seen anyone walk off a golf course because of slow play. If you have a problem with slow play, call the clubhouse to get a ranger. Or push a bit and play through.

To disquallify someone for not playing a 4 hour round is absurd. 4 hours i a benchmark, but honestly to adhere to it as some sort of gold standard that must never be breached is a horrible idea. You'd allienate every golfer out there, and other golfers who happen to play good, and be in a slow group. You'll kill the game. Imagine if your in a slow group, your 3 under par. You get to the 16th tee, ranger comes out and disqualifies your round. I would go postal, i mean postal, that ranger be verbally abused to the point he would be crying for his mom.

Really all your idea will do is diminish the game worse than slow play. Because now bad golfers wont want to play, so they wont get better. And good golfers who get hit in the crossfire will be pissed off as well.

Can't stand slow play and there's no reason for it, unless you're playing behind somebody playing Army golf.  I think the problem lies in that a lot of people think they're pros and have to stand over a shot and putts to no end.  btw, GO BUCKS!

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Originally Posted by AmazingWhacker

Ha - I came up on this group last week!  I caught them on the tee box of hole 8.  They each took 3-4 drives as I stood there watching then gave me a "wassup" as they drove off to find thier balls - which took considerable time.  Luckily, I passed them at the turn when they stopped to refill thier coolers!

They were all dressed like Rickie Fowler, too.


Ha!  What's worse is that they were probably older then Fowler.  I'm ok with the little kids dressing like him but grown men?!  Can you say Toolio?

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Originally Posted by ChuckDee

Can't stand slow play and there's no reason for it, unless you're playing behind somebody playing Army golf.  I think the problem lies in that a lot of people think they're pros and have to stand over a shot and putts to no end.  btw, GO BUCKS!

But the issue is, what constitutes slow play? Its different for everyone. sometimes slow play for me might vary depending on the day. If i am playing bad or really into a round, or with good company, i don't notice waiting. It doesn't bother me. Some days it does.

honestly i would never walk off the golf course, i paid for the round, i am damn well going to play the full round.

Well people stand over the golf ball to long because they have to many damn thoughts in there head, that's just being an amateur :p

The major violators i see are the guys who think they can reach the green 250 yards away when they can only drive the ball 200 yards. Yea, that's an issue. Really i hardly ever find someone who takes forever on a shot. the problem with slow play is the cluster effect. Everyone standing around watching someone else hit. Go find your own ball and get ready, geeze. I understand if your ball is ahead of another person, but play some sort of ready golf.

Besides that, pace of play is just relative to the level of golf people played for the day. Its golf, its played by multitudes of playing levels. If you can't deal with the slow pace, then learn to deal with it. If not, then get angry, and piss your round of golf good by. No sense in getting upset. If your planning on something else that day, oops, tough luck on that one, should have realized golf can actually take a long time in some cases.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
 fasdfa dfdsaf 

What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Originally Posted by saevel25

But the issue is, what constitutes slow play? Its different for everyone. sometimes slow play for me might vary depending on the day. If i am playing bad or really into a round, or with good company, i don't notice waiting. It doesn't bother me. Some days it does.

honestly i would never walk off the golf course, i paid for the round, i am damn well going to play the full round.

Well people stand over the golf ball to long because they have to many damn thoughts in there head, that's just being an amateur :p

The major violators i see are the guys who think they can reach the green 250 yards away when they can only drive the ball 200 yards. Yea, that's an issue. Really i hardly ever find someone who takes forever on a shot. the problem with slow play is the cluster effect. Everyone standing around watching someone else hit. Go find your own ball and get ready, geeze. I understand if your ball is ahead of another person, but play some sort of ready golf.

Besides that, pace of play is just relative to the level of golf people played for the day. Its golf, its played by multitudes of playing levels. If you can't deal with the slow pace, then learn to deal with it. If not, then get angry, and piss your round of golf good by. No sense in getting upset. If your planning on something else that day, oops, tough luck on that one, should have realized golf can actually take a long time in some cases.

Well yeah, a dude who thinks he can hit a green at 275 constitutes slow play, along with a foursome not playing "ready" golf, along with a cheapskate that looks 15 minutes for a ball in he wood, etc.  I would say that about 1/3-1/2 of the rounds that I've played were what I considered longer than they need to be.  Do I mind, yes...do I deal with it?  yes.  Is it fixable? Probably not.

First world pains, I guess.

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