The ethics of "lapping"

[doublesuited77]

question for the group-- what are the ethical/ettique considerations for lapping. That is, if the group ahead of you stops at the turn for some food and you finish 9, is it OK for you to go to the 10th tee if they are still getting food, etc. Is there a difference if they are at the halfway house on the course itself? If you lap a group and they then show up on the tee after some of your group has teed off, do you have to let them "play through?"

I never thought this was a big issue, I have lapped groups at the turn regularly (it is usually the slow groups anyway who stop for a long time). However my friend told me once we got to 10 that at his club, this is considered a real D*ck move.


thoughts?

[jcrew]

question for the group-- what are the ethical/ettique considerations for lapping. That is, if the group ahead of you stops at the turn for some food and you finish 9, is it OK for you to go to the 10th tee if they are still getting food, etc. Is there a difference if they are at the halfway house on the course itself? If you lap a group and they then show up on the tee after some of your group has teed off, do you have to let them "play through?"

In general, I don't think it's that big a deal but as proven by what you said it can vary from place to place. At my home course they have signs up saying that if you stop in between 9 & 10 then you may lose your spot and whoevers ready to go can go ahead.

[PMRocks]

Whoever get to the tenth tee first goes. When you go in, you give up your spot, unless those behind you have a generous heart!

[Warik]

If the group in front of me is so slow that I'd expect them to still be teeing off on the 10th when I got there, then there's no way I'm NOT jumping ahead of them.

[norcalgolf]

Many courses to display the signs saying you stop you can lose your place. In cases such as that, if a group has stopped and either I or my group is free to tee off we will go ahead. If we are waiting on the group in the fairway to clear, we will then not jump ahead if the other group shows up.

Beyond that it depends on the circumstances. If I have been sitting on someone all day and they are not keeping up with the group in front of them, I will just ask them out right if we can play through. 9 times out of 10, not an issue. In the 1 time out of 10 that it would be, if they are really out of position, I would snag a marshal or be very clear they are out of position and they need to either pick up the pace or let groups play through.

Now if it is just backed up, I will just wait, no reason to jump ahead.

[mstuk]

Why not just have the courtesy to go and say " we are not stopping is it ok to play through" job done .

[bluenar9]

In the courses that I've played (mainly upstate, NY) it's just a normal thing to 'lap' someone if they stop on the turn. People around here are also pretty good at noticing when you're faster than them and letting you play through, and I've done the same.

[Roody]

If I have been sitting on someone all day and they are not keeping up with the group in front of them, I will just ask them out right if we can play through.

This brings me to a question. I was told some time ago that it's improper etiquette to ask the group ahead of you if you can play through. Someone told me that you're always supposed to let them ask you if you wanna play through. What are everyone's thoughts about this? Is that true?

I've abided by that credo for a few years now. I never ask, I always wait until they offer to let me play through.

[ericm]

Irrespective of what the group ahead of you does at the turn, IMO, "lapping" would depend entirely upon their position relative to the group in front of them. That said, I suspect the rules of lapping vary greatly based on whether the course is public or private.

With respect to the thought that it is the "slow group" that takes a long time at the snack shack, I couldn't disagree more. Unless there is a phone on the ninth for ordering food, the speed of the player has nothing to do with the time it takes to get food. Our regular group is an under four hour group and I recently had to speed my play on the 11th and return to the halfway hut to pick up a tuna salad sandwich that they just couldn't get made in a timely manner.

[doublesuited77]

Irrespective of what the group ahead of you does at the turn, IMO, "lapping" would depend entirely upon their position relative to the group in front of them. That said, I suspect the rules of lapping vary greatly based on whether the course is public or private.

My only point is that slower group are more likely to stop at the turn. Most of the fast player i play with never stop.

[Big Lex]

I'm with the "it depends" crowd.

Obviously, it's no problem if they invite you to do it, as is often done at my course. Or, like somebody said, you can ask, and probably 9/10 times they will say ok.

Beyond that, it depends on what's going on in front of them. If you jump ahead and it's moving slow in front, and you end up slowing the group you lapped, I think that's sort of uncool. But if you jump ahead and the pace is ok, it's fine because you don't really affect them.

My feeling has always been on busy days at crowded courses, lapping and playing through don't really help anyone that much. When I'm invited to play through, I tend to play really fast for that hole and often screw it up. If I'm slowing someone down and let them through on a busy day, often the group behind the fast player just catches right up, and the faster group you let through gets bogged down up ahead. It's a no-win situation.

But if a course can afford to spread the tee times out nicely, it is nice and polite to wave people through, let them pass you at the turn, etc.

[ericm]

My only point is that slower group are more likely to stop at the turn. Most of the fast player i play with never stop.

Interesting. I'm not sure I've been on a course in the US in years that played fast enough for a stop at the turn to change the pace of play at all. I'm a bit envious.

[doublesuited77]

not that it changes the pace of play, but in my experience more serious golfers don't stop that much and if they do, its just for gatorade.

Alot of slower golfers who are at the course for a full day's entertainment will often take longer, leisurely stops.

[5ironDraw]

Ya, at my course it's all old guys and women with 25+ handicaps...

If I want to get 18 in and not be extremely tired, I pass when I get the chance.

I'll only wait if there are groups in front of them but as soon as I see a gap, I'm in there.

[ericm]

Public, private or both?

[lamebums]

question for the group-- what are the ethical/ettique considerations for lapping. That is, if the group ahead of you stops at the turn for some food and you finish 9, is it OK for you to go to the 10th tee if they are still getting food, etc. Is there a difference if they are at the halfway house on the course itself? If you lap a group and they then show up on the tee after some of your group has teed off, do you have to let them "play through?"

Faster players have priority at all times. If they take 30 minutes getting food and you wait, so will the guys behind you. And so on and so on, until we're all suffering from 6+ hour rounds.

[MountainHip]

Who ever gets to the 10th tee first.

If I stop for something to eat, why on earth would I expect everyone else to wait for me?

If I stopped between, say..... holes 3 and 4, what would happen? Why would it be different between 9 and 10?

Is there a new rule that states if you stop playing in the middle of your round, everyone else has to as well?? That could cause some havoc I think!!!

I think next time I play golf, I am going to have a picnic on the 3rd tee box, sing Kumbaya, and hold the whole day up.