How fast do you play?

[MrDC]

I agree, people complain about slow play? I complain about fast play, I hate feeling rushed, and the sport has become so stigmatized with slow play that is so much more about course congestion and bad starting than the play itself, and because of these real issues players feel they have to rush instead of taking a few seconds to concentrate on what is a very hard game, it sucks.

I also don't know about this bravado with playing the game fast, who cares? do these same people have sex in two minutes flat?

There is a good, proper pace to golf, it's not fast, and it's not slow, waiting sucks, we all know that, don't pro your golf, but rushing? that also blows.

I don't even know how "fast" I can walk 18 at about 6500 yds., but it's certainly not 2 hours, probably closer to 3.

[Patch]

I agree, people complain about slow play? I complain about fast play, I hate feeling rushed, and the sport has become so stigmatized with slow play that is so much more about course congestion and bad starting than the play itself, and because of these real issues players feel they have to rush instead of taking a few seconds to concentrate on what is a very hard game, it sucks.

I also don't know about this bravado with playing the game fast, who cares? do these same people have sex in two minutes flat?

There is a good, proper pace to golf, it's not fast, and it's not slow, waiting sucks, we all know that, don't pro your golf, but rushing? that also blows.

I don't even know how "fast" I can walk 18 at about 6500 yds., but it's certainly not 2 hours, probably closer to 3.

I kind of like your thought process on this topic.

If you just walk 6500 yards, as a casual walker, at 2 MPH you are looking at 3.7 miles, or 1.8 hours. A regular walking average is 3 MPH, and a fast walker is about a 4 MPH average. After you know your walking time you can then factor in how much time it takes to make your golf shots, and putts. Let's say you shoot an 80, and you average 1.5 minutes per shot/putt. That's another 2 hours added to your walking time. So at 2 MPH, you will be some where around 3.8 hours for a round of 18, while shooting an 80 score.  Some one please check my math.

Sex in two minutes flat? I can do that if my tee time is in 5 minutes.

Proper pace is proper for the  individual's natural gait.

[Golfingdad]

I kind of like your thought process on this topic.

If you just walk 6500 yards, as a casual walker, at 2 MPH you are looking at 3.7 miles, or 1.8 hours. A regular walking average is 3 MPH, and a fast walker is about a 4 MPH average. After you know your walking time you can then factor in how much time it takes to make your golf shots, and putts. Let's say you shoot an 80, and you average 1.5 minutes per shot/putt. That's another 2 hours added to your walking time. So at 2 MPH, you will be some where around 3.8 hours for a round of 18, while shooting an 80 score.  Some one please check my math.

Sex in two minutes flat? I can do that if my tee time is in 5 minutes.

Proper pace is proper for the  individual's natural gait.

If you're playing a 6500 yard course, you're not walking 6500 yards, but rather quit a bit more than that.  An easily walkable course is going to still probably have 50-75 yards green to tee, and you're also walking a little "zig-zaggy", especially when you're near and on the green.  Figure that after my approach, I'm walking to the back of the green to drop off my bag, then to my ball then to the hole to pace off the putt, then back to putt, then again to the hole to pick up my ball or putt again and then back to my bag.  If the green is 30 yards long and the pin is in the middle and I have a 30 foot putt from the side, then figure that I'd add 75 yards to the card yardage of the hole just to two putt after a decent approach.  Add to that the 50 yards from my bag to the next tee and we're talking about another 2200 yards to add to the total.  Now we're at 8700 yards traveled, and that's assuming that we're hitting our drives in the fairway and our approaches on the green.

Certainly something over 9000 and likely even approaching 10,000 yards is possible over the course of the entire round.  I would hope that most people walk briskly (without rushing) so I'd go with 3.5 mph for the average speed.

However, I think that 90 seconds, on average, per shot is too much time.  I walk to my ball, set the clubs down, grab the rangefinder, get the distance, put the rangefinder back, grab a club, pick a target, go through my routine, and then hit the shot, put the club back, grab the bag and start walking again ... I think 60 seconds is enough time for all of that without rushing.  Also consider that I've already factored in most of the time it takes to putt into my walking above, so that 60 seconds only needs to be added about 55 or so times.

So what's that come to:   9500 yards being walked at an average of 3.5 mph along with 55 1-minute shots adds up to a total of ... drumroll ... 2 1/2 hours.

Hmmm, that still seems way too fast to me.  Only because I played 9 holes by myself in a cart once with nobody in front of me and I went pretty danged quick ... and it took about 75 minutes.  No way that I could have gone the same exact pace while walking.

[Dave2512]

I've been walking lately. I can finish in just over 2 hours on an open course but that is moving pretty good, average about 7 minutes a hole. However I developed a minor "injury" runners suffer from hauling ass like that so back to riding for a while.

[Spitfisher]

My fastest round, not a race but fastest round on an open 6500 course, cart path only is under 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) with a buddy.

That said 1:45 seems to be the norm on an open course. I rarely play ever when 3.5 or 4+ hours becomes likely. 3.5 only with a foursome.

[Harp stein]

I agree, people complain about slow play? I complain about fast play, I hate feeling rushed, and the sport has become so stigmatized with slow play that is so much more about course congestion and bad starting than the play itself, and because of these real issues players feel they have to rush instead of taking a few seconds to concentrate on what is a very hard game, it sucks.

I also don't know about this bravado with playing the game fast, who cares? do these same people have sex in two minutes flat?

There is a good, proper pace to golf, it's not fast, and it's not slow, waiting sucks, we all know that, don't pro your golf, but rushing? that also blows.

I don't even know how "fast" I can walk 18 at about 6500 yds., but it's certainly not 2 hours, probably closer to 3.

I've been thinking more about this recently and I'm starting to come around to this way of thinking. I'm kind of an impatient person, so my tendency is to rush but I have started to realize that constantly feeling rushed sucks the fun out of the game. You can't even enjoy a shot because you're hauling ass to hit the next shot.

At the same time, I find it incredibly annoying to watch a group hit shots from one side of the fairway to the other and take 15m to finish a hole.

I can walk the local public course by me in just over 2.5 hours on my own and I've played a round with a cart and one other person in about 2 hours. I can move fast, I'm just not sure that should be my sole focus all of the time.

[natureboy]

I got around in about 2:15 trying to beat the sunset. Was playing by myself with a cart. Had to courteously play through about 5 groups. Shot about my average.

Started out as a slow player.

[Buck Nutz]

I am lucky that my job allows me to play during "off peak" days and hours. My three playing partners and I are all on the same shift rotation so we play every Tuesday and Wednesday morning and usually have a course pretty much to ourselves. No "great" players but all are competent and efficient. We can get around in about 3 hours by being ready and having an idea of what we will be doing as we drive from ball to ball.

[BuckeyeNut]

So over the years there have been a million bazillion quadrillion threads about slow pace. We are all super fast, "ready" golfers, on the Internet.

But really, today I went to the course at 10:30 am and it was a slight drizzle of rain and 46*. Yeah we have all been there. We're there crazy, addicted to golf, practice/play at all costs kind of people.

Tee off 1 at 10:40 and finished 18 holes shooting a pretty normal score in one hour and 55 mins, with a cart as the only person on the course. So, how fast are you? I probably could've taken my time and avoided two quadruple bogeys, however it was raining and I did have a pretty bad sprinkler head bounce that lead to an OB tee shot. But I digress.

"THE COURSE" is the major determining factor how long it takes to play.   I've played 18 as a single in under 1.5hrs before taking my time, but the course wasn't very spread out.   I've also played as a single in nearly 2hrs 45m on a completely different kind of course that weaved in and out around canyons......but it was a huge track spread out over a vast area.   Lots of mileage between holes, etc, etc, etc.....

It just depends.   I belonged to a walker friendly GC many years ago....it was a classic old style course that was green to tee friendly, and my 4-some walked 18 holes ON AVERAGE....in about 3hrs 15mins.   A 6500yd track.....    If we tried to walk the latter canyon course.....add 45 minutes!!  ....because green to next tee was spread out on several holes.   Plus...there were some steep grades!!

[Roblar]

18, walking, not rushing = 2:15. (But not pulling pins either.)

That said, my course is set up for walking (only one long walk from green to tee --- the clubhouse and practice area intervene between 9 and 10).

If I hurry, I can get just under 2:00.

[natureboy]

18, walking, not rushing = 2:15.

That said, my course is set up for walking (only one long walk from green to tee --- the clubhouse and practice area intervene between 9 and 10).

That's nicely brisk. I don't think I could accomplish that on my municipal course.

[JonMA1]

I almost always walk 18 in under 3 hours when playing by myself. I fix divots and ball marks (as I assume most people do) and will often fetch lost balls in the ravines when I see them. So I might be able to knock a few minutes off. When I walk 27 in the Summer, I'm dragging ass by the last few holes so I'm sure my pace slows down.

[BuckeyeNut]

Walking 18 in 2hrs 15 minutes is playing with a purpose!!!!!   OK, maybe not necessarily in a hurry....but playing with a purpose.  A walker friendly course is a must...............

[Pretzel]

When playing alone on an empty course I will walk 18 holes in about 3 hours, maybe a little bit over that if it's a long or hilly course.

When playing with friends on a full course, I just keep up with the group ahead of me and enjoy the conversation while I wait.

When playing alone on a full course, I make friends with the people I get paired up with/catch up to.

[Roblar]

That's nicely brisk. I don't think I could accomplish that on my municipal course.

Walking 18 in 2hrs 15 minutes is playing with a purpose!!!!!   OK, maybe not necessarily in a hurry....but playing with a purpose.  A walker friendly course is a must...............

It really is a short (not much over 6200 yards), walker-friendly course.  ...and this is Oklahoma, so it's flat - that helps too.  But I think Buckeye nailed it - there's no lollygagging going on here. It's literally, tee-off on 1, walk to the ball, hit the ball, walk to the ball, hit the ball... I've played it a lot and the decisions about clubs/yardage are easy.

[Tennhacker]

At my "home" course I can walk by my self in about 3.5-4 hours.  If I take a cart it will be around 2.5-3 hours depending.  My home course is very hilly, but all courses in east Tennessee are for the most part.

[Strandly]

The course I mostly play here is 6350 yards and I can get done in 3.5 hours walking fairly easily if nobody is in front of me.  The thing that I noticed saves time isn't necessarily hitting it far, it's hitting fewer shots overall.

[bkuehn1952]

I rarely attempt to play fast.  The goal for me is a good score and an enjoyable game, not elapsed time.  I walk briskly and do not take a great deal of time in my pre-shot routine.  I also, however, stray from the mission of playing fast by picking up trash, repairing pitch marks and replacing/repairing particularly thoughtless unrepaired divot holes.

What I find impressive is the 76 shot in about 46 minutes playing Bandon Dunes - running!