Tips to Improve Slow Play

[ghalfaire]

Here is a tip to improve pace of play, hire ugly cart girls, or better yet, hire guys for the job.

A male would probably starve to death as cart "persons" depend on tips to eat.  I doubt if even if half inebriated another male will tip a "cart boy" the same way he would a "cart girl".

[hillis11]

http://www.golfdigest.com/story/25-easy-ways-to-speed-up-play

I saw this on golf digest. I think this should be a rule at every course. 

13) Waiting? Take as many practice swings/strokes as you want. Your turn? You get one.

[Yukari]

One of the things I noticed this weekend was a beginner learning to play on a difficult course, thereby holding up everyone behind. 

If a beginner really wants to play on a difficult course, pick up after a certain amount of strokes. 

[No Mulligans]

My wife agreed with the neighbors to play a round of golf at Torrey South last Monday, Labor Day. They wanted to experience Torrey pines. They both play slow and are beginners.  Did I mention this was Torrey South.  I avoid that course myself, that is a triple diamond course and I'm no expert.  I don't like to get beat up like that too often.

I really wasn't pleased but reluctantly went along with it if we followed my suggestions.  1) We start at 5:00 PM and plan to play about 9 holes.  2)  If we have fallen behind the group ahead and have the group behind us waiting on shots we skip the next hole to catch up (after all with the late start this wasn't going to change the total number of holes we play).  2) We ride (I don't like it but it was necessary).

It turned out fine as it there was a big gap behind us on the first tee.  Didn't even need to skip a hole.

I think having an agreement to skip ahead is a good policy to speed up play and to deal with slow play in ones group. This made it clear that I was going to be serious about the pace of play.

Turns out I shot a 44 on the front (finished 11 holes before darkness set in, about 7:20), I wasn't too beat up.  However it's a bummer playing the part of sheriff of the group.

[Marty2019]

On 5/27/2015 at 6:49 AM, nevets88 said:

 

On a related note, I'm paired w/people who don't fix ball marks or rake all the time. I'm always fixing ball marks, I fix so many because of slow play (and people don't fix their ball marks), but rarely does anyone see my example and try fixing ball marks themselves. Same with raking bunkers. People suck. Or a least big metropolis indifferent people. This doesn't hasn't annoyed me for a long time - not good.

One thing courses can do to speed up play is buy more rakes.   I play courses where there is one rake and it always seems to be on the other side of the bunker 30 feet from where the ball sits, so the player has to walk around the bunker and retrieve the rake.  That is idiotic.   Maybe I'm just playing crap courses, but I played a real nice course a few weeks ago and every bunker had numerous rakes all around them.  It was great. 

[iacas]

On September 8, 2016 at 7:24 AM, Marty2019 said:

One thing courses can do to speed up play is buy more rakes.   I play courses where there is one rake and it always seems to be on the other side of the bunker 30 feet from where the ball sits, so the player has to walk around the bunker and retrieve the rake.  That is idiotic.   Maybe I'm just playing crap courses, but I played a real nice course a few weeks ago and every bunker had numerous rakes all around them.  It was great. 

More rakes is nice (it also slows down mowing, though), but how much could it really improve pace of play? Ostensibly you're walking a little bit further for a rake while others are doing other things. Or you've gotten the rake before you even get in the bunker.