Playing Through

[JonMA1]

One of the two courses I'm a member at is also a 9 holer, and right of way is quite varied.  Most of the regular members will just automatically allow faster players through.  We also have the luxury of having the tees for the 1st, 3rd and 5th holes all within 100 yards of the clubhouse, so we will often start at any of those tees, and skip around as needed.

Nice. I suppose that if you're dealing with reasonable, cooperative and fairly logical folks, it's possible to make the best of a crowded situation.

@alleztom , I think everyone agrees that you made the right call and the individuals who became pissed were out of line. You'd think they would have waited to see how fast or slow you played before demanding to play through.

[ridgewalker]

I think you showed a lot of class and handled the situation perfectly.

[JonMA1]

I had a situation today that was kind of on the other end of the spectrum. I was behind a threesome of players who didn't really get the concept of ready golf - zig-zagging back and forth like Shriners in a parade and hitting multiple balls while I was waiting on the tee. Never once offered for me to play through.

I get to a par 4 dogleg, wait for them to find all their lost balls and clear the fairway. I finally tee off and walk to my ball. While waiting for them to clear the green, an older gentleman and his wife come up behind me. I jog back to the tee box to explain the situation and offer for them to play along with me, which they decline.

I get through the hole and am again waiting at the tee box for the bros to clear the fairway at the next hole (par 5). They're about 250 yards out when the guy behind me comes up. He yells for me tee off because I can't possibly reach them. I respond that another minute won't make any difference but that he's welcome to play through. He yells back he doesn't want to play through but just doesn't like waiting - he sounds kind of pissed... at me.

After I finish the hole, I wait for this guy to catch up (as the players in front of me continue to play grab-ass at the next tee box). I start to explain to him that on occasions I drive the ball to where the guys were standing but he immediately apologizes, says he wasn't angry at me and shouldn't have said anything. Tells me his wife was giving him crap. We end up shaking hands and laughing if off.

I don't particularly like confrontation, but I know waiting to tee off was the right thing to do in that situation. If this had happened last year or the year before, I might have been second guessing myself and feeling like I'd done something wrong.