Rushing Because of Faster Players Behind

[Moppy]

Now how in the word could this have happened?   You can be the slowest golfer in the world and they can be speed golf champs and yet you have set up conditions on when you will let someone play through that are essentially impossible.  If there is a clear hole ahead when they get to the tee than why hadn't you already teed off?  So in order for them to play through they have to hit their approaches, deal with any necessary chips, etc.  Putt out.  And IF they can do ALL OF THAT before you have walked to the next tee and hit your shot without waiting (since the hole ahead is assumed to be empty) they can just forget about playing through.

This is true, If you are going to let somebody play through, you have to let them finish up their last green, or you can hit your drive, walk to it, and when they get to the tee, you can step to the side of the fairway and wave them through and let them hit.

I don't see any other way to let somebody play through to a clear hole ahead.

Letting people play through is a courtesy that demands a little sacrifice on the slower player. It is only right the the speed golfers show a little courtesy in return, rather than expecting complete deference at all times because they are just better than everybody.

[CR McDivot]

Agreed, but look at his avatar. Those are tiny legs!

True, but I dress well!

[Hatchman]

If you read the original post you will see that 2 groups in front of me only played 9 holes. Thus the open holes in front at 10. When I noticed the group behind I purposely increased pace so as not to hold them up. As I already stated perhaps I should have allowed them to catch up on 13 and play through, even though they were still 3 shots back. The main point was that undo emphasis on speed encourages poor etiquette. (edited for hole number)

Right, by his own words, we already busted short legs :-P on hole 13.

[Moppy]

Right, by his own words, we already busted short legs on hole 13.

I don't see how you can say that. They were still three shots back by his own words. So you are saying as soon as he spies somebody faster behind him he should freeze in place until they get through lest they have to ever wait even a second before hitting their next shot?

We have a similar phenomenon around here with bass fisherman and everybody else. I call them BassCar because they love their speedboats. If they are in a tournament you can get one cutting you off from behind because they are scared you might camp on "their" spot, demanding people move because they are in a "tournament" anchoring in tight channels everybody has every right to use. It's a weird sense of entitlement that some people have.

[Lihu]

[QUOTE name="turtleback" url="/t/83251/speed-golf-sucks/18#post_1169497"]   Due respect, but I do not understand how they can be so far behind you that you can't let them play through yet you felt rushed.  If you felt rushed they were close enough for you to let them play through without some BS criteria to justify not letting them through.  If they never reached a tee before you cleared the green than in what way would you have felt rushed?   Now how in the word could this have happened?   You can be the slowest golfer in the world and they can be speed golf champs and yet you have set up conditions on when you will let someone play through that are essentially impossible.  If there is a clear hole ahead when they get to the tee than why hadn't you already teed off?  So in order for them to play through they have to hit their approaches, deal with any necessary chips, etc.  Putt out.  And IF they can do ALL OF THAT before you have walked to the next tee and hit your shot without waiting (since the hole ahead is assumed to be empty) they can just forget about playing through. [/QUOTE] If you read the original post you will see that 2 groups in front of me only played 9 holes. Thus the open holes in front at 10. When I noticed the group behind I purposely increased pace so as not to hold them up. As I already stated perhaps I should have allowed them to catch up on 13 and play through, even though they were still 3 shots back. The main point was that undo emphasis on speed encourages poor etiquette. (edited for hole number)

I wouldn't have sped up anything.If and when they caught me, I would just let them pass.

[rkim291968]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CR McDivot

Played 18 today walking as a single....

When I reached the tee at 10, I could see a clear green in front, and no one for 4 holes behind. By 12 I caught sight of a twosome in a cart on the 11 green, and when I teed on 13 they were on the second shot of the par 5 twelfth...

I stepped up my pace, and cleared every green before the twosome behind hit tee shots, but by the time I was on the par four 18 green the speedsters hit into me!

Gentlemen, this was a mid day round on a Tuesday. One would expect to play a low pressure comfortable pace. I finished an hour ahead of pace. I hit my approach as they reached 18 tee. Then they hit their approach into me on 18 green.

Really, some of these replies simply make my point.

If my wife and I feel rushed, we let them through to play a "low pressure comfortable pace."   We do that regardless of our pace (< 3.5 hours if we don't wait on any holes).  But it's good that you talked the young ones about etiquette.   I'd just glared at them.

[Jeremie Boop]

Why are you trying to put it down to "speed golfing"? Some people just play faster. I play fast, even walking, but am by no means "speed golfing". If I were you, I would have kept the same leisurely pace you were playing until they were close enough to let through. There was no reason to speed up since you knew there was room in front of you for them to go through. I mean, you admitted as much yourself. I'm not giving them a pass for hitting into you, though did they admit they did it or was it possible they didn't expect to make the green from where they were? I have had that happen before, played a second shot on a par 5 that I thought would come up just short only to fly it all the way to the green. Either way, there's no reason to demonize fast players as rude, people with bad etiquette, or that "speed golf sucks" *since I doubt they were actually playing speed golf*

I wouldn't have sped up anything.If and when they caught me, I would just let them pass.

Beat me to it!

[Hatchman]

I don't see how you can say that. They were still three shots back by his own words. So you are saying as soon as he spies somebody faster behind him he should freeze in place until they get through lest they have to ever wait even a second before hitting their next shot? We have a similar phenomenon around here with bass fisherman and everybody else. I call them BassCar because they love their speedboats. If they are in a tournament you can get one cutting you off from behind because they are scared you might camp on "their" spot, demanding people move because they are in a "tournament" anchoring in tight channels everybody has every right to use. It's a weird sense of entitlement that some people have.

Ok, I'll explain then. CR had enough awareness to note in this thread the holes, how many strokes behind they were, the time element, etc. A lot of detail. May have lost focus on the game from that point on. He controls the club in his hand on any given shot. Problem is, CR made this public, comments forthcoming, pro and con. I don't like those that hit up on people as I've stated. What the golfer is feeling ahead of me I do not pretend to know unless he/she communicates like they do here I've witnessed. When they haven't I've explained it to them as he did.

[Duff McGee]

I was in this EXACT same situation the other night with two speedy cart guys way behind me. I started feeling rushed as they got closer and closer. And OP says he never really got the chance to let them play through, which he would have said for me as well. But guess what? Before they even got to the green on the last hole, I hit my shot, then sat down and drank some water and waited 5 minutes for them to make it to the tee. I let them play through and then finished my best round of the year.

[Hatchman]

Ok, I'll explain then. CR had enough awareness to note in this thread the holes, how many strokes behind they were, the time element, etc. A lot of detail. May have lost focus on the game from that point on. He controls the club in his hand on any given shot. Problem is, CR made this public, comments forthcoming, pro and con. I don't like those that hit up on people as I've stated. What the golfer is feeling ahead of me I do not pretend to know unless he/she communicates like they do here I've witnessed. When they haven't I've explained it to them as he did.

[quote name="Duff McGee" url="/t/83251/speed-golf-sucks/36#post_1169553"]I was in this EXACT same situation the other night with two speedy cart guys way behind me. I started feeling rushed as they got closer and closer. And OP says he never really got the chance to let them play through, which he would have said for me as well. But guess what? Before they even got to the green on the last hole, I hit my shot, then sat down and drank some water and waited 5 minutes for them to make it to the tee. I let them play through and then finished my best round of the year.[/quote] Beautiful illustration. I don't fool myself that I don't look back or forward at my surroundings. It's what i do with it that makes the round enjoyable for me and others. I passed and I've let pass.

[rkim291968]

But guess what? Before they even got to the green on the last hole, I hit my shot, then sat down and drank some water and waited 5 minutes for them to make it to the tee. I let them play through and then finished my best round of the year.

That's what I do.   I wait for the group behind to catch up, tell them where our balls are, and let them hit away.   Then, I can get back to playing relaxed - a key to a better score for me.

[Duff McGee]

The other thing to consider, which is basically guaranteed based on the facts provided, is that the cart guys were pacing themselves as to not be rude and come up him as he was teeing off, which gave the illusion that they weren't right up on him. Most people don't want to find themselves in the awkward situation of pulling up on someone as he/she is teeing off. So they kind of dink around on the hole right behind the person in front of them and wait for him to tee off before getting back to their own preferred speed.

[Moppy]

I am all for letting people play through when they catch me, as I said earlier, it's my policy. I play worse when rushed. But I am not going to wait on the 18th tee for them to finish up on the green on the 17th. Just not going to do it. At some point the whole courtesy thing has to go the other way. At some point the jackrabbits have to show a little courtesy themselves. So they slam their trunk or shots in the clubhouse a couple of minutes later. It's called living with other human beings in a civilized manner.

I'm not giving them a pass for hitting into you, though did they admit they did it or was it possible they didn't expect to make the green from where they were? I have had that happen before, played a second shot on a par 5 that I thought would come up just short only to fly it all the way to the green. Either way, there's no reason to demonize fast players as rude, people with bad etiquette, or that "speed golf sucks" *since I doubt they were actually playing speed golf*

Beat me to it!

So you knew they were in range if you made a bad shot, but you *tried* not to hit them, but hit into them anyway so it is all cool? You couldn't wait until they were clear, you just had to hit that shot, then, mishit it and hit it into them? And you are lecturing on etiquette.

[Duff McGee]

Moppy: like I said, having just experienced the exact same facts, he had many times to let them play through earlier in the round, otherwise he would not have felt rushed.

[Jeremie Boop]

I am all for letting people play through when they catch me, as I said earlier, it's my policy. I play worse when rushed. But I am not going to wait on the 18th tee for them to finish up on the green on the 17th. Just not going to do it. At some point the whole courtesy thing has to go the other way. At some point the jackrabbits have to show a little courtesy themselves. So they slam their trunk or shots in the clubhouse a couple of minutes later. It's called living with other human beings in a civilized manner.

So you knew they were in range if you made a bad shot, but you *tried* not to hit them, but hit into them anyway so it is all cool? You couldn't wait until they were clear, you just had to hit that shot, then, mishit it and hit it into them? And you are lecturing on etiquette.

No, I didn't know they were in range, I just hit a ridiculously long shot for me at the time. A 4 iron flying 220+ yards is an outlier that was not expected, even now when I hit the ball much better. I hit that shot assuming that it was safe, I've no idea where you got that I was expecting a bad shot. I was expecting a good shot to come up just short of the green and a bad shot to be significantly short. Interesting that you assume so much. Nobody is saying that you have to wait for someone to catch you, but if you speed up to stay ahead even though there is room in front for people to play through I don't think you have much reason to complain that you played poorly for speeding up. As Lihu and I both stated, just play at your same pace until they are close enough to let through without waiting an undo amount of time.

*As a side note, I'm typically the guy who waits to make sure people are out of range, to the point where I even take into account those outliers now because of situations like the one I mentioned. So much so that people sometimes think I'm just being absurd when I say "I think I could reach them".*

[Moppy]

but if you speed up to stay ahead even though there is room in front for people to play through I don't think you have much reason to complain that you played poorly for speeding up.

I don't think anybody, even the original poster, disagrees with that sentiment.

[Moppy]

Moppy: like I said, having just experienced the exact same facts, he had many times to let them play through earlier in the round, otherwise he would not have felt rushed.

I think there is a lot of deliberate obtuseness going on in this thread. He should have kept his same pace and let them through *when* they caught up to him. BUT, as long as he did speed up, there was no reason for them to have any issue with his play. It was not their never-mind that he played poorly trying to stay ahead of them.

If they couldn't stand that they caught up to him on the 18th hole and were so driven to finish fast that they had to hit into him on the LAST HOLE OF THE ROUND, then maybe consideration of another hobby for them may be in order.

[Perfect Slicer]

First off, there is never an excuse for someone hitting into you, so I think we all agree on that part of the OP's problem. Beyond that obvious point, here's my $.02.

I play alone, walking, quite a bit. When I do, I get to the course early so I can get off first. The guys in the shop will even let me go out before they open up and let me pay at the turn. I play fairly quick, and routinely get done in less than 3 hours. (Depending on how many balls I need to look for, since I have to hit directly into the rising sun on some holes and sometimes don't have a clue where the ball went).

I don't like being rushed, or even feeling like someones waiting on me, so if anyone comes up behind me I just sit at the next tee box and wait a few minutes. I figure if they caught up, they'll be long gone by the time I mosey down the next hole behind them, and all is good. If I see that everyone is backed up behind me for many holes, I just have to speed up and that's all there is to it. That never happens though- I play at a pretty good pace.

What I hate is coming up on a slower group and playing through. I like the playing through part, because I like to stay in a rhythm and hate sitting waiting on 4 guys to putt, mark, line up and putt again, mark, line up and putt again, but I dislike feeling like I have to run through the next hole or two so the guys who let me through don't wait on me if I hit a bad shot.