Rushing Because of Faster Players Behind

[Moppy]

I think we need more to the story than was given in the OP.

Right. Let's get a new set of facts that better fit people's prejudices, because there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that the OP sped up his game enough to stay in front of the people behind him. And we know this because you have had bad experiences behind slow golfers in the past.

[turtleback]

Where did that perceived pressure come from? From folks like you who believe you have an intrinsic right to force your concept of acceptable pace on others who are in fact playing well inside of the course's stated pace for the course.

I am not a slow player. Your opinion on this is not my concern. Deal with your own issues.

No, you ARE a slow player.  3:30 for a single is glacial.  The interesting thing is that you admit you did everything wrong from feeling rushed because someone who was 4 holes back is now 3 holes back.  and then used THAT as somehow justification for your rant about players who want to get on with it.  The correct speed of play is ight behind the group ahead of you and slower players should let faster layers play through.

Sorry CR, was out last evening playing in a SLOW playing event that took until dark. The reality is it's not really 50\50 on this issue. I do like what you said if they ask, I have and they have let me pass or joined.

In closing, it's like driving in the left lane of the freeway enjoying the drive at the posted speed limit. Others see it differently. Enjoy the drive!

It is EXACTLY like that and that is why in most states it is the law that slower traffic is to keep right.  Funny, I was going to say that he sounds exactly like that guy who drives at 55 in the left lane while traffic streams by him.

The weird thing is that this is exactly what the OP said he should have done. However. He did not slow up the group behind him until the middle of the  18TH HOLE. Then they hit into him because they couldn't control their ADHD.

Anybody who says that he was out of line for not waiting on the 18th tee for them to finish the 17th green in order to let them play through on the 18TH HOLE is basically saying that the speed golfer's time is more valuable and that courtesy on the course is a one way street.

Yeah, I do not buy that part of his story at all.  And NO ONE defended anyone hitting into him.  AND they were apologetic and not confrontational, so the speculation about 'sending a message" is just that, speculation.

The fact remains that very little of his story makes any sense at all.  But the notion that he felt rushed when they didn't even get to the 18th tee by the time he had hit his approach on 18?  Yeah, sure.  This was a whine, pure and simple.

I bet you are one of those guys who think that the golfers were justified hitting into the OP for holding them up for two minutes on the final hole.

Again, NO ONE defended hitting into anyone.

And this thread is the perfect example why the slow play problem will never be solved.  It is these kinds of attitudes.

[Hatchman]

I like your final summary @turtleback. The thread is really miss titled. Speed Golf has nothing to do with the OP. My final thought, CR would be more comfortable playing with Kevin Na rather than Jordan Spieth. Oh, sorry, Na been warned by the PGA. What, they have rules for staying in position, and/or pace of play. What do you know.

[Duff McGee]

Nice straw man moppy. You are the only one reading what you want to hear and ignoring our well reasoned arguments. If you need a straw man to make your point you have already lost.

[jgreen85]

Here's the "let them play through" procedure.

1. Hit your tee shot

2. Walk to your ball.

3. When they arrive to the tee, wave them up.

4. Spend 1 minute watching their tee shots, so you don't get hit.

5. Play your shot while they drive to their balls

6. Watch their approaches.

7. Tell them to go ahead while you walk to your ball

8. Wait for them to putt out

9. Do a professional putt out

10. Walk to next tee. Wait for them to hit approach shots and then enjoy your leisurely round

worst case, you played in a 3-some for 1.5 holes.

[Lihu]

That's what I was going to say. Play in a 3 some for a hole, let them pass after.

[Moppy]

All this thread proves is that there are a lot of angry people playing golf and that people like to spout off their righteous indignation at being inconvenienced for even a minute on a golf course.

My "I bet" was a response to an "I bet" where the poster basically said that he didn't believe the original poster's story about only being caught on the 18th hole. So I am thinking that the subtext here is that they probably hit into him because he was slowing them down earlier, since that would be "understandable."

Remember that the original poster is a liar, all the hotheads here agree on that one. So if it is that easy to call the OP a liar, even though his story is perfectly reasonable, then I am thinking that the reasoning here goes "Why would they hit into him for just that, there must have been more."

[Lihu]

Not sure I agree that CR is a liar. He's posted reasonably believable stuff before, and I agree this post sounds quite believable. There's no excuse for hitting into anyone for any reason, but the people following him could have done it by accident. Where I disagree is his course of action prior to getting hit into, he can't help what he's thinking just what he does.

[Jon Hoover]

All this thread proves is that there are a lot of angry people playing golf and that people like to spout off their righteous indignation at being inconvenienced for even a minute on a golf course.

My "I bet" was a response to an "I bet" where the poster basically said that he didn't believe the original poster's story about only being caught on the 18th hole. So I am thinking that the subtext here is that they probably hit into him because he was slowing them down earlier, since that would be "understandable."

Remember that the original poster is a liar, all the hotheads here agree on that one. So if it is that easy to call the OP a liar, even though his story is perfectly reasonable, then I am thinking that the reasoning here goes "Why would they hit into him for just that, there must have been more.

Here is the thing no one has the right to say that the speed they play at is better or worse then the rate then anyone else plays. If you want to play slow play then slow, just let faster players play though its just the courteous thing to do, if you want to play fast play fast. If the course is all backed up then just play at a pace that keeps up with the rest of the course. The problem is that some people feel that their speed is good enough and won't allow people to play though because their within the allotted time and not being considerate of how other people play. People who play slower feel like people who play faster are forcing them to play fast, but that's not the case we could care less just don't try to change the pace we play at by not letting us play through, don't try to rush that tee shot so that there's not an opportunity to play through. Everyone just needs to let people play at the pace they like to play at, the only difference is that if you prefer to play slow you should be considerate of others and allow them to play at their own pace by allowing them to play through. When people don't allow that to happen is when people get upset because basically your dictating what speed they should be playing.

[Hatchman]

So the debate continues. * There are/will be cart only courses; and/or times where walkers aren't allowed on cart courses. * There are courses where walkers have preference at certain times or walker courses only. * There are shared courses where all mix. Length, layout of course, hills, etc influence my decision to walk. (Conflict arises) P.S. I'm pretty slow walking slinging a bag and know I've have to waive right of way. My artificial joints limit my mobility, but I still like to walk ONCE in a while. You won't have any trouble with me, I'm always aware of my surroundings and enjoy the day out. It's better than the adjustable bed I was in.

[rkim291968]

Here's the "let them play through" procedure.

1. Hit your tee shot

2. Walk to your ball.

3. When they arrive to the tee, wave them up.

4. Spend 1 minute watching their tee shots, so you don't get hit.

5. Play your shot while they drive to their balls

6. Watch their approaches.

7. Tell them to go ahead while you walk to your ball

8. Wait for them to putt out

9. Do a professional putt out

10. Walk to next tee. Wait for them to hit approach shots and then enjoy your leisurely round

worst case, you played in a 3-some for 1.5 holes.

In my round yesterday, a slow 4-some continuously did this to let 2-somes behind pass through.   It worked like a charm.   By the time my wife and I caught up with the said 4-some, we were on 17th hole and just let them go about their slow way for the rest of the way.

[No Mulligans]

Letting players play through is fine if there are gaps behind the group you let through.  If the course is full though, letting someone through just slows everyone behind them down, for the whole day, even those that haven't tee'd off yet.

If the course is full, the slow group should skip a hole (or holes) to catch up with the pace of play.  However, this is were a clock and expected max. time is helpful; the slow group shouldn't have to skip a hole just because everyone else is playing faster than expected.

[tristanhilton85]

The best thing to do would have been to play at your normal pace and let the faster players play through when they caught you. Also, as somebody else had mentioned, they may not have been as far behind as you thought.... I know that sometimes when I play a round with @Bechambo low group or something and if the course is empty behind us we'll chip/putt on the last green until the group in front is on the next green or so.

[newtogolf]

You have to keep up with the group in front of you, if you're doing that it doesn't matter how fast the group behind you wants to play.  If you don't want to set the pace or be rushed, avoid getting the first few tee times so the course can fill up a bit.

[DrvFrShow]

I played with a threesome yesterday and they were slow. I'm not the fastest golfer out there by any stretch, but they were slow by my standards. Still I didn't say anything and didn't let it get to me, and just used the extra time to line up my shot so I was ready to hit when it was my turn. The foursome riding behind us wasn't keeping pace unless everyone got good shots.

[turtleback]

All this thread proves is that there are a lot of angry people playing golf and that people like to spout off their righteous indignation at being inconvenienced for even a minute on a golf course.

My "I bet" was a response to an "I bet" where the poster basically said that he didn't believe the original poster's story about only being caught on the 18th hole. So I am thinking that the subtext here is that they probably hit into him because he was slowing them down earlier, since that would be "understandable."

Remember that the original poster is a liar, all the hotheads here agree on that one. So if it is that easy to call the OP a liar, even though his story is perfectly reasonable, then I am thinking that the reasoning here goes "Why would they hit into him for just that, there must have been more."

No one is calling him a liar, but his story absolutely does not hold together.  He came here to do a rant about speed golf, using this story as a jump off point.  His story really doesn't support a rant against speed golf so he massaged it a bit.  By his own admission he did just about everything wrong yet it turns out that everything was the fault of the "speed golfers", who themselves did nothing wrong until they hit into him on 18.  And even then they were apologetic and contrite.

Letting players play through is fine if there are gaps behind the group you let through.  If the course is full though, letting someone through just slows everyone behind them down, for the whole day, even those that haven't tee'd off yet.

If the course is full, the slow group should skip a hole (or holes) to catch up with the pace of play.  However, this is were a clock and expected max. time is helpful; the slow group shouldn't have to skip a hole just because everyone else is playing faster than expected.

If you (generic you, not you personally) have room ahead of you but there are groups stacked up behind then YOU are the problem!  You aren't keeping up with the group in front and groups are stacking up behind.  That is the very definition of slow play and a slow group bringing the whole course to a crawl.  And playing faster than the MAXIMUM time allotted is not playing "faster than expected".

But again, the attitudes displayed in this thread show us why the slow play problem will never be solved.  Because the slow players do not think they are slow, yet they are.  And they like to complain about people who do not poke along.

[No Mulligans]

If you (generic you, not you personally) have room ahead of you but there are groups stacked up behind then YOU are the problem!

That's nonsense.  If you're a foursome playing at a 3 hour pace and you have a single that has moved ahead of you, a foursome can't be expected to keep up with a single or a twosome.  And if you have several singles and twosomes behind, what are you going to do, let them all play through?  Each group you let play through slows down the groups behind them by 8 to 10 minutes.

You need some rule of thumb, even if it's as short as 3 hours for 18.

[iacas]

I have noticed that several, if not the majority of the replies have clearly voiced an opinion that pace of play is determined by their own concept of what suits their own selfish interest.

Those who have bothered to read ALL of my posts on this will easily discern that I blame myself for allowing my pace to be disrupted by perceived pressure to stay ahead of a group that was playing faster than I. I have repeatedly stated that I would have been wiser to suspend rather than speed up my play and take that inconvenience as a consideration of the group behind, technically warranted or not.

Where did that perceived pressure come from? From folks like you who believe you have an intrinsic right to force your concept of acceptable pace on others who are in fact playing well inside of the course's stated pace for the course.

Tell me, is your inconvenience of a greater matter than mine? Is your time more valuable than my enjoyment of peaceful round? Are you willing to behave in a more gentlemanly manner than I?

Not in my mind!

I am not a slow player. Your opinion on this is not my concern. Deal with your own issues.

If you wish to play through and there is more than half a hole ahead, politely ask and I will gladly comply. If you are too far away to ask, why are you concerned?

Let's assume you're right: a golfer's is entitled to play at the pace he plays at.

Isn't the same true of the "speed golfers" that were behind you? Why didn't you just stop playing when they caught up to you, chill for a few minutes, and wave them through?

You realize now that this would have solved the whole thing, right?

There are times when I'm out goofing around, maybe practicing or reviewing some equipment or giving a playing lesson, where I wave groups of four through me as a single or whatever.

I don't let them "push" me regardless of how fast they are or how slow I am (on those occasions; I'm a fast player when I'm just "playing golf.")

BTW, you are a marginally slow player at best. 3:30 is on the slow side for a single. I've walked 18 in 1:45 (granted I might be putting with the flagstick in a few times or something).

That's nonsense.  If you're a foursome playing at a 3 hour pace and you have a single that has moved ahead of you, a foursome can't be expected to keep up with a single or a twosome.  And if you have several singles and twosomes behind, what are you going to do, let them all play through?  Each group you let play through slows down the groups behind them by 8 to 10 minutes.

You need some rule of thumb, even if it's as short as 3 hours for 18.

I agree that "your place is right behind the group in front" is too simple and ignores the reality you describe above.

If there are open holes in front, golfers should let faster groups behind them through. How's that for a simple rule of thumb?