Is pace of play (or slow play) a real problem?

[boogielicious]

1 hour ago, Missouri Swede said:

And ... in the 2018 Open Championship, Spieth again is put on the clock. Again.

https://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/spieth-and-schauffele-were-put-clock-sunday/?utm_tags=golf1044

 

They were a bit behind at the end too. The group in front of them finished before they even teed off on 18.

[rehmwa]

Pace of play was a problem Saturday.....SHEEEESH

We're in a string of 2 somes and the one that was excruciatingly slow was a couple in front of us.  No one merged groups, no one played through.  No one accepted offers or insistence to do the same.  Kids in the slow group.  Old guys in the following.  So ignorant of the issue, and then stuck in their ways.

We ended up just going back to where the lineup was empty (end of day, no more groups - essentially the end of the line) and replayed several holes, but we still continued to catch the slow down.  Under 5 hours, barely.  At least it was beautiful weather.

[Patch]

IDK, perhaps I am from a different generation, where you adapted to the conditions surrounding you. Maybe it is my military training where you would sometimes have to adapt just to stay alive.

In golf, it's agreeable to play the course as you find it. Pace of play is part of what you find on the course everytime you go out, and is played accordingly.

Do I like slow play?  4+ hour rounds? No, not really. I just realize that until you can get all golfers to play at close to the same speed, slow play is here to stay. I just deal with it when I find it.

Golfers also need to look at their own situations. Some can't play during less crowed hours. Some don't have the time to give to slower times of play. Some can't afford to play course's where slower play is less relevent. Everytime I have run into slower than normal play has been on the less expensive courses, on a weekend. It's even worse on a holiday weekend. 

Another little qwirk I have is, I won't let others control how I hit a shot, because I use a very helpful preshot routine. Standing around, waiting, is not part of my next shot.

[JonMA1]

Played yesterday morning on a somewhat empty course (hmmm, I wonder why?). Yet, for almost 9 holes I was stuck behind two of the slowest good players I've ever seen.

From the fairway to the green they were just slow. They were making nice shots once they decided to swing their clubs, it just took them a while to get to that point. However, on the greens I'm not sure what kind of dutch-rudder, circle-jerk game they were playing, but it wasn't ready golf. They had to talk every thing to death, and if they missed a putt, they would line it back up and try it again. Then the other guy would drop his ball and try the same putt. Someone behind them? Meh, not an issue.

It really wasn't a big deal because there wasn't anyone behind me and all I would have had to do was ask to play through or skip the hole. Instead, I practiced some pitches and teed off with multiple balls. I also found a couple dozen golf balls in the swamp. As @Patch said, you try to make the best of the situation.

Sometimes it sucks, other times I can deal with it. Yesterday was the latter.

[FinTurma]

10 hours ago, JonMA1 said:

Played yesterday morning on a somewhat empty course (hmmm, I wonder why?). Yet, for almost 9 holes I was stuck behind two of the slowest good players I've ever seen.

From the fairway to the green they were just slow. They were making nice shots once they decided to swing their clubs, it just took them a while to get to that point. However, on the greens I'm not sure what kind of dutch-rudder, circle-jerk game they were playing, but it wasn't ready golf. They had to talk every thing to death, and if they missed a putt, they would line it back up and try it again. Then the other guy would drop his ball and try the same putt. Someone behind them? Meh, not an issue.

It really wasn't a big deal because there wasn't anyone behind me and all I would have had to do was ask to play through or skip the hole. Instead, I practiced some pitches and teed off with multiple balls. I also found a couple dozen golf balls in the swamp. As @Patch said, you try to make the best of the situation.

Sometimes it sucks, other times I can deal with it. Yesterday was the latter.

This sound so annoying! They should've definitely let you play through

[mailman]

Sometimes people need to help themselves with the simple things..like being ready to play when they get to their ball 🙂

Other things like making sure your trundler or bag is where it should be (ie. on the correct side of the green), just not faffing about on the greens (just hit the god damn ball already) but also sometimes golf could help itself at times too. It maddens me in the winters when we could help speed things up ourselves by enforcing local rules for leaving the flag in the hole. Then you don't get people walking unnecessarily on the greens and people can go straight to their ball and play it out without faffing about arguing about who whether to attend the flag or waiting for someone to pull it out so you can put.

I keep reminding myself that golf is a marathon, not a sprint BUT doesn't mean we don't do as much as possible to make it an enjoyable marathon 🙂

[jmanbooyaa]

I have never understood a twosome not pairing up with a twosome who has caught up. Being the group behind them makes it frustrating. I also see a huge problem with regards to a group waiting for the group in front to get on the green on a par 4 or 5. It slows play to a crawl. Unless you can bomb it 290 on a fly waiting for a 345 par 4 is mind boggling. I will not get started on barbecue golfers. Painful. 

[mcanadiens]

It is incredible how much this kind of thing varies between different courses and between times of the day/week around my parts. With experience, I've learned which courses are generally no-go's at particular times.

My home courses are a guaranteed slog any decent weekend afternoon, because the "non-golfer" groups gum up the works. Same course isn't bad in the morning because those are the Association's blocks and most of those guys have a clue for how you do things.

My other frequently-played course is silly in the morning, because its jammed and there's always somebody causing issues. Same course is near deserted after 2 p.m. and can play in 2.5 hours walking.

 

[JonMA1]

15 hours ago, FinTurma said:

This sound so annoying! They should've definitely let you play through

It wasn't a big deal because no one was behind me. I'm not very shy about asking to skip a hole if no one is ahead of the slow players. For whatever reason, I was content yesterday just to play multiple balls.

[Shindig]

On 7/24/2018 at 3:41 AM, jmanbooyaa said:

I have never understood a twosome not pairing up with a twosome who has caught up. Being the group behind them makes it frustrating. I also see a huge problem with regards to a group waiting for the group in front to get on the green on a par 4 or 5. It slows play to a crawl. Unless you can bomb it 290 on a fly waiting for a 345 par 4 is mind boggling. I will not get started on barbecue golfers. Painful. 

I should be able to figure this out from context, but what is a barbecue golfer?

[nevets88]

Played 9 Saturday, 20 minute wait at every tee, 2 groups of twosomes in front, they didn't combine, my twosome asked twosome in front to combine, no, won't make a difference, 6th hole we were out of there. Public golf you take your chances. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose. Passing one of the groups, one of the players was advancing the ball 30 yards at a time. 

I'm defining "winning" as a 5 maybe even a 4:30 round. 

[ejm1994]

1 hour ago, nevets88 said:

Passing one of the groups, one of the players was advancing the ball 30 yards at a time. 

Hey, that might be me in a couple days! Heading out to a course for my first time on Friday. Started learning the game last year. BUT after reading through this thread, I can say I have a good idea how to keep my pace up to not be a problem for those behind me. That, and I'll be with my uncle who is very experienced so I should (hopefully) be fine!

[dennyjones]

5 hours ago, ejm1994 said:

Hey, that might be me in a couple days! Heading out to a course for my first time on Friday. Started learning the game last year. BUT after reading through this thread, I can say I have a good idea how to keep my pace up to not be a problem for those behind me. That, and I'll be with my uncle who is very experienced so I should (hopefully) be fine!

Good luck.   The rule of thumb, be ready to hit the ball when it is your turn.   I play sometimes with an older couple (75+) and we usually play 18 around 3:45.   The lady golfer usually shoots around 110.   Just because someone is new or old doesn't necessitate they play show. 

[billchao]

On 7/24/2018 at 6:41 AM, jmanbooyaa said:

I also see a huge problem with regards to a group waiting for the group in front to get on the green on a par 4 or 5. It slows play to a crawl. Unless you can bomb it 290 on a fly waiting for a 345 par 4 is mind boggling.

On a short par 4, longer hitters have to wait for their landing area to clear and usually that happens when the group in front is on or around the green. That's not necessarily a slow play issue.

I'll often have my playing partners tee off if I have to wait and they don't.

[jmanbooyaa]

@billchao i was referring to the group who has been doing it all day and you can clearly tell there is no chance they could reach. I agree if you think you can reach a group hold off.  I don’t have that issue as a short hitter however when i am behind a group who is constantly waiting for the group in front to reach the green and only pokes one out about 200 max it is frustrating. 

[billchao]

1 minute ago, jmanbooyaa said:

@billchao i was referring to the group who has been doing it all day and you can clearly tell there is no chance they could reach. I agree if you think you can reach a group hold off.  I don’t have that issue as a short hitter however when i am behind a group who is constantly waiting for the group in front to reach the green and only pokes one out about 200 max it is frustrating. 

I can see how that is frustrating. Though if you have to keep waiting on the group ahead of you all day because they keep waiting on the group ahead of them to reach the green, aren't they basically keeping pace, abeit a couple of minutes behind when they could have played? It's not like the group ahead of them keeps getting further ahead as the round goes on.

I'm just trying to offer a different perspective. I can't stand slow play either, but I've also had run-ins on the course with people who assume pace of play was an issue when it really wasn't.

[jmanbooyaa]

I see your point. A few extra minutes per hole can add up to an extra hour though. 

[billchao]

7 minutes ago, jmanbooyaa said:

I see your point. A few extra minutes per hole can add up to an extra hour though. 

It's not per hole, it's for the round. You said they kept waiting, right? That means through the round, they managed to catch up enough to the group ahead of them to make them wait again. If they fell behind a few minutes per hole, eventually the group ahead of them would be so far ahead they would have no reason to wait.