mattman86

Johnclayton, Thinking about it that way I totally agree with you and I think that is what I need to stress to my partners. Play your game within the limits of etiquette. As long as you aren't hitting two balls or taking a ridiculous amount of practice swings tune out the group behind and in front. If the group behind catches up because they are scratch golfers who never lose a ball it doesn't matter what you do, your pace is going to be "slow". I think thats where the problem comes up - where partners think we are going too slow even though we are keeping a very good pace, the group behind is just playing faster than average.

Agreed with everyone regarding pace. When walking I always stress to my group to always be moving forward (stop to watch a partners shot so as to have multiple eyes on the ball so we can find it faster) but that we don't need to walk together to eachothers ball. Also agree to let people play through if they do eventually catch up (so long as there is somewhere to go). My trouble is convincing my playing partners that we are keeping pace and they have time to line up their shot and take a breath. I suppose I just need to play with them more and point out how effectively we're keeping pace.... or throw them another beer to calm down :)

Hello world! New to the forum though I have been stalking it for at least a year now. For my inaugural thread I bring up an issue that bugs me often. Pace of play is an issue we can talk about for days, months, and years. My issue isn't with the pace being too slow. I understand that municipal courses are going to play slow so I try to relax and at least enjoy the scenery. If I want to get a four hour game in I know I have to pay for it and am better off getting out early. What bugs me is when I play with my brother, father, girlfriend, co-worker, etc. almost every one of them starts freaking out on the second fairway because they see a twosome or threesome getting onto the first green. They don't take the time to line up their shot or take a deep breath for fear of slowing down pace of play. I appreciate their concern, but they get so stressed about it that they don't enjoy the round. I point out to them (especially at muni courses) that they can take their time as the threesome has only now pulled the pin. When we are walking up the next fairway I point out that the threesome just drove each of their balls into the woods only 40 yards from the tee, so we have nothing to worry about concerning pace of play. Still they fret and end up taking terrible shots because they want to move as quickly as possible. What do any of you say to help them focus better and enjoy the game??