4:15hr is actually a pretty reasonable pace of play for our group

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

In the days when HNSP was practiced as good etiquette, play was at least an hour a round quicker.
You seem to have shot yourself in the foot there!

When HNSP was observed players were usually ready to tee off immediately the previous player had finished - so would have been standing at HNSP shot decided and club and ball in hand ready to go. But that is back in the day when rounds were much shorter Note there is a big difference between speed of play when considering length of time to play the round and speed of play in context of the time a player takes to play a shot. A 3 hr 2 ball round does not imply that the players rushed their shots.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I would love it if the average round was 3.5 hours, but if I was forced to accept 4.5 hours as an average then golf would probably have to take a backseat to other, less time consuming pursuits...

You said it Sir. Though many here do not seem bothered that a round takes 4.5 hours - for many of us that is unacceptable and we just can't take that amount of time. If you want to take all day about it then play later in the day.

 

[richart]

And thus slow play is accepted as OK. It will only get worse with that attitude.

Spot on. Slow play will drive people away from the game. I want to play a round of golf. If I wanted to stand about I would find a bar to prop up, or failing that be with my family. Golf is becoming an all day sport, and not all of us have the time for that.

4 balls were round in 3.30 hours when I first started playing, now the average is 4.30 hours. Where is it going to stop ? 5 hours, 6 hours. the Pros have a lot to answer for, as they are making it acceptable to go round in 5 hours plus.:rant:

 

[Rooter]

I factor in 5 hrs maximum when i play 18 holes in a 4ball. That includes getting ready and a swift pint after. Not bothered if its quicker or longer, however i like to keep a flow of play. If i have to start waiting on every tee box, thats when the frustration starts, not the overall time.

 

[garyinderry]

sending groups out as the group in front has just cleared means there will be a backup at the first sign of a hold up.

not teeing off until the forward group has reached the green on a typical par 4 1st is a much better gapping.

we get around lee park right and quick due to it being smaller, no hills and no walks between tees. my old course back home is pretty hilly, some tees have a bit of a walk between them and is much longer. comparing the speed of rounds on both is like chalk and cheese.

if you want a quick round, join a shorter course imo. I allow for at least 4 hours in my head when I go to play golf. I doubt ive ever had a 4 hour round at lee park. I certainly have back home!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I agree with Doon Frae Toon's post on this subject.

If rounds of golf took 4-5 hours every time then I would not play the game. I already avoid several annual fixtures that I get invites to purely for the fact that I know I will have to wait before hitting every shot and I just don't enjoy it when it is like that.

I do recall that I used to estimate that door-to-door - a round plus drink and social stuff afterwards would take 5 hours or so. If I left home at midday I'd be back by 5pm.

 

[GB72]

This is part of our issue as every group tees off as soon as the other is out of range. With no gap between groups there is always going to be congestion somewhere

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

The main issue of slow play is that we, the club golfers, don't readily admit that we are slow golfers. It's always the other guy who's slow. Take a snapshot of a club, I bet most will say they are fast, when in reality they aren't.

Totally at one with @Piece on this (am I therefore totally @Piece - anyway)

We have to really look at our own speed of play. When we notice that as a group we seem to be slow - then who of us is playing slowly? Am I the cause? And if I am I must speed things up a bit - and if it looks to be others then we must be honest with each other and tell ourselves openly - we are playing too slowly.

And let's not give ourselves easy cop-outs - waiting a hole or two in the hope that the lot behind suddenly drop away for a shot or two. Be honest with ourselves and our PPs. If we drop behind the group in front and lose a hole and those behind are frequently waiting on us - we are holding the course up. Accept it - deal with it. We speed up or stand aside. And I think the best way to do that is by telling the group behind as soon as you can that you will play off the next tee then stand aside to let them play straight through. And if you are still on the tee when they come off the previous green - then you let them play through at that point.

 

[Slab]

sending groups out as the group in front has just cleared means there will be a backup at the first sign of a hold up.

not teeing off until the forward group has reached the green on a typical par 4 1st is a much better gapping.

we get around lee park right and quick due to it being smaller, no hills and no walks between tees. my old course back home is pretty hilly, some tees have a bit of a walk between them and is much longer. comparing the speed of rounds on both is like chalk and cheese.

if you want a quick round, join a shorter course imo. I allow for at least 4 hours in my head when I go to play golf. I doubt ive ever had a 4 hour round at lee park. I certainly have back home!

My bold: I've heard its easier to three-putt on chalk while cheese stops a ball quicker but more likely to plug

 

[garyinderry]

lift clean and place all the time with that chalky residue!

 

[Doon frae Troon]

6 miles is 10,560 yards.
Average course 6000 yards.

 

[dufferman]

Two sequential posts with the same phrase

Heaven forbid there's a third one or the forum post count will reset to zero!!!


Edit to add:
Phew thanks Delc that was close :smirk:

Phew! Now lets try to get multiple 'Goodness gracious' posts...

 

[dufferman]

My 34 handicap wife (unfortunately now deceased) could get round 18 holes in well under 4 hours, and never seemed to hold me up!

But that was just the 2 of you playing a presume? Of which you were at a much lower handicap and therefor didn't make as many bad shots? If she were to play with 3 other people of her 34 handicap, do you not think that would have taken more time?

 

[Imurg]

6 miles is 10,560 yards.
Average course 6000 yards.

So you walk in a straight line from tee to green and then magically materialise at the next tee......

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Reading between the lines here, golf was far better in 1964? Far less hackers, far less traffic on the golf course, quicker play? It also sounds the earliest recipe for golf snobbery that still exists today?

Please explain last sentence.

 

[Doon frae Troon]

So you walk in a straight line from tee to green and then magically materialise at the next tee......

Nope just stating that it must be a hell of a walk between some tees and greens to make up 6 miles [+4560 yards, goodness for some courses that's another 18 holes.]

 

[phildunphy]

I agree with Doon Frae Toon's post on this subject.

If rounds of golf took 4-5 hours every time then I would not play the game. I already avoid several annual fixtures that I get invites to purely for the fact that I know I will have to wait before hitting every shot and I just don't enjoy it when it is like that.

in the last 5 years i have rejected several invites as past experience predicts this and 2 of them were on bucket list courses with 'known' players.

5 hr rounds suck the life out thegame

 

[Imurg]

Nope just stating that it must be a hell of a walk between some tees and greens to make up 6 miles [+4560 yards, goodness for some courses that's another 18 holes.]

My course has about 900 yards between tees and greens. Add into that walking around greens to leave your bag in the right place, stalking a putt, looking for balls it wouldn't take much to knock off your 4500 yards..
Heck, at my last club there was a 500 yard walk from clubhouse to first tee and from 18th green to clubhouse

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Faffing around dose not count as walking!.

Good spot...........Perhaps I should have added badly poorly designed courses to my 'reasons' list.

 

[GeneralStore]

As a relative newcomer to the game who hasn't played an awful lot with very experienced players I have found this thread quite informative. The link to the R&A was also very good. I took lessons when I started and my teaching pro told me that I needed a pre-shot routine and told me that its a good idea to start it by putting my glove on when it was my turn to play. It would appear that that could lead to slow play and I shouldn't do it. Who knew it was such a big deal!

Having digested this information my comments would be that all of us have an internal rhythm/timing, some fast some slow. Look at a crowd of people walking, everyone walks at their own pace. My rhythm is a little bit slower than others. When I walk in a very busy street I find most people overtake me. The point I am making is that I don't play well if I am not in my rhythm, so while I wouldn't want to take away from the enjoyment of a round for another player, I also don't want to play poorly just because I am trying to to keep up with someone else who is much faster. If people wouldn't want to play with me because I am not the fastest player that's fine with me as well. On the rare occasion I play with my brother, a 3 handicapper, we get around in 3.5 hours without trying to be quick, so I don't think its a massive issue. My usual bunch of mates that I play with can often take 4.5 hours or more to finish a round as a fourball. Long? Yes, but as long as its moving it doesn't make me want to gauge out my eyes and sell my clubs like it does some people.

In my experience, searching for lost balls can easily add more than 30 minutes to a round and if there are a couple of very high handicappers in the group who are perhaps having a bad day you can add an hour.