Does your club penalise you for slow play?

[sawtooth]

At my new place last weekend our 3 ball got finished in 4 hrs which is pretty good for a medal I think. They are very hot on slow play as we were reminded that we had lost a hole on the group ahead during the round. Which we made up in the end.

Scorecard had a field on it "finish time" which prompted me to look at the club rules.

5. Slow Play

Under Rule 6-7 The Committee has defined Slow Play as where a group of players finishes more than 20 minutes behind the group in front. For the purposes of measuring this time all players are required to note their finish times on their cards. In the occurrence of slow play, or where all players in a group fail to record their finish time they will be deemed to be in conflict of Rule 6-7.

First offence - One stroke (which will be applied against the final hole);

Second offence (within 6 months) - Two strokes (added to last hole).

Subsequent offence – Disqualification.

Seems to do the trick and all in favour of it.

Still managed to be late for registration before round even though I live less than 5 minutes away but that's another matter. 😗

How does your club handle slow play?

 

[TheJezster]

There was a big thread about this last week or the week before wasn't there? One club were trying to do things, think it was Phils but some didn't seem to like what they were trying. Lots of people said what their clubs do in there 😃

 

[sawtooth]

oops sorry I didn't see that.

 

[FairwayDodger]

Seems a very heavy handed and unfair rule. I'd be very unhappy to be penalised like that. Does it lead to players refusing to play with slow players?

 

[Tashyboy]

Nah then I was gonna post this a month or so ago but here goes.
The EGU recommends for a three ball 12 mins to play a par three, 14 mins for a par 4 and 17 mins for a par five.
At that, our course for a three ball should take 4 hrs and 16 mins. That is on a A4 sheet that has been pinned on a notice board.
if the three/ fourball in front of you has a stonking round don't lose any ball and finishes sometime before you as long as you finish within the EGUs guidelines where's the problem.

 

[NorfolkShaun]

Seems a very heavy handed and unfair rule. I'd be very unhappy to be penalised like that. Does it lead to players refusing to play with slow players?

Funny you say this that was my thought on where this ends up. I play with a chap who is slow, people know he is slow good guy to play with though. Not fair on me if i get penalised for playing with him

 

[swanny32]

Don't like that ruling at all, what if the group in front of you are all low single figure golfers who all hit fairways/greens and aren't often looking for balls? Doesn't seem fair to me, although I'm sure that there is some amount of common sense required to dish out the penalties.

Nothing really done at my place other than the starter keeping an eye out on peoples timing through 9 holes and giving them a swift kick up the backside on their way past the starters hut to the 10th tee.

 

[sawtooth]

I haven't been there long enough to know how enforced this rule is but I think i prefer a ruling like this ( even if it is a bit on the strict side! ) rather than a bad attitude towards slow play.

Slow play is a major enjoyment killer for most people.

 

[BTatHome]

I wonder what they would do if two people wrote and end time of 18mins after the last group but one person wrote 22 mins after?

 

[delc]

Seems a very heavy handed and unfair rule. I'd be very unhappy to be penalised like that. Does it lead to players refusing to play with slow players?

I think the idea is that the fast players won't want to get penalised and will chivvy the slow players along a bit!

 

[DCB]

What is the time difference between tee times to start with ? If it is 8 min, then running 20 in behind the group in front means you've dropped around a hole and a half off the pace.

It does seem a bit harsh, but, if you drop well behind for no good reason, then maybe it does focus the mind ☺

 

[palindromicbob]

What happens if a group was searching for a ball and let the group behind through? Would they be penalized for finishing outside the specified time period?

 

[delc]

At my previous club you got a 2 stroke penalty if you finished a competition round more than 15 minutes behind the group in front, unless the round was completed in less than 3 3/4 hours. We had to make exceptions if the group had been called through near the end of the round though, as they might not have been able to make up the time. Otherwise a slow group could pass the penalty on to the following group simply by calling them through! The Committee did look at cases when this might have happened, and warned the offending players.

 

[Hendy]

Our club is ten minute slots

I play with one of our clubs slowest players. He doesn't think he's slow. That's the thing lol but the reason people find him slow so that he doesn't walk fast, he scopes all his shots from 100 yards plus. He takes two practice swings then sets himself for shot.

Some of yous might think that's fine others will think that's slow play.

And here I feels lays the issues behind slow play. Two ball I have done 18 holes in 2 hours 30mins with no one holding me up. With this guy it would take over 3. Today we have a four ball and we are looking at over 4 hours. Were most be coming in 3hrs 30mins..

But suffice to say I now tee off in Saturday afternoon and not the morning lol. Some people say why do you play with him. But way I see it everyone has faults and the guy in question adjusted his tee time to suit me as I had to work a few hours on a Saturday were as the other 3 guys were like get someone else seems like our Tee slot, so it's a matter of principle for me aswell. Anyways I just look at it now that sat my golf day. Also I make it work for me by heading up a hour or two early and spend some time chipping and hitting some balls in the range.

Were as when I teed off at 10am I just be pulling up at 9.45 and running to the tee lol.

Edit for the record I can play slow or fast. Of course my best scores are when I slow down as I said I just have the mind set now that am out for golf sat and take my time were as in the week it's a race with light and the wife lol.

 

[Billysboots]

I think the idea is that the fast players won't want to get penalised and will chivvy the slow players along a bit!

There are limits to what an individual can do, though.

In our stableford last weekend I played with two guys who were painfully slow. One kept leaving his trolley the wrong side of greens - I mentioned it to him, and when he failed to take the hint I even started to move it on his behalf.

They both stood marking cards on the tee when it was their turn to play, and were generally a nightmare. No amount of me chivvying them along made any difference and by the turn we'd lost two holes on the group in front. It was at this point I had a frank exchange and told them we had to get a bloody move on.

I'm a quick player. I have a naturally quick tempo. And their pace of play ruined my round. I had a great card going through 9 holes, but that unraveled as I was virtually running between shots. We made up some ground but finished in a shade under 4.5 hours.

I had already been penalised by my round being ruined by the inability of my partners to recognise they were slow and act upon it. I had done everything I could to rectify their pace of play for them but failed.

Would it be fair for me to be penalised shots as well? I have no influence over who I'm drawn with, after all.

 

[delc]

There are limits to what an individual can do, though.

In our stableford last weekend I played with two guys who were painfully slow. One kept leaving his trolley the wrong side of greens - I mentioned it to him, and when he failed to take the hint I even started to move it on his behalf.

They both stood marking cards on the tee when it was their turn to play, and were generally a nightmare. No amount of me chivvying them along made any difference and by the turn we'd lost two holes on the group in front. It was at this point I had a frank exchange and told them we had to get a bloody move on.

I'm a quick player. I have a naturally quick tempo. And their pace of play ruined my round. I had a great card going through 9 holes, but that unraveled as I was virtually running between shots. We made up some ground but finished in a shade under 4.5 hours.

I had already been penalised by my round being ruined by the inability of my partners to recognise they were slow and act upon it. I had done everything I could to rectify their pace of play for them but failed.

Would it be fair for me to be penalised shots as well? I have no influence over who I'm drawn with, after all.

You make the case for preventing slow play very well! I too get bored and frustrated when I have to wait minutes at a time to play every shot, although I have learned over the years not to let it affect my game too much. I wonder how much your playing companions had been influenced by the funerial pace of play on the PGA and ET Tours?

 

[delc]

Don't like that ruling at all, what if the group in front of you are all low single figure golfers who all hit fairways/greens and aren't often looking for balls? Doesn't seem fair to me, although I'm sure that there is some amount of common sense required to dish out the penalties.

Actually some of the slowest players I know are quite low handicappers, because they take the game more seriously than most. Every putt is like 'This one to win The Open Championship', if you get my drift. At least most of the higher handicap players miss their shots more quickly, even if they take more of them!

 

[mikejohnchapman]

I suspect there are a number of slow players in each club - a quick survey of the members would show who they are.

At my old club they bought in a rule for slow groups that sent them a written warning for the first "offence" and a 1 comp ban for each subsequent offence. This had the effect that people would not put themselves down to play with the known slow players so they had to introduce hourly ballots for all major comps.

This still didn't solve the problem of slow medal rounds and as I left they were seriously taking about using a time clock attached to the pro's shop to get people to clock in at the start and after 9 & 18 holes to identify the culprits. Whether they did or not I don't know as I moved with work.

Sadly as with over rates at cricket the only thing that seems to work is points / shot penalties which is tough if you are playing with someone who is really slow.

 

[chrisd]

I'm a reasonably fast player but things can happen that slow you down that isn't your fault, like in a comp a couple of weeks back. Hole 2 one player couldn't find his ball, after 5 minutes he trotted back to the tee and played another, ran back and played again while his FC's were on the green. So we had to wait, given the ignorant sods didn't call us through, but from behind it would have looked like we were slow, which we weren't !

If my club had penalised us for that I'd probably would have not renewed my membership!

 

[Ross61]

I've played a couple of rounds where we have been held up all the way round only to have problems within the group on the 17th and find ourselves coming up the 18th looking like we have been falling behind. Not fair to get penalised in those situations.