We are not going to solve the problem of slow play in general until something is done about slow play on the pro tours. Problem is that the hackers ape all the endless pre-shot routines of the pros, as seen on TV, for every shot, while still failing to break 100. Society Days are particularly bad in this respect, because they often include a number of people who rarely play golf. In my opinion, three-and-a-half hours is plenty long enough to play a round of golf, and this was almost always the case before there was much golf on television.
True! I did consider using the term 'club golfers', but this would have excluded pay and play golfers. Generally the lower handicap players are quicker because they take less shots, but I do know some exceptions to this rule!
Non-professional and non-elite amateur golfers perhaps?
Non-professional and non-elite amateur golfers perhaps?
I still come back to slow play on the pro tours setting a bad example. Keen young players are often particularly slow, because they copy the pre-shot routines of the tour pros, as seen on TV. Five hour plus rounds seem to be almost the norm for professional tournaments these days, and it is filtering down to club level. Apart from anything else, just watching golf on TV is becoming boring because of slow play. Tour pros should be given a maximum time to play a shot once they have reached their ball and it's clear to play, with penalty strokes added if they fail to do so. That should speed things up a bit!
