Keeping 2 balls away from 3/4 balls

[D-S]

I assume only Clubs with 1st and 10th close by do it?

Yes, this is certainly the case for our club and the starting time list I posted earlier in the thread.

It also probably depends on the player formats at your club. If 90% of your members play in 4 balls then this would not work. It also doesn't work well on very busy days, hence we have a hybrid of start time and booking days.

All I can say is that it works extremely well at my club.

 

[Troymcclure]

I assume only Clubs with 1st and 10th close by

Ah, didn’t read properly. You’re talking about bookings. Yes wouldn’t work I don’t think. It works well at Rollup courses. How ever many turn up you walk to the appropriate tee

 

[Imurg]

South Beds have a process in place for two tee starts

3/4 balls from one tee at a certain time

2 Balls from the other tee

It swaps around etc

Think that sort of stuff only works without tee bookings

So for us it’s - you can play the back 9 from 7 until 8

But all bookings are from the 1st and any combo

That's, basically how we do ot when we don't have booked times - which is 95% of the time.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't andnoften there's queues at the 1st and 10th at crossover time....

 

[bobmac]

Every time you say this, someone else replies to say they wouldn't be happy; and yet you keep claiming it's some sort of golfing panacea.

That's because it probably hasn't been tried at their club.
When I said everyone's happy, I meant everyone can play at a pace that suits them.
The sprinters aren't held up and the slower players aren't being chased around.
If you want/need to take 5 hours, fine, no-one should force you to play faster, just don't tee off first.
Given the choice of a 3 hour round or a 5 hour round, most faster players wouldn't mind getting up early and teeing off at 8am.
It's the 5 hour 4 ball teeing off at 8am that screws everybody up.
Plus I never said that players are forced to play at certain times, just encouraged to.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

That's because it probably hasn't been tried at their club.
When I said everyone's happy, I meant everyone can play at a pace that suits them.
The sprinters aren't held up and the slower players aren't being chased around.
If you want/need to take 5 hours, fine, no-one should force you to play faster, just don't tee off first.
Given the choice of a 3 hour round or a 5 hour round, most faster players wouldn't mind getting up early and teeing off at 8am.
It's the 5 hour 4 ball teeing off at 8am that screws everybody up.
Plus I never said that players are forced to play at certain times, just encouraged to.

What about people that want to play 4 balls first thing in the morning ?

Why is it always an assumption that a 4 ball will be slow - have seen 3balls slower than 4balls and also 2balls slower than 3balls

It’s not complicated- just play ready golf and at an appropriate pace , if you can’t keep up then let the group behind go through regardless of the size

 

[Swango1980]

That's because it probably hasn't been tried at their club.
When I said everyone's happy, I meant everyone can play at a pace that suits them.
The sprinters aren't held up and the slower players aren't being chased around.
If you want/need to take 5 hours, fine, no-one should force you to play faster, just don't tee off first.
Given the choice of a 3 hour round or a 5 hour round, most faster players wouldn't mind getting up early and teeing off at 8am.
It's the 5 hour 4 ball teeing off at 8am that screws everybody up.
Plus I never said that players are forced to play at certain times, just encouraged to.

You make it sound like there are 2 paces. Fast and Slow.

What you will actually have is a 2 ball who likes to play a round in 2 hours getting annoyed because they are stuck behind a 2 ball that are playing in 2.5 hours. And you will get 4 balls that think they can play in 5 hours because they are in the slow part of the course, and annoying 4 balls that like to play in under 4 hours.

There are plenty of 3 and 4 balls that still play at rapid paces, and naturally a lot quicker than a good number of groups with one or two less players.

 

[bobmac]

What about people that want to play 4 balls first thing in the morning ?

Fine, tee off 8am, but be aware that you will be chased around by faster groups so probably wouldn't enjoy it much.

Why is it always an assumption that a 4 ball will be slow - have seen 3balls slower than 4balls and also 2balls slower than 3balls

Here we go, same old argument 2 balls slower than 4 balls.
They just aren't but if you do have 4 sprinters out together, by all means, go out early

It’s not complicated- just play ready golf and at an appropriate pace , if you can’t keep up then let the group behind go through regardless of the size

And there's the problem, telling people what is an appropriate time to take.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Fine, tee off 8am, but be aware that you will be chased around by faster groups so probably wouldn't enjoy it much.

We tee off first every Saturday at 7 am

Any two balls either join us or we let them through with no issues

Here we go, same old argument 2 balls slower than 4 balls.
They just aren't but if you do have 4 sprinters out together, by all means, go out early

Have witnessed it plenty of times where two balls have been very slow and it’s nothing to do with people being sprinters

And there's the problem, telling people what is an appropriate time to take.

What’s wrong with having an appropriate time to go around a golf course ?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

 

[bobmac]

What’s wrong with having an appropriate time to go around a golf course ?

Because ....
New membership? certainly sir, that will be £1000 joining fee and £1800 for your first year subs.
Oh and by the way, you will be expected to play at a pace decided by me, whether you like it or not.

 

[Arthur Wedge]

Because ....
New membership? certainly sir, that will be £1000 joining fee and £1800 for your first year subs.
Oh and by the way, you will be expected to play at a pace decided by me, whether you like it or not.

Welcome to golf where at every level pace is dictated to you - that’s just common sense

There is limited space and time on a golf course and more than just one person paying and playing

Hence why every one will be expected to play at an appropriate pace of play and if there are issues doing that then they act with etiquette in regards any groups behind

 

[bobmac]

View attachment 58992

It is groundhog day as it has been an issue for decades.
Telling slower players to play faster just doesn't work
Having a one lane motorway is always going to have problems, especially if you let a tractor out first.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It's Groundhog Day because the same two posters are having the exact same argument that crops up every 4-5 months. The same posts, the same points, no difference from the last thread on this subject.

There is nothing new going through this again. Let's either keep to the original point of the thread or leave it alone. If this was two new posters having this discussion it could go on for a little longer but this is just a rehash of about 8 other threads on the same subject between the same posters.

 

[bobmac]

Let's either keep to the original point of the thread or leave it alone.

Apologies, I thought it was the original point of the thread.
I'm out

 

[Arthur Wedge]

That's, basically how we do ot when we don't have booked times - which is 95% of the time.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't andnoften there's queues at the 1st and 10th at crossover time....

Think it’s something that you can put in place when you don’t have tee bookings as well as more than one distinct starting point

Before Covid etc we had the first and 10th but no set group size but it caused mayhem - tee bookings thankfully removed that and it’s working well

 

[Imurg]

Because ....
New membership? certainly sir, that will be £1000 joining fee and £1800 for your first year subs.
Oh and by the way, you will be expected to play at a pace decided by me, whether you like it or not.

What you suggest replaces "at a pace" with "at a time"....dictating, for the most part, when people can and can't play is a recipe for a low membership

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Sadly a slow player is just that, no matter how many they are playing with.

 

[Neilds]

Sadly a slow player is just that, no matter how many they are playing with.

Just make all golf club members join this forum and no-one will be slow

 

[Lucifer MorningStar]

Because ....
New membership? certainly sir, that will be £1000 joining fee and £1800 for your first year subs.
Oh and by the way, you will be expected to play at a pace decided by me, whether you like it or not.

But how is that any different to you telling people they can only play at certain times because they can’t muster enough friends for a 3 or 4 ball. Or what happens if you’re a 3 ball but 24hrs before someone goes man down and can’t play. Suddenly do you have to cancel your 3 ball time because you’re now in the wrong slot as a 2 but can’t get a 2 ball time as they’re all taken!

It’s all well and good saying someone can’t dictate a pace of play but you can’t then dictate a time someone can play because they can’t muster enough friends or someone drops out !

 

[bobmac]

What you suggest replaces "at a pace" with "at a time"....dictating, for the most part, when people can and can't play is a recipe for a low
membership

It’s all well and good saying someone can’t dictate a pace of play but you can’t then dictate a time someone can play because they can’t muster enough friends or someone drops out !

I'm sorry, I'm not going to let people put words in my mouth.
Please see post no.24 where I clealy stated

Plus I never said that players are forced to play at certain times, just encouraged to.

My whole point is people choose when to tee off themselves. No-one tells anyone when they should play.
But, they should be aware that a slow 4 ball teeing off first is going to be chased all the way round and would probably have a miserable game. Likewise, a fast 2 ball teeing off at 11am should not expect to get round in 3 hours. It should be self policing.
If you want a quick game, get out early, if you prefer a leisurely stroll, go out later.
If you want a quick 2 ball but can't be bothered to get up early.....tough, it's going to take 4-5 hours.
And if the wife wants to go shopping, by all means tee off early but you will be expected to get a move.
People will soon learn where they fit in