GB72
Money List Winner
I do think some slip from a genuine concern about pace of play into 'you are not playing as quick as I want to play so you must be a slow player'. The two are very different.
Pace of play obsessions
- Thread starter jamielaing
- Start date
D
Deleted member 16999
Guest
We're not talking 5 or 10 minutes here, it could be 2 hours plus between a quick group and a slow group.
That’s an extreme and don’t believe 1 person would slow another 3 down by 2 hours!
So everyone else has to accommodate captain slow?
I've already said
''If he wants to play early he can, but he will have to learn to play quicker''
10 minutes slower than the sprinters, 10 minutes faster than the avg and he’s labelled Captain Slow!
Why?
If they want to play slowly, that's their choice, they've paid their membership but allow the sprinters out first. No-one gets in anyones way
Have you ever watched the London marathon? this is what they do.
The fastest out first and the slower runners behind smelling the flowers.
Ran it 4 times and just like Golf the majority underestimate the time it will take.
Maybe before a weekend comp, courses should hold qualifying rounds on the course (like F1) on the Friday to determine start times.
Swinglowandslow
Well-known member
As I say, not so simple. Most of the "slow", cannot help being slow. Their ability ,combined with lots of others of the same ilk( allowed/ encouraged on the course for income's sake ), is what these days causes most slow play.
Think of some exclusive type clubs that you don't have a hope of being allowed to play- Bet they don't have slow play.
they may not be able to help being slow but they certainly can do something about not holding up faster groups behind them.
yes you can i have been held up at Muirfield. we were the only two groups on the course, was playing with a member and a 4 ball who where in front of us with a combined age of over 320 i'd imagine held us up on the front 9, luckily they went in after 9 holes
duncan mackie
Money List Winner
Players golfing ability per se is the least relevant element when it comes down to slow play
Swinglowandslow
Well-known member
Disagree😀
In the last fortnight a competitor brought in a score in excess of 160.
chellie
Tour Winner
They should have been told about NRing bad holes. What was their handicap.
That is clearly an exceptional case, someone needs to have a word with them about picking up.
A scratch player may take fewer shots but equally they can have an elongated psr, take an age over putts, check and double check yardage etc. (They may not of course, it is down to the individual) My point is, and I'm sure others are thinking of typing similar, ability does not equal speed. It absolutely does not.
Swinglowandslow
Well-known member
I cannot agree on that, much that I wish it were so. If a group of players are on most holes in regulation, or one over, they will progress at a much better speed than a group where one or two are losing balls, playing into penalty areas, hitting very short, struggling in ( or out of 😀) bunkers, etc.They may be reasonably good players having a very bad day , or complete rabbits paying a green fee. etc
Whatever, the times you have been behind both types of groups tells you which is appreciably faster than the other.
I am not denying that good players can and sometimes do faff about with thoughtless or selfish actions which have been alluded to in the thread, but numbers and varying abilities of players does add to the problem of slow play, as well as the problem of "slow play behaviour "
They are two different things that go on during a day on a golf course.
Grantley1988
Assistant Pro
I hate slow play. Unfortunately there are so many slow players out there. My group are all quick players and we will catch up with players 4 or 5 holes in front.
I appreciate that golf is a hobby and everyone has there right to play at there own pace. I never get frustrated but some people are terribly slow.
Rounds just need to be marshalled better. If they were to constantly patrol the course, find the hold ups and address we would moan less on forums and start to enjoy the game that much more.
I appreciate that golf is a hobby and everyone has there right to play at there own pace. I never get frustrated but some people are terribly slow.
Rounds just need to be marshalled better. If they were to constantly patrol the course, find the hold ups and address we would moan less on forums and start to enjoy the game that much more.
Just to pick up on your point that rounds need to be marshalled better. Many clubs are limping along, managing their budgets and in many areas within their respective clubs cutting some areas of spending. How do those clubs fund the cost of a marshal? How many marshals would a club need(constantly patrol), bearing in mind golf courses are open more than 40 hours/week? What authority will a marshal have in terms of asking groups to walk a hole, adding a double bogey to their score on that hole?
Not saying you're wrong but I do question the affordability.
Just to check, who are the slowest players in the game? Answer, the pros taking the least number of shots. The county, Northumberland, practise in the winter at alnmouth village gc, where my fil plays. At first he used to watch them, fabulous players. He soon gave up, "it's more interesting watching paint dry", they just take too long over every shot, putting in particular.
As I say, slow play comes in different guises and is not always about the number of shots taken. We will have to disagree on this ðŸ‘
USER1999
Grand Slam Winner
Some players are just slow. Mainly because they are never ready to play.
In general, courses could do more. Cut the rough back where necessary. Stupidly deep rough in areas where it really is not needed just causes slow play.
As do greens at 12 on the stimp with tricky pin placements.
There is also this modern fascination with counting. Ooh, I need to see if I can break 100, 110, 120. Why? Just play matchplay or stableford, and pick up. When you are good enough, the scores will naturally come, and you will pick up less.
In general, courses could do more. Cut the rough back where necessary. Stupidly deep rough in areas where it really is not needed just causes slow play.
As do greens at 12 on the stimp with tricky pin placements.
There is also this modern fascination with counting. Ooh, I need to see if I can break 100, 110, 120. Why? Just play matchplay or stableford, and pick up. When you are good enough, the scores will naturally come, and you will pick up less.
Capella
Journeyman Pro
For me personally, it is never a problem about how long a round takes. I love being out on the golf course and I don't care if the round takes 3 hours or 5 hours. What I do care about is when the group in front of me does not move efficiently and I end up standing around on the fairway waiting longer than necessary, because they fail to move out of the way even though they could. That's where the thing with the golf bags on the right side of the green comes into play, btw. Even if it means taking a tad longer to move up to the green. At that time the players behind are (hopefully) still teeing up or moving up to their second shot themselves. And ready golf now allows it for the players who reach the green earlier to just start chipping or putting while the ones with a slightly longer way are still parking their trolley and move up to their ball. Yes, it might take a few seconds longer for the individual player to bring the trolley up to the exit side of the green, but those seconds can be well spent by other players in the group, allowing things to keep flowing smoothly. After everyone has finished the hole, on the other hand, the group should clear the green as quickly as possible under all circumstances. Having to cross back to retrieve a trolley is just not cool, because it prevents the group behind from hitting their shots. It is basically dead time that no one else can use to do something useful with. If you carry your bag, things are a bit different. As long as you bring your bag pin high before you putt out, it's fine, because with a carry bag you usually can leave the green quickly from either side.
Ragamuffin Gunner
Medal Winner
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Interesting issue today. Second group out in the medal and we had lost a hole by the 5th and the group behind were closing. Up to the turn we were conscious of their presence and had agreed if we hit another errant drive (and provisional) we'd let them through. We played ten without incident and were on the green on 11 before we saw them coming up 10 and by the time we finished we had more than a hole on them and we were around in 3 3/4 hours
Sandsider
New member
What happened to the 'art' of calling faster groups through. Done properly, it is almost seamless and impedes no-one. About 8 years ago I played Gullane 2 with a Swedish friend and during the course of the round we were called through 5 times as a 2 ball by 4 ball groups. Are golfers better educated (golfing-wise) N. of the border? Seems that way!
Wolf
Well-known member
We had something similar today, we were 3rd group out, and by the 6th hole we'd lost a hole and a bit with the group behind keeping pace up behind us but we weren't holding them up, got to the turn and group in front nowhere to be seen, we never saw them again until we walked in the bar afterwards to comments of "where were you lot, you took your time"
Yet we tee'd off at 732am and were in the clubhouse drinking a coffee at 11am so we took 3 1/2hrs as a 3 ball, held nobody up and got ribbed for slow play. So sometimes it's all about perception.
Capella
Journeyman Pro
I played in a greensomes comp yesterday. Now, I am not a massive fan of foursomes and greensomes, but they are pretty much the fastest format you can play. And we had through times printed on the score card, relatively generous ones. Actually my group finished 15 minutes ahead of schedule and that included a relaxed little break at the half way hut. And we really struggled to keep up with the group in front of us, so we were not rushing and the pace was absolutely makeable. But all that did not keep one painstakingly slow group (two behind us) to hold the rest of the field up. Admittedly, the weather was a bit dreadful. The group I was playing in was incredibly lucky, because we could weather off the hardest rain shower during our halfway break. Others were less fortunate. Still, the slowest group, who had already lost more than a hole on the group in front of them, decided to take a rain break (without waving anyone behind them through). They were reminded by another group from an adjacent fairway that it was not a thunderstorm and therefore they were supposed to play on even if it rained. They grudgingly did so, complaining that at other clubs everybody takes shelter when it rains. By the end of the round they had lost more than three holes to the group in front of them, causing a massive backlock behind them, never spaing a thought to letting play through or speeding things up. All the players from the groups behind were furious when they came into the clubhouse. But the slow group never even realized that they were the ones who had caused the delay or at least never acknoledged it. And that drives me nuts. As I said, I don't care if a round takes 3 hours or 5 hours, but if there is no one in front of you for the next x holes (easily to be seen on our course, because it winds back and forth) and more and more people lining up behind you, then you do something to correct that situation, either by letting play through or by massively speeding up the way you play.
