Rounds getting longer - Why.

[fundy]

The slow play debate rages onwards.

When I started last year, I played in a two ball every saturday. the main gripe for us was getting stuck behind everyone and having to wait on most shots.

Now the 2 ball has grown into 6 players, so we can have a 4 ball if a few don't turn up or 2 - 3 balls. When playing as a 4 ball its enevitable that we are gonna get groups getting close. Mainly its when we are putting on the green. We used to let groups through alot, but then people's games were getting knocked off rythm and it was becoming a bit of a battle in the group. Some of us thinking we should allow group behind through, some saying there's no point etc...

As some have mentioned, some holes are bottle necks and space groups out a little.

How many holes are acceptable to be stuck behind a group before you'd expect to be let through?

The answer for me is none, as soon as you are holding the group behind up (and have space in front) then stand aside and let them go. One of the most frustrating things you can hear is we will let you through in 2 or 3 holes if still holding you up

 

[Mick47]

I don't know how that's even possible to be perfectly honest

Each to their own though, if you're happy sprinting around I'll happily let you through

Ditto that, ours is by no means a long course and my regular partner and I are quick walkers, but I think the quickest we've got round is around two and a half hours.

 

[bladeplayer]

The answer for me is none, as soon as you are holding the group behind up (and have space in front) then stand aside and let them go. One of the most frustrating things you can hear is we will let you through in 2 or 3 holes if still holding you up

So you have one bad hole, say a 3 ball,2 get delayed, you step aside straight away & let the group behind through , say the same happens to them 2 holes later ? they let you through again? that cant work surely ??

Murph 18 holes in 120mins equates to aprox 6min 8 sec per hole , how would that be any fun playing that fast ?

 

[Hobbit]

So you have one bad hole, say a 3 ball,2 get delayed, you step aside straight away & let the group behind through , say the same happens to them 2 holes later ? they let you through again? that cant work surely ??

Murph 18 holes in 120mins equates to aprox 6min 8 sec per hole , how would that be any fun playing that fast ?

So you wouldn't let them through based on they might be letting you through later... if that's your defence for holding someone up its poor. For all you know they might pull away from you and get through the next group too.

 

[Bikky73]

Players being ignorant. Hitting a 5 yard top, then standing admiring it. Taking 3 practice swings to work out why it happened. Then walking along chatting like a knitting bee holding up playing partners. Checking GPS devices for distance although they have probably already chosen the club they will hit in their head.

Same thing happens on greens attempting to read every borrow when a general look would suffice. Leaving clubs on wrong side of green.

Not playing a provisional as if it's an embaressment to have to hit one. Taking longer than 5 mins to look for a ball and failing to wave the game behind through on arriving roughly where the lost ball may be.

There are lots of reasons but in my opinion the vast majority are just ignorance to etiquette and following groups.

The vast majority need a boot in the hole and told to get on with it !

You know my brother then? but you forgot to add the sweary mary bit when he does top it, or slice it, or pull it.

 

[bladeplayer]

So you wouldn't let them through based on they might be letting you through later... if that's your defence for holding someone up its poor. For all you know they might pull away from you and get through the next group too.

if we having more than one bad hole definatly yes i will call group behind through , if we are playing at a steady pace & have one bad hole .. no .. if we cant regain our position in the next hole or 2 & are still holding you up yes i will definatly let through..

 

[JustOne]

Playing as a 2 ball, with my usual Friday partner, we can be round 18 in less than 2 hours. I use a range finder (gps).

Picking up on 16 holes doesn't count Murph!

 

[JustOne]

We used to let groups through alot, but then people's games were getting knocked off rythm and it was becoming a bit of a battle in the group. Some of us thinking we should allow group behind through, some saying there's no point etc...

No offence but that's typical and therein lies the problem.

As an aside.. I love it when people mention being put off their rhythm as an excuse, it's almost as funny as 28h/caps lining up their putts from 96 angles.

I'm with Snelly on this one...

Main issues causing slow play are: people copying what they see on TV, not being ready to play when it is their turn and a reluctance to let faster groups through.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

GPS/laser range finders have an awful lot to answer for.

I know this is all rather simplistic, but take a 4-ball of "average" golfers who knock it round in, say, 85. 35 of those are putts. If you allow for drives and chipping, then I guess there will be 30 full shots, either at par 3's where they are measuring to the pin, or from the fairway.

If each of those 30 shots follows just 15 seconds messing around with a range finder that amounts to 450 seconds for each golfer. This equates to 1,800 seconds fiddling for the 4-ball as a whole - that's an extra half an hour as a result of technology which, whilst it may make the game easier, does nothing to speed it up.

I am sure we have all seen a mid-handicap golfer stand over his ball on a par 3 he has played hundreds of times, with the pin in the middle of the green and the hole being played off the blocks. Yet he will still insist on standing there taking two readings with his range finder. Why?! It's infuriating and unnecessary.

Not sure I'd agree. We played together at a course neither of us had seen and I used my SC. we were comfortably ahead of the next group and never lost any ground even when you had a issues off the tee at 9 and 11. I play my course every week but merely look at SC as I arrive at my ball. It gives me front, middle back and as I can't hit to within the yard thats enough to tell me which club I need in relation to the flag. I don't have any practice swings and so I tend to play pretty quickly

 

[upsidedown]

I wonder if there is any correlation with slow play and the time between tee times. Our comps have a six minute interval which means the 4 th group off is invariably waiting on the second tee and then the third but it picks up after this and you normally get round in around 4 hours.
However those at the back of the field will be looking at 4 3/4 hour rounds

 

[USER1999]

I walk quickly, I don't have an elaborate routine, I don't need to look much at putts (it's my home course, I must have 1000 rounds under my belt), I don't lose many balls, I have a good short game, what more can I say.

I one played with a mate of mine who is off 4. We were round in less than 2 hours, and played through 5 groups. It was like playing with Moses. Collectively we were about 8 over. We would have been quicker, but we ran into the back of some friends, who deliberately would not let us through on 16, and we lost precious minutes! We had a right laugh during the round too. Never felt like we were rushing.

To me, players are slow because they want to be. No other reason.