Slow play - Discussion

[Khamelion]

One of the things I`ve noticed recently at our place is that some of the more senior players don`t wait the full 8 minutes on the 1st tee and drive off as soon as the group in front are clear("we wont reach them, lets drive off") consequently I`ve seen 4 or more groups of 3balls on the 1st(par 5). What then happens is that the not so senior guys are then waiting longer than 8 minutes on the tee because they will reach the group in front with their drives, this then causes a backlog on the 1st, meaning by the afternoon, the groups on the 1st tee have been waiting 15 minutes or longer to tee off.
By the 3rd hole(long par3) you could see 1 group on the green,one group waiting to get to the green or their balls(call on hole) and 4-5 groups waiting on the tee. It`s ridiculous!!! Oh to have a Marshall or 2.
These same seniors then get to the 11th (par3) and break out the coffee and biccies and sit down on the bench and discuss how their round is going,when the green is empty up ahead!!! It beggars belief, it really does.
The commitee have put up signs around the clubhouse and at various points on the course guarding against slow play and pace of play, and have been going round in buggies speeding people up, but unfortunately most of the commitee are made up of...yep...the more senior players who tee off before the full 8 minutes has elapsed!!!!AAAAARRRRGGGG.
Don`t get me wrong, it`s not just the more senior players that are slow, a lot of the "all the gear no idea" brigade are as slow, and as previously mentioned, some of the better juniors/25-30 year olds are as bad as well(4-5 practice swings, weighing up ever possible line on the green etc etc.) but it`s just that these guys(the seniors) all play together and at the same time, early, every Saturday, causing the slow play/pace problem.
And breathe..........

That's sometime the issue that happens when I play with my dad and some other seniors. The seniors don't hit the ball very far, I do, so they tee and are chomping at the bit to get down the fairway, I have to wait till it's safe for me to tee off.

Ironically the seniors are trying to speed up the game by playing before their alotted tee time and as you write above the consequence is that on the shorter holes everyone gets held up and it's just a domino effect after that.

Some courses have tee times, others tell you to wait until the green ahead is clear, last time at Slaley on the Priestman, the starter told us to wait until the group in front were on the green before we teed off, this meant we weren't up their chuff and waiting for them and with the group behind us following the same request we were not getting pushed either.