Slow play rant, no need to read, just getting it of my chest.

[Khamelion]

:sbox:
Went out tonight with my dad and a mate for a round of golf in the nice weather, usually the three of us can make 18 holes in a little over three and a half hours. Tonight we walked off after encountering slow play in the extreme. We teed of on the first at 18:10hrs. a two ball (father and young son) ahead of us playing two balls but keeping good pace, in front of them a four ball who were putting out on the second green as our three ball walked past after teeing off.

By the time we finished putting out on the first and walked th e short distance to the second tee, the father and son were just doing their second shots after having to wait for the four ball.

From the second tee we could see the four ball on the third with none of them looking like taking a shot. We cleared the second and got straight off on the third, but then had to wait 5 or more minutes on the 4th tee, for the 4 ball to clear the green so the 2 ball infront of us could play on, we then had to wait for the 2 ball to clear the green. I think they must have had enough as when we got to the 5th tee the two ball were no where in sight.

We caught the 4 ball up on the 7th had to wait for them to put out, I timed them 2mins each to hole out, times 4, even my simple calculations tells me thats 8mins on the green.

Next hole the 8th par 3 150 it played tonight, none of them had made the green, we sat and waited nearly 10mins, at which point we had had enough and walked down to the 10th missing out two holes, teed off on the 10th only to find another slow 4 ball playing a calcutta comp, so that was the final straw, we moved the 17th to play the last two holes, only to see a one ball who had been held up behind us coming down the 16th, he'd caught up and was having to wait for us, so he'd played the last 5 holes.

We finsihed the round as a four ball and made a new friend out of it, so it wasn't all bad, but that four ball were ridiculous.

As a final note, we reckon it was taking 20+ mins per hole when we were behind the 4 ball.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Given the rare good weather it isn't surprising to see the course rammed and sadly there isn't always going to be gaps to move into and pace of play will be so. Yes the four ball may have lacked etiquette and could have called you through but you aren't always going to have it your own way

 

[Khamelion]

Given the rare good weather it isn't surprising to see the course rammed and sadly there isn't always going to be gaps to move into and pace of play will be so. Yes the four ball may have lacked etiquette and could have called you through but you aren't always going to have it your own way

That's just it the course wasn't rammed, there were more people enjoying a pint outside the clubhouse than there were on the course. The issue was that the four ball were always just far enough in front to tee off and be off down the hole before you had a chance to hole out and catch them up.

I very much doubt they at the speed they were going that they would have had enough daylight to complete their round.

I would guess I could get wor lass to drive the 15mins over to the course now , I could go into the bar order drinks, take them outside and watch them come down the 18th.

 

[Jumboross]

Calling through just needs a bit of thought and it can be managed it with a minimum of fuss. Call the group behind up on a par 3. Once they've played up, hole out. Tee off on the next and they should be standing right next to you. Let them tee off. All walk down the next together. Let them play the rest of the hole and then play yours up. Minimum time lost, easy, and civilised. There is a definite "I'm not letting them through" mindset though. Similar mindset to sitting in the outside lane on the motorway in my opinion.

I've played in very fast two balls and foursomes groups and painfully slow fourballs. People just need to consider other golfers and be polite.

 

[user2009]

It's frustrating isn't it? We got caught behind a slow 2 ball today who were worse than we were, the first 4 holes they found the trees every time and we had to wait whilst they searched for their balls for a full 5 mins each time. I was boiling, it was only when an even slower 2 ball held them up that I realised we were well and truly stuck in a queue and there was no point in trying to play through. It took nearly 2.5 hrs to do 9 holes :angry:

 

[JustOne]

We teed of on the first at 18:10hrs. a two ball (father and young son) ahead of us playing two balls but keeping good pace

This was the problem. The father and son should have played ONE ball and been thru the group in front in a jiffy, allowing you to then press.




If you were that worried about being held up why not play 2 balls yourself, or 3 if it's really slow then sit back and relax as 6 holes played would really be the same as 18


:rofl:


Like I said, the 2 ball in front of you were the problem, they SHOULD have played thru earlier, then they could have told the 4 ball that you'd likely be catching them up soon as well.

 

[Khamelion]

This was the problem. The father and son should have played ONE ball and been thru the group in front in a jiffy, allowing you to then press.

Far from from it, the dad said that if they held us up, they would let us through and even playing two balls they were still quicker than the four ball in front, so much so the dad and son stopped at the 4th and went back to play the second, so then they were 4 holes behind the 4 ball, as we playd the 18th after cutting our round short, the 4 ball were coming down the 10th with the father and son holing out on the 9th.

The four ball were moving slower than continental drift.

 

[mcbroon]

Was out last night with my old man and as we teed off on the 1st, a fourball was just leaving the green. We got to the 2nd green as they were on the 3rd tee and I counted the cracks - they hit 7 tee shots between them, presumably a few had gone OOB. Fortunately for us, one of the straight ones had only made it as far as the ladies tee (didn't hang around to see whether he had to perform any forfeit ) and they let us through immediately. (They nearly paid for it, as my old man hit a poor tee shot which buzzed over their heads by about 5 feet).

By the time we were going down 11, they were teeing off on the 7th. We got round in 3 hours, stuck around in the bar for an hour afterwards and still hadn't seen them come down 16 when we left. Thank goodness they were aware enough to let us through at the first opportunity. It would have been torture otherwise.

 

[WeekendHacker]

Sounds like me and my mates typical luck. Fourballs are the bane of the golf course. Almost all i've met have been tediously slow and unconcerned about anyone else on the course. In my view they should be banned for comps only. I've stopped going to society outings where they play in fourballs as i'm sick taking 4.5 hours to play a round. No-one says golf has to be a rush but if you're holding up the whole course you should get out of the way.

 

[North Mimms]

Sounds like me and my mates typical luck. Fourballs are the bane of the golf course. Almost all i've met have been tediously slow and unconcerned about anyone else on the course. In my view they should be banned for comps only. I've stopped going to society outings where they play in fourballs as i'm sick taking 4.5 hours to play a round. No-one says golf has to be a rush but if you're holding up the whole course you should get out of the way.

A lot of people play bounce games in 4BBB format

 

[AmandaJR]

Our Captain sent this as part of an email today (the rest regarding competition no-shows)! Hopefully it will have a positive impact.

Slow Play
Slow play can be an issue from time to time and, I and my Committee, are determined to address it. This was brought to the fore by the extremely slow play in Saturdays Stonecheck Cup, which, being a better ball ought to have been an average to quick round. Unfortunately, it only takes one group on the course to be slow to have a knock on effect on the rest of the field. The Committee are looking into it further, but it seems that this is what occurred on Saturday.
My Committee have established a guideline that a round should generally not take more than 4 hours, with the exception of 4 ball medals when 4 hours 15 minutes is the guideline. Players are reminded of their responsibility under Rule 6-7 to play without undue delay. Players are also reminded that under Rule 32b they are liable to incur a penalty for slow play and in the case of repeated breach, disqualification.
We have managed, this weekend, to secure the services of a volunteer Marshall. Please co-operate with any request he makes to pick up the pace of play or call following groups through.
Remember the golden rules are to ensure you are keeping up with the group in front and that you call a group through if a ball is not easily found before searching for it.

 

[Slab]

Our Captain sent this as part of an email today (the rest regarding competition no-shows)! Hopefully it will have a positive impact.

Slow Play
Slow play can be an issue from time to time and, I and my Committee, are determined to address it. This was brought to the fore by the extremely slow play in Saturdays Stonecheck Cup, which, being a better ball ought to have been an average to quick round. Unfortunately, it only takes one group on the course to be slow to have a knock on effect on the rest of the field. The Committee are looking into it further, but it seems that this is what occurred on Saturday.
My Committee have established a guideline that a round should generally not take more than 4 hours, with the exception of 4 ball medals when 4 hours 15 minutes is the guideline. Players are reminded of their responsibility under Rule 6-7 to play without undue delay. Players are also reminded that under Rule 32b they are liable to incur a penalty for slow play and in the case of repeated breach, disqualification.
We have managed, this weekend, to secure the services of a volunteer Marshall. Please co-operate with any request he makes to pick up the pace of play or call following groups through.
Remember the golden rules are to ensure you are keeping up with the group in front and that you call a group through if a ball is not easily found before searching for it.

It’ll be interesting to see if the captains decision to adopt a blame culture works in addressing the issue but I think they’ve given themselves an uphill struggle in this mail. Firstly quoting a guideline time for a round then quoting the penalties for not achieving that time but then go on to say that groups should be let through

If your group is near the guideline time (whether by our own groups doing or some other reason) exactly how many groups are you going to be inclined to let through?

Seriously I wish them good luck but this hints at a policy of we have a problem, something must be done, this is something, therefore we must do it

A great opportunity missed to humanise the issue and demonstrate a club, course, committee, captain and its members all working together to overcome a serious annoyance to most golfers but I guess at least the captain/committee can say they did something

 

[BlueFraggle]

Played @ Macdonald Portal (Cahampionship Course) on Saturday and me and my partner got stuck behind what I believe was a 40 strong society comp (10 x 4 balls) and our round took 5 hours 40 mins to complete ...... on the hottest day of the year as well

We walked the course yet the society comp all had buggies. Absolutely shattered we were :-(

There was no way through any of them as each hole was backed up

The course was absolutely chocker block, I actually think there were too many players on the course. This on top of them charging £4.55 for a pint did not put us in the best of moods

Had a mare on the course too as we were waiting at least 10 mins to play most shots

Waste of a good day of golf

The Premier course the day earlier was much much better

 

[BlueFraggle]

Forgot to add ...... the four ball in front of us never once rang the bell (three holes had bells) to advise us we could tee off ....... just added to our anger

We were going to pull them up about it but thought it was not worth the aggro

 

[Darth Fader]

I played in a silloth last year that took 6hrs, if it wasnt for the company and the fact it was a good fund raiser for a local charity we would have walked off, slow play is getting worse, when did a 5 hr round become acceptable?

 

[BlueFraggle]

Darth .... 6 hours is scandalous !!

 

[Darth Fader]

Darth .... 6 hours is scandalous !!

We were losing the will to live, the worse part was trying to convince HI that i was on the course all day.

 

[cookelad]

Played @ Macdonald Portal (Cahampionship Course) on Saturday and me and my partner got stuck behind what I believe was a 40 strong society comp (10 x 4 balls) and our round took 5 hours 40 mins to complete ...... on the hottest day of the year as well

We walked the course yet the society comp all had buggies. Absolutely shattered we were :-(

There was no way through any of them as each hole was backed up

The course was absolutely chocker block, I actually think there were too many players on the course. This on top of them charging £4.55 for a pint did not put us in the best of moods

Had a mare on the course too as we were waiting at least 10 mins to play most shots

Waste of a good day of golf

The Premier course the day earlier was much much better

Championship is always a slow affair, they only have something like 100 members that actually play the rest are corporate memberships, after that the course is nearly always booked up with societies/charity days/once a year golfers/etc!

Premier is a better course anyway but people see the word Championship and think its going to be the better of the two!