Slow play

[Orikoru]

Aw, paddy got banned. What previous member was he in the end??


On the topic, one thing I've always wondered - why do we stop and wait for everyone to hit one at a time? The chances of two golf balls colliding in mid-air must be slim to none, so if one person is on the left side of the fairway and the other on the right, why can they not both hit their balls at the same time? That would certainly speed things up across a round.

 

[Backsticks]

Aw, paddy got banned. What previous member was he in the end??


On the topic, one thing I've always wondered - why do we stop and wait for everyone to hit one at a time? The chances of two golf balls colliding in mid-air must be slim to none, so if one person is on the left side of the fairway and the other on the right, why can they not both hit their balls at the same time? That would certainly speed things up across a round.

Its just tradition I think dating back to golf being predominantly played as match rather strokeplay. Thus alternate shot as a match dynamic.
But it has hung on like caddies, even though they have no current justification for their existance.

 

[Orikoru]

Its just tradition I think dating back to golf being predominantly played as match rather strokeplay. Thus alternate shot as a match dynamic.
But it has hung on like caddies, even though they have no current justification for their existance.

Makes sense in match play given the rules, yeah. But in a four-ball stroke play, if nobody's directly in front of you you might as well all hit together. Second shots and approaches only obviously - I wouldn't say for chipping and putting where a collision would be more likely.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

Its just tradition I think dating back to golf being predominantly played as match rather strokeplay. Thus alternate shot as a match dynamic.
But it has hung on like caddies, even though they have no current justification for their existance.

When at least one of my friends seems capable of hearing and sensing a butterfly a mile away flap it’s wings, I suspect that another player some 20-30yds away playing his shot at same time as my friend would initiate serious palpitations and cause for pause

 

[Backsticks]

When at least one of my friends seems capable of hearing and sensing a butterfly a mile away flap it’s wings, I suspect that another player some 20-30yds away playing his shot at same time as my friend would initiate serious palpitations and cause for pause

This is an example of people not changing. He is a slow player, and delaying people behind you by his unreasonableness. Would he accept that ? Faster play means he has to dump his fussiness and accept someone else hitting a ball at the same time as he is in his routine and not wait or complain to the simultaneous hitter. Presumably he never complains about slow play ?

 

[JonnyGutteridge]

Aw, paddy got banned. What previous member was he in the end??


On the topic, one thing I've always wondered - why do we stop and wait for everyone to hit one at a time? The chances of two golf balls colliding in mid-air must be slim to none, so if one person is on the left side of the fairway and the other on the right, why can they not both hit their balls at the same time? That would certainly speed things up across a round.

Interestingly, the only round of golf where I’ve played true “ready golf” and been hitting shots at the same time as playing partners was at Royal County Down.

I didn’t know my 3 playing partners. Walking down the 1st, my caddy basically said “ignore them, we play ready golf” and throughout the day I hit numerous shots at the same time as they did. It worked absolutely fine and we were round comfortably in under 4 hours.

 

[Orikoru]

Interestingly, the only round of golf where I’ve played true “ready golf” and been hitting shots at the same time as playing partners was at Royal County Down.

I didn’t know my 3 playing partners. Walking down the 1st, my caddy basically said “ignore them, we play ready golf” and throughout the day I hit numerous shots at the same time as they did. It worked absolutely fine and we were round comfortably in under 4 hours.

I'd love to see it / try it. When people say ready golf, they typically mean hit when you're ready, but still hitting one at a time - so in truth I don't think it saves a vast amount of time. If two or three people were hitting their second shots simultaneously throughout, I think you save 1 or 2 minutes per hole (excluding par 3s perhaps) so potentially 20 minutes off the round.

 

[Swango1980]

Aw, paddy got banned. What previous member was he in the end??


On the topic, one thing I've always wondered - why do we stop and wait for everyone to hit one at a time? The chances of two golf balls colliding in mid-air must be slim to none, so if one person is on the left side of the fairway and the other on the right, why can they not both hit their balls at the same time? That would certainly speed things up across a round.

Although, it is sometimes often handy to have more people looking to see where your ball is heading. The amount of times I've been able to see where a player's ball had gone better than them, or vice versa, is frequent. Probably speeds up search time considerably at times.

We wouldn't get that advantage if everyone was just hitting balls without paying attention to what others are doing

 

[Backsticks]

Although, it is sometimes often handy to have more people looking to see where your ball is heading. The amount of times I've been able to see where a player's ball had gone better than them, or vice versa, is frequent. Probably speeds up search time considerably at times.

We wouldn't get that advantage if everyone was just hitting balls without paying attention to what others are doing

We arent really saying all four should hit simultaneously. That is unlikely to ever occur given the spread of balls anyway, so nobody other than the hitter watching their ball is unlikely. And even if it happens, the chances of them not seeing it, and, it going to a searchable area, is negligible compared to the time lost by waiting to hit all the time.
Better to ignore what someone else is doing and just hit. If your twack interferes with their swing and they dont like it, point to the RaA guidance and ready play benefits to the 50 people behind you.

 

[timd77]

Jesus, golf’s meant to be a fun, challenging hobby where you try to play and score your best, heck, we’re even paying comp fees to try and actually beat everyone else. Rushing around hitting shots at the same time as PPs, not being allowed to take a few seconds to get a yardage, assess your lie etc for your next shot to make sure you get it as close as you can without having to hit yet another shot, sounds bloody awful. If it came to that I’d give up.

Get to your ball, get a yardage, assess your lie/conditions, pick a club, practice swing (if preferred), hit the ball, watch it land, takes what, 30 seconds?

 

[Orikoru]

Jesus, golf’s meant to be a fun, challenging hobby where you try to play and score your best, heck, we’re even paying comp fees to try and actually beat everyone else. Rushing around hitting shots at the same time as PPs, not being allowed to take a few seconds to get a yardage, assess your lie etc for your next shot to make sure you get it as close as you can without having to hit yet another shot, sounds bloody awful. If it came to that I’d give up.

Get to your ball, get a yardage, assess your lie/conditions, pick a club, practice swing (if preferred), hit the ball, watch it land, takes what, 30 seconds?

That's not rushing. You can take the same amount of time as normal, you're just doing it at the same time as someone else instead of one at a time. I actually suggested it because I agree with the rest of what you're saying - I was thinking of it as a way to speed up a round without necessarily rushing the individual taking their shot.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Makes sense in match play given the rules, yeah. But in a four-ball stroke play, if nobody's directly in front of you you might as well all hit together. Second shots and approaches only obviously - I wouldn't say for chipping and putting where a collision would be more likely.

It’s not really practical - what if one shot is going long towards people and someone shots four whilst someone else is hitting , or two are going into the green together and hit each etc etc - there is no real need to and would prob cause more issues

Ready golf is a simple process and it’s just playing when it’s deemed safe and practical to do so which also includes who goes first on the tee etc

 

[Orikoru]

It’s not really practical - what if one shot is going long towards people and someone shots four whilst someone else is hitting , or two are going into the green together and hit each etc etc - there is no real need to and would prob cause more issues

Ready golf is a simple process and it’s just playing when it’s deemed safe and practical to do so which also includes who goes first on the tee etc

Someone could shout fore from an adjacent hole while you're hitting anyway. Or if two of you are hitting almost simultaneously, both will have finished the swing before anyone shouts fore. As I mentioned the chances of mid-air collision are slim to none. Ready golf as it is now barely saves any time. I don't know many people who still do the 'your honour' thing on the tee, unless it's tongue in cheek or very obvious because they got an eagle/birdie or something. We're talking maybe ten seconds saved on a couple of holes which amounts to almost nothing.

 

[Backsticks]

Jesus, golf’s meant to be a fun, challenging hobby where you try to play and score your best, heck, we’re even paying comp fees to try and actually beat everyone else. Rushing around hitting shots at the same time as PPs, not being allowed to take a few seconds to get a yardage, assess your lie etc for your next shot to make sure you get it as close as you can without having to hit yet another shot, sounds bloody awful. If it came to that I’d give up.

Get to your ball, get a yardage, assess your lie/conditions, pick a club, practice swing (if preferred), hit the ball, watch it land, takes what, 30 seconds?

5 hours.

Thats the thing. For me there is nothing wrong in what you say. As long as people dont then whine about slow play or that the round took 5 hours and should only take 3 and a half.

I agree, a half an hour here or there is nothing in the total time one puts to playing golf.

Fundamentally I am OK with all the time consuming add-ons (well, aimpoint. Thats an non golf abomination) of the last 40 years, and people not feeling rushed. But dont care for the hypocrisy of people who have their own preferred mix of peripheral actions, yet then still complain about pace of play.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Someone could shout fore from an adjacent hole while you're hitting anyway. Or if two of you are hitting almost simultaneously, both will have finished the swing before anyone shouts fore. As I mentioned the chances of mid-air collision are slim to none. Ready golf as it is now barely saves any time. I don't know many people who still do the 'your honour' thing on the tee, unless it's tongue in cheek or very obvious because they got an eagle/birdie or something. We're talking maybe ten seconds saved on a couple of holes which amounts to almost nothing.

I’ll be blunt - it’s a bit stupid and could actually be dangerous because you will have people not watching a ball being hit that could potentially be going towards them or others and concentrating at other things

There is no need for people to be simultaneously hitting the ball at the same time

 

[Orikoru]

I’ll be blunt - it’s a bit stupid and could actually be dangerous because you will have people not watching a ball being hit that could potentially be going towards them or others and concentrating at other things

There is no need for people to be simultaneously hitting the ball at the same time

Don't be ridiculous. It's no more dangerous than simply being on a golf course in the first place. People will be watching their own ball that they've hit and perfectly capable of shouting fore.

No of course there's no need, there's also no need for people to use Aimpoint or rangefinders or whatever other stuff has been spouted in this thread, but I thought we were spitballing ideas to quicken rounds up that's all.

 

[Deleted member 1147]

For us slightly longer hitters I don't fancy hitting my approach at the same time as my playing partners

 

[Jimaroid]

I don’t think it’s safe for two or more people to play off the same tee at the same time. Most tee boxes are pretty small and given the way most amatuer golfers are unable to maintain balance it’s wiser to stand well clear.

Different off the fairway in some circumstances and that’s where ready golf can apply.

 

[Backsticks]

I’ll be blunt - it’s a bit stupid and could actually be dangerous because you will have people not watching a ball being hit that could potentially be going towards them or others and concentrating at other things

There is no need for people to be simultaneously hitting the ball at the same time

Following that safety line, it would indicate solo players should be prohibited ?

 

[Backsticks]

I don’t think it’s safe for two or more people to play off the same tee at the same time. Most tee boxes are pretty small and given the way most amatuer golfers are unable to maintain balance it’s wiser to stand well clear.

Different off the fairway in some circumstances and that’s where ready golf can apply.

Nobody is advocating simultaneously play from a tee.