Sub 3 hour rounds

[BoadieBroadus]

I tend to play with a higher handicaps quite frequently and pace of play is entirely dictated by the number of lost balls / difficult to find balls. We can all be ready to play and hit provisionals if we think one's dodgy, but if we're scouring the trees for 4 minutes on one hole for one player, then the same on the next hole for another then we've effectively lost a hole.

I'm not saying groups shouldn't be let through, but it's not a cure all for slow play on a busy course, the course still backs up and concertinas waiting for the original group to restart after letting a group through.

There is only one cure for slow play and that is to get out early. Lost balls from good, bad or indifferent golfers are still the primary reason for courses backing up. Far more in my experience than the pre shot routine / putt stalking that might go on.

Having said that i did play with a junior who looked all round every putt and then it never touched the hole. It could be something that the juniors are picking up from each other. Like chickenpox.

 

[white_feather]

We had a similar thing in our first midweek medal on Wednesday.

My usual playing partner (10 handicapper) and I teed it up and were joined by one of your said Weekend Warrior.

A senior who had been playing some number of years however was still off 27!!!!

Anyway we give him respect and help him look for his ball on 3, 5, 13, 14 and 15.

I asked him politely not to play my ball on the 8th fairway.

I also requeseted he give me a little space as he seemed intent on sitting on my shoulder. They must do this in the Swindle so they can watch each others balls carve off into the jungle.

Anyway I finish one over, my pal is level his handicap and Methusalah is twelve over his.

So we get back in the club house, and the group behind us comes in, they are another bunch of seniors all twenty plus handicappers.

"Four hours for a bloody three ball is a bloody disgrace!!!"

Now at no time did we hold them up. We didn't lose a hole and quite often we were waiting on the group in front of us.

I took umbrage with this and my friend and I were discussing what could be done about it and his answer was simple and succint,

"Ban all 24 handicappers and over from medals."

This is of course not going to happen, but if all your bothered about is time then the higher guys will have to play in their own medals on appointed days like Monday dinnertimes.

We all have to start somwhere and be respectful of all golfers abilities young and old alike.

But this obsession in racing round in under three hours I find ridiculous, after all you don't get extra shots knocked off by going round under 3 hours.

Plus the majority of these moaners are retired so what's the rush? The reaper will still be waiting for you in the shower when you get home so chill your beans man and take your time, maybe your golf will improve with it.

 

[Snelly]

Well I've learnt 1 thing from browsing this forum....would hate to have a round of golf with a few on here.

That is a shame and sad to see. You might be pleasantly surprised if you played with people rather than read what they wrote on a forum. I have played golf with several people from here and all have been charming company.

There are also several others that I would like a game with soon if possible. The Craw, Dodger, Tiger, Richart, therod, imurg, Homer, lobthewedge, Gareth, swingsitlikehogan, Doon Frae Toon, DarthVega and MashieNiblick to name just a few....... All seem like the type of person that I would like to spend the day with at a decent course....

 

[Big D 88]

4.5 hours to play golf?

I'm not a fast player, but I don't fart about or bumble along like a dobber. I won't stand about chatting between shots, I won't pace off and measure for the sake of 5 yards, I won't stalk putts like a caged tiger, I won't walk back to the tee after searching for 10 minutes for a ball. I won't leave my bag in a stupid place.

I will pick a club and hit it, I will look at a putt and hit it, I will place my bag in a sensible position, I will hit a provisional if I'm in the cabbage, I will chat and look at the scenery in between shots.

I will usually be round in about 3 hours.

Its not difficult chaps to get round a golf course in smart time. I don't deliberately go out with the aim to be round in X time but I do know that 3 hours is perfect for a round of golf without rushing. 4.5 hours for a bounce game is nonsense, I hope you let several groups through and didn't hold up the course too much!

make your mind up craw

 

[thecraw]

make your mind up craw

No need to make my mind up. I won't STAND ABOUT I will chat between shots, ie WALKING BETWEEN shots.

Its a fairly simple concept.

 

[DCB]

Interesting reading, I'm not one for rushing round sub 3 hours but 3-3.5 hours should be fine for a round of golf. A Medal round shouldn't take any longer than 3.5 hours if everyone in a group plays as they should.

As for tee time spacing, I find a lot depends on whether the course is a members course of a pay and play/resort course where they cram as many in as possible to maximise revenue. That does cause issues for everyone. 8 mins between tee times should be more than enough to keep groups moving well.

 

[thecraw]

We had a similar thing in our first midweek medal on Wednesday.

My usual playing partner (10 handicapper) and I teed it up and were joined by one of your said Weekend Warrior.

A senior who had been playing some number of years however was still off 27!!!!

Anyway we give him respect and help him look for his ball on 3, 5, 13, 14 and 15.

I asked him politely not to play my ball on the 8th fairway.

I also requeseted he give me a little space as he seemed intent on sitting on my shoulder. They must do this in the Swindle so they can watch each others balls carve off into the jungle.

Anyway I finish one over, my pal is level his handicap and Methusalah is twelve over his.

So we get back in the club house, and the group behind us comes in, they are another bunch of seniors all twenty plus handicappers.

"Four hours for a bloody three ball is a bloody disgrace!!!"

Now at no time did we hold them up. We didn't lose a hole and quite often we were waiting on the group in front of us.

I took umbrage with this and my friend and I were discussing what could be done about it and his answer was simple and succint,

"Ban all 24 handicappers and over from medals."

This is of course not going to happen, but if all your bothered about is time then the higher guys will have to play in their own medals on appointed days like Monday dinnertimes.

We all have to start somwhere and be respectful of all golfers abilities young and old alike.

But this obsession in racing round in under three hours I find ridiculous, after all you don't get extra shots knocked off by going round under 3 hours.

Plus the majority of these moaners are retired so what's the rush? The reaper will still be waiting for you in the shower when you get home so chill your beans man and take your time, maybe your golf will improve with it.

I don't think anyone has an obsession! What people have is a realistic time scale in which golf can easily be completed. The issue is actually the people who think that 4.5 hours is fine because they want to stroll round at their own pace and sod everyone else.

I blame golf clubs for not enforcing etiquette any more. The game of golf has rightly evolved however the pro game has had a huge impact on certain areas. Tiger has "forced" lots of clubs to change the dress code by wearing mock neck shirts. Where the pro's have had a negative impact is the pace of play. Players like Ben Crane etc should be fined with shots, not a silly $xx amount of dollars as that is nothing to them.

Just look at my situation yesterday where a junior had six practice swings before hitting the ball. I'd be shattered after 9 holes having six practice swings per shot!

 

[Stuey01]

Some players are slow, but the main problem is busy courses.
I'm perfectly able to get round 18 holes comfortably under 3hours if there is no-one in front holding up, even as a lowly 17 capper. I don't expect every round to be like that at peak times it simply is not realistic.

As an aside, a single figure handicapper recently won a medal at our place, so good standard of play and no lost balls. He was in the last group out with no-one behind, they came in 90mins behind the group in front.
Now THAT is slow play. Put that fella on an earlier tee time in a medal and you've got problems.

 

[BoadieBroadus]

a number of people suggest that slow play is more of a problem than before. I've not been playing that long so I can't compare, but has the modern / driver contributed to the problem?

in the past, with small headed drivers so difficult to hit were errant drives more easily found?

is it true that any player can now happily carve a big headed lightweight driver absolutely miles off line into the clag?

 

[thecraw]

Some players are slow, but the main problem is busy courses.
I'm perfectly able to get round 18 holes comfortably under 3hours if there is no-one in front holding up, even as a lowly 17 capper. I don't expect every round to be like that at peak times it simply is not realistic.

As an aside, a single figure handicapper recently won a medal at our place, so good standard of play and no lost balls. He was in the last group out with no-one behind, they came in 90mins behind the group in front.
Now THAT is slow play. Put that fella on an earlier tee time in a medal and you've got problems.

Totally agree. Slow play is not usually just the high handicap golfers. I have emphasized this already. In fact I don't believe anyone on this thread has blamed the slow play on high handicap golfers.

Some people just have no consideration for others, they get wrapped up in their own little bubble and don't think or care about anyone else.

 

[garyinderry]

tell me this, is it ok for someone to take 10 shots on every hole, lose the ball in the clag 3 times a hole and spend 5 minutes every time looking for the ball .

is this better than the little Chinese fella taking a little extra time over each shot and going around in level par?


how many times have you heard someone saying after a bad shot, " I rushed it" ?

 

[Fish]

Some people just have no consideration for others, they get wrapped up in their own little bubble and don't think or care about anyone else.

Is the main problem.

Rooter and I played yesterday at my club and we had nothing much in front of us the whole front 9 but we were allowed to go through a group of 4 seniors on the turn. We then caught up with another 4-ball who had started on the 10th. They tee'd off on the 13th as we approached the tee so they had a great opportunity to let us through as they were walking 30 yards in front of us but, they looked back and ignored us.

I challenged one of them in the car park later and asked why they didn't let us through and he simply said "wasn't going to happen", I had walk away!

What chance have you got! We waited on every tee as they drove off like the Red Arrows formation team and waited on some approach shots also the whole back 9!

 

[G1BB0]

we are averaging 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 in my 3 ball, a 9, 22 and 28 handicap senior. Recently there was a snide remark from one of the clique afterwards with regards slow play in comps aimed at our playing partner, we know it was aimed at us. Our answer was sod em! We were under 4hrs and joined to enjoy it and have a bit of banter, We have now decided to not play comps as we enjoy the company more than the competition.

3hrs as a 2 ball and cat 1/2/3 then ok. Gets my goat folk moaning just cos they can run round the course. That isnt aimed at any here but more a small minority at my club. I have seen 2 of them in a drawn group almost leave the 3rd bloke behind! Madness.

 

[garyinderry]

its not just high handicapers who play slow. there was times last year when you could spot the slow play and it was the group of low low men.

 

[Snelly]

a number of people suggest that slow play is more of a problem than before. I've not been playing that long so I can't compare, but has the modern / driver contributed to the problem?

in the past, with small headed drivers so difficult to hit were errant drives more easily found?

is it true that any player can now happily carve a big headed lightweight driver absolutely miles off line into the clag?

No this is not it. Everyone just used to get on with it a bit more. And the drivers were not really that hard to hit. Not hard at all in fact.

The current generation of golfers are watching PGA tortoises and reading tripe in magazines about pre-shot necessities. Two of the biggest factors in the growth of slow play in my view. That and etiquette not being given the focus it should have.

 

[patricks148]

who says you have to rush?

I played in our scratch knockout last night we were round in 2 and a half hours. We had to wait on one tee as 4 visitors were in front, who let us straight though. we putted on all but one of the holes, which i con as I found 2 bunkers and my oppo was on the front of the green in two.

At no time did we rush, we chatted while walking to our balls and between tee's. a very relaxed game with plenty at stake, after all he didn't want to get beaten by a hacker like me

I won 3&2 by the way ( he was the hot fav off 2 and me off 7) no shots of course its scratch.

 

[G1BB0]

matchplay will be quicker though wont it as the holes arent always fully played out.

 

[tallpaul]

What's a weekend warrior?

 

[sydney greenstreet]

My round this weekend will be 4 1/2 hrs minimum, no chance it'll be less, zip, zero, nada, zilch, squat diddly...but I can't wait for it

How do you know how long your round will take before you are even there ?

 

[timchump]

if i go round on my own i can play 18 holes in 3 hours no problem, luckily at my club slow play is frowned upon so you ALWAYS get called through if you are being held up

if i play in a group i don't expect to get round that quickly ,
i never think of how quickly or slowly im playing on the course but am fully aware if im holding anybody up, and then will let them through if i can

im slightly confused by this thread though, who is obsessed with sub 3 hour rounds?