The nearest I've come to killing someone....

[Imurg]

And not Fragger either.

Midweek Medal today - our first all year.
I got there a bit early and was on the putting green when the 4 ball who were going off in front of us (2 ball) asked me if we wanted to go first. Fragger had just turned up and was in the shop signing in so I said OK if he gets here in time.
As it happens he was a minute late to be able to take their slot - no problem we thought, they'll let us through at some stage.
Well we effectively waited on every shot - every single bloody shot from the 1st tee to the last green. At least 5 times we were actually waiting on the same tee as them.
The excuse?
There's 2 4 balls in front so you have nowhere to go...
We even asked politely if we could play through and the idea was rejected.......

As a result we took 4 hours for a 2-ball - or about 4 ball pace.....
It took all our restraint to not do something unforgivable. I wouldn't say it messed up our games but it certainly didn't help. Golf's hard enough without all that rubbish to put up with. For the record, Fragger may have buffered and I'm up 0.1 but to be honest I think we scored well considering.

When I've calmed down a bit I shall have some words with the Powers That Be on the subject.:rant::rant::rant:

 

[Curls]

Welcome to my world buddy, if my buddy and I are unfortunate enough to turn up before a spin up it is unthinkable that they will let us through on the basis that there are a few 4 balls ahead of them. The fact that if everyone let us through we'd be home before they got to the 12th is neither here nor there to them. Ive had 5 and a half hour rounds behind these chumps. Brutal lack of consideration/etiquette/basic manners/intelligence.

Take your pick.

 

[JustOne]

I wouldn't complain if I tee'd off behind 3x4 balls if no group lost their place on the course. If they are waiting on the tee then clearly they have nowhere to go either.... I bet they also wish they weren't held up.

So many moaners in this game!

 

[Imurg]

I wouldn't complain if I tee'd off behind 3x4 balls if no group lost their place on the course. If they are waiting on the tee then clearly they have nowhere to go either.... I bet they also wish they weren't held up.

So many moaners in this game!

Generally, they were not waiting, they were teeing off...
And after the 3 x 4 balls there was about 4 clear holes to the next group.....

 

[Farneyman]

So how many 2 balls do expect a four all playing normal pace to let through in a medal???.

Personally if my group is keeping pace with group ahead and there is nowhere for the "2ball" to go then no one is getting through.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I can see both sides on this one. Generally I wouldn't be happy to let someone through if I was being held up as well. (Although if we had to look for a ball I'd wave you though immediately).

But if I could see a gap ahead in the course then letting a 2 ball through doesn't seem unreasonable.

 

[Hobbit]

I've never understood the "there's nowhere for you to go" excuse. If you're slower than the group behind, which the 4 'v' 2 obviously is, then let them through. Then at a suitable point that next group should let them through, and so on. Each 4 ball group get's to wait 5mins(?) whilst the 2 ball gets through but by the end of the round the 2 ball is well out of the way and potentially saves an hour...

Lousy excuse heard from so many fourballs these days.

 

[chrisd]

It's at times like this I'm glad we have a 2 tee start.

 

[Imurg]

So how many 2 balls do expect a four all playing normal pace to let through in a medal???.

Personally if my group is keeping pace with group ahead and there is nowhere for the "2ball" to go then no one is getting through.

If the course was full you wouldn't have heard about this - it wouldn't have been an issue. We were the 9th tee time of the day. there was a gap of 2 tee times not taken before the 3 x 4 balls went. The rest were out of sight.

And to re-iterate...the 4 ball in front of us hardly had to wait at all until the last 2 holes. They got to the tee and played.....

 

[Doon frae Troon]

There should be a general rule that 4 balls cannot play in medals.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

The 4 ball in front of us never put any pressure on the 4 ball in front of them, we would have been through them all like a dose of salts.

as a result we never got a chance to get any rhythm going at all and I think our scores suffered accordingly

we were literally waiting on every shot and often for 5 minutes as they were driving off on several holes as we arrived.

bad form all round

By the way I beat Imurg again net 72 against net 76 , I should be in buffer unless CSS does something stupid, Imurg has a definate +.1

5.3 has a certain ring to it dont you think

Fragger

 

[Imurg]

By the way I beat Imurg again net 72 against net 76 , I should be in buffer unless CSS does something stupid, Imurg has a definate +.1

5.3 has a certain ring to it dont you think

Fragger

So we're not talking.about gross scores anymore then......

 

[Slab]

Do you guys not practice rhythm or patience as part of your game then? Never practice a variable pace of play! Always plan to play at optimum speed?

Instead of whinging shouldn't you be rubbing your hands together in glee at the thought of putting your game to test against one of the most common variables of the game (other than the weather) or is it an area to disregard because you can't just go out and buy a shiny thing that guarantees to take 4 shots off your score by speeding the game up 30 mins a round

 

[USER1999]

I've never understood the "there's nowhere for you to go" excuse. If you're slower than the group behind, which the 4 'v' 2 obviously is, then let them through. Then at a suitable point that next group should let them through, and so on. Each 4 ball group get's to wait 5mins(?) whilst the 2 ball gets through but by the end of the round the 2 ball is well out of the way and potentially saves an hour...

Lousy excuse heard from so many fourballs these days.

Never really understood this. If every four ball in the course lets the two through, and loses 5 minutes, then the last group out will lose way more than 5 minutes. Well over an hour, I'd think. Who is the selfish one then?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I can see both sides on this one. Generally I wouldn't be happy to let someone through if I was being held up as well. (Although if we had to look for a ball I'd wave you though immediately).

But if I could see a gap ahead in the course then letting a 2 ball through doesn't seem unreasonable.

I'm with FD on this one.

Also, if 3 4balls each let a 2 ball through and hang around for 5 mins each time, collectively they have wasted 1 man hour. Is it reasonable to expect them to do this on your behalf if they are keeping up with the group(s) in front.

If your club has a booking system, would it not have been possible to check in advance and grab one the teetimes ahead of the 4balls?

Alternatively, find a couple of friends to make up a 4 :ears:

 

[SocketRocket]

We don't have 4 balls in Medals which helps. We also have alternating tee starts (1st or 9th) for two and three/four balls in normal play which helps to keep the course moving.

 

[North Mimms]

Playing medal in 4 balls?
I'd rather play chess.

Three ball is the only bearable way.


And Imurg and Fragger need to find a friend to play with !

 

[Imurg]

And Imurg and Fragger need to find a friend to play with !

He was working........

 

[Hobbit]

Never really understood this. If every four ball in the course lets the two through, and loses 5 minutes, then the last group out will lose way more than 5 minutes. Well over an hour, I'd think. Who is the selfish one then?

If every 4 ball on the course... maybe you need to rethink this a little. For example, the 1st 4 ball would be off the course before the 2 ball had played 2 holes. And the 2nd 4 ball would off the course... and so on. Add to that the concertina effect of holes of differing lengths, and you would find the 4 balls would actually close up/fill the gap the 2 ball creates as it goes through.

Try it. Next time a 2 ball comes up behind your 4 ball let it through. Then at the end of the round have a look at how long your round has taken compared to your 'normal' time. Seriously, you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[leaney]

I'm surprised you're getting so annoyed about going around in 4 hours.

If it took 5 hours then it would be different.