Times for 18 holes

[AdamBC]

I'm looking for views on what times we should be expecting for 18 holes - to put the question in context ...

1. Senior's section, with ages ranging between early 60s and 80 (mainly late 60s, early 70s)
2. With a few exceptions, 18 handicap or above, mainly in mid 20s (but all component golfers)
3. Normally 3 balls (4 balls at the back of the start sheet when necessary)

I'd be grateful for your feedback on what you would view as a reasonable expectation for 18 holes for both 3 balls and 4 balls.

Many thanks ...

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I would say around a normal course(rough fairly short ) and walking between tees fairly normal:-

3 ball a nice pace is 3.5hrs
4 ball a nice pace is 4hr

However a lot of societies tend to run at probably 30-45 minutes slower than the times above.

 

[patricks148]

i suppose it depends on the course to some extent and maybe the standard of players.

My home track, myself and two reg playing partners can easily get round 18 holes in 3 hours or less if we don't get held up, but if we play Castle Stuart or Royal Dornoch, it will take 4 for CS and 3 and a half for RD again if we are not held up regardless.

 

[Imurg]

Dependent on length of the course, length of walk between greens and tees, any bottlenecks, standard of play, course set up, height of rough, format of play - and that's before you take into account the pace of players.

 

[duncan mackie]

The course is more relevant than any of the group aspects stated. Can easily see differences of over 90mins across different characteristics and lengths.

For stroke play competition you would normally see about 20mins between a 3 or 4 ball.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Pace of Play came up at an England Golf Workshop last night, they use the following to give a quick guide for a 4 Ball.
Par 3 - 11 minutes
Par 4 - 14 minutes
Par 5 - 17 minutes.

Also said Clubs should never drop below 9-10 minute tee time gaps, anything less causes “bunching”

 

[patricks148]

Pace of Play came up at an England Golf Workshop last night, they use the following to give a quick guide for a 4 Ball.
Par 3 - 11 minutes
Par 4 - 14 minutes
Par 5 - 17 minutes.

Also said Clubs should never drop below 9-10 minute tee time gaps, anything less causes “bunching”

by that reckoning, you should take over 4 hours to play my place, which i wouldn't say was correct .

did they say how they arrived at those times?

 

[duncan mackie]

by that reckoning, you should take over 4 hours to play my place, which i wouldn't say was correct .

did they say how they arrived at those times?

Then again that would be spot on for our place.

Whilst I don't think they used us for any assessment to arrive at those numbers!

There simply isn't any such thing as an average course in my experience - in practice there are small things that make a huge difference to the model 4 ball (players following all of the accepted best practices) getting round a course.

The things that generally have the least impact per se are the age and competence of players...although obviously the latter will have an impact in the extremes of course and competence.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

by that reckoning, you should take over 4 hours to play my place, which i wouldn't say was correct .

did they say how they arrived at those times?

Those times are what they advise for as an initial start point for Clubs looking at pace of play, it comes from years of experience of tournaments going from Open Qualifying to Monthly Medals, he did say every club would be different for numerous reasons.

The other point on pace of play was in the studies they’ve done, 60% of those timings is time spent on the green, and in their opinion it’s the main area you can target to educate players and speed them up.

 

[AdamBC]

Pace of Play came up at an England Golf Workshop last night, they use the following to give a quick guide for a 4 Ball.
Par 3 - 11 minutes
Par 4 - 14 minutes
Par 5 - 17 minutes.

Also said Clubs should never drop below 9-10 minute tee time gaps, anything less causes “bunching”

Many thanks ...

Two questions if I may ...

1. were times for 3 balls (or 2 balls from which I can take a mid point for 3 balls) discussed?
2. was there any discussion about the mobility of players (we have a few members who aren't able to walk as quickly as others)/

Thanks again ...

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Many thanks ...

Two questions if I may ...

1. were times for 3 balls (or 2 balls from which I can take a mid point for 3 balls) discussed?
2. was there any discussion about the mobility of players (we have a few members who aren't able to walk as quickly as others)/

Thanks again ...

No mate, this info was given during a pace of play section in a rules update.
From the questions taken from the audience, I think this was just the start point, the timings for women for 3 balls was

Par 3 - 9 mins
Par 4 - 12 mins
Par 5 - 15 mins

 

[duncan mackie]

Many thanks ...

Two questions if I may ...

1. were times for 3 balls (or 2 balls from which I can take a mid point for 3 balls) discussed?
2. was there any discussion about the mobility of players (we have a few members who aren't able to walk as quickly as others)/

Thanks again ...

As already posted (as an approximate 20mins differential) it usually works out at about 1m per person per hole.
Underlying 'speed' doesn't have the impact that might be expected, if the general guidelines on pace of play are followed. However, the more bad practices are followed the more impact it will have on a group (or less good ones if you want to look at it like that!). It's not unusual to find that both seniors and ladies are way ahead of the curve on ways to minimise delays.
These are generalities - you will always find either extremes, or poor behaviours, that are counter to this.

 

[jim8flog]

It does very much depend on the course

We set a time guide of 3 hours for 18 holes on our 9 hole course and 4 hours on the 18 hole course. That is the time for a 4 ball.

Playing 3 balls I would suggest that you could shave 20-30 minutes off those times.

Our Monday and Thursday swindle has players whose ages range from 55 to 80 and handicaps from 6 to 27 we all feel that if we are out for more than three and half hours on the 18 hole course it has been a long round.

 

[Jamesbrown]

Google Ready Play. Top tip to get you round and keep pace.
The aim is to not dilly dally around. There will be others behind you. 4 hours plenty. If it’s a long course with several minutes transit time between some tees allow. 4 hrs 15.
Everyone should always be moving and be ready. Age or competence doesn’t equate into it. Just common sense.

 

[rulefan]

by that reckoning, you should take over 4 hours to play my place, which i wouldn't say was correct .

did they say how they arrived at those times?

Experience of running about 50 competitions a year for the last umpteen years.
Those figures were arrived at separately by my county (Yorkshire) also.
This is for fields of up to 180 players. Most time the last group in is within 5 minutes of the scheduled time.

Individual hole times are adjusted for easy or difficult holes, unusually short or long holes and long green to tee walks.
Players are informed of the hole by hole schedule and know to keep pace (lost balls permitting).

 

[Jacko_G]

17 minutes for 4 golfers to complete a par 5!

Is there a 7 minute waiting time factored into that crazy figure.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

17 minutes for 4 golfers to complete a par 5!

Is there a 7 minute waiting time factored into that crazy figure.

It’ll be 10mins + messing about on the green.

 

[patricks148]

17 minutes for 4 golfers to complete a par 5!

Is there a 7 minute waiting time factored into that crazy figure.

maybe that par 5 is the 18th at Trump Aberdeen off the back tee

 

[MadAdey]

IMO there are so many factors to take into account. Type of course and ability of golfers. You get a 4 ball of scratch golfers on a tough tight course and they will probably get round 30 mins faster than a group of high handicappers. I do not think that age really plays into it as it's not like a fit young man is running round the course, they are still strolling round like a senior golfer. Infact I tend to find senior golfers get round quicker at times because they do not mess around consulting a yardage chart, then the GPS followed by the rangefinder, then top that off with with 10 practice swings. Seniors tend to walk up grab a bat and hit it.