Tips to help prevent slow play

[DaveM]

Why does life, have to be. All rush, rush, rush these days? Slow down and smell the roses.

 

[Snelly]

Be ready to play when it is your turn. This is what it all hinges on.

Ban elaborate pre shot routines.

Send letters from the club to repeat offenders.

 

[Monty_Brown]

Why does life, have to be. All rush, rush, rush these days? Slow down and smell the roses.

True enough Dave, but for me the question is why the game has slowed down so much compared to 20 years ago. I really think it has.

I agree it's not meant to be played in a rush but there is a tipping point where relaxed pace becomes frustratingly slow.

 

[garyinderry]

time is relative. if your playing well then you wont mind waiting a bit or playing a a slow pace. if your all over the place and playing bad then it can seem like a lifetime between each shot!

 

[GB72]

It may be that calling it slow play is a misnomer. None of us want to rush and we are all aware that little can be done on a packed course. Maybe better described as actions that frustrate and annoy us on the course. After all, if the course is packed and I am standing on the fairway then fine but if the course is packed, I am waiting on the fairway and the group in front take time discussing and marking their cards on the green then I get annoyed and frustrated.

 

[Scottjd1]

I went out first light Sunday morning to play in a ciurse where 5 hour rounds are quite normal on the weekend.

I dont mind if it takes longer, but I noticed that as we played a hole, walked to the tee, teed it up, hit and off to our next shot etc we did get into a bit of rhythym and as such without playing great chalked up 35 points. :whoo:

 

[RichardC]

True enough Dave, but for me the question is why the game has slowed down so much compared to 20 years ago. I really think it has.

I agree it's not meant to be played in a rush but there is a tipping point where relaxed pace becomes frustratingly slow.

Golf on TV has made the game slower. I doubt a pro will ever get round a course in tournament conditions in less than 5 1/2 hours. New people playing the game think this is the norm, hence the game is slower than years gone by.

Every golfer will have different ideas/pre shot routines, but it amazes me that so many people dislike 5 hour rounds, but the last two major forum days have resulted in exactly that.

 

[pendodave]

the last two major forum days have resulted in exactly that.

!! This may be the most insightful thing that anyone has said in the last 5 pages...

To be fair, forum days probably have a bit more chat etc than normal rounds as people are meeting for the first time, catching up etc.

But I seem to remember the 'are you falsely accused of being slow' thread and it made me think that it can't just be all other golfers except the the GM ones.

Apart from golfers' habbits, I think that the number of people on the course and the separation of tee times is probably the most significant issue. It's a bit like motorways (and theories of fluid flow) - once the volume of traffic means that speeds have to be constantly adjusted, bunching starts and then the smooth flow rapidly degenerates into stop/start and the volume of traffic which can flow ends up being much lower than during the smooth flow phase.

Maybe a topic to suggest to the next PHd student who comes on here wanting ideas for a golf-based thesis. Golf course flow dynamics and the influence of a correct 1st tee starting procedure, hmmm....

 

[Doon frae Troon]

One of my clubs had a very good system where you had to enter your start and finish time on medal cards.
This soon sorted out the slow groups and they were given warnings.
Some groups were finishing two holes behind in drawn events. When it was pointed out that their three ball match had finished 25 minutes behind the field it made them look more critically at themselves.

Sometimes life is not that simple though.
I well remember playing in a 4BBB comp. We were third off in the event. We played the first six holes in just over an hour. The 7th hole was a short par 4 with water 150yds on the right. We arrived on the tee to find eight players searching for balls about 200 yards from the tee. We were then waved on and played our shots to the green past the eight players. There was now 12 golfers on this hole. One of our group then skinned his approach into thick rough through the green. As we searched for his ball we waved one of the [waiting] groups through. One of them shanked his approach into trees. We found our ball and played on.
We were now two holes behind the three ball in front of the competition.
Played quickly onwards to the 11th tee whch lies alongside the short 3rd hole to see 12 angry players waiting on the tee and wondering what the hell was going on!