Tips to help prevent slow play

[Twire]

Signs and plenty of them. Nothing worse than not knowing the way to the next tee or if the tee box is not clearly marked, that you are on the correct tee.

Nope, can't say I agree with lots of signs, they make place look cluttered and ugly. The green keepers wouldn't be to pleased having to lift them all before mowing either.

One thing arising from the lost ball and playing out of turn threads is people who walk 50 yards across or up a fairway to help someone look for a ball but don't play their own ball first. Such a waste of time watching them walk back to their own ball after the other ball has been found.

I always say, "I'll just play mine up, then come across to look" if it's appropriate to do that.

 

[Slab]

I have no proof, but it's my belief that people not being ready to play when it's their turn is the biggest contributor to slow play.

I'd disagree, clubs that are unable/uninterested in setting the course up correctly would be the biggest cause in my book, cramming 4-ball groups out 7 mins apart, first cuts that are too long resulting in several extended searches per round for shots barely off the fairway, clubs where they have no concept of how long a round takes on their course & if they do bother to measure it they don't display it

If clubs did their part there would be ample time to use complex caligraphy to mark your card & have full sex on the 18th green & still get round in under 4 hours!

 

[bernix]

2 suggestions

* walk faster!!!
* don't calculate your score on the putting green

 

[BeachGolfer]

Putt out if not treading on anothers line.

Two in the same bunker, one rakes after both. Alternatively, don't be too proud to rake the bunker for someone else should that person be still away.

 

[Birchy]

One thing that really pi**es me off when im playing in a comp is when someone im playing with sees somebody they know in another group and goes over/stops to talk to them! Really annoys the hell out of me! There is no need at all!

Just wave and move on FFS.

 

[Monty_Brown]

I'd disagree, clubs that are unable/uninterested in setting the course up correctly would be the biggest cause in my book, cramming 4-ball groups out 7 mins apart

I take your point but the gaps between group become irrelevant if the people within those groups don't know how to play at a good pace.

If I play with a bunch of mates and we are all fairly rapid, it's going to take no time at all for us to go piling into the back of the group in front, whether they had a 7 or 11 minute head start on us.

Have course set-ups changed that much in the past 30 years? I doubt it, yet the pace of play has slowed up chronically since I started 20 years ago. I'd say an hour longer to play a 4 ball than in that time, no exaggeration.

A huge number of players now get out on the course with no real knowledge of how to play at a decent rate. It's maybe not their fault per se (although debatable), but I do think ignorance on the part of players is more to blame than clubs for the way they set up courses. There has always been deep rough on golf courses, but in the past people knew what to do when they hit their ball into it.

 

[TriggerTech]

When your gonna let a group play through I find it speeds things up if your group tees off whilst other group finishing off previous hole - that way once they have go off both groups walk up the fairway and you then let group go from there at least your half way up the hole rather than waiting 5 mins on tee - if the group who played through caught you in first place it is likely they will get a hole ahead in next couple of holes - common sense I think

 

[GB72]

Worst case I know of club management adding to the problem of slow play is at Thorpe Wood. Groups are sent out at 8 minute intervals in groups of 4 where possible and the first hole is a par 3. What follows is queues from the first tee onwards and up to 6 hour rounds.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'm going to buck the trend here. I play at a private members course so no green fees holding the place up because thwy don't know where the next tee is etc. We are getting round on Saturday morning peak time (8.00) in four hours or less as a four ball. Probably not quick enough for many but to my mind that is a reasonable pace and not feeling pressured or rushed and includes time looking for the odd ball etc.

I'm happy to play at that pace and so I don't worry. If you are really that fussed about whizzing round, especially peak times then I think you are always going to struggle to make others do as you want and speed up.

 

[NWJocko]

My club has put some signs out next to hazards advising people of what type of hazard it is and what they should do/what their rights are.
This should hopefully speed up play a bit as rather than having to have a chat/disagreement about the situation you just do as advised.

I think this is a great idea.

I actually suggested in a previous thread and got the pish ripped royally out of me for suggesting it

 

[Captainron]

Don't piss about pacing out yardages - get a GPS or a Rangefinder

 

[Piece]

Playing out of turn if you're ready saves time. Plus having a simple DMD device rather than asking everyman and his dog what they think, including waiting for Shivas to turn up and pace it out...

 

[pokerjoke]

I'm going to buck the trend here. I play at a private members course so no green fees holding the place up because thwy don't know where the next tee is etc. We are getting round on Saturday morning peak time (8.00) in four hours or less as a four ball. Probably not quick enough for many but to my mind that is a reasonable pace and not feeling pressured or rushed and includes time looking for the odd ball etc.

I'm happy to play at that pace and so I don't worry. If you are really that fussed about whizzing round, especially peak times then I think you are always going to struggle to make others do as you want and speed up.

Totally agree Homer.
Whats all this urgency to get around so quick.
You will generally find if your being held up,you cant go anywhere anyway,because the group in front
are being held up and so on.
One problem that might help a little is make all groups the same size.
A 3 ball will definately feel slower when theres a four ball in front.
And the same for a 2 ball behind a 3 or 4.
All this baloney about scoring your card on the next tee will save seconds.
In fact sometimes all it takes is one person in the group to notice there going
slower than the group behind,to say,"come on lads lets speed up a bit".
Golf for me is a game to be enjoyed,after usually a stressful week at work,im glad
just to be out there.

 

[Whereditgo]

Simple really - keep up with the group in front

 

[SocketRocket]

Get your golf club to employ a marksman and ask him to shoot the last player with the honour on the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th and 15th tee as it's his bad golf that's slowing things up. Beware those who posted on the "first to be ready tees off" thread!

Would that not mean shooting everyone?

It would slow things a bit having to drag all the bodies off the tee. As the day went on there would be quite a pile which could possibly create an additional hazard, would you get a free drop if your ball came to rest behind a corpse? Worth a try though, maybe a pilot scheme on Ladies and Seniors days.

 

[Slime]

Don't three putt.

 

[dave]

play well = less shots = less time, simples as if

 

[garyinderry]

move quickly from the green to the next hole.

 

[backwoodsman]

Nobody has yet mentioned the one where everyone walks to the shortest driven ball then waits while they play their shot - then they all walk to next ball and wait again. If safe to do so, walk straight past the shorter drive, and keep going to your ball. Give or take, everyone should be waiting by their own ball, watching the rear markers play on. Can't work all the time, but should do for most of the time.

 

[Slab]

I take your point but the gaps between group become irrelevant if the people within those groups don't know how to play at a good pace.

I'd agree with that, however two wrongs don't make it right and surely the club must start in leading by example after all, who would actually lose out in clubs being more proactive?

Clubs seem to get an easy ride (at least in the forums) when it comes to their responsibilities to ensure correct pace of play. It really doesn't matter how many seconds a group wil save by marking the card after tee'ing off if that tee shot rolls off a fairway slope into a 10" first cut

& its a inevitable that small group spacings will lead to accusations of slow play begining on the 1st fairway to the group on the green, how many would/should turn round, look back at the starter and say 'that idiot should never have let us tee off, we're already putting pressure on the group in front'

Once the seed & suggestion of slow play is planted on that first fairway, how much time will the following group spend anaylising & nit-picking the actions of the group in front instead of enjoying their own game, all because they didnt set off with the correct spacing