Was I reasonable...?

[JustOne]

They knew they were slow and did the right thing by offering to let you through. After you declined I'm sure it wouldn't occur to them to ask again.

As someone said though, they'd probably have been fine if you asked to take them up on the offer later on.

I agree... I've been offered through and my reply has been "Maybe on the next hole or two if that's OK?"

 

[AmandaJR]

They offered to let you through and you declined so in their shoes I'd feel put out if you then complained about my slow play. They've paid and they're entitled to make the most of it I guess so long as they pay attention to what's happening behind. Perhaps they only play when the course is quiet and accept their "inadequacies" whilst trying to allow "superior" players to play through.

To me your comments sounded arrogant and border-line rude with the exception of the trolley/bag always in the wrong place which is something you could have pointed out without the rest of the lecture.

 

[Yerman]

No joke really. You were invited to play though. So your fault not theirs. So keep your mouth tightly shut next time. Play though when invited to. One day you will play like them.

Agree, never refuse to play through, we all have to start somewhere and however good or bad you are there are always folk out there who are better and worse.

 

[TPO77]

No sympathy from me buddy. I could see why you'd want to rant if they didn't offer to let you through but they did. Slow play only kills the game if slower players hold up the faster guys. They only held you up because you chose to stay behind.
As for the younger lads viewing it as more of a sport. I'm going to have to disagree with that too. I'm 22 and regularly play with a 23, 19 and 18 year old. We all play competitively its human nature. I get competitive at snap but if I wasn't enjoying it then I wouldn't be on the course. Nothing wrong with you offering pointers to the lads but have you considered that perhaps they are happy with how they play? As long as they are allowing people through and pay their money then they can play however they want as far as I'm concerned. If they respect the course and other golfers then each to their own.
I'm sure you never meant to come across as arrogant but someone having a go like you did after the round would put me off playing a lot more than being held up behind someone for a few minutes before they let me through. There's nothing worse than someone acting like they have more right to play because of age or skill level. Hopefully you'll learn to play through next time and you didn't ruin the older lads love of playing. It is just a game after all, it's supposed to be fun.

 

[Ian_S]

Think I'd be a bit miffed if I'd offered to let you through, you refused and then came up after and complained, however politely, about my slow play.

Regarding the practice swings, would you have been ok with you if he took 4 swings and then drove it 300 yards? Personally, I don't see any of us have any right to tell another player how he may approach the pre-shot routine. If it was too slow you should perhaps have tried to talk to them and asked if you could come through now.

 

[Qwerty]

Barry, it's sounds to me like you want to play at a course where Golfers play at a reasonable pace and are pretty clued up on most aspects of the game, rules etiquette etc. You are not going to get that at a Muni' or pay and play

I expect most on here have served there time on muni's when they started out. Ive played for about 12years and the first 2 were spent on public courses, and I saw what you described in your OP pretty much every week.

After 2 years of 5 hour plus rounds I'd had enough and joined a club.If I hadn't joined a decent club I would of certainly given the game up by now.

If your as serious about the game as you sound, as Dave m says I'd suggest you try to join a Good club.

 

[macca64]

i could comment about high h/c players (say 18 and above) holding up single figure players on the course but the torrent of abuse would be intolerable,firstly you should have gone through when given the chance,secondly no one has the wright to tell anybody they are not good enough to enjoy a game of golf and that's what it seemed they were doing,would it have been different if the were 20 year olds who had just bought the gear that morning and started to play the same day.

you've started now,i'm a 20 h/c,wot's your point?

 

[Neddy]

To answer the question posed in the title. No you weren't reasonable at all. You acted stupidly by not going through in the first place and then with incredible arrogance to have a go at the gents in the car park when they had been nothing but courteous to you.

If i visited a golf club and was treated that way by a member i sure as hell wouldn't return.

Shocking

 

[Mark_G]

Personally I wouldn't speak to someone in that way, maybe if you were in the bar and were discussing your rounds afterwards it would be easier to discuss it in a less confrontational manner. However none of us were there and the gentlemen may have taken your opinions on board without offence. When you see them on the course and the chap only takes three practice swings you will know he valued your opinion, if he takes five and refuses to let you through, you will know he didn't appreciate your comments

 

[Scottjd1]

I went out yesterday with a seniors inter club match on (didnt know until I turned up), i had 20 mins practice to allow them to get a few holes ahead. caught them up by the 6th even though I was playing 2 balls and doing a bit of putting practice here and there.

On the 7th I saw them looking for a ball well short so jumped ahead to the 8th. Caught another group up so sat down, had a drink, chillaxed then carried on. They were painfully slow but who am I to spoil their enjoyment? I was hitting the ball well, the weather was nice so wasn;t bothered.

We all need to chill a bit, lifes a marathon not a sprint! Enjoy it

Im with you Gibbo, when I go out alone I will at a quiet time jump around a bit on the holes and generally keep out the way :thup:

. I shall be 60 at the end of the year and am desperately trying to achieve a single figure handicap

How many times are you going to turn 60 Chris ?

They offered to let you through and you declined so in their shoes I'd feel put out if you then complained about my slow play. They've paid and they're entitled to make the most of it I guess so long as they pay attention to what's happening behind. Perhaps they only play when the course is quiet and accept their "inadequacies" whilst trying to allow "superior" players to play through.

To me your comments sounded arrogant and border-line rude with the exception of the trolley/bag always in the wrong place which is something you could have pointed out without the rest of the lecture.

Ahhh the voice of reason, I pretty much agree with this.


If they havent offered you the option to play throught then you have more credibility on this point.....

 

[HomerJSimpson]

They invited you through. You declined having already seen the lay of the land for the first few holes. I don't think you can complain if you have to wait after that. So what if the bloke took 162. He paid his money at a pay and play and so was entitled to play the round as he saw fit. They knew they were holding you up and observed etiquettue by asking you to play through. You declined and the fault is yours.

As for telling him not to take practice shots, speed up etc, then even if you did do it calmly I can't see how you can claim it was polite. How would you feel having known you'd played poorly for some guy to come up to you and run your nose in it however you positioned it.

Sorry but I think you were wrong and out of order

 

[chrisd]

How many times are you going to turn 60 Chris ?

You're just testing me Scotty and I'm not falling for it. I know that you have a Barbados apartment and 5 spare spaces!!

 

[Scottjd1]

[

You're just testing me Scotty and I'm not falling for it. I know that you have a Barbados apartment and 5 spare spaces!!

Noooo, Townhouse, not an apartment :whoo:

 

[muttleee]

I refuse to believe that anyone on a golf course could average 18 shots a hole...! After all, he could apparently hit it up to 50 yards sometimes. Surely 162 was a joke or at least an exaggeration?!

 

[DaveM]

I refuse to believe that anyone on a golf course could average 18 shots a hole...! After all, he could apparently hit it up to 50 yards sometimes. Surely 162 was a joke or at least an exaggeration?!

Yes see your reasoning there. If you average all the hole. It would probably work out about 400 yds a hole. To have seen the old guys in the car park. They must have only done the 9 holes as well (no one would wait for hours just to see them if they did the 18). So even if we give them 10 shots per hole. 8 on the fairway plus 2 puts. Thats only 90 shots. So something wrong somewhere.

 

[SocketRocket]

Old people generally get slower: They drive their cars slower, they walk slower, they think slower, they speak slower, they cant help it though. They don't do it to annoy others, they don't do it to eek out the time of day, they do it because they are old and their bodies don't work the same anymore. Give them some room, give them some consideration, give them a bit of respect, they were young studs once and would give everything they have to be again.

Barry, you know you should have played through when they had the good manners to invite you, giving that old guy a lecture was a disgrace and you should make the effort to find him and apologise profusely for your lack of manners. Next time you find yourself in this kind of situation just consider what you may be like in another 50 years and how you would like youngsters to speak to you.

 

[muttleee]

So even if we give them 10 shots per hole. 8 on the fairway plus 2 puts. Thats only 90 shots. So something wrong somewhere.

Only 2 putts per hole is probably a bit optimistic for this guy though.

 

[chrisd]

[



Noooo, Townhouse, not an apartment :whoo:

Excuse me for getting it all so wrong

 

[Macster]

I think there's probably a good reason why BarryBridges plays as a single mostly,..........

 

[shivas irons]

I've just (literally) got back from 9 holes at my local. Not very nice weather, but on the plus side, the course was pretty empty, hence why I managed to squeeze on as a single.

I don't normally play as a single, because I know it can cause problems there, but today the course was pretty much deserted. In any event, I played 2 or 3 balls pretty much the whole way round.

On the second hole I'd caught up with a couple of older ladies and they kindly let me through.

On the fourth hole I'd caught a couple of gents in front. There were in their 60s, but neither of them could hit a ball, it seemed. There was absolutely no-one on the course in front of them.

They did ask if I wanted to play through, but I declined at the time and said that I was happy to hang back and play a few balls at once. Both myself and the gents in front were accelerating away from the ladies behind, so there was no issue.

From that point onwards, however, they slowed to pretty much a halt, such that the ladies behind caught up and it was a traffic jam on every hole.

I wasn't that bothered - nor were the group behind - by by the 7th I felt like saying something.

Our 7th is a Par 5. I was playing my second shot into the green (a decent length hybrid, which I probably wouldn't reach), and waited for the gents in front to clear the green and move onto the next par 3.

By the time I had putted on the 7th and gathered my bag, I made my way to the tee box for the 8th to find that neither of them had hit their tee shots yet. This despite maybe 5 - 7 minutes passing.

I didn't say anything, but I did observe their play for the final two holes.

Pretty much every shot travelled less than 50 yards. It was an absolute disaster. One of the guys spent more time in bunkers than Saddam Hussein. Yet - on every shot - the same chap would take 4 practice swings, only to duff it anyway.

He took the 4 practice swings even if he was playing a shot 10 yards from where he had previously duffed it.

At the end of the round I walked past them and he asked me how I did. When I asked him the same he chuffed that he'd gone round in 162.

At that point, I was very very polite to him and said that - just for future reference - he really ought to think more carefully about how he could speed up play. I told him - all very politely and amicably - that every time I saw him reach a green, he'd leave his trolley in the wrong place and so would waste 30 seconds walking back to grab it.

He would never have his club ready for the next tee shot - he'd spend 30 seconds appraising every lie before considering club selection.

I told him that he doesn't need to take 4 practice swings each time.

All of this was said very sensitively and very politely - and he was quite sheepish in response. I wasn't meaning to be rude, but there comes a limit to what you can tolerate.

In hindsight, I know I should have let them play me through, but is it now time - finally - for the R&A to agree some kind of rules enforcement to do something about slow play.

This guy went round in 162. He really couldn't hit a golf ball to save his life (nor could his partner).

So, three things:

1) Was I right to have said what I said to him, or was I rude?

2) Should there be a minimum standard for players to play on a golf course? Obviously it's not strictly enforceable, but going round in 162 is a bit of a joke, no?

3) Should golf instructors be obliged - or encouraged - to offer lessons on golf etiquette to their students? My assumption is that it's something you just pick up as you go along, but more could be done to educate people as to what causes slow play and what they should do to avoid it?

The result? 9 holes of golf in 2:35hrs as a single.

Bit of an unfunny joke really.

These guys were out for the day getting exercise enjoying their round of golf.They had as much right as you to be on the course and you had no right to question their ability especially as they offered to let you play through.There's no argument you should have played through and I think an apology would be in order to the two gents and hopefully you haven't put these guys off enjoying the game in their older years....