barrybridges
Head Pro
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.
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.