What To Do About Slow Play

[Hosel Fade]

As an example we have a non ideal set of holes pace wise

3rd is a mid length par 3, tough green to hit often the waiting starts here
4th is a par 4 dog leg where basically everyone hits a 190-200 yard layup and haswedge left which then brings the 5th (meaning they clear the green quite quickly)
5th reachable 480 par 5 with a tight drive & gunch left (searching and thinking time of how to get out of trees on top of potential going for the green waiting
6th is drivable as well for the really big hitters

Really not ideal having so many potential roadblocks right after one another

 

[chunter85]

I often find that a big factor which causes slow play, especially on a busy Saturday morning medal is people who don't tee off at the correct times, both early and late, as it causes bunching.

It's equally frustrating when you know the group behind you has set off a few minutes ahead of time and quickly come up behind you as it is when someone strolls up 2 or 3 minutes late are are allowed to tee off.

Starter should be policing this a lot better than I see happen at most clubs.

 

[3offTheTee]

1. How full are your Comps? If not completely full initially say every 2 hours leave a 10 minute free slot.

2. I take it people go out in 3 balls. What is the time between tee of slots? We changed from 8 to 10 minutes and it made a huge difference. Ensure people go off at the allocated time. i.e. If there is a free slot ensure people go at the allotted time and not earlier.

3. Consider cutting the fairway back on the first 2 holes ONLY. This will ensure there should be no hold up early in the round.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I agree that course set up can have a detrimental effect on the pace of play but educating people to do the right things will have a much bigger impact on how long it takes to get round.

Elaborate pre shot routines, looking at putts for double bogey from every side of the green, not being ready when it's your turn, leaving bags at the wrong side of the green etc etc etc.

Playing quickly really isn't difficult!!!!

 

[Crazyface]

Our course is quite open....although there are three holes which can cause hold ups with players searching for balls, 4,5 and 8. As for the marshal thing, I'm not sure if we could get someone to give up their time to do this.

 

[Slab]

I agree that course set up can have a detrimental effect on the pace of play but educating people to do the right things will have a much bigger impact on how long it takes to get round.

Elaborate pre shot routines, looking at putts for double bogey from every side of the green, not being ready when it's your turn, leaving bags at the wrong side of the green etc etc etc.

Playing quickly really isn't difficult!!!!

I get that but you're in danger of the repeated mistake of concentrating too much on what the players do during a round while letting everyone else off the same level of accountability

Everyone has to do their bit

 

[Norrin Radd]

CF are your comps drawn or are they put your name on the list with your mates.?
if the latter i would suggest you change to drawn comps .
too many times the old pals together will be the cause of slow play.
they will obviously argue the toss ,but try it ,you will be amazed .

if your comps are drawn then im afraid i dont know the answer,and im not saying i do know the answer being the one stated above ,but have seen it so many places that i have played that its got to be worth a punt.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I get that but you're in danger of the repeated mistake of concentrating too much on what the players do during a round while letting everyone else off the same level of accountability

Everyone has to do their bit

Sorry but I have no idea what you mean by this. I thought I had made it clear that everyone should do their bit. The majority are hence the reason some groups are clearly slower than others and they are the people I am referring to.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Three things can be done

1. Education- Tell people how to avoid it and help others avoid it.

2. Course setup- clubs should set up and define course length for optimal balance for speed, enjoyment and challenge. This must be in line with the member base ability of course. Cut rough under trees! Also give plenty and use the appropriate tee option.

3. Reformat the game- 6, 9, 12, 14 holes instead of 18 OR shorten courses, remove hazards causing slow play or not require long carries.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

3. Reformat the game- 6, 9, 12, 14 holes instead of 18 OR shorten courses,

Are you for real? What effect does playing fewer holes have on the pace of play? The pace will be slow irrespective of how many holes you play if people dick about.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Course set up is a really interesting one. I had two experiences this year of playing other courses within a short space of time that showed the good and the bad. I played Hexham GC first of all. Anything off the fairway, they were tight, was in 2-3" rough. Your ball sat down in it and you could not see it until you were right on top of it. We wasted so much time looking for balls just off the fairway, shots that were not poor, that I think it added 20-30 minutes to our round. If that was the case for a two ball playing a social round then how much would it add to a 3 ball in a competition where finding your ball really matters? I came off the course pretty fed up.

The following week we played at Richmond GC. They kept the semi rough short enough to walk up to your ball without issue. It was harder to hit out of than the fairway so some punishment existed but it kept the pace of play going. If you were really off line, think Phil M, then you lost your ball the same as any course but that is fair enough. All areas under trees were cut short so again search time was eliminated. Punishment was being behind a tree, having a reduce swing etc. We flew around that course in around 3 1/4 hours and loved it.

I don't feel that they made Richmond easy, they just made some smart decisions. Hexham just made the course annoying and slow. It is undoubtedly part of the issue.

 

[Slab]

Sorry but I have no idea what you mean by this. I thought I had made it clear that everyone should do their bit. The majority are hence the reason some groups are clearly slower than others and they are the people I am referring to.

Then you need to re-read your own posts in particular No 9 & 15 where you're pretty dismissive of initiatives that highlight other factors of slow pace outside of just targeting the slow players (and slow players do need targeted)

 

[Imurg]

Firstly - education.
Regardless of how the course is set up, where the hazards are, where the bottlenecks are - players need to let faster groups through.
Once you've educated you can look at where bottlenecks are and what can be done to smooth things out.
But without education you're still going to get holdups as slower groups - not necessarily "slow" - don't let faster groups through.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Then you need to re-read your own posts in particular No 9 & 15 where you're pretty dismissive of initiatives that highlight other factors of slow pace outside of just targeting the slow players (and slow players do need targeted)

Still not sure what you are talking about. I agree that course set up has an effect on pace of play HOWEVER there are much bigger gains to be made by educating people to play quicker. I would much rather people were educated than making the course too easy.

 

[Slab]

Still not sure what you are talking about. I agree that course set up has an effect on pace of play HOWEVER there are much bigger gains to be made by educating people to play quicker. I would much rather people were educated than making the course too easy.

They are not bigger gains, they are different gains, each as significant as the others


Its not about making courses too easy, you don't seriously believe there are only two pin positions on a green do you

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

They are not bigger gains, they are different gains, each as significant as the others


Its not about making courses too easy, you don't seriously believe there are only two pin positions on a green do you

I would argue that you will get round a course quicker if people played ready golf than if you cut all the rough down and people continued to faff about. How much quicker is a round of golf in the winter when the rough is down?

My point is you can get instant gains if people did the right things. Golf courses have always had rough but it didn't take 5hrs to get round when I started playing. You also didn't have pro tournaments on TV every week either. I learned to play by watching my peers, not by watching pros toss up bits of grass, consult books, have a lengthy chat with a caddie, change clubs several times, walk half way to the green then back again then after 3 or 4 minutes finally hit a shot.

People dick about on golf courses and waste time, that is a fact.

 

[Imurg]

People dick about on golf courses and waste time, that is a fact.

Give over - I'm trying my hardest.......😖😁

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Give over - I'm trying my hardest.......😖😁

.

 

[Slab]

I would argue that you will get round a course quicker if people played ready golf than if you cut all the rough down and people continued to faff about. How much quicker is a round of golf in the winter when the rough is down?

My point is you can get instant gains if people did the right things. Golf courses have always had rough but it didn't take 5hrs to get round when I started playing. You also didn't have pro tournaments on TV every week either. I learned to play by watching my peers, not by watching pros toss up bits of grass, consult books, have a lengthy chat with a caddie, change clubs several times, walk half way to the green then back again then after 3 or 4 minutes finally hit a shot.

People dick about on golf courses and waste time, that is a fact.

Ah I think I see where you've gone wrong. No one actually suggested cutting the rough down and continuing to let folk faff about as a solution to slow play

You think (& I agree) not marking your card on the 1st green is an instant gain but you don't think using correct spacing on 1st tee gives any instant gain
You don't think a pin placement not adjacent to a hazard on the 1st green provides an instant gain (without resorting to sticking it in the middle)
You don't think a 1st cut on the first fairway that you can actually find your ball provides an instant gain (incidentally a wider 1st cut means a narrowing of the fairway not an elimination of rough)

We'll agree to differ

 

[GB72]

From my point of view, change will not happen because people do not want to change and will not be changed. Every club has them, the 'there is no room ahead so why play through', the 'I only get out once a week so I am going to enjoy my round', the 'I pay a lot of money for this so I am not going to pick up when I cannot score' and those who simply think they own the place and can do what they want because they have been a member for years. There are too many people at clubs who think playing through is an affront to their masculinity and clubs are, in the main, too weak to do anything about it. Unless you penalise the worst offenders (and most I have seen are long term members who should know better) then nothing will change. Education will not work unless it is backed up by action.

Slow play is like so many of the big issues in golf, talked about and paid lip service to but rarely acted on. Too many people at clubs like things just the way they are and will resist anything different.