Slow Play

golfnut1

irish bloke wrote: »

As taken from the rules of golf etiquette section (2012-2015)

Play at Good Pace and Keep Up

Players should play at a good pace. The Committee may establish pace of play guidelines that all players should follow.

It is a group’s responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group. Where a group has not lost a clear hole, but it is apparent that the group behind can play faster, it should invite the faster moving group to play through.

Wait to be invited to play through. Id go along with that.

Loire

I think it's all down to how you leave a group behind through....Standing off the fairway and waiting for them to tee off and subsequently hit & play the hole can add a noticeable time and also put you off your rythm. I find a much easier way is to wait until the next hole, tee off and wait there for the group behind you. That way, after they tee off, both groups can head down the fairway, with the slower group really taking their time walking down. By the time the slower group is ready to play their 2nd shot the quicker group are practically finished anyway.

Running Balance

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

I hear people saying it is not a race etc. But come on , who has 5, 6 + hours for a game of golf.

I'm of the view, that there should be no 4 balls at all. Or if there are, it should be all 4 balls.

But even at that, If you are trying to bring younger people into golf clubs. How on earth could you take that much time out on a Sunday or any day.

Once you go over 5 hours the game becomes unplayable in my view. I know this will not be agreed with.

totally agree with this surely after 12 o'clock at weekends only 2 or 3 balls left out together. 5 hours plus for a round is unbearable and its more likely to lose interest.

charlieIRL

One club I played at only let out 4 balls during competition time (8:00 to 12:30 AFAIK) on Saturdays and Sundays. If you turned up as a 2 ball you were paired off with 2 other people and let out. Now this would not suit everyone i.e. if you were out for a round with a mate, but it kept things ticking along nicely. Was only the odd time you wouldn't get paired up.

k.p.h

I play a with a few lads who are just starting out, it strange to see them do all the silly stuff that just eats time, ages over a shot, standing off the green when they are up next to putt, walking the wrong way around the green with the trolley etc..

After my first few holes with them I realized that we were going to take ages but I didn't want to say anything so I thought best thing to do was lead by example, queue me walking to the ball briskly, still taking time over my shot though, lining up my putts when the others were loitering around, and actively encouraging them to play out of turn e.g "I'l get the flag if you want to take your shot while x gets to his ball" etc. Did not take long for the lads to get the idea and they are great to play with now.

Moral of the story, there is a perceived etiquette that when you are playing golf you have to let the furthest from the hole go first even if they are 20y from the ball,without a glove and club when you are standing over yours ready to go, also on the green that you have to stand 20y away from someone having a putt. I think these ideas should be actively challenged and ready golf introduced as the best practice.

Bobby_Kennedy

Maybe it's been mentioned above, but the nub of the issue is letting groups of four out in a singles competition, be it an open singles or club singles.

I don't understand why clubs allow this. My club does not allow this, but we seem to be an exception. It takes away from the enjoyment of everyone. The pace of play with four balls in play in each group is too slow.The only time groups of four should be allowed is in a fourball or foursomes.

L.O.F.T

Bobby_Kennedy wrote: »

Maybe it's been mentioned above, but the nub of the issue is letting groups of four out in a singles competition, be it an open singles or club singles.

I don't understand why clubs allow this.

Seves Three Iron

Bobby K, you get in there just before me on this! Completely agree with you. In the last couple of years in particular I've noticed singles opens increasingly moving to fourballs. It's all about taking in extra revenue as the previous poster indicates but, in my case, it's losing them revenue as I've stopped playing in them. It's partly because I'm self employed and don't get much time to play and partly because I just hate waiting on others to play in fourballs, but I don't play in any open anymore that's not a three ball max. Generally I try and fly around early with the auld lad in a two ball. I'd be surprised if others weren't the same.

Seves Three Iron

On an aside, there's a lot of things feeding into slow play now and the influence of tour pros who, in turn, are influenced by swing coaches, psychologists etc all telling them not to hit until they're absolutely, 145% ready hasn't helped. I've definitely noticed younger players taking longer to hit now than they used to. The likes of Ben Crane, Kevin Na, Immelman and even Harrington get huge exposure and are naturally copied.

FixdePitchmark

k.p.h wrote: »

I play a with a few lads who are just starting out, it strange to see them do all the silly stuff that just eats time, ages over a shot, standing off the green when they are up next to putt, walking the wrong way around the green with the trolley etc..

After my first few holes with them I realized that we were going to take ages but I didn't want to say anything so I thought best thing to do was lead by example, queue me walking to the ball briskly, still taking time over my shot though, lining up my putts when the others were loitering around, and actively encouraging them to play out of turn e.g "I'l get the flag if you want to take your shot while x gets to his ball" etc. Did not take long for the lads to get the idea and they are great to play with now.

Moral of the story, there is a perceived etiquette that when you are playing golf you have to let the furthest from the hole go first even if they are 20y from the ball,without a glove and club when you are standing over yours ready to go, also on the green that you have to stand 20y away from someone having a putt. I think these ideas should be actively challenged and ready golf introduced as the best practice.

I'm in the same spot here, trying to show new golfers what to do. I ended up being looked on as just a bit of a Pri%K. But, it is hard for me to judge because I play too fast.

One of my pet hates are practice swings. What the hell use is a 2nd and third and even fourth practice swing for.

My others are

1. Marking card on green / finger pointing at counting shots.
2. Walking slow. (unless old or injured)
3. 4 balls
4. Looking too long for a ball in a friendly game with somebody on tee.
5. Playing as fast as they can when they don't want to let you go through (that one is funny to watch), they won't even look at you.:D
6. Practice Putts when you are behind waiting.
7. Slow putters ( I mean over 45 secs a putt)
8. Bag in wrong place.

You should only be happy to play through if you are willing to let through is my sort of motto.

You also need to be aware that you are slow sometimes too and the most experienced golfer in the group should know when you are being slow.

PRAF

k.p.h wrote: »

I play a with a few lads who are just starting out, it strange to see them do all the silly stuff that just eats time, ages over a shot, standing off the green when they are up next to putt, walking the wrong way around the green with the trolley etc..

After my first few holes with them I realized that we were going to take ages but I didn't want to say anything so I thought best thing to do was lead by example, queue me walking to the ball briskly, still taking time over my shot though, lining up my putts when the others were loitering around, and actively encouraging them to play out of turn e.g "I'l get the flag if you want to take your shot while x gets to his ball" etc. Did not take long for the lads to get the idea and they are great to play with now.

Moral of the story, there is a perceived etiquette that when you are playing golf you have to let the furthest from the hole go first even if they are 20y from the ball,without a glove and club when you are standing over yours ready to go, also on the green that you have to stand 20y away from someone having a putt. I think these ideas should be actively challenged and ready golf introduced as the best practice.

Spot on

m r c

Just my 2 cents.
I never take more than a few seconds over my tee shots, normally I practice and then my pre shot routine about 12 seconds and hit it. I line my second shot up as I catch up to the ball and usually have my distances worked out as I approach the ball so it takes roughly the same as my tee shots. I probably average 20/25 seconds over putts. If I'm on my own and don't get held up myself I get around 18 in something under 3 hours 2.50 or so. I'd consider myself fast enough but I try to enjoy the game also. That's why I play, I'm never going to play on a pro tour for a living its recreational. I think a lot of people forget that when they are out. Some people think just because they catch you they are entitled to pass even if you are up to the group in front. I have seen people play over my head without being waved through as I'm waiting for a green to clear. That has happened me a few times but I wouldn't let them through. I allow 2.5 hours for nine and 5 hours for 18, if I'm not held up I either have coffee or play on. What's the point in getting stressed, there will be beginners or slow players out sometimes but 99% of the time they are glad to let your group through and not feel under pressure from behind the other 1% might be ass***** but it's there problem IMHO.
But there is the 1% who play like their lives depended on getting through 18 in an hour and they are worse than people who hold you up for sport in my opinion.
As I said just my 2 cents.

whizbang

An extra 10 seconds standing over a shot can make all the difference to me. saves 1-2 mins rooting in the rough.
+1 kph.
other than lost balls, most of the time is lost greenside, -maybe new rules are in order!

irishtoffee

Do you all play singles comps in groups of 4?That is crazy.Singles comps should always be in groups of 3 and if a 2 ball that are playing in the comp are behind you they should be let through end of story.

BoardsMember

The cause of slow play is rarely time over a putt, number of practise swings (within reason!), or time taken with pre shot routine. If you apply common sense to what you do between shots, i.e. some/all of the following, when it is not your turn to play, you will not be slow

• leave your clubs between the hole and the path to the next tee box
• line your putts up as soon as you arrive on green
• work out distances/targets as soon as you are at your ball/on the tee
• find your own ball before looking for others
• walk at a reasonable pace between shots
• mark your card on the next tee when someone else is teeing it up
• on the 18th dont all stand there marking your cards having held someone for most of the round, get off the course!!

:

If you implement the above it should add to your enjoyment, and allow you as much time as you need for your practise swings, preshot routine etc etc.

BraveDonut

What really pi$$es me off is when you are in a fourball and realise that you are losing ground to the group in front and the group behind is starting to pressure......
I would usually say "Come on lads, we need to pick it up!" - only to be completely ignored.
Then spending the rest of the round walking 50 yards ahead of my group trying to will them to go faster

Anatom

BraveDonut wrote: »

Then spending the rest of the round walking 50 yards ahead of my group trying to will them to go faster

Oh, thanks! I thought I was the only one who did that!!! I do hate slow play, but I equally hate being run around the course, as does happen with one person I sometimes play with.

The trick is to strike a balance. Some days you go out in a four-ball competition and you know beforehand that you're not going to be doing a three-hour round, so you adjust to it and relax. However, the other side of that is that the five-plus hours it can sometimes take when there are people just sloping along, and not caring about who's behind them, can really put you off the game entirely.

slave1

I'm looking out the window from work today and would gladly be stuck in the middle of a 5 hour round right now with no complaints:(

jackal

Have been the victim of these idiots who think that anything over a 3 hour round is heresy. Bunch of older members who shot up behind us and we let through at the earliest opportunity, they were spitting bile and cursing us for holding them up. They had appeared on the tee of the par 3 when we were finishing up on the green, and on the next hole we teed off and walked to our balls and stepped off the fairway when we saw they were finished the par 3 and were ready to tee off. We found out in the clubhouse that they are notorious dickheads for this, so their problem, not ours. We laughed at them after but it was unnerving how angry they were! Its only a game.

I have also been part of a group with one or more slow players in it who just do not listen when you ask them to speed up, its very frustrating when you know *your* group is holding people up.

Can't stand the time that's wasted around greens with the etiquette and people standing doing nothing until its their turn to play, then taking 2 minutes with their lining up and getting onto their knees and marking and polishing and 10 practice swipes. Do they need an audience like?

Another thing that can cause problems, probably only with high handicappers, is the "Ah sure I am sure I will find it" merchants who consistently hit wild shots off the tee that you know are never to be seen again. "Are you sure you don't want to hit a provisional there?" "No I saw it land..." 10 minutes of fruitless searching later... "Eh should I go back from the tee or drop one from here, sure its only a friendly game"...