Slow golf revisted

[zagoshe]

I played 18 today at a decent and popular public course.

Tee time was 10:32 AM --- we holed out on 18 at 4 PM (3:58 to be exact). By my count that is a 5 1/2 hour round.

I know we've had this discussion before but please, can someone explain to me WHAT THE **** takes people so ****ING long to play a round a golf?

And is there anyone who actually enjoys a five-hour round, especially in the heat?

I know some of the problem can be over-crowding on the course -- but the two groups ahead of me today were the problem -- they were slow and by about the tenth hole I was miserable because of it.

What is a reasonable round of golf?

Four hours is all you need I say.

 

[slappy4428]

Did you call the clubhouse and ask for a ranger to come out and kick them in the ass?

 

[John]

A lot of golfers suck, so it takes them a long time to play 18. It's annoying, but there's not much anyone can do about it.

 

[qtlaw]

Looking for lost balls;

Not playing ready golf while watching buddy play instead of moving to your ball;

standing over the ball too long and taking 15 practice swings;

taking more than 2 shots to get greenside.

 

[zagoshe]

A lot of golfers suck, so it takes them a long time to play 18. It's annoying, but there's not much anyone can do about it.

I am not a good golfer but I don't slow groups down because I just step up and hit it and go to where it lands.

You can be bad and keep moving forward.

I see way too many guys who are shooting 110's yet lining up every put like it is for the Masters championship and taking 18 practice swings before every shot.

 

[Bru]

A lot of golfers suck, so it takes them a long time to play 18. It's annoying, but there's not much anyone can do about it.

I am not a good golfer but I don't slow groups down because I just step up and hit it and go to where it lands.

You can be bad and keep moving forward.

I see way too many guys who are shooting 110's yet lining up every put like it is for the Masters championship and taking 18 practice swings before every shot.

QTLAW and ZAGOSHE have nailed the most heinous offenses.

Another problem is when folks have an unrealistic expectation of how far they can hit. When there's a group 275 yards ahead of you and you've never in your life struck a shot longer than 225, for heaven's sake, go ahead and hit.

Things would be speeded up considerably if, during friendly non-tournament rounds, everyone went by two "We're not playing the Masters here" rules. That is: 1.) Two minutes max when looking for a lost ball, then take a drop. 2.) You get a chance to make your triple bogey, after which, no matter where you are, you pick up.

I would also have starters and rangers admonish groups that if there's a hole open ahead of them, they're moving too slowly and there's a strong possibililty they will be asked to skip a hole.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

Is there another kind?

 

[bigpern23]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, but what's the big rush? Enjoy your time out on the course and don't worry about finishing as fast as you can.

 

[JakeandElwood]

I've covered a couple of junior golf tournaments this summer and their ideal pace was 4 1/2 hours.

 

[JR]

When I was a teenager, my buddy and I could do 18 in about three hours walking and carrying our own bags. That's not an executive course--I think it came in around 6500 yards.

We'd tee off around 8:00, play 18, have lunch and then do another 18 in the afternoon.

Four hours maximum for a round.

BTW Zag, weren't there any course marshalls around?

 

[daveevansedge]

My 12-year-old son and I are learning to play together (he's gonna get to a point soon where he beats me, and he'll probably kick my ass in a couple of years). We are always extremely cognizant of who's behind us and how long we might have held them up. No more than eight strokes on a hole -- if it's not in the jar, we just give ourselves an 8 and move on.

The idea is to have some fun, too, so we try to avoid self-inflicted misery. We both play from the front tees most of the time (no need to slow people down trying to pretend we're any good at this game, at least until we are a little bit better).

And the last time we were out, playing an exec course, there was a par-3 that had a lake about 8-10 yards to the right of the green. For some reason, that lake was like a freakin' magnet for both of us that day. We sank a bunch of balls, said screw it, and just moved to the next hole. So we didn't have an 18-hole score -- big deal. It ain't the Masters. We didn't slow anybody down, my son still got his first-ever birdie that day, and it was an all-around good time. And we were done in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

That was good enough for us, and it should be good enough for most others.

 

[kingcreole]

I recently played in a four-man scramble on a pretty tough country club course. Granted, I and my teammates suck, but I couldn't believe the number of people who look for lost balls in the deep, thick weeds/grass/gunch, and look for like five minutes.

If my ball goes into the deep ****, I don't bother. I play with the cheap, inexpensive golf balls so that when one goes away, I won't miss it. And besides, if you take a minute while you're waiting to look in the deep gunch, you're bound to find a couple of balls any way.

I also see a lot of Judge Smailses on the course who take forever just to hit. And of course, the people who read the greens like they are Tiger Woods.

I bet if I and two buddies played on an empty course, we would get done in 3 1/2 hours. You don't look for your ball in the thick rough. Drop one, and if you're playing for fun, who gives a **** if you don't penalize yourself a shot? You take a couple practice swings per shot. You find your ball while your buddies hit. And get the hell off the green when you hole out. You can laugh and joke on the next tee box.

 

[zagoshe]

When I was a teenager, my buddy and I could do 18 in about three hours walking and carrying our own bags. That's not an executive course--I think it came in around 6500 yards.

We'd tee off around 8:00, play 18, have lunch and then do another 18 in the afternoon.

Four hours maximum for a round.

BTW Zag, weren't there any course marshalls around?

If you mean the old guy sitting on a cart with a red flag on it who I saw one time throughout the round and who told me to be more patient -- even though I pointed out that the front took almost three hours to play -- yes, there was a marshall.

It is a public course, he said, and that means volume is how they pay the bills, which is why they have tee times every eight minutes -- and they always have a back-up on the course.

As for someone who said - just relax and enjoy yourself -- I agree, it is supposed to be relaxing. Four hours is nice. Four and a half if reasonable. After that it is no longer enjoyable because it means more than likely you are sitting and waiting before almost every shot -- instead of maintaining a nice pace of play and keeping your rythym with your swing.

Other things that drive me nuts --

1) The incessant need for every person to mark their ball on every green, no matter how far it is or no matter where it is in relation to the other balls. If it ain't in someone's way , leave it on the ground.

2) Groups that don't play ready golf -- if you are at your ball and ready to hit, hit, don't wait for Sergio junior in your group who is trying to find his ball in the woods to hit, keep moving forward.

3) People who write down the score while in the carts at the green -- as opposed to at the next tee.

4) People who feel the need to put their head cover back on their driver or putter after every time they use it.

5) People who decide to give putting lessons to their friend on the green after he misses a short putt......

Again, all little stuff, it all adds up to time wasted.

I have no problem with guys who hole out on every hole, and no problem with guys trying to line up putts right and hit the ball good after a practice swing or two --- but far too many guys waste time with slow, deliberate pace of play that kills the momentum on the course.

 

[TwoGloves]

When I was a teenager, my buddy and I could do 18 in about three hours walking and carrying our own bags. That's not an executive course--I think it came in around 6500 yards.

We'd tee off around 8:00, play 18, have lunch and then do another 18 in the afternoon.

Four hours maximum for a round.

BTW Zag, weren't there any course marshalls around?

If you mean the old guy sitting on a cart with a red flag on it who I saw one time throughout the round and who told me to be more patient -- even though I pointed out that the front took almost three hours to play -- yes, there was a marshall.

It is a public course, he said, and that means volume is how they pay the bills, which is why they have tee times every eight minutes -- and they always have a back-up on the course.

As for someone who said - just relax and enjoy yourself -- I agree, it is supposed to be relaxing. Four hours is nice. Four and a half if reasonable. After that it is no longer enjoyable because it means more than likely you are sitting and waiting before almost every shot -- instead of maintaining a nice pace of play and keeping your rythym with your swing.

Other things that drive me nuts --

1) The incessant need for every person to mark their ball on every green, no matter how far it is or no matter where it is in relation to the other balls. If it ain't in someone's way , leave it on the ground.

2) Groups that don't play ready golf -- if you are at your ball and ready to hit, hit, don't wait for Sergio junior in your group who is trying to find his ball in the woods to hit, keep moving forward.

3) People who write down the score while in the carts at the green -- as opposed to at the next tee.

4) People who feel the need to put their head cover back on their driver or putter after every time they use it.

5) People who decide to give putting lessons to their friend on the green after he misses a short putt......

Again, all little stuff, it all adds up to time wasted.

I have no problem with guys who hole out on every hole, and no problem with guys trying to line up putts right and hit the ball good after a practice swing or two --- but far too many guys waste time with slow, deliberate pace of play that kills the momentum on the course.

1. Perfect example. A guy I work with refuses to take a gimmee and will mark every 18-inch or two-foot putt for triple bogey. That alone adds several minutes to a round.

2. When I'm covering tournaments out of town and play with other writers in the morning, we'll often hit at the same time from opposite sides of the fairway. Saves lots of time. One round, me and another guy went off at 6:55 a.m. and were done by 9:15.

3. Drives me nuts.

4. I do that but on my way to the next hole or on the way to the cart. I never hold up my group because of that but I used to play with a buddy who every freaking hole would start searching for his putter cover. I'd just take mine to the green with me.

5. What's worse is when people want to try their putt again while you're waiting in the fairway.

But maybe the worst is when some jackass stops at a pond to look for balls that aren't his and then starts fishing them out when he sees some. Either let me play through or move the **** on.

I agree that you shouldn't be in a rush and should enjoy a leisurely pace. But when you're waiting over every shot, that sucks the life out of golf.

 

[qtlaw]

The problem with a slow round is it disrupts the rhythm of the round for everyone else.

You should be able to walk to your ball and when you get there, have the opportunity to hit. As people drag the round out, you end up standing around waiting on the tee box, the fairway, the next green and that is seriously disruptive to the ability to play the game.

 

[Wenders]

Most courses have a rule to allow faster players to play through, especially if you meet them on the tee and they're still waiting on their final player to hit.

Also, even though this may not apply to your specific course, Zag...water hazards are also a big time-sucker. You can't get it across and some want to try to get it across again...and again...until they either get it across or agree to drop on the other side.

When I played golf (back when I actually lived on the golf course), I could do a round of nine walking in two hours. And I was terrible. I remember the day I shot under 60 for nine holes. There was extreme happiness that day.

 

[zeke12]

God, I'm glad I don't golf.

 

[2underpar]

one of the biggest problems is that people don't understand the concept of carts. When you give a rube a cart, they automatically think that it should eliminate all walking from the game.
it's OK to drop a guy off at his ball and then drive over to your ball. Or, leave the cart with the first guy, grab a few clubs and walk across the fairway to your own ball.
it's extremely frustrating to see two guys sitting in a cart waiting at one ball until the green clears before they even start thinking about what club they need. then, they drive to the next ball and repeat the same routine. extremely time consuming.

 

[kleeda]

I am a defender (maybe a noted one) of the old ways and "honors" and the away player making a shot as others wait, etc. But anything over 4:45 is getting to be a waaaaay long round. Between 4 and 4:30 is fine.

I think looking for lost balls takes up the most time. Not me, man. One cursory look and then drop.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

All this is why I haven't played a weekend round on a public course in 20+ years.

When I was a teenager, learning the game, and needed repetition more than practicing business schmooze, I'd bicycle to my local muni (15 minutes away),
be the first one on at 5:45 AM, and be done by 8.

The majority of my social rounds in the past five years have been on a local
semi-private. Twosome's always one of the first one's on (around 7 AM), and
we're always done by 11.

Can't tolerate backup. Destroys rhythm.