Slow golf revisted

[Webster]

Thought I'd bring this one back up. Played on Friday at a nice muni course with a family friend (guy in his early 60s who plays to about a 90 or so). I shoot about 100.

We get paired with two guys in their early 50s who don't think that the 6,200 yard white tees are challenging enough, so they play from the blues, which are about 6,700 or so. During the round, the two guys had 28 tee shots on holes other than on par 3s. Not one landed on the fairway. Nor did any of the 20 or so mulligans which they took on these shots. Once traffic cleared in front of us by about the 8th hole, I asked if they wanted to maybe play from the whites, and they refused. Took almost 5 hours to play the round.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Almost 100 percent of slow play results from the malady described by Webster-golfers with no clue as to their ability level.
I got 40 years plus of scorecards to tell me I suck most days, and am one level above mediocre on the good days. I don't dawdle, lest the sport take offense at my presumption and smite my ass.

 

[qtlaw]

Once had some guy say, no sh*t, "I think its easier from the blue tees because you can see the hole better." Assclown was also one of those guys who says "Don't know why I sliced that one, I never slice!" Yeah right.

 

[Rhody31]

Here's where the tee thing falls flat:
I hit the ball deep. I can generally keep it on my hole, but it's about the same frequency as it flying all over the place.
I don't want to go a course where the white tees are playing 350 and the blue are playing 400. It turns it to a pitch and putt, which gets boring real quick. I play the furthest tees back at most courses if I think i can manage it.
However, most golfers who shoot similar scores to me - mid 80s-mid 90s - can't hit it as far as I do. The 350 yard hole is perfect for them.

 

[zagoshe]

Here's where the tee thing falls flat:
I hit the ball deep. I can generally keep it on my hole, but it's about the same frequency as it flying all over the place.
I don't want to go a course where the white tees are playing 350 and the blue are playing 400. It turns it to a pitch and putt, which gets boring real quick. I play the furthest tees back at most courses if I think i can manage it.
However, most golfers who shoot similar scores to me - mid 80s-mid 90s - can't hit it as far as I do. The 350 yard hole is perfect for them.

So what you are saying is you are one of those "must play from the tips" golfers who slow rounds down for the rest of us who have realistic assessments of our golf games.....

 

[Rhody31]

Here's where the tee thing falls flat:
I hit the ball deep. I can generally keep it on my hole, but it's about the same frequency as it flying all over the place.
I don't want to go a course where the white tees are playing 350 and the blue are playing 400. It turns it to a pitch and putt, which gets boring real quick. I play the furthest tees back at most courses if I think i can manage it.
However, most golfers who shoot similar scores to me - mid 80s-mid 90s - can't hit it as far as I do. The 350 yard hole is perfect for them.

So what you are saying is you are one of those "must play from the tips" golfers who slow rounds down for the rest of us who have realistic assessments of our golf games.....

No.
I'm realistic about my game. I just don't want to hit irons off a tee the whole round because I'm "not good enough." If you're not hitting driver, you don't belong on the course anyway.

 

[Leo Mazzone]

Maybe you could hit irons, keep it in play and break 80 now and then. Breaking 80 has never bored me. ;D

 

[zagoshe]

You hit irons off 350-yard tee's?

Wow -- that's pretty impressive.

 

[Rhody31]

Maybe you could hit irons, keep it in play and break 80 now and then. Breaking 80 has never bored me. ;D

Breaking 80 doesn't bore me.
I'd rather challenge myself than playing from a tee that makes a course easier. I'd rather shoot an 85 from the blues than a 79 from the whites.

You hit irons off 350-yard tee's?

Wow -- that's pretty impressive.

Not really. It's not like I'm smoking a 5-iron 230 yards. I'd hit a 5, then hit a 7 or 8. And if you have to play eight or nine holes that distance, that gets boring.

 

[zagoshe]

Maybe you could hit irons, keep it in play and break 80 now and then. Breaking 80 has never bored me. ;D

Breaking 80 doesn't bore me.
I'd rather challenge myself than playing from a tee that makes a course easier. I'd rather shoot an 85 from the blues than a 79 from the whites.

You hit irons off 350-yard tee's?

Wow -- that's pretty impressive.

Not really. It's not like I'm smoking a 5-iron 230 yards. I'd hit a 5, then hit a 7 or 8. And if you have to play eight or nine holes that distance, that gets boring.

Yeah -- luckily I am bad enough that I hit the ball with a driver off a 350-yard tee and I am generally still 200 yards from the hole -- but not because I didn't hit it that far -- I just usually hit it far AND wide!!!!

My favorite hole I ever played -- I got a par on a 327-yard par 4 -- of course, that included taking a drop out of the woods and a lucky 8-iron shot that went in the hole from about 135 yards away --- and then I followed it with a 12 on the next hole, a par 5.......

 

[mustangj17]

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.

I'm the worst golfer in America. I always let people play through.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Honestly, I don't care what the **** you hit off the tee. I hit 3-wood on most par 3s because I can control it better. JohnDaly31 up there prefers driver. Some guys hit hybrids. Fine. Great. Don't give a ****. As long as you're in front of me slowing me down or behind me crawling up my ass because the guy in front of me is slowing me down I don't care. Go in the forest, chop down a sycamore and use that for all I care.

 

[Rhody31]

Here's a question:
What's worse, a slow player or a super fast one climbing up your ass when there is no place to go?
Because when you're trying to chip/putt and some a-hole is fuming in the fairway behind you despite the fact that there are three groups ahead of you and no one is really racing through the course, that can get annoying real quick.

 

[zagoshe]

Here's a question:
What's worse, a slow player or a super fast one climbing up your ass when there is no place to go?
Because when you're trying to chip/putt and some a-hole is fuming in the fairway behind you despite the fact that there are three groups ahead of you and no one is really racing through the course, that can get annoying real quick.

I think that slow golfers are worse than anything else that can happen on a golf course. Fast ones that push you can get annoying, but I can deal with that because I like to move forward as well.

I cannot deal with watching morons take 250 practice swings (and 180 real swings) and treat every putt like it is a 25-footer for the U.S. Open champion....

 

[Rhody31]

Here's a question:
What's worse, a slow player or a super fast one climbing up your ass when there is no place to go?
Because when you're trying to chip/putt and some a-hole is fuming in the fairway behind you despite the fact that there are three groups ahead of you and no one is really racing through the course, that can get annoying real quick.

I think that slow golfers are worse than anything else that can happen on a golf course. Fast ones that push you can get annoying, but I can deal with that because I like to move forward as well.

I cannot deal with watching morons take 250 practice swings (and 180 real swings) and treat every putt like it is a 25-footer for the U.S. Open champion....

Bingo. I don't take practice swings, except on the first tee and when I'm about to chip.
My buddy hits it a little straighter than I do, but he takes probably 5-7 practice swings per shot. It drives me ****ing mad.

As its been said, it doesn't matter what you hit off the tee, how good or how bad you are on the golf course; just be considerate of the people around you. If you're slow, let people through.

 

[Birdscribe]

Here's a question:
What's worse, a slow player or a super fast one climbing up your ass when there is no place to go?
Because when you're trying to chip/putt and some a-hole is fuming in the fairway behind you despite the fact that there are three groups ahead of you and no one is really racing through the course, that can get annoying real quick.

I think that slow golfers are worse than anything else that can happen on a golf course. Fast ones that push you can get annoying, but I can deal with that because I like to move forward as well.

I cannot deal with watching morons take 250 practice swings (and 180 real swings) and treat every putt like it is a 25-footer for the U.S. Open champion....

Great post. There's no excuse for plumb-bobbing putts, pondering every variable and -- worst of all -- waiting to hit into the green when you'd need a bazooka to get there.

After the PGA two weeks ago, I played this course in Michigan, The Orchards, where Ryan Moore won his '04 PubLinks title.

I teed off at 7:48 by myself. I walked off the 18th green (after a two-putt par ;D) at 10:34. Despite blowing up on four holes (three snowmen and a 7), it was one of the more enjoyable rounds of golf I've played in a while -- and not just because I nearly aced the 12th hole.

Lest anyone think I was mowing down people to finish under 3-hours, think again. It wasn't like I was like those dweebs on "Highway 18."

Just a brisk, enjoyable round of golf on a beautiful morning -- the way the game should be played.

 

[TwoGloves]

Here's a question:
What's worse, a slow player or a super fast one climbing up your ass when there is no place to go?
Because when you're trying to chip/putt and some a-hole is fuming in the fairway behind you despite the fact that there are three groups ahead of you and no one is really racing through the course, that can get annoying real quick.

I think that slow golfers are worse than anything else that can happen on a golf course. Fast ones that push you can get annoying, but I can deal with that because I like to move forward as well.

I cannot deal with watching morons take 250 practice swings (and 180 real swings) and treat every putt like it is a 25-footer for the U.S. Open champion....

Great post. There's no excuse for plumb-bobbing putts, pondering every variable and -- worst of all -- waiting to hit into the green when you'd need a bazooka to get there.

After the PGA two weeks ago, I played this course in Michigan, The Orchards, where Ryan Moore won his '04 PubLinks title.

I teed off at 7:48 by myself. I walked off the 18th green (after a two-putt par ;D) at 10:34. Despite blowing up on four holes (three snowmen and a 7), it was one of the more enjoyable rounds of golf I've played in a while -- and not just because I nearly aced the 12th hole.

Lest anyone think I was mowing down people to finish under 3-hours, think again. It wasn't like I was like those dweebs on "Highway 18."

Just a brisk, enjoyable round of golf on a beautiful morning -- the way the game should be played.

Played a course by myself a couple years ago. Teed off at 7:15, was finished at 9:30 and did not play fast by any stretch. I even had to wait on the 18th hole for a foursome of women ahead of me. Next year, played with another golf writer and we played in 2:20. This week, I'm covering a local pro tournament and these guys are finishing in less than 4 1/2 hours while playing in threesomes. Absolute heaven.

 

[Rhody31]

Plumb-bobbing is stupid.
Someone did some sort of study that proved it doesn't do ****. It's what the pros do for comfort, even though its worthless.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Plumb-bobbing is stupid.
Someone did some sort of study that proved it doesn't do ****. It's what the pros do for comfort, even though its worthless.

90-percent of plum-bobbers don't know what the **** they're looking for.

 

[Rhody31]

Plumb-bobbing is stupid.
Someone did some sort of study that proved it doesn't do ****. It's what the pros do for comfort, even though its worthless.

90-percent of plum-bobbers don't know what the **** they're looking for.

And 100 percent see the same thing they would have if they didn't hold the club up.