Sloooow Play?

What with all the talk about slow play killing the game of golf (and the fact that old grumpy drawers always seems to get stuck behind me!), I thought I would time my last game and see how slow I was.

So, 18 holes, a party of two, we completed our round in 3hours 8 minutes.

How does that compare? Are we slow?

I would say that any round completed in just over 3 hours is decent going, unless you are going round in 68!

First and foremost the most important thing is "are we being pushed from behind"

if not then speed of play is irrellevant - if you feel you are holding up play by noticing

players behind waiting on the tee constantly then you need ask yourself "is this because of us" or sometimes more relevant are they "better players than ourselves"

A 2 baller I would think on average takes 3 hours to complete around !

but what's behind ultimately is what matters.

unless of course those in front of you are the real culprits to slow play

often a bone of contention because those behind only see you as the problem !!!

I would say that three hours is a good pace.  I played on my own tonight with no one in front of me and got round in just about three hours.  It did rain hard for about four holes which slowed me up a bit making sure my clubs stayed dry.  Mind you Dave you forgot to mention the yardage of your course.  You haven't got as far to walk as some of us.   

We usually do:

2 ball = 3 and a bit hours

3 ball = 3 and a bit more hours

4 ball = up to 4 hours

Of course we can only go as fast as those in front though which, normally is fast enough..

Think it's totally related to the course.  I play two courses regularly, Hilltop and Pype Hayes.  Hilltop is typically a 4 hour plus round for a three ball, where Pype Hayes is usually a 3.5 hour round.  Yardages are similar (about 200 yards in it) and I think the pars are 71 and 70 respectively.  Difference is terrain.  Pype Hayes is pretty flat where Hilltop, well the clue is in the name. 

I think Colin hit it on the head.  If you're not holding up play, you're not playing slow.  If you are holding up play either play the group behind through or speed up.  General point of etiquette is that you should be keeping up with the group in front, not just in front of the group behind. 

Was in a two ball on Saturday : 4 and a half hours. 

We had several medal rounds and a stroke play competition on the course in front as a result they were required to play out every hole. 

The only point I got annoyed was with the course marshall.  After a minor moan half way round the marshall jumped in his buggy and blasted up the 10th.  We caught up with the marshall on the 11th out of his buggy helping the 3 ball in front and the 4 ball in front of that hunting for balls in the rough.  This rough adjoined the 11th and 12 and was about 200 yards from the 11th tee as a result we were willing to tee off for fear of hitting one of the 8 people wandering around the rough aimlessly for what seemed like ages. 

We did ask to play through but were told that as there were so many groups in front there was no point as we were only going to be held up by the next group.  Strangely enough they eventually did let us through, on the 16th !

On the whole it was all pretty friendly and light hearted, but rather slow as a result by the time I got back to the club house I had calmed down and could not see the point of moaning about the marshall.

At the end of the day Robbie's view is right, it is your responsibility to keep up with the group in front and you can only play as fast as the groups in front.

Fair point Viper.  Golf is now appealing to a much wider audience and is much more accessible.  The result is that standards will obviously drop as some (such as me) can only play once a week and as such do not get the necessary practice to improve to a reasonable level.  This means that there are a lot more of us 20+ handicappers out there.  The result is more shots taken to complete a hole which obviously means more time is taken to complete a round.  Then when you factor in ball hunting time, the time for a round soon gets longer. 

I don't think anyone would argue that to select a club, check alignment, set up, play the shot and put the club back in the bag 30 seconds isn't excessive.  But if everyone in an 18 handicap four-ball takes an extra 30 seconds on each hole due to having to hit a shot more than the scratch four-ball behind them, the delay would be 36 minutes!  I can imagine how frustrating it would be for these guys to be playing behind one of our high handicap comps!!!

I don't think that handicap necessarily indicates the pace of play.  If you are organised with where you put your trolley/bag, don't take endless practice swings, move to where yor ball is and not to your partner's and walk briskly you can play at a good pace whatever your standard.

I played behind a couple of elderly ladies a few months back who did all of the above and despite the fact they were only hitting the ball 100/120 yards at a time did not hold me up as a single player.  It also occurred to me at the time that one of the reasons they were progressing so quickly was they were only ever trying to hit shots they were capable of.  the result of this was there were practically no duff shots and no looking for balls which had gone off at oblique angles into rough and trees after trying to hit the skin off the ball.  i suspect that a lot of male handicappers including myself would score better and play faster if we did the same.

I agree a high handicapper does not mean slow play. I usually go round in 3.5 to 4 hours. Which i think is not a bad time. If you are playing slow just let people play through it is nothing to be ashamed of is it. A few things that do grate on me is not being ready. People complain of the people in front then when all is clear they then decide what club etc. I played recently and my partner was waiting for the group in front to clear to take his shot. I wouldnt mind but they were 300 yards away and his tee shot had only gone 180 yards max. There was no chance of getting anywhere near them.

Is anyone gunna call me through or what!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you insist :

Hi through,

Hows it going....

 

Hi Robbie,I'm pretty good at the mo thanks , nice to see you back ,whats OCCURRING!    Hows the celery doing ? I can't believe how much the leeks have gone up It's scandalous I tell you! I may start to consider growing my own . Any allotments going????????

Viper ,just because it says medium in your pants does'nt mean your can talk to the afterlife.

Oh look, they've called us through. 

Viper, Iv'e heard some people substitute small things with extra long drivers,,,,,,

How's the training going? gained any yardage this season and what combo are you using?

Celery is going down a treat....even my rabbit loves the stuff.

Leek farming - now that sounds good. Plenty of skilled allotmenteers  around my gaf at the mo so it really could be about size and not how you use it...

I could get them to leek the secret out and you could be celerybrating your good fortune in no time...

What was the question again..

oh yes slow play. I know somebody on here who played a 4 ball recently in just over 3 1/2 hours...

Mind you - they only did 9 holes....