Speed of play

Does anyone remember the days when you joined a club and it was compusary to play a round with the pro? Yeserday it took just shy of 3 hours to do 9 holes. No marshalls on duty got a shrug from the counter staff, so later today will be writing a letter to the general manager. This is totally unaceptable and the 3 ball in front of us could not have walked slower if they wer trying. Came off after 9 and went to the pub.

Bob, definitely not acceptable. 

In my view time to play 18 holes should be enforceable and the courses should take a greater watch on what is happening on the course with a realistic goal of 2hours 15mins maximum for 9 holes, and some would argue this is to long.

I appreciate the clubs are trying to save money with not having full time course marshalls and more keen to get paying customers in the door.

I also suppose its a bit chicken and egg. If you enforced time limits then you could argue you could get more people round the course but then the course deteriotes and with being watched by marshalls this would deter some people from playing.

Did you not ask to play through Bob?  Under R & A rules of etiquette, if they are a hole down and holding up the group behind they are required to invite you to play through. 

I had a similar thing last week at Donnington Grove.  I was playing as a single and caught up with a four-ball on the 12th.  They were rushing to tee off so that I didn't catch them on the tee but were taking forever to play the rest of the hole, moving as a group to each ball and watching the shot until the ball stopped before moving onto the next ball (even though it may only be a few yards away).  It was late evening and the light was fading so when I caught them on the tee of the par 3 15th I asked to play through.  The response: "Oh, were stopping after this hole".  This left me to finish my round in almost darkness.  So frustrating because I rushed the last few holes to try to get round. 

I've had 2 5 hour rounds the last 2 weekends both days were big comps at 2 different clubs so it can be expected where every put is important etc. but if it is just people having a casual game lining up every 3ft putt from 7 different angles it is extremely annoying.

Chris, does the R&A not say that singles do not have priority as being a single they are only practicing? Not that I would not let a single through seems stupid to have them stuck behind you but it's just a rule question really.

Gary, the R&A now state that single players do having standing on the golf course.

Russ

That's why I got wound up last week Martin.  I should've been played through on three counts: -

• They were a clear hole down (actually, they were two and a half holes down)
• I could (and was) play faster than them
• I was playing the full 18, they weren't

Chris,

I normally find giving a 'whistle' & a wave to attract their attention normally does the trick.

Played my club singles knockout this morning, round in 2 1/2 hours and won 2 & 1.

Matchplay is a quick format I find, sometimes you don't even need to play a 2nd shot!!

You play speed golf anyway John P.  I reckon you could get a full 18 in under two hours if there was an open course in front of you and you were playing stableford.

The reason I am pretty quick, Chris, is that I am always ready to play when it is my shot and I do not have a pre shot routine like most players have.

That's good to know I have spent time behind people before thinking as I was on my own I had no priority.

Yes, Gary,, the powers to be have seen fit, in their wisdom, to give single players equal standing, something I am well known for not agreeing with, but it is well known that most private clubs will still have single players having no priority.

I have never played a round of golf on my own, I have never considered it in my lifetime. If I were to I am quite sure that I would not be expecting those in front of me to invite me through as I would not wish to delay their game because I am on my own.

The new breed of golf course only has money in ind and does not care a ig if 2 balls are put out amongst 4 balls and the odd single player. Causes frustration all round and no one gets to enjoy the game, the way it was intended.

interesting subject this one.

i was playing as a 3 ball on a municipal at the weekend and found my group waiting at most of the holes for the four ball in front to be out of range, not that it was a problem. then i played the back 9 on my own, the other two had given up and wanted a beer, despite being a hole and a half behind when i started the 10th ( i had a sit down and a smoke) i was waved through on the 11th, again i was prepared to wait on the understanding that as a single player i had no priority, as it happens i was also waved through on the 18th by a twoball who had both lost their balls, in the end the last 9 took less than two hours, that was putting out too.

on another subject why was i playing so much better on my own?

a one ball has no standing on the golf course chris ,unless thats changed ),its the same on our course its took me and my mate over 5hrs b4 now to do 18 holes its terrible all because clubs are greedy .

It has changed Marc.  The R & A gave singles the same standing as other groups in the last rule updates (see Martin's note direct from the rule book above)

If you were teeing off at 5:00pm like I do Dave you may think differently as the days shorten!

Never played on my own, Martin, so cannot say how long it would take me to get round, but my old foursomes partner and I use to only take 2 hours and ten minutes for a round at our club in Somerset.

I think there are many things that have slowed the game down and watching the pros on TV is one of them. We now see an increasing amount of time spent on the greens, the explosion in the use of pull trolleys and electric trolleys, plus the time spent working out yardages, pacing back and forth, then hovering over the ball in  what is called a pre shot routine for a time that just makes my head spin watching it and then after all of this, they then amble instead of walking. How times have changed.

I played on Sunday on my course (Oak Park) and started off as a single and then was joined by another member on the 2nd hole who then departed after the 9th.  I then finished the last 9 holes on my own again and went round in a respectable 2hrs 45 mins.  Had a few hold ups on the tees whilst people were looking for lost balls in the rough etc.  I was waved through on 2 occasions by a 3-ball and a 2-ball, but never was I playing so fast as to rush the groups in front, I kept a steady pace.  Wish I could say the same for the old boy and his missus in a buggy behind me....now they were even pushing me faster on some holes!

Playing on my own, with no pressure (apart from the buggy folk in a hurry) saw me shoot my best ever round of 93 gross, (week before I had a howler 117 gross).  Not bad for my course which is hilly in the mid section and a real challenge in places.  I was well chuffed ; )

I always ask in the pro shop well in advance about teeing off as a single so that I can find a good time, where I'm hassling nobody in front.  A bit before my tee time, I turn up and ask the fellas in the pro shop..."still a gap in front of me" to which they reply "Yeah, group before you went out about 25 mins ago"....Why then do I get onto the first tee which is a slight dogleg right, par 4, hit my tee shot and get around the corner to see a group in front of me not even on the green. Now that bugs me...as single player or in a larger group.

Matt

Slow play on Tour is caused by spectators most of the time. A lot of the Pro's will hit an indifferent shot and take several practice swings afterwards or stare at a missed putt. But what you don't see is that when they walk onto the next Tee, the group in front is just getting clear. Why? Because everyone does that.

Now take that behaviour onto a course in everyday Golf and you get hold-ups, all because not everyone is doing that. A guy on his own, with no pre-shot routine will always call the Fourball in front slow. If the course sends 1, 2 , 3 & 4balls out in a mix they will always be a problem with the "pace of play".

I once played 18holes at Roundhay GC in 1hr 40min, as a 3ball. Mind you on a Competition Sunday, the same 18holes could take 6hrs.

TheLyth

One thing that everyone could do is to walk faster!

How many times have you seen someone take a shot, then slowly put their club back into their bag, then amble along at a mind-numbing pace?

Other posts on here have said basic things that could speed play up, like letting the shortest driver tee off first, being ready to play your shot when it's your turn, etc.

Russ

What has not been said here, is the fact that if the guys in front are slower than you and you feel they should call you through, there has to be a Gap for you to fit into.

It is of no use charging up behind a Fourball if they are keeping their position on the course.

TheLyth

Good point Lyth.  I've had a three-ball demanding to be let through our four-ball despite the fact that they can see we are waiting on the tee in a queue and can't play our shots yet.  The response was a polite no. 

Martin, of course it helps when one is a consistent striker of the ball, but my old club was no pushover.

Clevedon Golf Club is located just 2.5 miles from Junction 20 of the M5 motorway, and offers a warm welcome to visiting golfers and Societies.
It is one of the most picturesque courses in the South West, with outstanding views over the Severn estuary to the coastlines of Somerset, Devon and Wales.
The Par 72, 6,500 yard course offers an exciting challenge to golfers of all abilities.

A pretty undulating course to walk and one needs to be fit to do it.

I might add that a fourball would only take three hours and we used to have two Open 36 hole scratch events annually, as did every other club in the Wes Country.

It is impossible to run a 36 hole competition these days for a large field of between 72 and 90 players, which was the norm thirty years ago .

After the 40 years you've been playing John, your swing is so grooved that you don't even have to think about it.  Some of us still need that pre-shot routine to get the mind right.  I don't consider myself a slow player by any means but I do struggle to keep up with you.  I still feel I could play 36 holes in a day (and have before).

Chris, you know and I know that you are a beter player than your handicp suggests and I cannot wait for the day when it all falls into place for you, if only for the reason that you are desperately trying to lower your handicap.

Of course you are capable of playing 36 holes in a day, but that was not what I was saying. I was saying that it is now impossible to hold a 36 hole competition with a large field all in one day because of the pace of play these days.

If my swing was grooved, Chris, I would not be 17 handicap. I too have to work at this game, even more now than I ever used to.

There's nothing wrong with your swing John, it's your strength and therefore your distance that is deserting you.  Your ability to play the game has not diminished; if it was you wouldn't be threatening to take on all comers if you could play off their drive!  The only area you struggle with is admitting that time is taking it's toll and you are no longer a scratch golfer. 

I'm pretty sure [John] that you couldn't have played Clevedon that quickly with my level of ability.  My point is that the slow pace of play might (and of course I don't know this) be because golf is more inclusive and players of worse ability are in the system along with the scratch golfers.

I was the only scratch man at Clevedon so I played my golf with all the members at different times, although the maximum handicaps then were 24. None of them played sufficiently badly enough to not complete a round in the normal 3 hours for a fourball, I can assure you, but then most carried their clubs, which is infinitely faster.

HI Guys , average time of a round on sunday morning for my 4 ball is 3 hours , has been shorter in the past 2 1/2 hours is best , and thats us all walking and carrying, but i do agree more etiquette is required at times with slow players ,no metter what there playing ability they should still be considerate,

Cheers all

G