Has Slow Play Made You Walk Off a Golf Course

Our most recent survey has revealed that it turns out I have more in common with most golfers than I thought. We sought your views on slow play and asked if any of you had ever walked off a golf course because of it.

We will get to the results later but I have to tell you that I was staggered by your responses.

How Long Should a Round of Golf Take?

I know that we are all very different but I have always been somebody who likes to get on with it. I firmly believe that a round of golf, where you don’t get held up, should take between three and three-and-a-half hours.

But those days are long gone. I now play seniors golf and have accepted that it is going to take me four hours to play 18 holes. There are many reasons for this, but chief among them is club golfers failing to adhere to the three-minute rule to look for golf balls and failing to hit provisionals when their first drive finds trees or thick rough.

I recently played in a charity day that took us five hours to complete. Thankfully, I was in great company. Two of my fourball were friends I hadn’t seen for ages so we spent the time catching up and having a good laugh.

But there was another recent experience at a resort course that I never want to repeat. We played nine holes at a funereal pace, waiting on every shot - and I do mean every shot. I looked at my watch as we came off the ninth green. It felt like we had been on the course for hours. And we had. Three hours, to be exact.

"Sorry lads, I have had enough," I said. The ninth green was 50 yards from the sanctuary of the clubhouse so we all agreed to give up what was a very bad job. Hours later, as we tucked into our evening meal, the fourball who had been in front of us came traipsing up the 18th fairway in almost complete darkness. It had taken them five hours and 50 minutes.

(Image Credit: Kevin Diss Photography)

Nobody should run away with the idea that this pace of play is restricted to club golf.

It routinely takes PGA Tour pros five hours to get round and the 2024 Women’s Open at St Andrews was ruined for me by the fact that it was taking three balls SIX HOURS to complete 18 holes. This does absolutely nothing to sell our sport to a new audience and is most definitely a huge turn-off for youngsters, who live their lives at a frantic pace.

What Else Makes You Quit a Round of Golf?

It is not just slow play that has caused me to abandon a round of golf - injuries have also played their part.

I walked off after being hit in the middle of my forehead by a golf ball that, thankfully, bounced once before making impact. I also gave up a round after being struck in my Crown Jewels by a golf ball. I have also given up because of neck and shoulder problems.

Like most of us, I have also given up the ghost because of the weather, usually torrential rain but not always. 

I can remember playing in a friendly fourball match in the depths of winter. You know the sort of day I mean - the ground was frozen solid and every iron shot was a test of endurance, the greens still had a touch of frost, approach shots were landing and bouncing 100 feet in the air. And it was freezing. Unsurprisingly, we had the course to ourselves.

Halfway round I looked at my fellow golfers - they were all purple with the cold, I could see their breath. I said: "Lads, is anybody actually enjoying this?"

As one, they replied: "No."

So we headed for the sanctuary - and warmth - of the clubhouse.

This is What Golfers Say

Back to our survey, which was completed by an impressive 2,000 of you. We asked if you had ever walked off a course and gave you the opportunity to tell us why. 92% of all golfers surveyed stated they had walked in without completing a full round for some reason.

It came as no surprise whatsoever to learn that 72% of you have given up because of bad weather - sometimes it is just too wet, too cold, too windy. And 31% of you had to give up due to lack of daylight. As much as we love this game, it was never designed to be played in the dark, was it? A further 25% have been forced off by injury - each and every one of you has my sympathy.

But the most surprising statistic was that an incredible 48% (or nearly 1,000) of you have traipsed off because you have been driven to distraction by the pace of play. It is an issue that comes up again and again and it is clearly incumbent upon our golf clubs to do something to address it - course marshalls are an obvious solution, as well as a quiet word from the pro before players head out. And there is the simple matter of rules and etiquette - take three minutes to look for a ball, not 10; hit a provisional if you drive into the trees or thick rough; and wave through quicker players.

Or here is a radical idea - take a deposit from visitors that is only refundable if they return to the pro’s shop within four hours.

Slow play is a scourge of our game and the time for a solution is long overdue.

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