Golf forum

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?

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 !!!

One thing I would like to ask those people that complain about slow players in front of them.

Do you ask them to let you play through, and explain the reason why you are asking them?

I always do, and a nearly always let through.    Personally I find two things happen when held up by slow players, firstly the concentration goes and the game goes to pot. And weirdly, I feel totally knackered after a slow round. Whereas, after a fast round and a fifteen minute break for a coffee etc I am ready to go round again  

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.

By today's standards 3hrs. 8 mins. for a two ball is fast.

However, for several years as a  young man I caddied every weekend and summer evenings at Erewash Valley G.C. essentially for a gentleman in his 50s who played off 8. His name was Cliff Joslin. Like most everyone then he always played in a fourball (everyone just met up in the clubhouse or on the putting green and often made up ad hoc fourballs - no teeing off times and everyone was decidedly more friendly then) and the average handicap in our group would probably be upper single figures. High handicappers were then the exception rather than the rule.

Like all other fourballs we generally went round in three hours and sometimes three and a quarter hours. Such was the norm.  I recall at least one occasion when I fitted in three rounds in one day, but the third round was not  with Cliff.

So what was different in the olden days? 

The essential difference was everyone naturally walked reasonably briskly between shots. Other differences were that addressing a ball generally only took between five and ten seconds; players were better, so searching for a lost ball only occurred infrequently; and when a ball got lost then the group behind was quickly waved through. Another big difference was that players did not spend an eternity messing around on the putting green.

Nowadays (at least on public courses) it is largely the predominance of high handicappers slashing their balls from rough to trees, idling between shots and on the greens, and taking an eternity to address the ball which is causing the inordinate delays.

I won't again repeat the solution as I will sound like a stuck old record.

"Nowadays (at least on public courses) it is largely the predominance of high handicappers slashing their balls from rough to trees, idling between shots and on the greens, and taking an eternity to address the ball which is causing the inordinate delays."

Guilty as charged!

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!!!

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....

3hrs 8 mins-good time infact really good time. I play with a guy who is 70 and I am a callow youth of 52 who has only been playing for 18 months and we are normally 3.5 hrs. I feel this is a good time or am I wrong? I love this frustrating game.

All should be welcome in our wonderful sport, and let's not get obserssional about times!

It's just that when a fourball takes 5.50 hours to complete a round without any financial penalty or other sanctions being imposed then something has gone very wrong with the administration of course play.

Without proper admin. we will possibly progress to players breaking for a picnic on the 9th green.

Laugh if you may but if forty odd years ago someone would have told me that twice in the same year I would be forced to take 5.50 hours for a round of golf then I would have thought them crazy!

The idea of picnics on the 9th green is far less outrageous.

For my part I could happily live with a four hour round of golf but certainly no longer.

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.

If you insist :

Hi through,

Hows it 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. 

David,

It says 'Small' on my briefs.

Mrs. Viper embroiders everything for me.