All Rounds Should Be Four Hours or Less
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That was kind of the point.
The happy medium should be no longer than 4 hours ever.
It doesnt mean people need to play in 90 minutes. It doesnt mean people need to play twiddle f**k down the fairways and take 25 minutes each hole. Its a pretty simple game plan that most course owners and operators we encounter think is doable with reasonable golfers.
Using an example, private courses in my two states are both packed with golfers. Yet very rarely would a round go over four hours. Its not a tee time interval. Its not anything other than being ready.
Thanks for the answer! I did figure that was your number based on the thread title and first post.
I also agree with you completely.
My 'sweet spot' is between 3.5 and 4 hours for a 4 ball. I don't feel like that is 'fast' but I also don't feel like that is 'slow' either. It does seem like a lot of folks in this discussion do feel like 4 hours is slow so I'm curious of their 'happy medium' as well.
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That is where I stand. As you could imagine, over 16 years doing this and traveling hte country to play with golfers I have studied this a lot. The 4 hour mark offers less waiting between shots, but virtually zero rushing by anybody.
I'd like all rounds to be 4 hours or less. I don't think it's realistic sometimes though. Course's stated paces seem to keep getting stretched though, and I think that let's some people off the hook for bad pace. And by bad I just mean unnecessary. But there are some sprawling courses here where CPO is just a nightmare when it comes to time. Replace CPO with a busy weekend and people from out of town who don't know the course and you're in the same pickle. You gotta try to get close though. I don't know, I'm understanding but it's pretty hard to turn off the internal clock that's been in my head since I was 6.
These conversations are where I often get reminded that I walk and generally move faster than most humans. And am known for jogging to my ball sometimes. I try to keep a level head about it all.
These conversations are where I often get reminded that I walk and generally move faster than most humans. And am known for jogging to my ball sometimes. I try to keep a level head about it all.
For me, at my course and the group I play with, at the times we play, my happy medium is 3:00 - 3:15 for a foursome. It's reasonable, not rushed, but not effing around and/or standing around waiting to hit either.
At a league event, with a bunch of guys, on the weekend, on different courses, my happy medium above would be completely unrealistic.
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What would happen to all the golfers who seem to have trouble finishing in 4 hrs ? Our courses in Chicago on the weekends are stacked from sun up to sun down.There is no where to go..once in a blue moon you can skip a hole or two.But mostly it is group stacked on top of group.Both private and public.The norm is 5-6 hours.. closer to 6
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But if they don't hole out (not tap0ins/gimmies) are they really playing golf? Or just riding along, hittin' some balls?
mts25
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I HATE slow play. That being said, I have actually said the above. But is was in a scramble at Pebble Beach and it was a beautiful day. The round was so slow we got to know the groups in front and behind us pretty well. Lol
I don’t know if I have ever met a golfer that has admitted to being slow. Everyone tends to think they are on the quick side even though they really aren’t. As long as you are playing ready golf, that’s pretty much all that I can ask.
4 hours would be considered slow at my home course, and that would be for 4 walkers (carts are not the norm here in the UK)
If 4 hours was the max expected time, it wouldn't bother me. My issue with slow play is when you are flipping between having to wait on shots, to then having a run of playing shots without waiting. If the pace was consistent without the stop-start then the total time doesn't bother me at all
If 4 hours was the max expected time, it wouldn't bother me. My issue with slow play is when you are flipping between having to wait on shots, to then having a run of playing shots without waiting. If the pace was consistent without the stop-start then the total time doesn't bother me at all
There is alot of opinions on this subject , many who are here , are in private courses … and lower hcp and base some debate on what happens there.
I answered with respect to , the broader view , that is , not everyone is empathetic to etiquette or rules or expectation of play .
I think it’s very difficult to form a opinion , when looking through your own prism.
You need to as I say to my kids
“Widen your gaze and lift your horizon “
I don’t disagree with 4 hour target . What I did , suggest is there are many , influences that make it less than reachable.
I do say though that , completing rounds in under marathon pace , ( can’t understand why , you would , but equally there maybe higher life priorities ).
Is a strange goal. Sometimes dropping back a gear and , enjoying the moment is more , than the numbers on your card .
I answered with respect to , the broader view , that is , not everyone is empathetic to etiquette or rules or expectation of play .
I think it’s very difficult to form a opinion , when looking through your own prism.
You need to as I say to my kids
“Widen your gaze and lift your horizon “
I don’t disagree with 4 hour target . What I did , suggest is there are many , influences that make it less than reachable.
I do say though that , completing rounds in under marathon pace , ( can’t understand why , you would , but equally there maybe higher life priorities ).
Is a strange goal. Sometimes dropping back a gear and , enjoying the moment is more , than the numbers on your card .
3:44 min on my round today. That felt like the perfect pace
to
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- #241
If I wanted to stand or sit and do nothing for 10 minutes waiting for a group ahead on every shot, I don’t need to be on a golf course for that.
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- #243
Depends.
Not only golfers, but golf courses bear some of the responsibility too. I've never seen a Marshall tell a group they need to pick up the pace. If that happened with some frequency perhaps golfers would get the message? Without enforcing pace of play, courses are basically telling golfers to play however they want. There are two courses in the area I no longer play because the pace is abysmal. The last time I played this one course it took five hours.
4 hours translates to 13 minutes a hole. That does not include time from green to the next tee. Some of the older school courses the tees are right next to the green and some of the newer ones are more spread out. As mentioned, I also think the golf course has a lot to do with it. A 6,100 yard flat course with not a lot of hazzards will certainly play a lot faster than Bethpage Black with the thick rough, looking for lost balls etc. Some of the tournaments I play in the rules official will state that the pace of play for this round is 4:15 etc. and they will generally do a good job telling you to pick it up or not.
Mandolinman
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4 hours, and maybe a little over is normal in the Harrogate area I think. I've been a member at 3 local courses, a slow round is maybe 4:15 and I can live with that. If I were back in the US I probably wouldn't be playing. First thing in the morning was ok, but I had a buddy I played with that didn't like to get up early.....those rounds were 5hrs.....I just wouldn't bother if that was normal.