The pace of play and carting vs walking

Well I know I recently commented in another thread about some folks and the fast pace of their play by virtue of the fact that they have carts and barely get out of them long enough to take a shot. I had about my worse incident of this sort this morning.

I teed off this morning with two kids that I did not know. If I go alone and there are kids on the course I will often go out of my way to ask if they would like to play with me. I want kids to feel welcome on golf courses and I want them to feel like people here will respect them as players and as people even though they are kids. When we teed off on the first hole there was nobody even on the first green. When we teed off on the second hole there was nobody on the second green. When we got up to take our second shots on two the group ahead of us was coming down three preparing to take their second shots on three, obviously well ahead of us. We were walking while the group ahead was in carts as was a group that had teed off behind us.

This natural gap that existed right from the first hole continued as it was all the way to the second par 3 on the front which is the sixth hole and one of the more difficult on the front. As we were completing the sixth hole the group behind us (a foursome of ladies in carts) jumped over us and filled the gap between us and the group ahead. However the gap they were filling was the same gap that had existed from the first hole. The group behind them, seeing that they had jumped over us assumed we were playing slowly because they asked us about the pace of our play. That second group had caught us on seven. Why??? Because the ladies had jumped us and now we had to wait for them to play seven! Apparently the group of ladies that jumped us must have said something at the clubhouse when they got there because the ranger came out to tell us to speed it up as we were coming down nine and was questioning whether he was going to allow us to go off the back nine.

I fully understand the need to keep up the pace on a golf course. However I am not responsible for speeding up to fill a natural gap in the groupings. I am only responsible for keeping pace. The course was empty this morning so you would expect some gaps in the groupings. If the group behind us decided to skip a hole to jump into that natural gap I don’t have a problem with that either if it is done under the right circumstances and with some understanding for what is happening on the course. However somebody has got to use some common sense out there. There was nobody on the first tee controlling the tee times this morning and I really don’t have an issue with that either. However I do have an issue with people jumping ahead without knowing what they are jumping into or why and I believe that inordinately fast play is as detrimental and as discourteous as inordinately slow play.

As I had mentioned I have noticed a propensity for some of the groups at the local 18 to play at a pace that is frankly ridiculous. I have also noticed that those that do play at an inordinately fast pace expect everybody else to play at that same pace. However I am talking about groupings that are turning golf into motorized polo. They are hardly out of the cart long enough to take a club and hit. While I have a responsibility to keep pace, they have just as much of a responsible to keep off my backside. Frankly I have little concern or sympathy for a foursome that thought they would get in nine holes in 45 minutes on the way to doing something obviously much more important.

When the group that jumped over us at the sixth hole did that, we were finishing up on six and had not seen the group that jumped over us the entire time we were on the course. They had not had to wait for us anywhere up to that point. They came up our backsides and must have been at a ridiculous pace of play. Had they decided to play the sixth hole instead of jumping ahead of us at six they would not have had to wait more than a couple of minutes for us to complete the sixth hole even given it is a tough par three where a wait is actually common. We were already putting on the sixth green when they jumped ahead. They literally drove up to the sixth tee, saw the gap ahead of us and jumped into it without a moment’s hesitation. In fact they jumped into the gap so fast I thought they just did not like the sixth hole. It is one of the more challenging holes on the front and I thought they just did not want to play it.

The point is, if there is nobody monitoring parings on the first tee there is nobody representing the course that knows what is actually happening out on the fairways. Again, this is also not a problem for me. However if that is the case, then somebody has got to exercise some common sense. They have no right to run up my backside regardless of the fact that they are on the fairways far less and in their carts far more by simple virtue of the fact that they are teeing from the ladies tees. They have no right to complain about the pace of our play when they were never left to wait for us. They really had no right to jump in front of us. I was really unhappy with the ranger coming out to challenge us about the pace of our play because he had no idea what was actually happening out on the fairways. He also had no right implying that he might not let us go off the back because he had no idea what he was talking about.

This is one aspect of the game that has changed considerably since I have been away and I don’t know what to make of it. While I am in New England I know there are many courses in Florida for example that are built on communities with great distances between holes making carts almost a must. However I am kinda’ surprised at the number of people in carts as a percentage of the total and I am further surprised at the discourteousness of many of them. If I were a competing course I might start to advertise that “those that would like to walk our course are welcome” as the implied message is that at some courses they are not welcome. I do realize that renting carts is both a profit center for the courses and a means to get more people on and through the course hence generating more revenue.

This is such a bad message for the two kids I was playing with as well. We stopped at the ninth and allowed the group behind us to go ahead not because we were playing slowly but because there was already blood in the water and we figured it did no harm to just let them through. However instead of being appreciated for that the ranger then told us how hard it was to jump back in and start the back nine once we got out of the rotation. That was obviously bull and even the kids knew it. I felt like dog dung since it was my idea to let the group behind through and now the kids were being punished for it. I thought I would try to make a stand for the kids more than for myself because I knew I would be allowed to play on if I wanted. The kids knew the handwriting was on the wall and just stopped me from continuing by deciding to go to the driving range. I felt awful. I went back to the 10th and waited for a twosome to join.

Anyway just at a time when golf should be trying to attract more young people and also take advantage of some of the health conscious aspects of the game it seems like it is doing just the opposite. Has anyone else been caught up in the cart vs walk thing? What do you think is the perspective of your local course with regard to walkers as opposed to cart riders and the pace of play?

Sorry to hear of this horrible experience. I always walk when I can. And I do feel there is sometimes an attidude on some courses about walkers slowing play. I guess it depends on the skill of the player. I can keep up/keep ahead of a twosome in a cart. But I doubt my wife could. All depends on how fast a walker can play.

I find slow play to be more of a problem. I walk often and I finish within 15 minutes of my cart times. I play better if I walk. I get a better feel for the course.

One thing I should have added is that the kids were good players. Although they were just entering high school their drives were 240-250 yards. None of the three of us were hitting clunkers so we were advancing the ball at a pretty good pace. Oddly none of us were putting that well but we were all hitting the ball decently tee to green. We finished the front with the three of use scoring 45, 45 and 46 respectively, not great scores but not bad either.

That sucks jnug... There are a ton of ways to monitor the pace of play without using word of mouth from stupid golfers (in this case, obviously not all golfers are stupid). Many of the courses I play have either a pace of play assumption (my home course is 4hrs 20mins) or clocks on a 3 or 4 holes that represent the time that you teed off, and if the clock is beyond it, that grouping is going too slow..

It sounds like in your case, of the whopping 5 groupings on the entire course, one or two had to be snobs. It's a shame for sure, because this game is supposed to teach patience, respect, and passion for the game, not whistle blowing and foolish assumptions.

Wow- that someone behind you jumped ahead without even asking to play through is a huge breach of protocol. I'm stunned and would have told any ranger that came up to inquire on pace of play about it.

To be honest, I don't see this problem often. I think on courses without long hikes from green to tee box that carts slow down play more than speed it up. I pretty much walk 100% of the time unless there is a really good reason not too and have never had my pace questioned because of walking.

The four guys that were behind on the front were actually part of a bigger party making the day of it. They did not appear to be in any hurry as they were waiting for guys to show up when I pulled in.

With that many guys playing there is often a good deal of good natured kidding that goes on as well so I would be surprised if they were pushing from behind that hard. In fact when I went off the back, they were ahead of me by a couple of groups and they were not playing that quickly. I actually waited for awhile at the turn to tell them we were going to let them play through and to ask them what was going on from their perspective. However I got tired of waiting for them which tells you something about how fast they were moving.

You are so right though. If the gals had asked to play through they could have said something to that effect if they were being pushed from behind.

While I'm sure individuals riding in carts can play faster than people walking, I'm also sure that walkers playing "ready golf" can play faster than riders when there are two hacks sharing a cart (not counting the hikes between holes if there are any, but I stay away from those courses).

I am a slower player. I hate it, but when you take as many strokes as I do it is hard not to be. I happily invite people behind me to play through, though, so I dont cause a stir. I hate speed golfers. Its like golf is just a formality to do between meetings and dinner with the boss.

aggro said:

I am a slower player. I hate it, but when you take as many strokes as I do it is hard not to be. I happily invite people behind me to play through, though, so I dont cause a stir. I hate speed golfers. Its like golf is just a formality to do between meetings and dinner with the boss.

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Haha, well said! It's like they'd rather be doing something else, so lets get golf done with. Gimme a break, I like to walk around and enjoy the fresh air, scenery, and company.

I'm afraid I would have checked the time and if I had finished the front in 2 hours or less, the ranger and/or starter and I would have all gone into the clubhouse for a conference with the course manager. Walking does not take longer than riding, in my experience, it can be faster if the course is set up for walking (meaning it was built more than 20 years ago). I think I am responsible to maintain an adequate pace of play regardless of my mode of transport. On almost every course, that is under 4 hours for 18. Most courses actually have a target time posted. If you were within that number, you have every right to complain. Some starter is going to get his head taken off if he tells me I cannot go off on the back when I am in your situation. That is bull.