Pace of Play and what would you do?

I know this gets discussed on a regular basis, but I had to throw this in for discussion... Last Monday (Memorial Day), being off work, I had the opportunity to play with my Dad and his "bar" league at our local muni. This group has 7 tee times starting at 1000, and plays approximately 45 weeks a year at this course (i.e., it's established).

We're the 4th of 7th flights. My Dad, he's around a 12 hdcp, me a 20. His wife joins us for her first round of the year and I'm paired with another SNR female as well (another 20+ hdcp). Basically, aside from my Dad, there's going to be some "extra strokes".

Normally, I don't see a Marshall on the course, but this day, we had him following us from the second tee. The rough was every bit of 4" and finding your ball was miserable. If you did find your ball, you couldnt advance it more than 30-40 yrds as it was so thick.

We didnt' waste time, just hit our ball, went to it, hit it again, repeat. looking for balls in the rough (not OB, or in hazard, etc.) only. By the fourth green, the Marshall is reading us the riot act about pace of play.

The rough is never like this (generally), and there's no tournament scheduled. We're not jokin' and smokin' and wastin' time. Nobody is taking 8's (or 9's or 10's), but pace is slow as (a) 95% of this outing is AARP qualified and slow in moving at that.

As we tried to pickup our pace, (starting on #5), by the time we got to the par 3 on #7, we were backed up. Never saw the Marshall the rest of the day.

My question(s):

Is the Marshall being too "marshally"? (He's new to the course we later found out after the round)

Being a new golfer, I understand the importance of "ready golf". What are things I could have done to assist the lady I was sharing the cart with (she was already hitting from the red's).

As the rough is never this high, what is the appropriate way to address it with the proshop/golf course?

Other suggestions?

Sounds like a newbie Marshall who was being over zealous. I think most golfers would expect a very slow, 4:45+ hour round on a holiday weekend at any public course.

tahoebum said:

Sounds like a newbie Marshall who was being over zealous. I think most golfers would expect a very slow, 4:45+ hour round on a holiday weekend at any public course.

Click to expand...

This. Back when I lived on Long Island, I'd have expected a 6 hour round on a holiday weekend. It sounds like the marshal needs to get a better feel for the course. I'd cut him a bit of slack for being new, but if it continues to happen, you may want to have a chat with the course pro about it. It's one thing to be hassled for pace if your group is falling consistently behind, but that doesn't sound like that was the case here.

Chalk this up to a bad marshal.

As for helping your fellow golfer, just try to keep the line of her shot and help as much as possible to find the ball in that kind of rough. Pros struggle to find golf shots in deep rough like this.

As for the pro shop, I would have ask why they had the rough so high on a holiday weekend with tons of people playing.

Don't be too hard on the marshall, because having one that actually has the guts to get after people about slow play is very rare in my experience. Granted, it doesn't sound like it was warranted in your case, but hopefully he'll settle in and start being able to determine which groups need his attention and which don't. As for that lady, yeah, that's tough. Try to keep an eye on her shots for sure. If she wasn't playing ready golf like the rest of you, that's tricky when it's someone you don't really know. I'm always peppering my wife and kids when they play with me about how to be ready when it's your turn and everything, but not sure I'd lay that on someone I just met.

dadoffive said:

My question(s):

Is the Marshall being too "marshally"? (He's new to the course we later found out after the round)

Being a new golfer, I understand the importance of "ready golf". What are things I could have done to assist the lady I was sharing the cart with (she was already hitting from the red's).

As the rough is never this high, what is the appropriate way to address it with the proshop/golf course?

Other suggestions?

Click to expand...

1) Yes, he was being a bit too "marshally". (I like that term!) But, as you found out, he's new and hopefully he'll figure it out. And as someone pointed out, it's nice to have a marshal who's bold enough to say something. Most marshals I see drive around on their cart and don't do much of anything else, even when it's obvious that a particular group is holding things up.

2) There's lots you can do to help out a cartmate. Certainly, helping her find her ball is always good, especially when you're faced with rough that likes to eat balls for lunch. If her ball is ahead of yours, you can take out the clubs you need for a shot and then let her take the cart up to her ball (assuming she's not standing directly in the way of your shot) so that she can get ready for her next shot. Usually, by the time you hit your shot and then gather your clubs together and walk up to the cart, she will have hit her shot. You can do the same on the tees as well. Take out your driver, then let her drive the cart up to the red tees so she can get ready for her drive.

3) I'd just say something to the pro shop like "hey, the rough out there was brutal! Is it always this way?" Or if you're in a joking mood - "Hey, you guys making a bid to host the US Open?"

It sounds like the new marshal may have been a bit over zealous, from what you described you did everything you could to keep the pace of play up, and you certainly weren't alone as there was backups later.

You shoulda gave the marshal the ol' one-two.

Just kidding. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'd chalk it up to the marshal just trying to be a go-getter.

colnago1331 said:

1) Yes, he was being a bit too "marshally". (I like that term!) But, as you found out, he's new and hopefully he'll figure it out. And as someone pointed out, it's nice to have a marshal who's bold enough to say something. Most marshals I see drive around on their cart and don't do much of anything else, even when it's obvious that a particular group is holding things up.

2) There's lots you can do to help out a cartmate. Certainly, helping her find her ball is always good, especially when you're faced with rough that likes to eat balls for lunch. If her ball is ahead of yours, you can take out the clubs you need for a shot and then let her take the cart up to her ball (assuming she's not standing directly in the way of your shot) so that she can get ready for her next shot. Usually, by the time you hit your shot and then gather your clubs together and walk up to the cart, she will have hit her shot. You can do the same on the tees as well. Take out your driver, then let her drive the cart up to the red tees so she can get ready for her drive.

3) I'd just say something to the pro shop like "hey, the rough out there was brutal! Is it always this way?" Or if you're in a joking mood - "Hey, you guys making a bid to host the US Open?"

Click to expand...

I was with you until number 2. If a cart gets in front of me, it instantly becomes one of Rollin's "ball magnets", and I don't want to be the guy that killed someone's grandma.

New Marshall being a little power hungry. Yes, you may have been taking a little while but compared to everyone else, I think you did fine. The only time I complain about pace of play is when groups should be letting groups through or holding up people. In this cases neither happened.

All depends on how far behind you were of the group ahead of you, and what your definition of "riot act" is.

I think every golfer in the group, especially in a casual round, has a responsibility to get some sort of line on their playing partner's ball. The player hitting the ball has the responsibility of watching it the entire way and getting some sort of reference point, be it a bush, tree, whatever.

"Slow" is relative. If you're keeping up with the group ahead, the Marshall should say nothing to you. Once a gap of one hole opens up (playing at a "normal" pace), he should approach you about speeding up - but certainly not read you the "riot act."

tahoebum said:

Sounds like a newbie Marshall who was being over zealous. I think most golfers would expect a very slow, 4:45+ hour round on a holiday weekend at any public course.

Click to expand...

Agree!