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Is playing through always the right thing?

rollin

rollin

"Just playin golf pally"
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The scenario. A full course. There is a twosome who wants to play through and foursomes one behind the other far you can tell for next few holes you can see. Whether you are the twosome or any the groups of four in front of them, is playing through the right thing from iether point of view?

Playing through in this scenario means the twosome will hit the next foursome and so on. Each time it happens it will cause few minutes delay. A group allows the play and waits for it to take place but then when completing the hole and moving to the next tee they find they are waiting again because the group ahead also allowed the play through and so on it goes. The situation on a crowded course filled with foursomes is just not practical imo regardless of how pace was moving and may work to hurt it for all except for the twosome. Obviously the more crowded and/or more delayed the course is, the more delayed it becomes with the playthrough as it just maginfies the situation. Imo Pace may have been border line "ok" but now it slowed. Or may have been bit slow and now its even slower.

Last time out my group (strangers to me) was discussing this on hole 5. I mentioned we may want to let these two behind us play through if they ask and one the guys said as we looked towards the next few visible holes "but where will they go?", "we're right on the group ahead and its all forusomes one after the other" ' "it will just slow it all down". The situation never did come up and pace was ok too but i think he was right and is why i mention all the above.

Is it always the right thing to do? Does it help or disrupt pace? If it disrupts pace (whatever that pace is) then should many be further disrupted for the sake of the two? What is right or wrong here? I've been in a twosome and only ever played through with empty space ahead as i saw no other point to it except when empty space is ahead. But some people feel differently about that and perhaps feel they should play through group after group. Is this right or wrong?
 
I see no reason to let a twosome through if you are playing the group(s) in front of you shot for shot. A full course is a full course and if you came out to play 18 you should be prepared for 4 hours of being one with nature.
 
In that situation, no reason for the to expect to play through. Been there and the best thing to do is to slow your pace a bit.
 
if there is no where "to go" there is no reason to let them through
 
Yeah, as long as you are keeping up with the group ahead of you, it really wouldn't make sense to let them play through. If you're able to tell how far behind the group after them is, it might be worth holding up a bit if the twosome is giving you a hard time. Then you're basically swapping places without slowing play.
 
Had this happen last year where the two youngsters behind us got peaved, almost came to blows. We were locked up and waiting in the fairway with a clear view of the next 3 holes locked with foursomes. Two balls came rolling up to us, lol. We ignored it 4 times, I was hot, but my partner kept saying to ignor it. The fith time they actually hit the green while we were still on it, I went back for a come to jesus meeting that got out of hand, haha. We ended up calling the clubhouse and they straightened these jackwagons up, they stayed an entire hole behind us the rest of the way.

It happens and is part of play on beautiful weekend days sometimes, people just need to use their head.
 
Is playing through always the right thing?

In this instance where it makes no sense to have them play through, I make sure to communicate with the twosome. I'll give the "Hey guys, i would say you can play through, but honestly, there is nowhere to go. Is that ok by you?"

I've never had anyone say "no, we wish to play through". I think as long as you are upfront and communicate, there should be no problem at all.

thedue, in that case, let them play through and show them that turnabout is fair play. I don't actually advocate that but I would tell them "sure you can play through if that means I can hit golf balls into you like you've been doing to us. Get out there!" Message delivered.
 
TheHeez said:
In this instance where it makes no sense to have them play through, I make sure to communicate with the twosome. I'll give the "Hey guys, i would say you can play through, but honestly, there is nowhere to go. Is that ok by you?"

I've never had anyone say "no, we wish to play through". I think as long as you are upfront and communicate, there should be no problem at all.

thedue, in that case, let them play through and show them that turnabout is fair play. I don't actually advocate that but I would tell them "sure you can play through if that means I can hit golf balls into you like you've been doing to us. Get out there!" Message delivered.
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Winning post right here. A little communication goes a long way.
 
NoLine said:
I see no reason to let a twosome through if you are playing the group(s) in front of you shot for shot. A full course is a full course and if you came out to play 18 you should be prepared for 4 hours of being one with nature.
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Yea nature,
I play alot in the sand, woods, water, weeds, etc.. its like "Mutualof omaha's Wild Kingdom" :)
 
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Even though there was "nowhere to go" for the 2some, I would personally want them to play through my group. That way, I don't feel pushed.
I hate it when I hear balls thump on the ground a few yards behind me, especially during a shot. I would rather let them through and play my game.
 
I don't think there is any reason to let them play through if you are waiting on every shot. Just doesn't make sense.

I had this happen to me a couple months ago in Myrtle Beach. A group of us was playing the legends courses and we were the first group of the afternoon rounds to go out. We had four and the group behind us had three. At this particular course, they split tee times and have groups go off on one and ten. As we were the first group of the afternoon, we had the last group of the morning round in front of us, meaning we had all the delays in front of us. The group behind us complained to the Marshall that we were playing slow. He came and warned us that we were on the clock and didn't care that we were waiting on every shot.

Long story short, when we got to 10 and didn't have anyone else in front of us, we smoked it. We left the group of three in the dust. The marshall came back later and told us we had made his day because he was able to tell the same group of three that they needed to keep up with us or they were going to have a skip a hole.

If we had let them pass, it would have just slowed us down tremendously, especially when we got to the back 9.
 
TheHeez said:
In this instance where it makes no sense to have them play through, I make sure to communicate with the twosome. I'll give the "Hey guys, i would say you can play through, but honestly, there is nowhere to go. Is that ok by you?"

I've never had anyone say "no, we wish to play through". I think as long as you are upfront and communicate, there should be no problem at all.

thedue, in that case, let them play through and show them that turnabout is fair play. I don't actually advocate that but I would tell them "sure you can play through if that means I can hit golf balls into you like you've been doing to us. Get out there!" Message delivered.
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We actually thought about letting them through until the second time they hit into us, then all options were off the table. We both turned and waved our hands in the air a couple different times and they were just like "SO"? You see all kinds out there, but letting them through would do nothing for speeding up their round or ours.
 
rollin said:
Last time out my group (strangers to me) was discussing this on hole 5. I mentioned we may want to let these two behind us play through if they ask and one the guys said as we looked towards the next few visible holes "but where will they go?", "we're right on the group ahead and its all forusomes one after the other" ' "it will just slow it all down". The situation never did come up and pace was ok too but i think he was right and is why i mention all the above.

Is it always the right thing to do? Does it help or disrupt pace? If it disrupts pace (whatever that pace is) then should many be further disrupted for the sake of the two? What is right or wrong here? I've been in a twosome and only ever played through with empty space ahead as i saw no other point to it except when empty space is ahead. But some people feel differently about that and perhaps feel they should play through group after group. Is this right or wrong?
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If there's nowhere to go, and my group is keeping up with the group ahead, or even worse, we are waiting for our shots, and they are waiting for their shots, and the group ahead is waiting for their shots, then no, no one is going through. Regardless of how many are in the group behind us.

If we are less than four people in our group, and the group behind would make us a foursome if they joined us, then we invite them to join us.

If they are flying through the course and it's open ahead of us, we usually offer them to go through before they ask us if they can go through.
 
I always love a good Duey fight story.
 
rollin said:
Yea nature,
sand, woods, water, weeds, etc.. its like "Mutualof omaha's Wild Kingdom" :)
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You never know what you'll experience on the course. We had 3 coyotes and 2 armadillo's join our round last Sunday!
 
Kutros said:
He came and warned us that we were on the clock and didn't care that we were waiting on every shot.
.
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Good stroy except for this. Perhaps you should have picked up and joined the foursome ahead for an eightsome. "But you said we were on the clock and didnt care the we were waiting so we moved up" :)
 
TheHeez said:
In this instance where it makes no sense to have them play through, I make sure to communicate with the twosome. I'll give the "Hey guys, i would say you can play through, but honestly, there is nowhere to go. Is that ok by you?"

I've never had anyone say "no, we wish to play through". I think as long as you are upfront and communicate, there should be no problem at all.
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This has happened to me in the past as well, and there was never any problem. Communication is key.
 
What most people do not understand is that most courses have rules that state basically that "fourballs have the right of way" meaning that if you are a two-some your S.O.L. Now, if there is a two-some and the foursome is holding them up with no one in front of them, let em through. In the example mentioned above, definitely having the come to Jesus meeting was the thing to do.

I have a similar story. Happened back in high school. My brother and best friend had qualified for the Kansas Cup. They were doing a practice round at the course and I was walking with them and my mom was there as well. The course was stacked up with players and there was no where to go for anyone. We played a few holes and the group behind us kept hitting in to us. I finally had enough after the 3rd time. We at the bend of a dogleg standing in the middle of the fairway waiting for things to clear. They hit in to our group and one of the balls rolled up to the cart my mom was sitting in and that was it for me. I walked over, grabbed an iron from the nearest bag and roped it back to the tee box. It landed next to them on the fly. They didn't hit in to us again the rest of the round.
 
Callawaygolfpro said:
What most people do not understand is that most courses have rules that state basically that "fourballs have the right of way" meaning that if you are a two-some your S.O.L. Now, if there is a two-some and the foursome is holding them up with no one in front of them, let em through. In the example mentioned above, definitely having the come to Jesus meeting was the thing to do.

I have a similar story. Happened back in high school. My brother and best friend had qualified for the Kansas Cup. They were doing a practice round at the course and I was walking with them and my mom was there as well. The course was stacked up with players and there was no where to go for anyone. We played a few holes and the group behind us kept hitting in to us. I finally had enough after the 3rd time. We at the bend of a dogleg standing in the middle of the fairway waiting for things to clear. They hit in to our group and one of the balls rolled up to the cart my mom was sitting in and that it for me. I walked over, grabbed an iron from the nearest bag and roped it back to the tee box. It landed next to them on the fly. They didn't hit in to us again the rest of the round.
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Seen that before, but the USGA made it a point to say that was no longer the case.

http://golf.about.com/od/golfetiquette/f/singlespriority.htm
 
I think the OP is absolutely right. Playing through is not always the best solution. And, again.... I know slow play can be frustrating, but occasionally it the nature of the game, good weather and a crowded course. Not to mention the wide disparity in defining slow play. We've had the occasional Marshal drive around trying to "herd" folks along, and institute play through, only to cause mass irritation on the course. While I'm all for ready golf and allowing a twosome to play through when no one is directly ahead of me, it's another common sense opportunity. And, we all know common sense doesn't always prevail. ~Sigh
 
Still, that obviously should be approached with common sense and take into account the way the course is loaded at the time.
 
rollin said:
Perhaps you should have picked up and joined the foursome ahead for an eightsome.
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Once during a twilight round my threesome was waiting at a monster of a par 3, hole 13, behind a 4 some. The twosome behind us caught up, and the 5 of us were waiting 10 minutes for the hole to clear. We decided to just make a fivesome, as we really weren't going to have a problem keeping up with the 4, and daylight was fading. As we're walking off of the green on 14, the foursome behind us zooms by and takes the teebox arguing that as we're a fivesome, we have given up our place on the course. Mind you, we were still keeping up with the 4 ahead of us, and we (not so calmly) let them know that. After a heated exchange, we just let the foursome tee off ahead of us. They didn't even finish the hole, as they were waiting in the fairway for the foursome now ahead of them to clear the 15th green. They picked up their balls and left the course.
 
Callawaygolfpro said:
What most people do not understand is that most courses have rules that state basically that "fourballs have the right of way" meaning that if you are a two-some your S.O.L. Now, if there is a two-some and the foursome is holding them up with no one in front of them, let em through. In the example mentioned above, definitely having the come to Jesus meeting was the thing to do.

I have a similar story. Happened back in high school. My brother and best friend had qualified for the Kansas Cup. They were doing a practice round at the course and I was walking with them and my mom was there as well. The course was stacked up with players and there was no where to go for anyone. We played a few holes and the group behind us kept hitting in to us. I finally had enough after the 3rd time. We at the bend of a dogleg standing in the middle of the fairway waiting for things to clear. They hit in to our group and one of the balls rolled up to the cart my mom was sitting in and that was it for me. I walked over, grabbed an iron from the nearest bag and roped it back to the tee box. It landed next to them on the fly. They didn't hit in to us again the rest of the round.
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Never, EVER the right thing to do. You should NEVER hit into anyone on purpose, regardless of how pissed you are. Pick up their ball and take it, or hit it into the woods. ANYTHING other than hitting it back at them.
 
Smallville said:
Never, EVER the right thing to do. You should NEVER hit into anyone on purpose, regardless of how pissed you are. Pick up their ball and take it, or hit it into the woods. ANYTHING other than hitting it back at them.
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You're right, that's the only time I've ever done it. But when you essentially attack my family you are not going to get any leeway with me. Not going to apologize for that.
 
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