Does slow play screw up your game?

wluker17

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We all know slow play is a problem and everyone hates it, but does it throw you off your game?

I was playing at a nice course around Atlanta on Saturday afternoon and having one of my better driving rounds in a long time for the first 10 holes when we hit the wall of slow playing idiots on the 11th tee. I think there were two groups that were the problem but the group right in front of us seemed more interested in their gallon of Crown and playing from the tips when they had absolutely no business there than moving at a decent pace. Waiting 10+ minutes on each tee combined with it being quite hot out caused my game, especially my tee game, to fall off a cliff.

So does this kind of nonsense cause your game to go to crap or can you mentally power through it and keep your edge for the rest of the round?
 
Yes, Slow pace of play gets me out of my rhythm and hurts the score

i need to be better about it
 
I don't think its so much the waiting, its the waiting if its caused by people like the group in front of you. I know that some places are going to be slow, especially on the weekends. If its only backed up because people are lollygagging, or dicking around and not being even remotely ready to hit when its their turn, that aggravates me and definitely throws me off my game because it takes a lot of energy to keep in the kind of anger I have. You don't need to have both carts go to each ball for each person's shot. You don't need to have conferences together on the green for every putt by every person. You can put your phone down and get your glove on and get your yardage before its your turn to actually hit the ball. You can take your cart up to the side of the green after you chip onto the green and lay 9, rather than have to walk 80 yards back down the fairway to get to where you left your cart to walk up to the green and putt. Oblivious and inconsiderate people are what get to me.
 
slow pace doesn't, the rubber banding does. nothing drives me nuts more than 2 quick holes, then slow for 3, then quick again.
 
Only when it's someone I am playing with and my group is holding people up. Then I can personally feel the people behind me getting angry LOL! I have a buddy who gets drunk while playing and by 18 he is usually moving real slow. I try to avoid playing with him like the plague, but he is an original member of our golf trip and he always comes back next year.
 
Yes. Slow play kills me. It just takes my "give a crap" level and reduces it to zero, giving me no desire to grind out a score.
 
It does for me a bit, my game is so inconsistent anyway that slow play doesn't have a big impact. It does affect my attitude though, as I am one that was not blessed with an abundance of patience, so I can get pretty irritated at the inconsiderate bozos that are holding everyone else up.
 
Yes. I hate it
 
i think if the round starts slow, i'm usually ok-ish. but if i'm cruising along on a good pace, then i hit a brick wall of slow play, it definitely throws me off more.
 
It can, depends on how long we are waiting or if we are waiting on every shot.
 
It really does for me. Not much else bothers me on the course but slow play breaks my naturally quick style of play. It also doesn't allow my body to stay loose and for someone with back problems that is difficult.
 
McLovin;n8883117 said:
i think if the round starts slow, i'm usually ok-ish. but if i'm cruising along on a good pace, then i hit a brick wall of slow play, it definitely throws me off more.

Same here. I can think of a handful of times where I've had a memorably good round just get derailed by hitting that slow play wall.
 
waiting screws up my game not slow play. No two slow rounds are the same IMO. You can have a slower round, but be constantly moving and not sitting still or waiting for your turn to swing. I can't do the waiting around part. That kills my mojo and throws me into a funk.
 
mikeg_74;n8883145 said:
waiting screws up my game not slow play. No two slow rounds are the same IMO. You can have a slower round, but be constantly moving and not sitting still or waiting for your turn to swing. I can't do the waiting around part. That kills my mojo and throws me into a funk.

Very true. Sitting and waiting in the cart in the awkward area between the green and the next tee box is super annoying.
 
Waiting on holes to hit absolutely kills rhythm and I find it hard to recover. Play. With. Pace.
 
Depends on the situation, but it definitely can. If it's hot, and I'm walking, waiting on every shot gets old. I'll speed up my own game just to get it over with faster. If the weather's ok, slow play is still annoying, but I can focus better.
 
Absolutely, If I am behind a group that causes us to wait for each shot, I lose all momentum and rhythm. Being a high handicapper I understand about some holes taking longer than they should. That is probably why I am always running to my ball and play quicker since I know I will also be in the woods looking for my next ball. LOL
 
I don't think slow play affects me at all. Rushing my shot certainly does.
 
Depends on the situation for me. If its a tournament I can usually stay in it mentally. If its a casual round of golf, it absolutely screws up my game. Focus and patience go right out the window and my game follows suit.
 
Yep it absolutely does. I will deal with it for a bit with no issue but by the end of the round I've usually lost interest and fall apart
 
By the time I've been out there four hours, I am neither playing well nor particularly paying attention. I'm just waiting on the darned thing to finish.

And on any given shot, if I've had to wait more than two minutes or so after arriving at my ball I am about 10x as likely to hit a poor shot as a good one. The only exception would be if I'm playing solo and can step aside and pitch balls back and forth from one side of the fairway to the other with a wedge. Or do something to keep moving and keep me focused on golf.
 
Yes. Slow play in front of me, maintenance crews/equipment, and bev carts are my 3 worst enemies on the course.

I really need to work on that part of my mental game.
 
Yes. For me it isn't the absolute of slow play that gets me. It is the Hurry up and Wait stuff that can get me out of sync. On a busy day where we are always backed up waiting and also feeling the pressure from a group behind us, we wait and wait and then are suddenly in a rush to play only to be waiting again in short order. Grinds my gears.
 
I guess it would but I almost ever see slow play. I can’t remember the last time I played during weekend prime time, I pick my courses and tee time to avoid the crowds and knuckle heads.
 
I think it's all about rhythm. If I'm out in a twosome, and the course is mostly filled with foursomes, we're naturally going to be waiting quite a lot. That throws me off a lot more than being in one of those foursomes, even though the round takes the same amount of time either way.
 
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