Pace - Preffered and effect on your sanity, enjoyment, and score. +Poll

[OldandStiff]

Gotta admit that totally opposite back to back rounds on busy courses over the Holiday has my mind a little spun about it all. I haven't seen a pace thread in a bit, and a lot of us just played holiday golf, so let's chat.



First round - The early off work/holiday group. Lots of energy, happy faces, and crazy good pace for a busy course. 2:33 round.

Second round - Black Friday delayed start. Fat and happy people, everyone wanting their golf's worth, including that $2 ball and the shot, score, and story of the weekend. 5:31 round.



And I think the difference added to the eyes wide shock of the Friday round. I just haven't seen that much outside a scramble/tournament/club event day. And I had to work my ass off raking, ball hunting, and club grabbing for everyone, and sprinting to the next tee to hit mine just to keep my group in contact with the one in front. Honestly, no offense to anyone I played with if you're reading this, but playing with an end score of roughly 95, 105, and 115 group who didn't seem to care how long anyone was out there legit reminded me of a time I volunteered to take three 8 year olds fishing and I naively, hilariously, thought I was going to get to fish and enjoy myself too. lol And my effort and frustration with all of it it definitely affected my game. I lost a ball, hit a crap wedge, and had two 3 putts that definitely could have gone a little differently if I wasn't literally sucking wind from jogging around half the damn course and just wanting to hit mine and get moving.

So what's your preferred pace out there, and how does being faster or slower than that affect your mood, play, and how you view the day/round as a whole after it's over?

 

[TRyan]

3:00 - 3:30 Plenty of time left in the day. What are we doing next?!

This is the sweet spot for me.

 

[Sox_Fan]

Where I play, no reason it should ever take more than 3 hours to play 18 holes. Especially since we always play in the afternoon year round.

 

[ttucliffhanger]

5 and a half hour rounds are just miserable. Only time I really am ok to deal with it is if I'm playing in a scramble or something and even then, people need to move along.

 

[RealPretendPsychic]

Assuming I’ve got a foursome going out, I’m 3:30-4:00. Most of the guys I play with are just happy breaking 100 and we’re hard-pressed to do a loop faster than that. 3:00-3:30 would be my preferred window if we could speed it up just a bit.

 

[blugold]

Pace doesn't bother me too much. Give me 4-4:30. The course has an expected pace of 4:30 and our usual foursomes can get around in about 4. I like being outside in the summer. I golf with my wife and kids. I don't need to rush to get home because I am already with the people I want to be with.

 

[OldandStiff]

Pace doesn't bother me too much. Give me 4-4:30. The course has an expected pace of 4:30 and our usual foursomes can get around in about 4. I like being outside in the summer. I golf with my wife and kids. I don't need to rush to get home because I am already with the people I want to be with.

The 4-5:00 options in the poll I kind of struggled with labeling because I totally get this mentality and it's not actually slow depending on course.

 

[Bernoulli]

It depends upon tee off time. The earlier that I tee off, the faster I expect to play. But, I'm comfortable with 4-4.5 hours.

 

[blugold]

The 4-5:00 options in the poll I kind of struggled with labeling because I totally get this mentality and it's not actually slow depending on course.

For sure. I have played plenty of tracks were 4:30 is a long time. I've played plenty that need every bit of it. Hell, I played The Straits and it was a 5 hour round and it felt like half of that.

 

[Ludin]

I feel comfortable in the 3-4 hour range. Any quicker I lose my game and any slower its more annoying than anything.

 

[Puttmaster]

I can live with up to 3:30-4:00. That said, yes, slow play does have a negative impact on my play and my enjoyment of being on the course.

Patience is a virtue and it's one that I continually work on.

But, I struggle with being patient when watching the foursome in front of me hit their shot, get back in the cart, drive to the other guy's ball, gets out and surveys the situation, finally hits his ball, gets back in the cart, drive to the other guy's ball, gets out and surveys the situation, finally hits his shot, did anyone see where that went?, hits a provisional, gets back in the cart, drive to the other guy's ball .... on and on for 18 holes? Nope, I call it a day at the turn.

 

[WICHITAREJECT]

Just over 4 hours walking with Mrs. Reject yesterday, waited on EVERY shot....didnt care, beautiful day!!

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

I’m comfortable in the 3.5-4 hour pace. I really lose my game when I find myself constantly waiting to hit my next shot

 

[Doubleb21]

I voted 3:30 to 4 is fine. I am in no rush i enjoy being outside with friends. We played two times this weekend with both rounds just under 4 hours with 4 people playing. Even at 4 to 4:30 I'm ok. Longer than that starts to get annoying if the front groups are not trying to keep pace.

 

[tahoebum]

If it's my normal morning weekday round at the club, we are normally a threesome right at 3:05 or a foursome about 3:25. Suppose it's a boy's golf weekend with two foursomes and lots of cigars, beers, etc. I'm not bothered by a 4-4:15 hour round. Only about 10% of my rounds take longer than 4:05, and those are usually fivesomes walking with other fivesomes in front of us or resort courses on weekends.

I also really enjoy getting the first tee time(7:00 am) in the summer and going out as a twosome on a cart in 2:30 or less. I often have some of my best scoring rounds when playing at that pace and it's great to be home before 10:00 am with the whole day to do something else.

 

[Snickerdog]

I voted 3:30-4:00 and think it a good pace. We have one course we play regular that the pace is 4:20 and don't mind it at all.

 

[russtopher]

I'm solidly in the 3:30-4:00 grouping. I feel like that pace allows you to be deliberate with your shots but you're not taking forever, and you're also taking time to enjoy the round. Now of course, this is based on courses near me that I play often. They're not tour long or anything like that, if I was playing a longer or hillier course then I'd expect the round to take longer just due to the conditions. I don't mind playing longer in those situations - I DO mind playing longer when folks clearly aren't playing ready golf, or they're playing from the wrong tees.

 

[Cruskater]

Like anything, it depends on the time, day of the week, conditions, etc. During the week, I'm expecting 3.5 to 4 hours around me. 4-4.5 hours on a weekend. The course I play most frequently is tight and lends itself to lost balls and waiting for people on the wrong fairway, etc. I would say my patience has gone up since COVID. First time playing since the injury and it was right about 4.5 hours. November golf in Mass. used to be just for diehards and you could go through pretty quickly. I remember a 2.5 hour round by myself a few years ago.

I believe anyone can play ready golf no matter what their skill level, but there must be a correlation between time and handicap/level, no? I do play faster today than say 10 years ago when I was a 20+ handicapper.

 

[hackitup]

I went 3:30 - 4:00. I feel like that’s a reasonable expectation without being first out. If we’re first I expect to be flying on that course. I think my best time was a 1:54 round as a twosome. It was glorious. I’d guesstimate that would translate to a 2:30 round with another likeminded pair.

I don’t score much worse when it’s slower, but I’ll make more terrible shots followed by a brilliant shot. Pretty similar to Player 1 Player 2 syndrome. I’ll also hit many more mediocre shots which seems to not really kill me but it doesn’t help me either.

 

[Muchmore]

3-3:30 is my sweet spot. Pace is good and it's just playing your ball not having to worry about any delay. Playing at anything slower than 4:00 does mess with my game a little. 4:30 or more has me dying.

But that's if those are times when I'm not expecting it to be that slow. Like if we are behind a group that has two whole holes in front of them wide open. That's when the pace bothers me to no end and really messes with my game.

I'm fine though if I'm out there fully knowing that the pace is slow, like the whole course is full. Or there is a reason the pace is slow, like a tournament or a scramble or competitive golf, it's much easier to prepare myself mentally and I can slow myself down and enjoy the time out there.

 

[DNice26]

3:30-4:00 would be ideal, typically for me.

 

[WLG1952]

4-5 hours is fine with me. I can walk 18 holes,
unimpeded in 3.5 hours pretty easily.

Pace of play is not on my golf radar for a couple of reasons.

1. I will never let another golfer's actions dictate how I play my round. I have an awesome preshot routine, and I always have fun.

2. Unless the powers to be in golf decide on some drastic changes to the game of golf, there's really nothing that can be done about golfers who play too slow, or even those who play too fast. I just figure it's not worth worrying about. It is what it is for that round.

My personal motto is if on arrival, the parking lot is full, expect slower than normal play. Either play, or turn around, and go home.

 

[Space Bandito]

If I'm solo and the course is near empty, I fully expect to play a full round (putt out everything, maybe even play a few practice shots) in <2:00

If I'm with a group, I think 3:30-4:00 is reasonable. If we're past the 2 hour mark at the turn, I start to get a little edgy.

 

[Hitsnmisses]

Length of course
Terrain of course
Ability of group
Time of year
Popularity
and are you in cart or pushing a buggy

These all contribute to time , And depends also where you play
If you play same course you know short cuts on holes, on unknown tracks that and you performance would extend time

 

[OldandStiff]

If I'm solo and the course is near empty, I fully expect to play a full round (putt out everything, maybe even play a few practice shots) in <2:00

If I'm with a group, I think 3:30-4:00 is reasonable. If we're past the 2 hour mark at the turn, I start to get a little edgy.

That's a good point I should have brought up. If pace at the turn is something you notice, and the effect IT has. Some courses here are always a little slow on the front, and then open up, while others grind to an epic crawl towards the end. I have definitely bailed on a few rounds at the latter courses when the front was slow.