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Slow Play is my nemesis

#troy

#troy

Jax, FL
Albatross 2024 Club
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Slow play is my nemesis. I seem to get frustrated and loose focus. The last several rounds I have played have been brutally slow, 5+ hours and waiting to hit before every shot. Yesterday, we managed to finish in 4:45 and put a decent, 83, round together. Need to get the first tee time of the day or something, these rounds have been excruciating. Thankfully, I like the people I play with.
 
Slow Play

Slow Play

Agreed Troy slow play gets me annoyed and gets in my head a little. This is something I really need to work on.
 
golfinFF said:
Agreed Troy slow play gets me annoyed and gets in my head a little. This is something I really need to work on.
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I think it can negatively affect a lot of us. I try real hard to deal with it, but find it hard, and do lose concentration.
 
I thought this would be a good thread on it's own instead of getting lost in an old thread.

Slow play is the bane of golf, and playing ready golf should be the norm, not something you have to tell people to do.
 
4:45 is still terrible. Bummer dude!
 
We played yesterday and there was no one in front of us. It took us 4:45 to finish 18 holes. It was a new course for the other 3. The wind really kicked up on the back 9. There were more penalty strokes on the back 9. But 4:45 is still too long.
 
+1, to all of the above...

If the front 9 pace is too slow for me I usually go to the clubhouse and ask for money or a voucher for the back 9. It's not worth paying good money to stand around and have your score/enjoyment affected.
 
what do you guys do to help get through a slow round? i know it gets on my nervs as well.
 
ohio_striker said:
what do you guys do to help get through a slow round? i know it gets on my nervs as well.
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Hopefully I'm walking and can just slow down my pace. What I don't do is sit there and hold my club waiting to hit the ball with my other hand on my hip. That just makes me get more annoyed. If I'm with somebody I'll chat. I may surf THP on my phone.
 
ohio_striker said:
what do you guys do to help get through a slow round? i know it gets on my nervs as well.
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THP and finding a course with marshalls that moves pace of play along.

But I agree, there's absolutely no reason why golf should take longer than 5 hours.
 
ohio_striker said:
what do you guys do to help get through a slow round? i know it gets on my nervs as well.
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I try to socialize more and not think about the waiting. Shoot the bleep w/ your group and stay as loose as possible.

What is frustrating beyond the waiting is the people behind your group waiting. Yesterday's round had us waiting on every tee box, on #9 the group rolled up and said, "Can we play through?". I was like, are you serious, do you see the other 2 groups in the fairway?
 
I can't stand slow play. I truthfully could not tell you the last round I played over 4 hours. My course is usually 3.5. I can't wait on tee boxes for a group, my mind and body lose everything and I don't care any more....partly why I don't play in a lot of tournaments
 
ohio_striker said:
what do you guys do to help get through a slow round? i know it gets on my nervs as well.
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Beer helps some! My game has already gone to hell by that point, so a few beers is welcome at that point!
 
tpluff said:
THP and finding a course with marshalls that moves pace of play along.

But I agree, there's absolutely no reason why golf should take longer than 5 hours.
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i know but it will if you have players taking 4 shots to get to the green. i think bad/players that dont play often are the problem that i have seen.
 
I HATE slow play. I usually try to get out there by 7:30-8:00 to have little to no one in front of me....a little hard to do in the colder months though. Had a great round going yesterday, but got caught up behind 2 groups of 6 on the back and it killed me....they let me by on 17 though. :/ They gave me the whole "we're members here" spill to justify the massive group they had going.....I'm, I'm a member too, I don't care how many people you have but if you're holding up the entire course let people play through when possible.
 
ohio_striker said:
i know but it will if you have players taking 4 shots to get to the green. i think bad/players that dont play often are the problem that i have seen.
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I disagree wholeheartedly with that. Skill level is not the issue. A player that isn't a average/good golfer can still keep up. Be ready and hit the ball when it is your turn. Play the correct tees and hack away. Don't sit around and sulk after a bad shot.
 
troyefl said:
I try to socialize more and not think about the waiting. Shoot the bleep w/ your group and stay as loose as possible.

What is frustrating beyond the waiting is the people behind your group waiting. Yesterday's round had us waiting on every tee box, on #9 the group rolled up and said, "Can we play through?". I was like, are you serious, do you see the other 2 groups in the fairway?
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That happened to us on an executive course back in 2008 on a weekend afternoon! It was backed up for I don't know how far. We were sitting on a bench waiting for the father and young son to even get to the green (par 3)when the guy behind us walks up to the tee (our tee) and sticks a ball on a tee and starts waiting for the two ahead of us. I asked him what he was doing, as we were up next, and he asked if he cared if he played through! I siad where the hell are you going to go, it's backed up forever! But asked if he wanted to play with us, which he declined. He went around until he found a spot, and we saw him a couple holes later, and he had skipped about 8 or 9 holes! What a putz.
 
My round Saturday was maddening. I don't want to rethink the entire thing, but it involved a confrontation with the threesome in front of us. They thought that since they were not falling behind the terribly slow group in front of them, there was nothing wrong with each of them playing 2 balls. When the group ahead of them was a full par 5 ahead of them, I had steam coming out of my eyeballs.
 
I think we all hate slow play. I can live with it though. I fear that it isn't going to get better any time soon. It may be best to learn how to play through it. No reason to focus on how slow it is. Focus instead on how great it is to be on the golf course. No matter how slow it is out there, remember it could be worse, you could be dead.
 
troyefl said:
Slow play is my nemesis. I seem to get frustrated and loose focus. The last several rounds I have played have been brutally slow, 5+ hours and waiting to hit before every shot. Yesterday, we managed to finish in 4:45 and put a decent, 83, round together. Need to get the first tee time of the day or something, these rounds have been excruciating. Thankfully, I like the people I play with.
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No doubt, it effects rhythm & focus for me, sitting & waiting my mind starts wandering, then when I can finally hit I rush
 
Slow play tends to frustrate me more than most things on the course. It's like coming into road construction while driving, or passing an accident during rush hour. Once it gets bottlenecked, it's hard to get to opened back up. It's something that I have had to deal with and work on in my own game, and life in general. It's not easy, especially if your playing well and at a pace you like.
 
ohio_striker said:
i know but it will if you have players taking 4 shots to get to the green. i think bad/players that dont play often are the problem that i have seen.
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That is not even close to the problem, in my opinion. It's people who don't play ready golf. THAT is the problem.

Tom Watson said in the past that he had more fun playing with friends who shoot over 100 because they kept up.
 
jhstew1 said:
No doubt, it effects rhythm & focus for me, sitting & waiting my mind starts wandering, then when I can finally hit I rush
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Why let others affect you so much? Not going to lie, if we ever had a competitive match, I am going to control the pace by making it slower. If I know that slow play hurts your game, I am taking more practice swingsm gauging wind, reading putts longer, taking longer to read the yardage book, etc. Why let other people affect you so much? Just smile and enjoy being outside.
 
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