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Random idea to speed up play?

tgtt said:
Eating at the turn is in no way beneficial to pace of play. The course wins with faster play by opening up more tee times.
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See there. We do agree sometimes! hahaha
 
I'm one more slow round away from taking up my wife's idea to join a private place nearby. Every hack on earth was there today and thought I was going to see a 8 person brawl at one point.

Wish there was a remedy to this as it's getting out of control and it's only April
 
deuce said:
You leave your credit card at the front desk. They record your start time, and when you come in from your round they add up your time and you pay accordingly. Some bowling places do it this way, not sure why golf courses can't adopt a similar model. The problem is, of course, getting stuck behind some slow pokes. You really would need three or four marshalls, each responsible for just a handful of holes to ensure that people can play through and not get hung up for too long. A decent timing system (electronically, maybe on an iPad or similar platform) could give them real-time data on how quickly groups are playing.
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Yeah. Then I'm paying with cash every time.
 
deuce said:
I always love the courses which have something around hole 7 or 8 with the number of the club house. Even better are the ones which place a menu in the cart. You get to Hole 7 (or 16), you call your order in and it's waiting for you as you drive past the clubhouse. No delays.
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We have the phone number on the scorecard.

Some people, but not many, will call in for something to be ready. Unfortunately, this will only work 100% of the time at a course with a separate pro shop and eatery, Ours and one of the other four courses is in the same place, and the people in the pro shop cook the food. So it's a busy check in time, they gotta settle for dogs or burgers that are already made. We will accommodate a food request when possible, but most of the time, its a dog, brat, polish, burger or sandwich and chips at the turn.
 
If we can't get them something to order, we will try to get it made and have a marshall (or cart girl if there is one that day) take it out to them.
 
blugold said:
Yeah. Then I'm paying with cash every time.
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Just leave your shoes with the clubhouse.

In regards to food, I never have high expectations. A hot dog or sandwiches is typically what I expect. Food does have the potential to slow some groups down, so it has to be considered for streamlining if the course wants to get people through as quickly as possible.
 
deuce said:
You leave your credit card at the front desk. They record your start time, and when you come in from your round they add up your time and you pay accordingly. Some bowling places do it this way, not sure why golf courses can't adopt a similar model. The problem is, of course, getting stuck behind some slow pokes. You really would need three or four marshalls, each responsible for just a handful of holes to ensure that people can play through and not get hung up for too long. A decent timing system (electronically, maybe on an iPad or similar platform) could give them real-time data on how quickly groups are playing.
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a couple of things - how fast you bowl has little to do with other people in the bowling alley. At least not nearly to the extent that others affect your pace of play on a golf course.

regarding the tracking system - some course GPS systems already have this built-in. I've seen some that show where other carts are, some that show when another group has left the green or the approach area(s), and some that will complain at you when you are behind pace but the group ahead isn't.

I actually really like the idea of penalizing people for affecting dozens of other golfers on the course. littering, loud music, failing to fix divots and pitch marks, failing to rake bunkers, driving carts up near greens (except for the handicapped), etc. But like others have said... that's what marshals are for, isn't it? Maybe institute a citation system that gives the marshals a bit more power than just scolding people.
 
baldguy said:
a couple of things - how fast you bowl has little to do with other people in the bowling alley. At least not nearly to the extent that others affect your pace of play on a golf course.
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Well no comparison is going to be perfect, but that doesn't mean you can't look at one model and at least consider applying it to your own.

It really boils down to marshal's though. A well trained cadre should keep play moving along smoothly.
 
Interesting idea Roger I would think money would motivate some but not all and all it takes is one bad group to slow it down yesterday i played the first nine in 1:45 in a five some(the course GM joined my group he and two others were only playing 9) the second nine to 3hr due to one slow group backing things up
 
I fear the repercussions of a monetary reward/penalty system would likely make things worse, not better. Even ignoring the elevated risk of nasty confrontations the system would surely spawn, there are still some courteous golfers out there who do let faster groups though. I think instituting a $ reward/penalty will all but ensure even these courteous groups will begin to play hardball and not let others through.
 
I understand the idea and in theory it might work but in reality it never will. It will be a race and no longer enjoyable at all for too many reasons. There will also be arguments and fist fghts. Though well intended its just simply not practical to do. There are also many people who may not be slow nor usually cause slow play but at the same time will not be able to golf well due to feeling pressure and worrying too much about it. But It will turn into a crazy race like the movie "mad mad mad world" except it will not be funny at all.

I do like what someone mentioned for a wall of shame and with large photo too.

But lets take it to the next levels. May be they should just hire law enforcement or military personnel and anyone causing slow play will be shot on sight with rubber bullets, tear gased, tazered, then tied to a tree and spit at, peed on, and stoned by all who pass by.

But with joking aside and back to a wall of shame I also wonder how many players of poor ability will then laugh as they see many of those better players on the wall of shame who use to blamed them for the slow play. it would be an eye openner for sure to very many.
 
rollin said:
I understand the idea and in theory it might work but in reality it never will. It will be a race and no longer enjoyable at all for too many reasons. There will also be arguments and fist fghts. Though well intended its just simply not practical to do. There are also many people who may not be slow nor usually cause slow play but at the same time will not be able to golf well due to feeling pressure and worrying too much about it. But It will turn into a crazy race like the movie "mad mad mad world" except it will not be funny at all.

I do like what someone mentioned for a wall of shame and with large photo too.

But lets take it to the next levels. May be they should just hire law enforcement or military personnel and anyone causing slow play will be shot on sight with rubber bullets, tear gased, tazered, then tied to a tree and spit at, peed on, and stoned by all who pass by.

But with joking aside and back to a wall of shame I also wonder how many players of poor ability will then laugh as they see many of those better players on the wall of shame who use to blamed them for the slow play. it would be an eye openner for sure to very many.
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I don't think asking people to play in under 4 hours would create a race. That is hardly a blazing fast time.

I still think this idea won't work.
 
I play at a course that sort of did this last summer. Your receipt was redeemable for a free beer, but it had to be after the round, and it expired 5 hours after your tee time.
 
Wake said:
I don't think asking people to play in under 4 hours would create a race. That is hardly a blazing fast time.

I still think this idea won't work.
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May be perhaps not but the problem is with a money incentive it would imo create a very high tension atmosphere from the get go. People would want to rush because they would simply worry about the "unknown" with a whole round of golf in front of them. So i think even though 4 hours in itself is not a race it would possibly create such an atmosphere anyway. It slike commuting to work and getting a good head start because one never knows what lies ahead. There is a reason its nickname is "ratrace" and this just might take on that same shape.
 
I really like the idea, I doubt courses would do it, but I love that idea, especially as a fast player myself!
 
Daddio said:
I fear the repercussions of a monetary reward/penalty system would likely make things worse, not better. Even ignoring the elevated risk of nasty confrontations the system would surely spawn, there are still some courteous golfers out there who do let faster groups though. I think instituting a $ reward/penalty will all but ensure even these courteous groups will begin to play hardball and not let others through.
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I thought about this point last night. If you are playing slow, and marshal's forced you to let faster players play through, this would only slow you down even more ... costing you more. One way to counter this problem would be to have your cost be determined strictly by the time you are on the actual hole.

Carts equipped with an RFID chip, and when you drive up to the tee box, it gets logged and you start getting charged for play. When you finish up and drive past a waypoint after the green, it is also logged and your time "off the clock" is recorded.
 
Although that's a good idea, I suspect it will create the situation where one group is yelling at another about how it's "costing them money" to be playing so slow. Brawl would ensue.

~Rock
 
rollin said:
I understand the idea and in theory it might work but in reality it never will. It will be a race and no longer enjoyable at all for too many reasons.
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Asking someone to play golf in 4 hours or less is hardly creating a race.
While I dont agree with this idea, the above is just not accurate.
 
I must be the only one, but I like the tempo of a 4h 4h30 round, and I am not against the idea...but I foresee some really angry people when they get stuck behind people that doesnt go fast enough for them.
 
I don't think the concept would work. I think you'd be worried more about the clock than your own game and the worries of people pushing you on, etc..Just a big mess waiting to happen. That's my point of view of that. Also, another point of view I have in which many will disagree with is that I'm getting tired of hearing about pace of play. I think we need to discuss more of etiquette than pace. That alone will help pace of play. Follow the steering wheel rules on your cart and you will be fine (let faster players play through)..lol...One thing also that when I play with others, we establish a maximum stroke per hole to help speed up. We usually play to a max of seven strokes.
 
MPlefty said:
I must be the only one, but I like the tempo of a 4h 4h30 round, and I am not against the idea...but I foresee some really angry people when they get stuck behind people that doesnt go fast enough for them.
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Relative pace and actual pace are two different things in my mind, I think there are a lot of people who see themselves as playing faster than they actually are, I love playing on a course with a pace of play clock on the cart. There's no guessing about it, it is what it is at that point.
 
JB said:
Asking someone to play golf in 4 hours or less is hardly creating a race.
While I dont agree with this idea, the above is just not accurate.
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Its not the 4 hours that I think creates a race atmosphere. As i mentioned, Its adding money to the mix that will now imo make it that way. Among of course other things that will not be good.
 
lukedogg said:
I don't think the concept would work. I think you'd be worried more about the clock than your own game and the worries of people pushing you on, etc..Just a big mess waiting to happen.
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Two things that we can't manufacture more of ... time and space. There are only so many hours in a day, and a golf course is only so big. If a course really wants to maximize profits, it's in their interest to get as many golfers on the course as possible. That means they need golfers to play at a decent pace so they don't have a logjam which will create dissatisfaction and could hurt future "sales". At some point golfers must start realizing they need to hurry it up.

I wonder if this problem is exacerbated at country clubs where people feel entitled, because they paid a membership due, to do whatever they please.
 
I would ask something that is often mentioned by quite a few posters and myself too from time to time.
I think cramming tee times too close together is a huge issue working against pace.
At 10 minute times where i am I hardly ever see a round go past 4 and half and thats on 7000 yard course and 6400 (whites) and crowded weekends. Most usually done between 4 and 4:20. Sometimes 4 and even a tad less.
But where i use to live it was 7 or 8 minutes and you would start the day waiting in line behind two 4somes before you even began. And those rounds were the 5 to 6 hours many discuss. It was so bad that if you were done within 5 you felt great.

So i wonder for those talking rounds that "constantly" go 5 and go way beyond 5 towards 6 or worse, What are the tee time intervals at that course??
From my experience at many years in both places it is the only thing that stands out as being proprtionaly related to pace that i can think of. Close tee times meant long round, Respectable tee times meant respectable round. Just a theory from my two different home courses experience.

Not saying people are not slow for various reasons but with same types of people and same types of varrying skill levels of players its the only thing that stands out as different and I wonder if where the really slow problems are will be directly related at your courses too?

What are your tee time intervals at at the courses where you guys are constently stuck in these very long rounds??
 
Spacing out tee times helps, but it still only takes one group of idiots to slow up everyone behind them.
 
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