Slow Play - How Long Does It Take You?

[Canadan]

I mean this honestly, please do that to me when/if we ever play together. I can always use an outside perspective of my habits.

What would be useful, is a slow play handbook.

- Are you getting the distances to your shot before your group hits or after they do when it's finally your turn?
- Are you sitting in your cart until you're up because your partner's ball is 5 yards behind yours, yet 40 yards to the right?
- Do you analyze your shots only when it's your turn to hit?
- Practice/read putts before it's your turn to hit?
- Suggest/Encourage ready golf?
- Place clubs around the green in the direction of your cart or on the complete opposite side?
- Grab the flag when you're done putting or stand there oblivious?

I bet the list is stupid long, and again I bet 99% of golfers could EASILY pick up their pace with a couple changes to their style of play. And nothing that means they have to walk up and hit the ball immediately upon arriving.

 

[CBaker]

What would be useful, is a slow play handbook.

- Are you getting the distances to your shot before your group hits or after they do when it's finally your turn?
- Are you sitting in your cart until you're up because your partner's ball is 5 yards behind yours, yet 40 yards to the right?
- Do you analyze your shots only when it's your turn to hit?
- Practice/read putts before it's your turn to hit?
- Suggest/Encourage ready golf?
- Place clubs around the green in the direction of your cart or on the complete opposite side?
- Grab the flag when you're done putting or stand there oblivious?

I bet the list is stupid long, and again I bet 99% of golfers could EASILY pick up their pace with a couple changes to their style of play. And nothing that means they have to walk up and hit the ball immediately upon arriving.

Reading putts while others are putting so you are ready to go when it's your turn is HUGE in slow play. I'd bet most of the issues with slow play happen from poor practices around the greens. Could be wrong though.

 

[Canadan]

Reading putts while others are putting so you are ready to go when it's your turn is HUGE in slow play. I'd bet most of the issues with slow play happen from poor practices around the greens. Could be wrong though.

Ain't that the truth. The green is NOTORIOUS for slow play. You'd think some folks are putting for the Green Jacket out there.

Then again, I tend to wait until people stop moving around in my line of sight before I putt the ball, so maybe I'm part of the problem as well.

 

[rbarthle17]

What would be useful, is a slow play handbook.

- Are you getting the distances to your shot before your group hits or after they do when it's finally your turn?
- Are you sitting in your cart until you're up because your partner's ball is 5 yards behind yours, yet 40 yards to the right?
- Do you analyze your shots only when it's your turn to hit?
- Practice/read putts before it's your turn to hit?
- Suggest/Encourage ready golf?
- Place clubs around the green in the direction of your cart or on the complete opposite side?
- Grab the flag when you're done putting or stand there oblivious?
.

Of that list the only thing I would be guilty of is not grabbing the flag. The rest I do. But even if I do it, it's no guarantee the rest of my playing partners will do it. Before any round with someone I don't know, I always say that I intend to play ready golf.

Ain't that the truth. The green is NOTORIOUS for slow play. You'd think some folks are putting for the Green Jacket out there.

Then again, I tend to wait until people stop moving around in my line of sight before I putt the ball, so maybe I'm part of the problem as well.

I think there's a fine line on trying to speed up and being completely selfish in your own actions. I like to look at a putt rom the opposite side of the hole. I do that what other people are putting, but sometimes that could cause me to walk in their sight lines so I try and be cognizant of it.

 

[mpeterson]

Ain't that the truth. The green is NOTORIOUS for slow play. You'd think some folks are putting for the Green Jacket out there.

Then again, I tend to wait until people stop moving around in my line of sight before I putt the ball, so maybe I'm part of the problem as well.

I think you can do one or a couple of these things and not have a real big effect on pace. But, on the green I've seen people do EVERYTHING that leads to slow play. 360 degree walk around of a 3 foot putt, leave their clubs on the wrong side of the green, etc.

We have been trying to get people playing more ready golf in the work league. The biggest pushback we have seen is from asking people to finish out putts instead of marking after each one. I've also gotten a bit of grief for picking up the flag after putting out and "rushing" the group. I think at the end of the day slow players are going to be slow, no matter how many times they're warned (in this case by league leadership). Because we're worried about losing our time I've heard some thoughts about sending one of the officers out in a cart to prod people along.

 

[CBaker]

I've also gotten a bit of grief for picking up the flag after putting out and "rushing" the group.

Wow. Some people. I thought it was just common courtesy that if you're the first one done on the green to pick the flag up to help the group out.

 

[mpeterson]

Wow. Some people. I thought it was just common courtesy that if you're the first one done on the green to pick the flag up to help the group out.

I think it's just frustration from being sped up in general. But, when the tail end of our league is struggling to hit 3 hours for 9, has to be done.

 

[rbarthle17]

Because we're worried about losing our time I've heard some thoughts about sending one of the officers out in a cart to prod people along.

Where did the threat of losing tee times come from? Was that more or less of a motivator to fix the problem?

 

[mpeterson]

Where did the threat of losing tee times come from? Was that more or less of a motivator to fix the problem?

One of the other corporate leagues was told not to come back after they played a course for one year because they couldn't keep up. We'd like to never get to the point that's a potential issue. Right now we have early tee times, and we don't want to be pushed back. So far, so good. We haven't been warned this year (that I know of).

 

[CBaker]

I think the biggest problem is people think they need to rush their shots when someone tells them to speed up, when really it's all about using your time in between shots that make all the difference. Just some examples:

-Being on the tee-box lining up your shot and taking your practice swings while waiting for the group ahead to clear if there is one ahead.

-Thinking about your next shot and trying to figure out what you need to do on your way to the next shot will save a bunch of time once you get there.

-Holding the club you last hit if you're riding in a cart and putting it away when you get up to the next player hitting saves time, especially if it's a club you're putting a head cover back on.

-Reading the green while walking up to it and while others are putting is a HUGE time saver.

-Getting as close to your ball without being in the direct path of another member of your group to be ready for your shot.

-Keeping your clubs on the side of the green that you will walk off when done.

These actions have absolutely nothing to do with your actual shot, but save huge amounts of time that you normally would have wasted otherwise doing absolutely nothing.

Also...if you want an example of how not to play faster...Ben Crane and Kevin Na. Watch them and then don't do that.

 

[Awkward silence]

and writing the score down on the tee box not next to the green. Of all of them this one bothers me the MOST.

 

[CBaker]

and writing the score down on the tee box not next to the green. Of all of them this one bothers me the MOST.

I was actually about to edit my post to include that one. That one is big to me too.

 

[rbarthle17]

One of the other corporate leagues was told not to come back after they played a course for one year because they couldn't keep up. We'd like to never get to the point that's a potential issue. Right now we have early tee times, and we don't want to be pushed back. So far, so good. We haven't been warned this year (that I know of).

This perfectly sums up my view on it. Self policing is fine up to a point but having the course be willing to put real penalties for ignoring the rules makes the biggest difference. Kudos to your course for doing that.

 

[sposey013168]

I think this will be an issue until the end of time. Pace of play is one of the main reasons I joined a private course, it is better pace than public courses here. The good thing about being old and always waking up.at 6am is early tee times have less slow play involved .

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[1965]

I play alone 90% of the time and I walk/carry. I was the first one on the course this morning. I played 18 holes in 2 hours and 20 minutes and I was taking my time!
Everybody is slow to me!

That's why I get out there at first light. So I won't have to follow slow people. :thumb:

 

[mpeterson]

This perfectly sums up my view on it. Self policing is fine up to a point but having the course be willing to put real penalties for ignoring the rules makes the biggest difference. Kudos to your course for doing that.

I think they were more listening to complaints from other groups than anything. If I was showing up for my league tee times, and they were 10-15 minutes late consistently, I'd be annoyed too.

The league has done a much better job of policing and educating itself in recent years - trying to get people to better understand what "ready golf" is instead of just saying "play ready golf". Honestly, I really like Dan's "slow play" handbook. Maybe it's better to point out the things that cause people to actually be slow, because sometimes you just don't realize it.