My companies annual event includes an open bar - including the refreshment carts on course. We shotgun at 8, and they kick everyone off at 1 - whether your round is complete or not.
6 hr round
6 hours?? absolutely not. I played 4 1/2 hour round yesterday, with cart path only. And that about killed me. I hate long rounds. I would have lost my patience after the first hole took 25 minutes
Peace out
Had a 5.5 hour scramble round yesterday. Absolute murder. It wasn't even a drinkfest kind of scramble, it was just a TON of really slow golfers who don't know how to move it along.
I don't understand how people take so long to play a scramble. It should be FASTER, not slower, because you're not playing anything from the junk. I think it's just because all the occasional golfers come out who have no concept of ready golf.
If I'm on pace for a 6 hour round and it's not during a tournament, I'm getting the hell out of dodge after 9 and asking for a rain check for the remaining 9. I've done it before.
I don't understand how people take so long to play a scramble. It should be FASTER, not slower, because you're not playing anything from the junk. I think it's just because all the occasional golfers come out who have no concept of ready golf.
If I'm on pace for a 6 hour round and it's not during a tournament, I'm getting the hell out of dodge after 9 and asking for a rain check for the remaining 9. I've done it before.
It happened last summer. I just couldn’t take it any longer and left after 9. Thank you again to @darthweasel for being a good friend and understanding.
darthweasel
Well-known member
Long rounds tend to get tedious and also there is an age and flexibility state where the long waits can cause it to be physically painful to take the next shot. six hours hits that mark...actually is long past that mark for me. When I go a few minutes between either walking or swinging my back and now knees stiffen up and it physically hurts to take that next shot.
For...reasons...I am signed up wit the NW Golf Guys to play Langdon tournament on the 13th...it being a "major" they back all the boxes up one so the guys playing whites play from where the blues normally are and so forth. On the brite side my foursome will be Won and two other friends, one of whom knows Won also, so the tedium will be mitigated, but the combination of tournament and playing a tee deeper...I suspect a six hour round is not out of the question.
About ten seconds after I signed up I was channeling Will Ferrell...I instantly regret this decision
Agree, it would depend. Is a group holding up everyone- call Marshall. Course always has Slow Play- should have read Reviews. Vacation and nothing else to do that day- put on a fresh pair of Depends and carry on.
How many groups off of each tee? I've been to many events where there are two (A,B), and sometimes three (C) per tee to start the day... no way to speed those up.
144 golfers so 100% full, A/B groups on each hole. I see what you're saying, but in theory that just "fills up" the course to what it would be with ~7-8 min tee time intervals. So IN THEORY, it should delay the B groups by 5-10 mins and then everything should go at the standard pace.
That said, I know that never works out and people always take longer. I think the biggest issues are:
-Occasional golfers in scrambles who have no concept of "ready golf"
---Subcategory: People drunk as a skunk and not engaged whatsoever
-People waiting for greens to clear on par 5's / driveable par 4's, in many cases who have absolutely no chance of getting there
-Massive overanalyzing of everything from people who think they're on the tour and putting for millions when most of the time a sleeve of balls and a free weekday round are all that's at stake
If not for the above issues, I think a scramble would take 4.5-5 hours max.
Typhoon
Well-known member
800 rounds on a weekend. Nobody fixes an all mark or the lost art of bending over to replace a divot. The course superintendent wanted the owner to raise the rates so we could have less players ( maybe a better class of golfer) and the course wouldn’t get so beat up.
If the place were a dump, nobody would come right?? 800 weekend rounds, 300 rounds a day during the week. The obviously so a good job given the fact the only downtime is darkness.
Depending on the event - I think it's the side games, the searching for lost balls, and the frequent drink cart stops that slow down most of the scrambles.
I love playing them, but dang they can be frustrating!
Typhoon
Well-known member
Your quote in that post…. “There's a way to play casual golf at an acceptable pace..”
Me saying “that goes without saying “ is me agreeing with you.
The “But” part is the fact that our people don’t.
If slow play is no longer the exception and fast becoming more the rule, those of us who play on pace or better are becoming the minority and soon to be members of the shaking fists at clouds society.
The game is evolving.
The game is evolving.
Agreed scrambles are super fun! It's just the waiting 5 mins on every shot that starts to get old
Typhoon
Well-known member
I rarely play 18 anymore unless I’m on one of my customers private clubs. I have things to do during the day .. it’s not worth it, it’s not fun being out there that long. I’ll so 9’s…. It’s fine with me. I’d actually rather play 9 every day then play 18 once a week.If slow play is no longer the exception and fast becoming more the rule, those of us who play on pace or better are becoming the minority and soon to be members of the shaking fists at clouds society.
The game is evolving.
tmurph51
New member
Had an experience at a new course yesterday that was north of 5 hours. Front 9 was sub 2 hours and going great. Take the turn and this is where things go south. Within the first 2 holes it was getting backed up with 2 sometimes 3 groups waiting to take the tee box at the same hold. By the time we hit the 14th fairway, I was able to see that it was a group of what looked like high school aged kids holding everyone up. With no one in front of them, they would stand of the tee box for 10-15 minutes before hitting. Called clubhouse and asked to send someone out there to help the situation, but they never showed. Long story short I enjoyed the course but it was completely ruined on the back 9 with horrific pace of play. No need to go back there anytime soon.
I agree. I am so fortunate to be able to zip around 18 holes with no one in front. My other course is 9 holes and I rarely get through the first 9 before it starts to fill up, often with larger groups made up of slow players. I simply play the course once and head home.
If I had to deal with 5-6 hour rounds I’d invest in a nice sim room and find a different activity to enjoy the outdoors.
Typhoon
Well-known member
Sometimes what happens here is I’m alone in the shop and it’s busy. I can’t get out on the course if someone calls for slow play or even if a cart breaks down. Might be what happened where you were as well.
I thought about this thread while playing today. The marshal at our course is a good friend of mine, and he came up to us as we were getting ready to hit our second shots on #18 and asked how long our round was today. I looked at my watch and told him we were going to end up a few minutes under four hours (it actually ended up being 3:47).
He asked if it had felt slow all day, and I said slower than usual but not terrible - we were waiting on most of the tee boxes, but usually only for a couple/few minutes at most, and the guys in front of us were keeping right up with the group ahead of them, so there's nowhere to go. He said there was a group a few behind us who was losing their s**t over how long the round was taking, telling him he needed to do something about it because it was taking too long.
I'm all for a nice, brisk pace of play, but I told him those MF'ers needed to chill out. Was it slower than usual? Yeah, by 15-30 minutes, but it wasn't the end of the world. The weather was awesome, the course is in great shape, and we were still under 4 hours...there's no sense being unreasonable when people are playing at a reasonable pace. I love 2:30 - 2:45 rounds when we can get them, but I also realize it's not going to happen every time we play.
He asked if it had felt slow all day, and I said slower than usual but not terrible - we were waiting on most of the tee boxes, but usually only for a couple/few minutes at most, and the guys in front of us were keeping right up with the group ahead of them, so there's nowhere to go. He said there was a group a few behind us who was losing their s**t over how long the round was taking, telling him he needed to do something about it because it was taking too long.
I'm all for a nice, brisk pace of play, but I told him those MF'ers needed to chill out. Was it slower than usual? Yeah, by 15-30 minutes, but it wasn't the end of the world. The weather was awesome, the course is in great shape, and we were still under 4 hours...there's no sense being unreasonable when people are playing at a reasonable pace. I love 2:30 - 2:45 rounds when we can get them, but I also realize it's not going to happen every time we play.
Ooof, 6 hrs.... I've been close a couple times. Usually I'll complain to the pro shop but I'm not looking for a coupon or anything because if it's that long it's usually a normal problem and I would prefer not to return. If I do, I try for the earliest tee times which usually helps the problem.
tmurph51
New member
It had to be. Had no ill will towards the kids working the shop, was probably a high schooler. Just a shame it went down like that.
Depends on where I am and who I’m with. If I’m on my home course, I’ll cut over a couple holes and come back. If I’m on a bucket list type course, I’ll enjoy it as much as possible. If I’m at a local muni, I’ll take it to the house early.
I hate 6 hour rounds and run into one occasionally. I play enough that I usually just call it a day.