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Early morning golf, do you expect to play faster?

Now to answer the question in the op: For me, an early tee time carries an expectation that the round will be quicker. If I have one of the first 3 to 4 tee times of the day, I expect the round to be quick. I feel that most of the people who are playing early want to play quick; it's one of the reasons why they want the early slot.
 
I'm not sure If I expect to play faster, but in the morning there are less people on the course so I would expect a quicker pace (without rushing) than mid day or afternoon when the course potentially could be busier.

I played yesterday morning at a resort, tee time was 8am and we went off as a twosome, played 18 in 2:48 and I felt we could have been faster. Had that been a mid morning or afternoon round, no way that happens.
 
Yes, should play my course walking in under 3 hours closer to 2-2.5
 
Idk. Early morning, week day golf at our two local courses is mostly made up of retirees. I don't play much weekend golf as a rule. (Friday-Sunday)

I know the first few groups out, seem to play at a pretty good clip. I think this is because, for the most part, they are better, more dedicated golfers.

Me, I play mostly mid/late morning golf. This is after the initial, early crowd has already tee'd off, and before the twilight bargain hunters have showed up. I usually get 18 holes in under 4 hours pretty easily.

To be honest I never expect a quick, or slow pace of play. What ever the pace is, I just play it as it is. Saves me a lot golfing grief, while enhancing my game.
 
If I dont go out first thing in the AM I prefer to go out at like 2pm.

First thing I expect to hit course pace on a weekend and likely beat it significantly. I do not get upset if we run at least pace.

If I go out at 2pm I also expect to still hit pace although on occasion that doesn't work out. But I also understand that could happen on the weekend.
 
My Navy buddy who got me into golf in New London would always get the earliest tee times he could, and I remember telling him the first time we played a course away from the Sub base that I was really nervous because I was so new.

He gave me the best advice that I still relay to newbies 40 years later.

"Miss em Quick"
 
Writing this as im playing my round. Ive been playing really early as well. Some groups line up as early as 5:45. The first group always finishes in about 2-2.5hours.

Short answer - yes. Early morning regulars play much faster
 
Not really faster. But I sure play happier in the summer. Early tee times are nearly a matter of survival here. That said, knowing the impending heat that is relentlessly approaching does make me feel more aware of potential slow play.
 
The big thing with the first few tee times is that playing through should be much easier as there are open holes in front of you.....unless you catch the mowers.
 
Yes I expect to play faster with an early am tee time, especially on a weekday. To be fair I'd say we have played pretty quickly most mornings. Maybe just not as fast as we would prefer.
 
I normally play early morning. So yes, I would expect the round to be quicker than later in the day. Traditionally this theory has held up fairly well.
This year on the other hand is an anomaly in the fact that more people are playing, and tee times are at a premium, so depending on the day, your mileage may vary .
 
If it’s a course I play regularly yes I tend to expect it to be somewhat quicker, but if it’s not a course that I normally play then no real expectations on pace of play.
 
I think more dedicated golfers try to get out early. The recreational guys are the late morning and golfnow deal people
 
My wife and I go out early and certainly expect to play faster, but it is only as fast as the slowest group. Yesterday we got done in less that 3 1/2 hrs. But it usually takes 4 or more hours. I don't think age or handicap makes a difference. Slow players are slow players We both were single digit handicappers and now we are old and shoot in the mid to high 80s. But we play fast.
 
I would expect to play faster as well. However here in Florida earlier tee times are more busier than later. So as of late I've been playing later in the day which provides for 3.5 to 4 hour rounds.
 
oh yes.. I expect to be around in less than 4hours 95% of the time and around the 4 hour mark the other times.


had a rant to @HipCheck yesterday morning about this haha. Ended up finishing in a decent timeframe, but for like 8 holes there in the middle, I was getting a wee frustrated since a Hurricane was possibly on the way and I was trying to finish before it did haha
 
I think if you're teeing off before 9am I would expect the pace of play to be fairly fast
 
greekelite said:
I think more dedicated golfers try to get out early. The recreational guys are the late morning and golfnow deal people
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You think wrong. The primary reason people go out early is they have other commitments besides golf, so who is really the more dedicated player? the person who needs to finish by 9AM, or the guy who can play all day?

Also I see no reason to point out GolfNow as some inferior players booking method, how else can anyone book a round these days?
 
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You definitely need to be off before 7:30 if you want a quicker round and even that is not a guarantee as you say. Nothing better than being first off!
 
I expect to play faster either early morning or late evening.....sometimes that works, but sometimes there are super slow players out there
 
This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. If you can't play in 3.5 hours as a foursome you have no right to be on the course before 7 a.m.

My course takes dawn patrol pretty seriously and I LOVE IT. If you come off the 9th hole in a 2hr pace you will hear about it.
 
I expect to play faster... also expect to cost more $$$ by a wide margin.

Unless I am out first, there is still a chance that the round is similar to a later afternoon round though.
 
I got a good early round of golf story from a few years back. On family vacation with friends, my buddy's wife insisted we be done in time for "family" stuff so I consented to as early a tee time as we could get. We thought we were first off but a couple old guys squeezed out ahead of us, in separate carts and they guaranteed the wouldn't hold us up. My buddy is notoriously wild off the tee and there's no talking him into hitting less than driver even with a row of condo's lined up down the right in his slicing zone. As soon as the old guys get out of range on #1 he steps up and unleashes a giant slice that luckily catches a tree before getting to the condo's. I bunted one down the middle and did the same thing again on my 2nd shot.

We find his where it dropped out of the trees off the right side of the rough. Why not take the 2nd wildest club in the bag and try to hit it a long ways again. This time he sliced his 3 or 5 wood and there were no trees protecting the condo's. He sort of lucked out again because he hit onto the roof and it bounced back into the yard. So he missed windows, patio doors, the people sitting on the patio of the condo next to the one he hit... like I said lucky.

Well the old guys indeed left us behind but the here's were the really funny part of the story comes in... We are on the 3rd hole, a par 3 with a tee box high up on top of the hill over looking the rest of the front 9. The 5th hole fairway is to the left of the tee box and the there is a pond with a culvert between the fairway and the #5 green. Just as I am teeing up (up 2 already, of course) we hear a pretty good crash ,grind, "Oh shXX" from down below. One of the old guys was off the paved cart path and has missed the end of the culvert pipe and laid the golf cart over halfway into the pond. He climbs out soaked and seemingly ok. My buddy and I just shake our heads as they load the clubs from the wrecked cart into the 2nd cart and continued to play... we definitely have pictures somewhere... and we never did catch up with the guys.
 
Not at my course. It's booked up in the morning and usually much more spread out to empty in the afternoon. Especially now in the heat of the summer, you can fly through in the early afternoon usually. Late in the evening you could get stuck behind a group but it's usually not to bad. Even in the morning though its rare to have anything over 4 hours.
 
Molten said:
I struggle with how to equitably police this preference to play faster in the morning. For example, If the group in front of me isn’t playing as fast as mine is, it isn’t actually slow play until they are over pace (or prorated over pace) - marrying those two is difficult in my mind.
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see, I'm not a huge fan of time being the standard. I get why it's there as the standard, but I don't like it.

Pace to me is keeping up with in front of you and if you fall behind/have people waiting, let them go.

THis was part of my issue yesterday. I was a single trying to get a round in before the storm, and while the group in front of me was technically on pace per the course, they had like almost 2 holes of emptiness in front of them (found out it was 3 by the time they let me pass). Two older walkers that play often, but no urgency to try and beat the storm. Finally let me pass and I did finish still right around the 4 hour mark.
 
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