Early morning golf...the right time to bring beginners out?

[Joshnoble01]

Whenever I have played with a new golfer, my daughter or my nieces and nephews I have them play best ball with me. They can hit and run and get their ball if we are waiting for a group in front or if we are not they can hit and then pick up and hit from where I end up.

It's tough to me. I do think there should be classes to teach this and you almost need to have it or hit a couple balls in front of the pro before the first time you play a course. I don't know what the solution is because what is best for golf is growing the sport. But slow play sucks.

 

[Joshnoble01]

But to answer the title, no, morning is not the time for beginner golfers.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

There is no good time and no bad time. Review tee sheet before hand and go when it is the least busy. Also, one of the musts with instructions to newbies....Play quickly. Make your decisions before you stand over your shot and execute. If you play quickly you can play with anyone....

 

[Greg Kulbick]

We're going to test the boundaries tomorrow. Wife wants to golf, I need to use a holiday before FYE and she refuses to go in the afternoon because of the heat. Now, she's played before, but its been a while, and I don't think she's ever been on a busy course. I know it's going to be super fun telling her to pick up her ball and move on. Hopefully it's not too bad tomorrow morning. There's still some times available, so shouldn't be packed. If I don't check in tomorrow, I'll likely have been bludgeoned by the wife and anyone else on the course is afraid to say anything.

 

[rollin]

Sorry folks but tee times should be for anyone that can purchase them. Problematic slow play is not at all only the result of new players. Dont tell me youve not come across good and avid players slow as snails causing pace issues. I mean that happens all the time and even in mornings too. Ive seen it i the am too.
Unfortunately new players only needs to understand (if taught correctly) that they need to pick up whenever necessary in order not to create a time problem. Its the same thing with many amateurs including myself whenever playing real poorly. Spraying balls all over and chunking flopping etc...A real bad day. You simply have to move extra fast in order to make up for your poor play and or when necessary just simply pick up and move on. No difference between that for an avid player having a bad round vs a newbie.

Bottom line here IMO is that slow is slow regardless a new player or an experienced one. There is no difference. Teaching someone the game can be done anytime imo as long as those involved understand how and what to do in order to not be a problem. Such a problem shouldn't take place any time of day. Why should those who can only play prime times be subject to a slow problem any more than an early morning player? Why should a slow problem be pushed only into prime time slots? Why does/would the rest of the primetime golfing population be subject to that while one playing in the morning be entitled not to have it? Neither person should have this placed upon them. The notion that it should be moved from your own time slots and placed in someone else slots is very much one of entitlement imo. The slow play problem or persons should not be causing the issues in any time of day to anyone's golf morning afternoon are evening. . None of us are more entitled to be free of that any more than another of us regardless what time it is.

 

[Silverado]

We need the new players to get off to a good start and enjoy the Game. They are the ones needed to support our courses and the Game once we're gone. That said, the slower set needs to make every attempt to keep pace. And, if possible, call the course before making a tee time and ask when their slack time might be.
Yes, it's difficult to have beginners/slow players on busy weekends. If they or their parents work during the week, that might be the only time it is possible to play. Again, seek out the tee times when the course is the least busy... and keep up!

Our group has the first two tee times blocked out 7 days/week. As a 2, 3, 4, or 5 we will play in a single tee time. 2 or 3 we will play 18 in under 2 hours. As a 4 or 5... in well under 3 hours. "NASCAR" golf. If we have more than five, we split into two groups spread out over those first two times. The course will never put a group out in front of us. Few 2's can keep up with our 4's.

So often, during the week, there is quite a gap between our group(s) and the next tee time. That would be an opportune time to book a tee time. And, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. can be a slow time on the tee sheet. If the course has experienced pro shop staff, a call ahead can benefit both course and players as to when the best time is for beginners.

Most important... The Game needs this COVID gift of an influx of new players. The Game needs the "regulars" who support the courses. Melding both together can be a challenge but needs to happen for the future of the Game.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

I'm ok. We were able to get around in a little under 3:30. We were originally set up with a single, but we let him go off on his own. A guy I know playing by himself caught us on 8 and we let him play through. A couple old guys caught us on 11 and we waited to let them go, too. The wife is pretty good about keeping moving, but barely seeing anyone out there was pretty nice.

 

[Badger_Golfer]

New influx of golfers thanks to Covid. Great for the game, bad for securing tee times, pace of play and maybe the courses as I have seen so many divots and ball marks not being fixed. This morning @Lions81 and I arrived for our 7:30 tee time and was told there was a foursome in front of us which is fine as we were paired with another twosome. We stood there for a solid 10 mins and watched a guy who clearly had never played golf before get a lesson from his buddy on the first tee. At 7:30 AM on a track that isn't really conducive to beginner players. Eventually the starter walked over and told them to get moving and to be fair they did ok after that and eventually on the turn they let our foursome pass which saved us quite a bit of time on the back 9.

As a seasoned golfers we know better than to do such things don't we? I mean muni's are great for beginners as is twilight or afternoon golf? I'm just not sure that would even be fun for the guy who was struggling. Am I just being too get off my lawn?

Early morning was always when I played when I first started out because no one was out and I could hack it around all I wanted and not worry about embarassing myself.
Hey, its better than what I had to put up with today. I played at 10:30am at a local muni and got stuck behind a threesome where the guy was trying to give these 2 ladies lessons. I can understand 7:30 a lot more than I can 10:30.

 

[jdtox]

Had some fun on the course early this morning. Teed off at 7:15 made the turn around 8:40 and thankfully we did. Have no idea what was going on at the course but there were kids everywhere. Carts dropping them off in the middle of the fairways and in one instance on a tee box in front of us...paying customers. The course made no mention of this and had we not played as fast as we did we would have been stuck behind all these kids. I'm all for growing the game but the course should have been closed or something. To put kids out directly in front of a group was completely insane. Here we are one hole behind with the guys in front of us on the tee and 4 girls under 12 just dropped off in front of them. To top it off the girls actually hit before these guys who were on their 17th hole.

 

[Greg Kulbick]

Had some fun on the course early this morning. Teed off at 7:15 made the turn around 8:40 and thankfully we did. Have no idea what was going on at the course but there were kids everywhere. Carts dropping them off in the middle of the fairways and in one instance on a tee box in front of us...paying customers. The course made no mention of this and had we not played as fast as we did we would have been stuck behind all these kids. I'm all for growing the game but the course should have been closed or something. To put kids out directly in front of a group was completely insane. Here we are one hole behind with the guys in front of us on the tee and 4 girls under 12 just dropped off in front of them. To top it off the girls actually hit before these guys who were on their 17th hole.

View attachment 9015151

I probably would have caused the kind of scene you feel a little bad about later.

 

[jdtox]

I probably would have caused the kind of scene you feel a little bad about later.

Its the lack of awareness/etiquette and communication that really irks me. The course and whoever was running that kids event should be ashamed of themselves. I wanted to go inside and say something but decided it wasn't worth it. Not the kids fault AT ALL but the people allowing 12yr olds to roam the course in golf carts or just popping out in the middle of a fairway while we are teeing off who needed talking too. I may not go back to that course for awhile.

 

[xcman04]

I am not in the camp that believes new golfers need to be relegated to bad courses or cheap courses or times that may not work for their schedule. Yet I am in the camp that pace of play is crucial to the sport growth long term.

Couldn't agree more with this. My regular playing buddy and I have recently encountered more beginners during our midweek afternoon rounds, and to their credit they have always let us pass through if pace became an issue. It's certainly a nice change compared to some groups of seasoned golfers we've run into who have no concept of pace of play whatsoever.

Look, I'm not good at golf at all - there are many times where my swing is as bad as someone who has never picked up a club. One thing that I always pay attention to, however, is my pace - if I'm slowing things down for everyone else, I make a concentrated effort to speed things up such as picking up balls, dropping a ball instead of looking for one, etc. I don't ever want to be the reason why my group is being too slow.

 

[Scooby45]

Had some fun on the course early this morning. Teed off at 7:15 made the turn around 8:40 and thankfully we did. Have no idea what was going on at the course but there were kids everywhere. Carts dropping them off in the middle of the fairways and in one instance on a tee box in front of us...paying customers. The course made no mention of this and had we not played as fast as we did we would have been stuck behind all these kids. I'm all for growing the game but the course should have been closed or something. To put kids out directly in front of a group was completely insane. Here we are one hole behind with the guys in front of us on the tee and 4 girls under 12 just dropped off in front of them. To top it off the girls actually hit before these guys who were on their 17th hole.

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wish you hadn't cropped off the course tee box sign