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Golf - What's your hurry?

Flooder

Flooder

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I'm just going to say it... what is your damn hurry?! I play close to 100 rounds per year and can count on 1 hand the number of time a round takes longer than 4:15, but I'm being pushed around the course on 25-35 of those rounds. I am SICK OF IT!!!!

Golf is a leisure activity. An 18 hole round of golf for four, on a regulation course, played with any focus/effort at all takes at least 4 hours. Get over it! If you don't have four hours, stay home, play nine, or go to the range. I AM DONE rushing through my round while shooting 75-80 and feeling guilty because you're leaning on your club in the fairway behind me. You played from the senior tees (I played from the tips) and are waiting to hit your pitching wedge onto the green after which you will putt it to within 5 feet, call that a gimme and be standing on the next tee before i can hit my 2nd shot (despite having piped a 280 yard tee shot!). I'M DONE!!!!!!


Just played 18 holes with the wife and two friends. I shot 79, wife 94 and the other two struggled. But we played in 3:40 on a VERY tricky course we'd never seen before. Meanwhile these 4 members were hitting into us and driving up on us all day despite the fact that there was clearly nowhere to go.

I don't know why people want to make golf into Twitter, but it is not 140 characters, it's 4 hours with friends, focusing on your shot/putt/etc., thinking, efforting to do the best you can. I can shoot 85 instead of 78 so you can finish 10 minutes sooner, but I WILL NOT do it any longer. If you don't like it, push me and look out for the stinger 4 iron I hit back at you!!!!!!!
 
I like to play quickly... Usually 4 hours or less. I only push if there are holes open ahead of the group in front of us. If we are playing at a 3 hour pace and there is space, there's no reason to not be let through. If there's no space, then it is what it is and I go with it.

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I have always maintained that speed golfers and slow golfers are equally annoying on the course, but my definition of the two is probably different than the OPs. My Saturday group likes to motor along so we make sure we always have the first or second tee time of the day.

1) If the course is jammed then everyone needs to just fall into the pace it's moving and relax
2) If the course is wide open the group in front needs to let any and all faster groups through immediately
3) There is ZERO reason a round of golf with 4 players should take any longer than 4h on a standard course.
4) A group that tees off on a weekend afternoon or late morning and wants to motor around in 2.5h is either ignorant or stupid.

Just my .02
 
I like to play pretty quickly. If there is space in front of a group holding others up, then I consider it poor etiquette on their part for not waving faster groups through. If no space, then it is what it is and I slow my pace down.
 
I love fast golf, I have a life and golf is but a part of it.

How many people are on the course will always dictate pace for me, but FOR ME, when you hit that 4.5 range it's ridiculous. That said, I average about 2.5 per round, and I love that, hell I can play 36 in the time it takes some to play 18.
 
I'm with Jman, I play fast, I can play 18 in 3 hours, not because I have other crap to do but because I line up my shot, hit it and go..
I have played a lot of slow rounds, tournaments, whatever, I play better when I'm loose and moving.
4.5 hours is like watching people hit it out of bounds, in the water and looking for someone's ball ALL afrenoon..
Jeez I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it.
 
Jman said:
I love fast golf, I have a life and golf is but a part of it.

How many people are on the course will always dictate pace for me, but FOR ME, when you hit that 4.5 range it's ridiculous. That said, I average about 2.5 per round, and I love that, hell I can play 36 in the time it takes some to play 18.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I play my best golf on an empty course that I can skirt through in 90 minutes or so. I have no problem with a 4 hour round on a busy weekend, but 4.5+ is where I begin to get annoyed.

Worst I've ever seen was at Rancho Park (West LA) on a Thursday. We teed off at 10am, and finished after sunset (January, so about 515.)
 
First of all, do you feel better? I feel your frustration. Some of what you said I agree.

I play a lot of golf as a single, so I get paired up with a wide cross-section of the golfing world. Pace of play is an unsolicited topic of conversation more times than I can count. From what players say and how they behave I have come to the conclusion that there are a number of categories of players when it comes to pace of play. Here are a few of the more popular types.

Mr. Needs Another Hobby - This is the type that HAS to talk about the pace of play. He may even start on the first tee. It's just another hobby for him.

Flash the Overcompensator - While not spoken, this golfer lives by the motto "I may not play well, but at least I can play fast." It's how he gets his self-worth.

Grumpy Whose Not a Smurf - Similar to Mr. Needs Another Hobby, except it's not just the pace of the group in front he's complaining about. It's everything they do. Grumpy is known to evaluate their swing, preshot routine, even putting technique from 150-200 yards away.

Mr. If I Have To Stop I Might Not Be Able To Start Again - Some golfers act like if they have to wait on a shot, rigamortis is likely to set in and it's usually NOT a retiree exhibiting this behavior. This guy will pace around, complain, swing the club all kinds of crazy ways.

The I Need a Good Excuse Guy - If this guy has to wait, even for 5 seconds, and flubs the shot it's always because he had to wait. Never mind all the bad shots he hit where he didn't have to wait. O, those are also the fault of the group ahead, because of the time he had to wait on a shot three holes ago.

Now no one wants or should have to suffer through 5+ hour rounds, so I get it, pace of play is a problem. No, I'm poking fun above at behaviors I've seen from many, many 4 hour rounds, including such rounds on a weekend. If you're bent out of shape by a 4 hour round on a weekend, you need therapy!
 
I agree with pretty much everything the OP says apart from the '4 iron stinger I hit back at you' comment

To me, golf is a leisure activity, not a race or trying to get round the course as fast as possible just to say I have played golf, so I want to take my time and enjoy the fresh air and the company if I am playing with friends. Now when I say I take my time, I don't mean I am slow, as we play 18 in around 3-3.5 hours depending on whether the course is busy or not. If it is busy we just fit in with the pace, but even when it is quiet we will still make reasonable progress around the course

I have never done it, but if someone was constantly hitting into us due to the course being busy and slowing everyone down, I would be more likely to just pick their ball up and put it in my pocket - I would never advocate hitting a ball back at someone
 
For me Golf is time I’m not spending with my family. I don’t mind a four hour round, and I don’t mind waiting a group in front of me. So just because I’m waiting doesn’t mean they need to rush. I’ll settle down into a routine and hit multiple shots and goof around with funky stuff. Assuming they’re playing at a reasonable pace I’m not sweating it. If they’re on track for a 5 hour round I’m going to be very frustrated.

Golf is a leisure activity sure. At the same time I’ve got places to be, which is why I typically play 9 holes.
 
If you’re being pushed in 35% of your rounds you’re not playing at the courses pace. Most munis around here look for a 4:00-4:20 pace time. If you’re playing semi- private or private courses it might be less especially if the course has a culture of playing ready golf instead of honors.

And hitting a ball back at someone is a surefire way to make sure your round is well short of 4h.
 
For me being pushed by the group behind is much worse that waiting for the group ahead. Both conditions make me re-examine my course selection and timing. As someone who has taken friendly fire in the head and seen the way it ruined a round and could ruin a life I can’t imagine threatening to do such a thing.
 
If you show up on the weekend expecting to play in less than 4 hours you are a fool.

I think what often happens is a misconception about a slow round. I say that because numerous times I felt like we were waiting all day so it felt slow only to finish the round right around 4 hours.

I'm not in a rush out there but I'm also VERY cognizant of what is in front of/behind me and I do my best to ensure my playing group is being respectful of everyone out there.
 
Golf is more enjoyable when I’m not waiting before every shot. For me playing as a foursome, that means around somewhere in the 3-3:40 range when playing with average golfers. I’m happy to belong to a club where the 4 hour round is the exception and is considered slow. Last Saturday I went out as a twosome first off and we played in 2:10. Over the years I’ve had so many rounds played in under 2.5 hours that it has allowed me to play 36 or more holes in a day several hundred times. That is the real reason I like ready golf, 36 holes per day makes me happy!
 
If someone is going to push me from behind & there isn't anywhere to go, there usually is a "polite" conversation with said group that it won't be tolerated. If it continues, the polite conversation might change into another one more stern & to the point. Then he might get the stinger 2-iron back at him or he might not find that ball that he thought was in the fairway.
After that, then a Marshall might be needed. Oh wait, they don't do anything anyway so what's the point. HA!
 
Ok, so clearly I was venting a little with my OP. :embarrassed: That said, I think pace of play is like driving distance in that there's a lot of really fast internet golfers and a lot of people who drive it 300 yards; neither of which do I hardly ever run into in the real world.

Now, there are a lot of replies here mentioning 4.5 hour rounds which I never said anything about. To reiterate, our foursome played 18 holes on a course we'd never seen with a very tricky set up in 3:45. Anyone who thinks that isn't quick enough is SOL if they're behind me.

My real point though was that 10 or 15 more minutes would have allowed us to play the round comfortably, look around, enjoy the day, etc. I don't believe that's too much to ask. The party most to blame for the round being a cluster was the course operators. Our tee time was 1:23. We were there early and rather than warm up they insisted we go off early, so at 1:16 we tee off. As we're hitting our second shots there's another group on the tee and as we're putting out, there's ANOTHER group on the tee. 3 groups in 8 minutes and all before our actually tee time had even come.
 
Im partial to this post.

I enjoy being out there playing specially if you are on a nice course and with good company. The club im at we have bent grass fairways and rough with a state of the art irrigation system so it stays very nice at all times.

I fully believe the missing link to this "pace of play" talk that keeps getting brought up is straight up playing ready golf and being educated on what ready golf is. Ready golf isn't rushing, its just being ready to go when your up. You can easily shave a half hour to almost an hour in a 4 some if all guys are ready to go when their turn is up. If someone loses a ball, help assist to find it. If you havnt found it in 10 minutes max move on. Your not playing for a US Open trophy. Shouldn't of hit it in the trees or rough anyhow. Try and watch all tee shots from everyone in the group in case one is errant you can assist on line of direction or if it hits a tree you can assist on seeing it down. If one guy is farther than you in the fairway and your not ready to hit tell the guy ahead of you to go ahead and hit. Same as on the greens, if he has his line let him roll the ball while your tracking down your line. Just play ready and communicate!

If one is educated on what ready golf is I bet when you finish a round you will be surprised on how quick you played but still not feel like you were rushed. It just takes care of itself

Now to the comment of a group playing the senior tees and the other playing the tips. Yeah, most likely your going to get hung up and iv been there where that group that played at noon every day from the senior tees is always waiting. I just let them go through and they are gone before we know it.
 
I like playing fast but not rushed golf. My normal group which consists of mostly fellow THP'ers play ready golf and we move along at a pretty good clip unless one of us gets a little crooked. That being said I don't think we should belittle groups that are slower than us but still maintain proper pace of play. I do reach my boiling point when someone in the group ahead of us is sitting in the cart watching his buddy hit THEN walking 5 feet to his ball to hit. Get your yardage, club, and be ready to hit...sheesh.
 
The_Dude said:
I like playing fast but not rushed golf. My normal group which consists of mostly fellow THP'ers play ready golf and we move along at a pretty good clip unless one of us gets a little crooked. That being said I don't think we should belittle groups that are slower than us but still maintain proper pace of play. I do reach my boiling point when someone in the group ahead of us is sitting in the cart watching his buddy hit THEN walking 5 feet to his ball to hit. Get your yardage, club, and be ready to hit...sheesh.
Click to expand...

Yup....again this gets back to ready golf. Be aware of your surroundings and everything else will take care of itself!
 
Flooder said:
Ok, so clearly I was venting a little with my OP. :embarrassed: That said, I think pace of play is like driving distance in that there's a lot of really fast internet golfers and a lot of people who drive it 300 yards; neither of which do I hardly ever run into in the real world.

Now, there are a lot of replies here mentioning 4.5 hour rounds which I never said anything about. To reiterate, our foursome played 18 holes on a course we'd never seen with a very tricky set up in 3:45. Anyone who thinks that isn't quick enough is SOL if they're behind me.

My real point though was that 10 or 15 more minutes would have allowed us to play the round comfortably, look around, enjoy the day, etc. I don't believe that's too much to ask. The party most to blame for the round being a cluster was the course operators. Our tee time was 1:23. We were there early and rather than warm up they insisted we go off early, so at 1:16 we tee off. As we're hitting our second shots there's another group on the tee and as we're putting out, there's ANOTHER group on the tee. 3 groups in 8 minutes and all before our actually tee time had even come.
Click to expand...


This is the exact culprit on most courses. It's all about the top dollar ... put out as many golfers as possible to make as much money as possible. So when they don't stagger the tee times the way they should, it clogs everything up. Some go every 8 minutes, I've even seen some at 6 minutes which is just ridiculous. The better the times are spaced apart, the faster (& more enjoyable) the round becomes.
 
Flooder said:
I'm just going to say it... what is your damn hurry?! I play close to 100 rounds per year and can count on 1 hand the number of time a round takes longer than 4:15, but I'm being pushed around the course on 25-35 of those rounds. I am SICK OF IT!!!!

Golf is a leisure activity. An 18 hole round of golf for four, on a regulation course, played with any focus/effort at all takes at least 4 hours. Get over it! If you don't have four hours, stay home, play nine, or go to the range. I AM DONE rushing through my round while shooting 75-80 and feeling guilty because you're leaning on your club in the fairway behind me. You played from the senior tees (I played from the tips) and are waiting to hit your pitching wedge onto the green after which you will putt it to within 5 feet, call that a gimme and be standing on the next tee before i can hit my 2nd shot (despite having piped a 280 yard tee shot!). I'M DONE!!!!!!


Just played 18 holes with the wife and two friends. I shot 79, wife 94 and the other two struggled. But we played in 3:40 on a VERY tricky course we'd never seen before. Meanwhile these 4 members were hitting into us and driving up on us all day despite the fact that there was clearly nowhere to go.

I don't know why people want to make golf into Twitter, but it is not 140 characters, it's 4 hours with friends, focusing on your shot/putt/etc., thinking, efforting to do the best you can. I can shoot 85 instead of 78 so you can finish 10 minutes sooner, but I WILL NOT do it any longer. If you don't like it, push me and look out for the stinger 4 iron I hit back at you!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
The actual time played isn't as important as whether or not we are keeping up with the group in front of us.

Re your recent round, it appears you were doing that, in which case the members were way out of line (it's never appropriate to hit into people but especially so when you were keeping pace).
 
I’m playing 18 by myself this morning at a place other than my home course. I’m looking forward to just getting out and spending some time away “unplugged” if you will. I’m not going to push the group in front of me. Usually I play 18 in 2:45 or less. But it’ll be good to play a serious medalist style tournament round


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You place on the course is behind the group in front of you. If you fall behind do something about it. If you have an opening in front of you and a faster group is waiting on you let them play through. For someone to take their time and look around causing slow play or not keeping pace they are selfish and not respecting anyone’s time who is playing behind them.
 
I drive fast, walk fast, bike fast, talk fast, and golf fast. It’s who I am. I love playing a round in under 2 hours and am fortunate that I’m able to do that several times a month at my club.
 
I think a lot of people need to finish fast to get home, to work, etc. many don't have much time to play so they push it.

What's funny is I think slow play and fast play are usually found at the same time on a golf course, slow play from congestion causes those ahead to feel rushed to get moving and fix the slow play behind them, you can't win on a busy course.
 
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