4-4.5 window walking 6250 metres up and down is very much normal .lmv
Pace - Preffered and effect on your sanity, enjoyment, and score. +Poll
I usually prefer a 3 hour round that is fast but not sprinting. Enough time to talk and enjoy the playing partners, but playing ready golf. We usually try to get the first tee time so there is no waiting.
4 to 4 1/2 hours is the perfect time....leaning towards 4 hours. I want to enjoy my round and not feel rushed but also don't want to wait each hole.
I'm with @Space Bandito
If I'm playing solo I expect it to be 2-3 hours, as long as the course isn't busy. If I'm with people 3-4 I fully expect it to take 4 hours to complete.
I think my biggest difference is if I am solo I'm pretty quick, but I'm also more quick to just drop instead of searching 5 minutes by myself for a ball. Where as, when I'm with others and we're talking 3 minutes doesn't feel like that long of a time.
Consistent pace is fine, even if was to take 4-5 hours (I know ... I KNOW!) but if it's start and stop and start and stop then even 4 hours can seem like a long time.
If I'm playing solo I expect it to be 2-3 hours, as long as the course isn't busy. If I'm with people 3-4 I fully expect it to take 4 hours to complete.
I think my biggest difference is if I am solo I'm pretty quick, but I'm also more quick to just drop instead of searching 5 minutes by myself for a ball. Where as, when I'm with others and we're talking 3 minutes doesn't feel like that long of a time.
Consistent pace is fine, even if was to take 4-5 hours (I know ... I KNOW!) but if it's start and stop and start and stop then even 4 hours can seem like a long time.
I focus much better when place of play picks up, as long as I don't feel rushed. Rushed pace can bug me. We get these cart riding singles who slow everyone down on a busy day by thinking it is their right to pass every group, who is already stacked up. I'm not a fan of that. Slow can crush my focus and game. Slow behind ding dongs can get under my skin, like yesterday. 
As to timeframes, it all depends on how many are playing and the overall pace of play on the course. If I have wide open course, I can play well at a fast pace. 2-2.5 hours is just fine. But with a foursome and everyone playing shots with focused thought and expedience, a really good time would be 3-3.5 hours, if we didn't have other constraints. On a busy day, I count my lucky stars if we finish in 4 hours.
As to timeframes, it all depends on how many are playing and the overall pace of play on the course. If I have wide open course, I can play well at a fast pace. 2-2.5 hours is just fine. But with a foursome and everyone playing shots with focused thought and expedience, a really good time would be 3-3.5 hours, if we didn't have other constraints. On a busy day, I count my lucky stars if we finish in 4 hours.
As a guy who shoots those scores, I don't mind a little help looking for lost balls. With that said, it's fall golf. Make sure you have a couple dozen balls and take a drop. If you loose a ball, oh well. Don't waste time and hold up a group because "I know it's around here somewhere!" Ok, I agree, it's supposed to be around here and we can't find it quickly, take your drop and let's carry on.
I like to play in the 3-3:30 range. I can play faster by myself while walking, but with a group, once we get to that 4 hour mark, it's starting to get long.
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If the pace is any longer than 4 hours I get distracted & are counting the holes down until we are finished.
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It's quite remarkable how the pace tends to change on the back 9. I figure a lot of players are fatigued, or perhaps drunk. Maybe some grabbed a bite, and fell into a bit of a food coma, which slows them down. I mean, if a group of four slows down 5-20% individually, it can have an enormous effect on pace of play. Now multiply that by 20+ groups on that 9 holes.
SunnyWalker
Well-known member
riding, playing 6000-6300 yards, playing partners somewhere around my ability....3-3.5 hours is very easy to do without rushing at all.
4 hours seems slow to us.....anything longer than that and it turns into a gripe fest
I played a few of those 4.5 hour rounds, including a walkoff that would've been 5+hours, that last couple of years. Pace of pay is one of the biggest contributing factors to me rejoining a private club
4 hours seems slow to us.....anything longer than that and it turns into a gripe fest
I played a few of those 4.5 hour rounds, including a walkoff that would've been 5+hours, that last couple of years. Pace of pay is one of the biggest contributing factors to me rejoining a private club
I voted 3-3.5 hours. I had the entire course to myself (not a figure of speech) today and got around in 3h20m. I was taking plenty of time between holes to post in the live thread though and stopped for about 5-10 min at the turn. If I really tried I probably could have gotten around in 2.5 hours. I don't really like going that fast though. Trying to keep a pace under 3 hours feels very rushed to me.
yep this is me too
Anything slower starts to get in my head & I get annoyed. I don't have patience for slow ass golfers
Anything between 2.5-3.5 hours is great. 4 isn’t bad, but it’s not great.
big thing is how much am I waiting. I’ve played 3:45-4 he rounds but waited on most shots and it felt like hell. Played 4:30 before with no waiting and it was a great day
big thing is how much am I waiting. I’ve played 3:45-4 he rounds but waited on most shots and it felt like hell. Played 4:30 before with no waiting and it was a great day
Prefer 3:00 - 3:30 as a foursome. That's a good pace where we're not waiting but not rushing either. We finished in 3:27 today and it felt slow to me, we were waiting on a few shots and it felt like it was dragging a little bit. Last Friday's round was a death slog at 4:49 - the course was packed with kids and once-a-year hackers, and it felt like we were out there forever.
It really messes with my rhythm if we're standing around waiting forever between shots - it's my fault, I need to be better at it, but my concentration goes away and my game goes away with it.
It really messes with my rhythm if we're standing around waiting forever between shots - it's my fault, I need to be better at it, but my concentration goes away and my game goes away with it.
3:30-4 is perfect for me. I used to play much faster when possible but as I have gotten better and adapted to the inevitability of backed up courses I have started to take my time on the greens a bit more and find myself in the 330-345 range if we’re not waiting on anyone ahead. I’m ok with slower but the 4:15-4:30 range is where i start to get a bit frustrated. 4:30-5 is where I feel people are just being disrespectful to the rest of the course.
Gosh, your 5:30 sounds like one of my holiday rounds. I had all of my wife's family intown and offered to take them golfing at our club together. So our 5-some (allowed and normal at our club) was:
65 years old - 4 HC
72 years old - 10 HC
70 years old - NEW GOLFER
and my wife and I who are 15 and 9 HC respectively.
I honestly felt like I was hearding cats for 4 hours, it was exhausting. From running around helping spot/find balls to talking through club selections/safe misses/ and what the greens do, to encouraging the new golfer and making sure she maintained pace of play while not getting frustrated in a bunker. I'm sure much to @JB concern
I total gave up on any preshot routine for myself and often was less than 5 seconds from approaching my ball to hitting the shot. Not surprisingly I didn't score well. It was exhausting and not a ton of fun. My main objective was to ensure that my wife got to enjoy playing a round with her whole family which has never happened before. That objective was achieved but was NOT my ideal round . We were able to get around in 4:10 but I felt like we were massively hustling. A perfect pace for me depends on where/who I'm playing with, and why I'm playing. I've got NO issues with 2:30 round by myself to just get out of the house and hit some shots, but probably my sweet spot is around 3:30. Its generally a comfortable pace for walking without much or any waiting. If we go over the 4:30 mark my play starts to suffer a bit from staying focused and the round starts to drag out.
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I went with the pace I am okay with which is 3:30-4 as a foursome. Any slower than that it drags way too much. I did play a couple of rounds over the weekend in less than 3:30 including one round as a foursome. Alone or in a twosome with nobody in front of me should be a 3-3:30 max.
+1 for this!
+1 for this! If I can golf alone I can get done in around <3Hrs.
Yup. That’s about my pace in a 4 some that I play with if we aren’t pushed or held up.
I voted 3 - 3.5 hours. At that pace you know you weren't held up at any point, and for the most part the golf was pretty solid. That being said, it really depends on how I'm playing. If I wind up having a great scoring day I'm way more accepting of a slow round.
With my regular group we tee of at 7:00 and are usually in the parking lot by 10:45, 11:00 at the absolute latest. We're all walkers, so a little under 2 hours per nine is a good pace. There are certainly times where that 2 hours feels like an eternity, if one guy is having a bad day and we're constantly looking for wayward shots. That said, not that I'm inconsiderate of the others, but I will usually play my shot and then help the search party. That way, there's one less guy that has to hit, and usually they find it by the time I've hit mine. It's not speed golf, it's "flow".
If I'm away somewhere, maybe we don't know the course that well, it's a little busier etc. I can tolerate 4:30 but if I'm having to wait on every. single. shot. my game will suffer. Even moreso when the group ahead of you is waiting in the fairway 200 yards from the tee with 250 left to the green - I can do that math and you ain't getting home! If you want to wait, that's totally fine as long as it's me on the green that you're waiting for
If I'm away somewhere, maybe we don't know the course that well, it's a little busier etc. I can tolerate 4:30 but if I'm having to wait on every. single. shot. my game will suffer. Even moreso when the group ahead of you is waiting in the fairway 200 yards from the tee with 250 left to the green - I can do that math and you ain't getting home! If you want to wait, that's totally fine as long as it's me on the green that you're waiting for