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Slow group in front. What do you do?

I’m fine with when I’m playing as a single. I’ll play a second ball, practice a bunker shot, root for lost balls. Playing in a group I prefer to keep some kind of rhythm.....but I don’t get torqued up, anymore, if we are slowed down
 
I play my home course by myself a lot and I play fast so it's inevitable I'm going to run into groups. Usually, I give them an opportunity 1-2 holes and then I'll start putting the pressure on them. I'll finish up, drive up while they are walking towards the tee box or when they are leaving the tee box or if it's a blind shot, I'll drive up and watch them so they know I'm waiting. I hate the response of "we'd let you go through, but there's a foursome in front of us" yea, and they'll never let me through if I don't get through you jerks! 99% of the time I get the go ahead. :unsure: Only once have I ever lost my cool. I was with 2 other guys and we followed this same 4 some from hole 6 and waited at least 5 min on every hole. On #17 a drivable par4 I said "this is ridiculous" I can't hit them on the fly but I can make them real uncomfortable. I hit a great drive that skipped up onto the green they were standing on and rolled right between them :ROFLMAO: luckily no one was hurt and they just gave me a look but I wouldn't take that chance again.
 
Sean said:
That's irresponsible. What if you miss the green? You could hit one of those players.

If they won't let us play through, I simply accept it. May do some chipping around the tee box, or what have you. There are a lot worse places to be waiting than on a golf course.
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You're right. I should just aim at them. I don't think I've EVER hit what I was aiming for playing this game.
 
Jmk202 said:
Yeah agreed. I included a time to just say I hate the excuse on an empty course "but we finished in 4:00". If the course is empty move along, and respect other players. If they are playing quickly behind you let them through, then take your time. I don't mean to be a curmudgeon, but pace of play can really bother me during a round.
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I don't think "curmudgeon" applies when common sense dictates you're right.
 
I try to get some practice. Golf is fun enjoy the time out there. Definitely 100% against warning shots or putting other players in any type of safety issue.
 
If there is a big gap I ask politely if I can play through. If there is no gap I just play multiple balls and practice.
 
Play Poison on the tee boxes until a marshal comes around!
 
Like the OP said, to me it depends on how many holes are open in front of them. Its not just the time element for me, but trying to retain a tempo during the round, which waiting on every shot can have a negative effect on.

If it really gets bad, I would call the pro shop because there would be a good chance that the whole course would be backed up.
 
Most times when I play through and rush it messes up the rest of the round. Try to find something to talk about besides the next shot.
 
For some reason I hate getting to close to a group ahead so I'll usually hang back and take my time. Give them chances to speed up or get ahead of me. Especially if there's no one behind me.

If I keep catching them usually they'll let me play through which is cool, but I like to give them every opportunity to pick up the pace.
 
OGputtnfool said:
What's that?
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Waiting on the teebox games

www.sporttaco.com

All players start on one side of the tee box and try to hit the tee marker on the opposite side. If you hit the marker, you get to go again. After you hit the first marker, you play back to the other side until you hit the 2nd marker. After that 2nd hit, your ball is "poison" and the object is to hit the other players' balls, eliminating them. Each successful shot (tee markers and then opponents' balls gives you another shot until you miss; each player plays in turn).

The perfect game
 
If one of the two rangers at my course are working that day, I call him and he gets me/us through. If the other is working, I don't bother because he won't say anything (they work on a volunteer basis and get free golf) and I will likely start skipping around holes if possible.
 
pattyboy21 said:

Waiting on the teebox games

www.sporttaco.com

All players start on one side of the tee box and try to hit the tee marker on the opposite side. If you hit the marker, you get to go again. After you hit the first marker, you play back to the other side until you hit the 2nd marker. After that 2nd hit, your ball is "poison" and the object is to hit the other players' balls, eliminating them. Each successful shot (tee markers and then opponents' balls gives you another shot until you miss; each player plays in turn).

The perfect game
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Oh, I know what the game is. I was referring to a "marshal". I think the courses around here don't know what those are and even if they send one out, they're too timid to actually do anything.
 
pattyboy21 said:
All players start on one side of the tee box and try to hit the tee marker on the opposite side. If you hit the marker, you get to go again. After you hit the first marker, you play back to the other side until you hit the 2nd marker. After that 2nd hit, your ball is "poison" and the object is to hit the other players' balls, eliminating them. Each successful shot (tee markers and then opponents' balls gives you another shot until you miss; each player plays in turn).
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We play that all the time. We've always called it "Knockout", but I think I like "Poison" better. Sounds more sinister.
 
So what about the other side of this topic - Ever find yourself in a foursome that is the culprit in the holdup? I had that happen yesterday. Our club just started our summer match play tournament and this foursome was made up of 2 of the matches for the tournament. My regular playing partner was in the other match, so we just combined our matches into one tee time. My match opponent and I, and my buddy in the other match, were all playing what would have been a normal, fairly quick pace. But my buddy's opponent was the exception. He was a super-nice older gentleman who has been a member at the club for decades, but he just didn't seem to grasp pace of play etiquette at all (or he just didn't care). From the very first hole it was clear to everyone that he probably wasn't going to win his match, and he even joked about it before we teed off. So it wasn't like they were locked in mortal combat for the win and every shot mattered. But he would hit a shot deep into the woods past a red stake and then spend forever finding his ball and then lining up and taking 3 strokes to hit the ball back into play. And every putt he took was Sunday final group at the Masters.

I kept watching the groups pile up behind us and the empty distance growing in front of us. We let a couple groups play through, but really we just needed to pick up our pace. For the first time, it was MY OWN group causing me to wait forever before taking each shot. As someone else explained, I too suffer the need for rhythm in order to have a good round. If I wait 5-10 minutes between shots repeatedly, my shots tend to suffer. Yes, it's mental. I know that. But normally it is other groups in front of me causing that slow down. This time I had the added anxiety of knowing I was in the group causing the problem. I'm a pretty courteous person so I hate making people wait. There was actually a point where I thought about texting one of the golf shop guys to come out and tell us to hurry up since my attempts to hurry us up weren't working with this dude.

Anyway, none of that was the reason I lost my match. He just played a lot better than I did. :p
 
lazychicken said:
Anyway, none of that was the reason I lost my match. He just played a lot better than I did.
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Hey, none of us would fault you for using the alibi! :)

Those situations are difficult. I played a round with a few of my kid's HS teammates and a couple of them were very slow to put it mildly. His coach wanted me to "help them along", but without any formal position, I kinda felt out of place. I'd comment once in a while and I can't remember, but I don't think we ever really held anyone up. We were just falling way behind the other team groups ahead of us.

On a normal day, I'll let people play through liberally (it's one of the only liberal policies in my life) as opposed to have them pile up behind me when I'm playing with someone slow.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Hey, none of us would fault you for using the alibi! :)
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To be honest, the ACTUAL excuse I used on the course (very jokingly) had to do with my shoes. I finally had a BOA failure the day before and had to pick up some new shoes right before the match. Seems like a perfect excuse to me! But I'll post about that in another thread.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Grin and bear it? Scream obscenities? One hole open in front, one and a half holes, two holes... when do you do something and what do you do?
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If there are people ahead of them and those people are waiting I don't bother and just wait. In fact, I've only asked once if I can play ahead and they said sure, no problem. Most of the time I catch up to people if I play alone and they wait til i get near and ask if i'd like to play through. Dunno if its a Pennsylvania thing and we're just more polite but it happens all the time. There are some times I'll wait because someone i know showed up and is a few holes back so I'll wait for him to catch up and we'll go together.
 
Drumdog said:
I relax and enjoy the round.
I know that anyone can have some holes they fall behind on. Maybe they are new to the game or just having some bad luck.
If it gets downright ridiculous like 2 holes open, I pull out the old iPhone and call the clubhouse.
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This is EXACTLY the proper play...
 
Never an issue for Joe Muni in the greater LA area...every course is packed pretty much everyday...haven’t seen a 4 hour round in three decades...all 5 here...
 
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