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Would you rather.....? Fast/Bad vs Slow/Good

PKorf

PKorf

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There's a fine line between playing too slow and deliberate versus too fast just to rush. When it comes to golf I prefer a quicker pace as long as everyone in the group is OK with that. !!!PLAY READY GOLF!!!! That being said if your group is playing fast and just waiting on every tee or shot the pace is horrible. With all of that said I'd much rather play with a group of "bad golfers" playing poorly but at a quick pace than a group of "good golfers" who are so slow they are holding people up behind us.

Bad+fast = great round usually fun
Good+Slow= torturous round
Bad + Slow= difficult to make it through
Good+Fast= ideal but rare

Would you rather play FAST and at or above your handicap?
Or
Would you rather play SLOW and at or below your handicap?

(Keep in mind this is a casual, typical weekend or after work round)

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I would rather take my chance with the faster round, especially in a casual setting.
 
I will never get this obsession of trying to get round a golf course as fast as you can - I am out there to relax and enjoy myself and there is nothing worse than being rushed

Playing fast and worse than my handicap is certainly not what I would call fun, more like a waste time as there wouldn't be any point as it doesn't achieve anything other than being able to say I was on the golf course

Slow and better than my handicap, acceptable depending on what is considered slow - at my home course, 4 hours walking for a 4-ball is what I would consider a slow pace. If the course is full and there is nowhere to go then you just have to accept it and enjoy the company. If a group in front won't let people through when there is space ahead, that is a different matter

I went out on my own on Saturday at lunchtime and casually walked 14 holes in well under 2 hours whilst Jen played her 9 hole competition. If it hadn't been for all of the 4-balls ahead of me that I eventually caught up to, I would have played a few more although that would have had me heading in the opposite direction to where I wanted to be, but as it was I ended up walking to the 9th green just as Jen and her group got to the tee
 
Always play fast, slow rounds are brutal!
 
TheDoctor said:
I will never get this obsession of trying to get round a golf course as fast as you can - I am out there to relax and enjoy myself and there is nothing worse than being rushed

Playing fast and worse than my handicap is certainly not what I would call fun, more like a waste time as there wouldn't be any point as it doesn't achieve anything other than being able to say I was on the golf course

Slow and better than my handicap, acceptable depending on what is considered slow - at my home course, 4 hours walking for a 4-ball is what I would consider a slow pace. If the course is full and there is nowhere to go then you just have to accept it and enjoy the company. If a group in front won't let people through when there is space ahead, that is a different matter

I went out on my own on Saturday at lunchtime and casually walked 14 holes in well under 2 hours whilst Jen played her 9 hole competition. If it hadn't been for all of the 4-balls ahead of me that I eventually caught up to, I would have played a few more although that would have had me heading in the opposite direction to where I wanted to be, but as it was I ended up walking to the 9th green just as Jen and her group got to the tee
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I think there's a misconception that playing "slow" is going to help a golfer play better. If everyone I. The group is playing at a consistent pace it feels as if your playing faster than you are sometimes. Let's be honest, you can tell when you or someone else is rushing. That's not a good pace either and certainly messes things up. However, I'm not afraid to tell someone in the group that they need to pick it up a bit to keep up the pace ....that doesn't mean rush things along but someone's poor pace of play can drag the entire group down as opposed to vice versa in my opinion. Just some food for thought. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. In just genuinely interested in the collective opinion.

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PKorf said:
I think there's a misconception that playing "slow" is going to help a golfer play better. If everyone I. The group is playing at a consistent pace it feels as if your playing faster than you are sometimes. Let's be honest, you can tell when you or someone else is rushing. That's not a good pace either and certainly messes things up. However, I'm not afraid to tell someone in the group that they need to pick it up a bit to keep up the pace ....that doesn't mean rush things along but someone's poor pace of play can drag the entire group down as opposed to vice versa in my opinion. Just some food for thought. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer here. In just genuinely interested in the collective opinion.

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Keeping up with the pace is different to playing fast in my eyes

I have no problem with asking people to pick up the pace if the group is losing time, but playing fast isn't enjoyable to me. Like I have said before, we will often walk 18 holes in just over 3 hours at my home course without rushing
 
I set the bar low going into a round mentally. I show up expecting 5 hours and golfing in the 80's. Normally I am either faster and or better than that.

I have never played a round that is too fast. If it is really that fast then might as well play 36
 
Pace doesnt bother me as long as my group is keeping up with the group in front and not holding up the group behind me. Sometimes the course traffic will dictate pace rather than the ability of my group. I play ready golf most of the time, but don't rush for the sake of rushing if that makes sense.
 
ntanygd760 said:
I set the bar low going into a round mentally. I show up expecting 5 hours and golfing in the 80's. Normally I am either faster and or better than that.

I have never played a round that is too fast. If it is really that fast then might as well play 36
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Yup yup. I know this about you too.

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I don't ever try to play fast. I'm not trying to see how fast I can get around. I'm out there to enjoy myself. That being said, nothing worse than slow play. I don't mind waiting occasionally, but if I have to wait on every single shot scores will likely go up.
 
mikeg_74 said:
Pace doesnt bother me as long as my group is keeping up with the group in front and not holding up the group behind me. Sometimes the course traffic will dictate pace rather than the ability of my group. I play ready golf most of the time, but don't rush for the sake of rushing if that makes sense.
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Perfect sense. What if there's no one in front of you....for a number of holes.

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jdtox said:
I don't ever try to play fast. I'm not trying to see how fast I can get around. I'm out there to enjoy myself. That being said, nothing worse than slow play. I don't mind waiting occasionally, but if I have to wait on every single shot scores will likely go up.
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Truth

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I play ready golf and encourage it when I play.

But there is a balance between fast and too fast and not enjoying the round -- I was playing in Rhode Island a few times last month, and the entire time was a rush - get off the hole, get off the tee, get off the green - no time to breathe for most of the round. I had swing issues so wanted to take a few rehearsal swings for feel, but felt like I was holding us up - so I ended up with one quick rehearsal and go. I am accustomed to fast but some talk and time to breathe.
 
PKorf said:
Perfect sense. What if there's no one in front of you....for a number of holes.

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If i'm on pace no need to rush imo. It could be the group in front of me are better golfers and tearing through holes with good golf. The fact that there are holes open in front of me doesn't necessarily mean I am playing slow or holding up the course.
 
Personally, if a round is slow, I don't think that's conducive to scoring well. Let me define slow.

Slow is not a leisurely pace where one is not rushing but when one arrives at your ball you can prepare and hit without waiting on a group in front of you.

To me, slow is when you arrive at a tee and there's a group waiting for a group to clear to tee off and you're going to have to wait for the fairway to clear, the group in front of you to hit, get to their ball, hit and clear the fairway. And, if that's happening, you know it's going to happen on the next hole and the next. That's slow. And that pace makes it real hard to keep your tempo because you're taking a huge break between shots, it's easy to get antsy... And, IMO, that kind of slow doesn't help ones game at all.

The type of slow where you're not rushing between shots but when you get to your ball, do your routine... is the same to me as when you race between your shots. As long as you prep/do your thing the same way over the ball, they are equivalent to me.
 
I'd rather play bad and fast, because there's always a chance that if I'm playing fast I may shoot a decent score. When I have to wait to hit every shot there is a 0% that I'm going to shoot a decent score. Slow play is BRUTAL and frustrating!
 
I think @rambler and @msh134 would affirm this, I really love fast golf. Sunday mornings we play in about 3.5 hours and that's ideal for me. I play better when I play quicker as well. Slow rounds are usually torturous for me and I usually play worse than my handicap . My patience level waiting for groups in front of me is less than superb....especially if I see open holes in front of me, or groups that refuse to let us through. My anxiety goes through the roof. :bulgy-eyes:
 
TheDoctor said:
I will never get this obsession of trying to get round a golf course as fast as you can - I am out there to relax and enjoy myself and there is nothing worse than being rushed

Playing fast and worse than my handicap is certainly not what I would call fun, more like a waste time as there wouldn't be any point as it doesn't achieve anything other than being able to say I was on the golf course

Slow and better than my handicap, acceptable depending on what is considered slow - at my home course, 4 hours walking for a 4-ball is what I would consider a slow pace. If the course is full and there is nowhere to go then you just have to accept it and enjoy the company. If a group in front won't let people through when there is space ahead, that is a different matter

I
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very interesting definition of slow I suspect most people would not consider slow, that is a fairly normal, and on many courses very fast pace. I have seen so many courses post signs along the lines of "We expect you to play this course in 4:15, if you are behind you may be asked to pick up the pace of skip a hole" which of course almost never happens.

As others in this thread state, slow often means a 5 hour round and/or waiting for that group ahead of you with a hole and a half clear in front of them that you are waiting for every.single.shot. Par 3, par 4, par 5, doesn't matter. You get to the tee box and they are well within range of your shortest hitter. And after your tee shot, you are waiting again. And on the next box you are waiting.

Impossible for the casual golfer to get any sort of consistent tempo.
 
If given the option of fast or slow beforehand, I’d always choose fast. Saying that, if playing well and really slow I’m okay with that. Rarely happens though; if waiting long between shots I tend to play poorly.
 
TheDoctor said:
Slow and better than my handicap, acceptable depending on what is considered slow - at my home course, 4 hours walking for a 4-ball is what I would consider a slow pace. If the course is full and there is nowhere to go then you just have to accept it and enjoy the company. If a group in front won't let people through when there is space ahead, that is a different matter
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To piggyback on what Dartweasel said, in the states a foursome playing at 4 hours on a public course would probably be considered fast by most people. I personally don't think that is especially fast at all but that's generally the state of the game here.
 
I hate bad golf so I’d rather play good at a slow pace. I’m just not having fun playing poorly. I know a lot of people don’t mind playing poorly but it’s just not my cup of tee.

My regular group plays well at a good pace.
 
Neither for me. I don't play slow golf with good players or fast golf with bad golfers. Many golfers think fast means finishing in 4 hours or less and IMO, 4 hours is borderline slow. My preferred pace is 3:30 with a foursome of average golfers or a bit faster than that with low index players. Many of our club tournaments go 5-6 hours which is why I have only played in one tournament the last 7 years. 5+ hour rounds are never fun for me unless there is lots of drinking and I prefer not to get drunk on the course.

I plan on playing some tournaments next summer and it will be interesting if I enjoy the slow play enough to sign up for more than a few of them each year.
 
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When I first read the title I was thinking it was going to be about green speeds/conditions.

If I am playing poorly, man I hope that's a fast round because I want to get off the course ASAP. If I am playing well, I still want to keep moving. To be honest, as long as the round is fun, that is the main thing. But miserable rounds both with company and play, are made even worse by making them 5 hours.
 
tequila4kapp said:
To piggyback on what Dartweasel said, in the states a foursome playing at 4 hours on a public course would probably be considered fast by most people. I personally don't think that is especially fast at all but that's generally the state of the game here.
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4 hours is pretty slow on most courses. I just have excepted the fact that a public course on a weekend(and sadly many weekdays) is going to be slow.
 
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