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How would you speed up the game?

On tour- I don't care about slow play, let them work for a mere 6 hours making 100x what most make, boo-hoo for the guy playing golf for a living having to hang around such a place waiting to play, come sit at my desk for 10 hours. And I like watching golf, so the more the better.

The rest of us- It really comes down to course management for the most part, if a busy course would simply send out rangers more often to help those groups holding people up learn how to get moving I think it would help a lot, often times it's just ignorance and a quick talk fixes the problem.
 
Penalizing point or money on tour is the way to go.

As far as for us, I'm sure many golfers don't realize they are slow, or what makes play slow. Courses could do a better job of educating them, maybe by signage throughout the course with tips for faster play and etiquette. Secondly is simply how courses send groups off. Space them properly and pair up less than foursomes whenever possible, and don't allow groups larger than foursomes unless it is completely dead.
 
I will say this I think if people played more to have fun than to be serious I think speed would automatically be faster. I played a round of golf last year where I shot my PB and the two guys I played with both shot in the 100's. One of the most fun rounds I have ever played and we were not slow. Why? Because if they had a bad hole they picked up the ball and said give me a 7 or an 8. They didn't spend a ton of time looking for balls when hit OB or a bunch of time over putts.
 
For the weekend warriors:

1. courses that use Tour pin placements during busy weekends need to cease that practice. Save it for weekday rounds when more serious golfers are the majority of the players on the course if they feel they need to use them.

2. actual marshalls that aren't afraid to make a group skip a hole if the fall too far behind.

3. I actually really like the idea of banning alignment lines on balls. I just don't see the time advantage in having them, if the line is the only missed on a putt a tap in is left. If it's a speed issue then alignment lines won't help. So the claim that it helps make more putts doesn't really hold up to me vs. the time it takes to line up the ball.

4. READY GOLF- it should be heavily promoted at every level of golf from junior golf to being included with lessons to the clubhouse to the starters and marshalls and all the way to the Tour. It's painfully slow at times.

For the Tour:

1. I have no idea honestly, if the isn't gonna control pace what's the point in racking my brain over it. Obviously they don't think there's a problem as of a couple weeks ago...
 
JB said:
Want to speed up play quickly...

Make alignment lines on golf balls illegal. The amount of time golfers use, marking and getting their line exactly right leads to more slow play than almost anything I come across.
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For most of last season I didn't use the alignment line on the ball while putting, and I honestly don't think it hurt or helped. But it sure was faster.
 
On Tour: 2 strokes instantly if you fail to meet the designated pace once it's your turn. I don't care if it costs Spieth or Tiger the Green Jacket. This works on the local mini tours and it WILL work on Tour.

For the rest of us:
1) Ready golf. No exceptions.
2) Anytime course is CPO have an extra Marshall.
3) Bluntly tell slow golfers they are slow. Yes they will act like you kicked their dog, but by playing slow they are already kicking the dog of everyone behind them. Screw 'em.
4) No marking the ball inside 4 ft. if it's your second putt. Make it a 1 stroke penalty.
5) No white stakes outside of tournament play. Make them Red.
6) All golfers pick up at Double-Par. No exceptions.
 
Increase the size of the hole to about 5”. It would speed up play and put slightly less emphasis on putting.


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I think the amount of time that players take on the green is too long. Need to enforce some kind of time limit on that.
 
Make it legal to fire warning shots at the group in front of you if they don't pick up the pace.
 
I find I play more efficient and quickly
When walking. Since by the time I get to the ball I already know what club I want to play. I’m not saying walking would speed it up but the fact I am not tied to the person I am Sharing a cart with it can speed things up. I don’t have to wait on them and they don’t have to wait on me. I’d like to see smaller single person cart options so all in a 4some can have their own cart with GPS and that can also give you a bit of a nudge that your playing slow. This however comes with a cost to the course, which ultimately will get passed on the to the player, and I don’t think anyone wants to pay more for a round then they already are.

Another way, You could adjust the cost on your rate of play perhaps. Under 4hr rate, over 4hr rate etc. similar to renting an indoor bay. Not sure how you could police that, so people playing behind a slow group don’t get penalized.


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There really aren't many consequences for slow play on golf courses. In tournaments it's a stroke penalty that is rarely handed out. One method is the AJGA method of having checkpoints every 3 holes. They have a window of time that you should be in every time you reach a checkpoint. That may be a little ridiculous for a small municipal golf course with funding (unless people volunteer). Something similar to that nature would do really well.

I think there's one thing that many courses are afraid to do that could ruin business, but would really help pace of play. Prevent repeat offenders of pace of play issues from being able to book tee times. If there is a particular foursome that is constantly being reported for slow play, and is ruining the experience weekly for many golfers, they should be warned and asked to adjust or see consequences.

Another issue is how people are taught to play the game. There's so much technicality involved with reading the conditions for every shot (pre shot routine, green reading, practice swings, picking up grass and testing the wind). Every week people watch the pros get away with it and try to emulate their techniques. They need to lead by example.

It would be interesting to have a stat on the average time it takes players to take a shot on tour. Also, it would be interesting to see if every violation was assessed a penalty, who the real winner of a tournament would be.
 
I'm kidding... kinda.

I know everyone loves their routines. But I think golfers need to practice shortening their routines.

Ready golf needs to be played. I know this gets sketchy in competition due to giving someone the advantage of seeing their opponent's approach shot, but is what it is. In competition, if someone has to play out of turn due to a slow person, that slow person should be incurring a penalty.

Greens... People take WAY too long. All of your looks and measuring should be done before the first person putts out. I don't know how many times I've seen someone stand on the side doing nothing while the first person reads their putt, then proceed to walk it down from all 4 sides before setting their ball down when it's their turn. Not acceptable.

I have a couple guys in my regular Saturday group that used to be snail pace slow, and never even thought about it. They're creatures of habit, so changing their pre-shot routine at their age isn't really going to happen. But I did get them to start reading their putts as soon as they get to the green instead of when it's their turn to hit. And that alone has shaved almost an hour off of our average round times.
 
dhartmann34 said:
1. Make OB the same penalty as a water hazard.
2. Allow ice jacking after asking to play through and not being allowed. (I hate when guys don't want to let me and/or my group to play through when we're faster)
3. Fine normal every day players for not keeping place. Credit card on file, and a $$$ amount fined based on how slow you are (Only to the group holding up the course). Although if the rangers did their job, things would be moving just fine I suppose.


This whole topic is maddening though...because as people have mentioned, many courses and obviously the PGA Tour...don't enforce anything...one bit. It's ridiculous.
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I was listening to Hank Haney radio this morning and someone made this suggestion and I loved it. It would definitely cause some urgency for many slow players I would think.
 
the thing is, there are two types of golfers:
1 - plenty of time to play and not in rush to get through 18 holes. There to enjoy the time with friends and generally doesn't matter what yardage or course conditions are. Don't like to be rushed either.
2 - scheduled golf to fit into a certain time. Has priorities to handled after and thus wants to finish 18 in a under 4:30. Prefers to play to a certain yardage and is willing to pay for course conditions. Usually more serious about golf as well. Prefers to play earlier in the day as well.

This is just my experience and I am definitely in the second group of golfers. I wont play after 9:00am unless its a special event or group of people because of how long a round takes. Golf is enjoyable to everyone in their own terms. Unless we can find a way to please both these golfers, there will always be someone complaining about pace of play.
 
Personally I think you need to get certified to play golf. I am talking a 2-3 hours course teaching basics of the game, primarily on etiquette, pace of play with possibly some green reading or instruction involved. Local courses should want to put it on to help newbies get into the game and to not feel as intimidated when they get out on the weekend and the course is busy.

I know they do this in Singapore, and I have seen several of the get golf ready type of programs but I think doing this, introducing new players to instructors (and possibly offering discounted prices on future lessons) as well as getting players comfortable would be a good thing.
 
I agree with a lot of the comments in here. I'll add that at my home course, I would say that at least 80% of the time that there is a group holding up the course, it is a group playing a money game. Now don't get me wrong--I'm all for gambling and there definitely groups that play for money and play at a normal (or even fast) pace. But there are also a lot of people who treat their weekly game as if their mortgage depends on it (maybe it does, who knows). Nobody would even consider playing out of turn because they want to know what's on the line, who they have to beat, etc. And they putt everything out so there are no complaints about gimmies from week to week or if the teams change. The list goes on and on.

This is more of an observation than anything else because I don't have a solution beyond the same suggestions everyone else has chimed in with, and I recognize that it could be unique to my course.
 
The problem arises when people on the course don't ALL play by the same rules.

Group A plays ready golf, putts out instead of marking the ball, doesn't take forever looking for balls, etc. Group B does the complete opposite. Plays by the "rules" for everything, furthest away hits, spends six weeks looking for lost balls, etc. At some point, Group A will inevitably catch up to Group B (which will also not allow the group to play through either because there is no where to go). This occurs throughout the course and creates the back ups.

Until the courses enforce the same rules to everyone then nothing will ever change. People have the right to play however they like because they "paid their money." I've played a number of courses where the sign at the clubhouse says "Play Ready Golf" or something to that effect. Does anyone pay attention to it? Doubtful.

It's golf ... will anything ever change. Highly unlikely.
 
On tour, how about just enforcing the time rules already in place! That would be a start.

On regular courses I think it begins with management. Have even faster guidelines for the first groups out as they can set the pace for the entire day. Don't book tee times so close together; 7-8 minutes is not enough gap for am groups. Pair up singles and twosomes so there is no waiting while those people get to play through; it just backs things up even further. Have more than one marshal monitoring the course and give them authority to even usher people off the course if they don't pick up the pace after two warnings and back them up by being willing to give refunds. Slow the greens down and have someone knowledgeable with the game of golf cut the hole locations. Well struck putts that can't be stopped within a couple of feet of the hole on downhill putts is just ridiculous.

There are lots of causes for slow play but unless someone is following every group and pointing out the causes of their slow play it isn't going to change. Education might help but typically things go in one ear and out the other or people will just agree, nod their heads, then do whatever they want on the course anyway.

We all must recognize that we are amateurs and bad holes can happen. As an example, a group can wait on every shot for 16 holes, have one bad hole themselves, and open the gap between them and the group in front. The overall pace of play was not dictated by that one hole but by the group(s) in front the other 16 so the idea of fining or penalizing groups that don't meet strict time standards isn't really fair.
 
Tour:
Not do Jason Day’s pre-shot routine. Good lord.


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I gave up on this topic long ago. My solution to slow play was to join a private club where 4-hour rounds are the norm at the busiest weekend times. My average round last year was about 3:20 minutes as a foursome and 3 hours or less as a twosome when riding. Public courses and the PGA Tour will never solve the slow play epidemic, IMO.
 
tour: shot clocks. put a volunteer on every hole. volunteer can send an alert that goes to a designated marshall who makes his/her way over to that group, and the group is notified.

recreational golfers: this one is hard. what if i get paired with a really slow person? or a slow threesome? i can't force them to do anything, regardless of how quickly i try to play. but a course doesn't have the resources to send a marshall to follow us and figure out that i'm not the problem.

the few cc's i've played at tend to self-police. word goes around quickly that someone is slow, and the members will just stop playing with them. it's the public courses that i don't know how to fix.
 
1. all OB/hazard is yellow, drop and move on

2. putt out, unless significant interference with other lines

3. yardage devices permitted for full use, slope included
 
Don't suck at golf, if you do suck, suck quickly, and just because you are good at golf doesn't mean you are allowed to be good at a snails pace:alien:
 
seastrunk said:
All I can speak for is my course.

1. Make onesome and twosomes pair up. I do not care of they do not want to be paired. That slows down the day

2. Have the rangers make each foursome keep up with the group ahead. make them speed up or leave the course.

3. If you are learning, that is great, but 7 shots is enough and pick up the ball if people are waiting behind you.

4. Do not take days looking for a ball. If you cannot see it after a few minutes, it is only a ball, move on
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Hard to play golf if you can't abide by the RoG.

CobraX51 said:
1. Ready Golf. I mean unless you made a birdie on the previous hole then it doesn't matter who tees off first. But if the guy who made birdie is on his phone or shuffling thru his bag on which club to hit then someone should just tee off.

2. Walk to your ball if you and your cartner are on opposite sides of the fairway. I bring my rangefinder and 3 clubs to decide what I'll hit. I'll also bring my putter and walk from the fairway to the green. I don't mind walking on occasion if it means we can play a bit quicker.

3. Don't mark your ball on a putt 5-6 feet and closer. Take your time, get your line, and putt it out. No need to mark and walk away then go back to it after two others have already putted. Also some generosity on gimmies of bottom of the putter grip or whatever.

4. Pickup if it's a blow-up hole. Happens to all of us. Nothing wrong with that.
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2 always, 3b if you're playing match play, 3a maybe unless you're gonna trample someone else's line or their ball/marker is in your way.

JB said:
Want to speed up play quickly...

Make alignment lines on golf balls illegal. The amount of time golfers use, marking and getting their line exactly right leads to more slow play than almost anything I come across.
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Just how do you expect to make them illegal?

Lions81 said:
I'd also add that on the busiest days of the week, tell the people that place the pins to not go overboard. No need for tons of hole positions right on ridges etc. More putts = slower round for everybody.
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Yes, this is good. I'm not sure why, but one of the courses I played here several times always liked to tuck pins a couple paces from the edge and one hole in particular, they loved to put it right on the crest of a ridge.

JB said:
One of the biggest issues of slow play is nobody thinks they play slow.
I want to preface this by saying that I dont think anybody does it out of ill will or bad intent, but rather they just have never been told they are slow and when it finally happens, rather than adjust, defense sets in.
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Probably not ill will or bad intent, but likely a sense of entitlement.

mikeg_74 said:
I agree and that’s why if someone is super sensitive to it, as a player I can do more to help offset it.

Now at some point you have to have a chat and say, speed it up we’re holding people up or encourage them to let a ball be lost and drop another.
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A lost ball will many times take longer than searching for a minute more for your original. The walk of shame back to the tee or your previous location is rarely quick.

MWard said:
Turn out of bounds stakes into hazards.

Don't set the tee markers pointing towards trouble, it's only going to encourage a bad swing and lead to people having to search for a ball or reload.

Quit putting the pins in stupid places that will lead to more strokes needed around the greens.
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If this could be done with a local rule, then the OB to LH would be very helpful.

Paladin said:
Offer discounts for faster play. Hit the turn in less than 100 minutes? Get a dog and a brew on the house. Finish your round in less than three and a half hours? 25% off your next round. Take more than four and a quarter hours? Can't take a tee time before 0930 on your next round.
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THIS! I like this idea!
 
ArmyGolf said:
On Tour: 2 strokes instantly if you fail to meet the designated pace once it's your turn. I don't care if it costs Spieth or Tiger the Green Jacket. This works on the local mini tours and it WILL work on Tour.

For the rest of us:
1) Ready golf. No exceptions.
2) Anytime course is CPO have an extra Marshall.
3) Bluntly tell slow golfers they are slow. Yes they will act like you kicked their dog, but by playing slow they are already kicking the dog of everyone behind them. Screw 'em.
4) No marking the ball inside 4 ft. if it's your second putt. Make it a 1 stroke penalty.
5) No white stakes outside of tournament play. Make them Red.
6) All golfers pick up at Double-Par. No exceptions.
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1- Yes, 2-CPO?, 3-Yes, 4- I'd prefer to stick to the RoG., 5- If a local rule has this authority, then that's great., 6-Again, RoG.

kevin81002 said:
Make it legal to fire warning shots at the group in front of you if they don't pick up the pace.
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With what? Your profile says you live in CA!

Phil75070 said:
Slow the greens down and have someone knowledgeable with the game of golf cut the hole locations. Well struck putts that can't be stopped within a couple of feet of the hole on downhill putts is just ridiculous.
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I don't know about this. Fast is definitely better than slow. If 12 is a perfect speed, then I'd much rather play on a green at 14-16 than 8-10.

It's not difficult at all to play fast AND play by the RoG. With liberal application of provisional balls, even a lost ball doesn't add much time to the game. Look for it for 3 minutes (or 5... I'd have to look it up because I think that rule just changed) and if you can't find it, then move on to your provisional.
 
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