Tee time intervals; what is too long, what is too short?

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My course alternates tee times 8 minutes and 9 minutes back to back throughout the day. It seems to work, as we don't get too many slow play complaints. I've never seen a course have multiple intervals like that, but I can't complain with the results.

The course we used to work at had 8 minutes during the week and 9 minutes on weekends and since it was a shorter course, it seemed slow, but most rounds took 4:15 or less consistently.

I always thought 10 minutes would be ideal for tee time intervals, but very few courses go that long. I don't remember seeing anything shorter than 8 minutes, but I think that should be bare minimum.

What are the intervals at your course, and do you think they need to be changed?
 
In my opinion 10 minutes is probably optimal. That or wait till the group in front of you is on the green...assuming it’s a par 4
 
My home course has alternating intervals depending on time of day. The first hour or two it is 7 and 8 alternating. Then it goes to 8 and 9. Finally in the afternoon it goes to 9 and 10.

The pace of play expectations are 3:40 in the first hours and then eases to 4 hours.
 
My home course does 9 minute intervals. Our pace of play is right on 4 hours. It rarely takes any longer than that. I should also mention that it is a private club so it's never jam packed.

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Our courses here do 10 minutes. They print out a timeline of when you should be teeing off, which is 14-16 minutes. It struck me as odd.
 
The couple of course I play that require tee times go 10 minutes. I have seen marshalls make people stop and let groups thru but not very often.
 
My course is 7 minutes. That is way too close and we are normally behind on a weekend by noon. 4 bad golfers can easily take that long to get out of range of a group of above average length players. 9-10 minutes seems like a good balance.
 
I think it's 9 minutes at our two county courses and now that I think about it, both of them have blind landing areas on the first hole which is kind of annoying (one has a periscope). I'm not sure if that affects play greatly or not.

Anywhere from 8-10 minutes should work. Less than 8 is going to make a mess of everyone's day and more than 10 will probably cut down on course revenue.
 
Most of the courses around me are 8-10 minutes. I personally would prefer 10, but mainly because it’s a nice “clean” number.
 
my county courses (5 of them) all have 10 min intervals. Where I use to live had 7minutes which is rediculous and a pace problem before you even begin. Its also about 4:10 to 4:20 where I live now and was honestly always well over 5 hrs (often 5.5) where i use to live and from what understand some 15 years later it still is like that. Only difference is 10 min intervals vs 7 mins.
 
something related to this topic and pace.Wmes they all do someihing that I think is wrong to do. What they do (imo to a detriment) is call the next group while the group who already teed off is in the fairway and it is not yet the time to call.

With 10 min intervals imo is done for a reason. It allows just a couple/few minutes of elbow room. If for example the 9 am group got out and off the tees quick and is out in the fairway in just a few minutes, imo thy shouldnt call the next group to the tee and tell them to hit soon as that 9am group is clear. All your doing is putting the 910 group in a hurry up and wait type of atmosphere. Imo your basically creating a wait when thier shouldnt be one and your doing that on the very first tee of the day and your also setting yourself up for pace problems because now the group is going to have to wait on evry shot.

What they really should do is just allow the spare time to expire and this way the design elbow room is not removed and your not waiting on the very first tee box. With a 10 min interval there is nothing wrong with the group ahead being on the green. The elbow room imo is why the times are at 10 minutes and not 7, or 8.

Everyone thinks (and its really a misguided thought process) that they are getting out early and is a good thing. But this does no one any favors and in fact works to hurt pace. I mean what good at all could come from calling a group to the tee before thier scheduled time when the group ahead is still in the fairway? Why have a group stand on the tee and get impatient when its not even thier time yet? and then also be upon that group ahead from that point forward when in reality there was several minutes of time that should have expired before calling the group to the tee. It defeats the whole purpose of the 10 min interval and creates a pace issue when there wasnt one. yet everyone thinks "oh great where starting early and moving well" but that isnt the case at all.

Here is what this does.
It makes you wait on the tee as you watch the group ahead
It makes people begin to question what the group ahead is doing as you watch them
It now places you on thier tails for no reason for every shot rigth from the start
It causes people to complain and they havnt even yet teed off
It creates a pace issue when there wasnt one
I have heard many times people complain on the first tee about a player/group ahead and honstly they really arent even suppose to yet be on the tee. This whole ideology is just rediculous.

All that would be avoidd by just allowing the extra spare time to expire and having the group tee off when they are suppose to. Thats why the times are 10 minutes apart. Your not doing anyone a favor here by calling next when there is built in time that needs to expire. Your just creatng a hurry up and wait poor situation. But no one listens and the starters and the players think its great that they are being called a few minutes early. But really they get on the tee and are already testing patience. And there is no reason for it. Its dumb and counter productuve.
 
I like 9-10 minutes. 9 minutes allows the course to squeeze in an additional 5 groups for the day, but 10s just a solid number everyone will recall when starting.
 
My home course is 10 min. To help though, being three 9s, if things do start backing up they filter folks at the turn to maintain pace of play.
 
My home course is 10 min. To help though, being three 9s, if things do start backing up they filter folks at the turn to maintain pace of play.

what they should do......is filter the problem group/s out into the parking lot
 
When the starter sees that those playing in front of me are out of my range then that's how much time needs to be allowed between tee time starts, however long that takes
 
When the starter sees that those playing in front of me are out of my range then that's how much time needs to be allowed between tee time starts, however long that takes

Not really. yes if the group was slower but not if they were quicker getting off. If your placed soon as its clear even if not quite yet your time, than all your really going to be doing is wait for cearance for every shot following that first one.
 
what they should do......is filter the problem group/s out into the parking lot

Agreed and they have NO issue escorting folks off the course, but in the 5+ years I’ve been a member I can count on one hand how many times slow play has been an issue for me.
 
Alternating 7 and 8 minutes all day. I once played a course North of Chicago that started with a downhill par 4 followed by an uphill par 3 with the tee directly behind the 1st green. The starter would not let a group tee off on 1 until the group ahead started teeing off on 2. Worked extremely well and Marshall’s made sure groups were maintaining the proper spacing so you never waited to hit and were never pushed from behind.


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Not really. yes if the group was slower but not if they were quicker getting off. If your placed soon as its clear even if not quite yet your time, than all your really going to be doing is wait for cearance for every shot following that first one.

That's true, but I usually skip past really slow groups and jump a hole ahead of them. Problem solved.
 
The course I play most is 10 minutes, which is good. I'm not one of these speed golfers who needs to finish a round in 3 hours. Another course I play was 15 minutes and I loved it (gave me time to find me tee shot lol), but it's 10 now. I'll pay for two back-to-back tee times sometimes so I can take my time.
 
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