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What Would You Change About Golf???

Mmaynard11

Mmaynard11

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For most of us the game of golf is a passion, a hobby, or a sport. At times we can love the game and at other time hate it. Over the last several critics and supporters have discussed in how to grow the game of golf. Through initiatives to speed up the pace of play, reduce the costs, and ever changing technology.
This got me to start thinking, what would I change about the game of golf...the clubs, the courses, the speed of play or something entirely different???

For me the one thing that stands out and is forefront is the pace of play. For one I think it limits the amount of new individuals that take up the game for various reasons. Time commitment. I have a hard time getting out as much as I would like due to traveling for work, as it's hard to justify being gone all week and then having to go out and spend 4+ hours playing a round of golf.

At the same time I think pace of play is by far and will be the most difficult thing to do about changing the game.

So what would you change???
 
Pace of Play.
 
Pace of play. Easily #1 but hard to enforce or change.

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I foresee pace of play being the most commented answer here.

Any ideas on how pace of play can be changed?
 
Pace of play for me...not sure how.
Maybe have marshalls go around and hit people with a stupid stick if they are slow or playing the wrong tees
 
No doubt pace of play. Second would be to somehow increase people's level of etiquette. It may also help with pace of play.
 
I agree about pace of play and time commitment. For me, when time is an issue I just play 9 holes or hit the range.

I also take issue with pricing sometimes. Courses charge fees based on the course being in optimal condition. To be honest, at times some courses are not in optimal conditions with either bad greens, fairways, etc....but they still continue to charge optimal prices. :bad:
 
Etiquette, it's horrible.
 
Pace of play is the popular choice and I think there are several ways to do it. My choice will be golf etiquette. There are new and experienced golfers alike need some help understanding this aspect to the game.
 
costs, I wish I could afford to play more.
 
Pace of play and cost. More courses need to offer incentives to play there regularly, or a rewards program or something. Around here there's not really any way for a weekend warrior to save any money.
Pace needs to be adjusted down to 3.5 hours as the "standard". And enforced with an iron thumb.
 
I would require all players to take lessons and a course on golf. I would have them learn to play before heading to the course. I'm not talking scratch but th ability to keep the ball in front of them, keep up pace and use proper edict on the course. These three factors to me will speed up play and aid in EVERYONES enjoyment of the game.
 
"this is a recording" Pace of play!!!!
 
ETIQUETTE. And get GOING.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I would require all players to take lessons and a course on golf. I would have them learn to play before heading to the course. I'm not talking scratch but th ability to keep the ball in front of them, keep up pace and use proper edict on the course. These three factors to me will speed up play and aid in EVERYONES enjoyment of the game.
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Do you think that this could possibly drive some away from taking up the game?

Don't get me wrong I do believe these are great ideas and would speed up the play of golf.


One area that frustrates me the most and could speed of pace, is pre-shot routines. A few on my friends and brother in law, will take 5 practice swings before each shot. Drives me nuts.
 
Pace of play and cost.

Pace of play is tough to put a finger on as to how to fix it, but I think a lot of it is just learning how to play ready golf, and being mindful of the golfers in front of you and behind you. Too many people have the mindset of "I paid for this round so I'm going to do whatever I want" and have zero consideration for others.

Costs... it's not so much equipment as it is the cost for rounds sometimes. Equipment can be picked up used or on sale, so that's not so much the barrier as it is the $85+ rounds at some courses. If you don't have a goat track or a course that offers deals around you, it can be prohibitive to play a full round someplace.
 
Pace of play for sure.

I was listening to Hank Haney the other day and a caller was complaining that the Pebble Beach marshals push you around and keep you moving so you don't get the chance to take in the beauty. The caller said that for $500 he should be able to enjoy it more.

Hank of course rebutted by saying something along the lines of "turning it into a 6 hour round so you can enjoy the scenery is not fair to all the other people on the course that expect to play it in 4.5 hours".

Unfortunately for every person like me that prefers to play a 3 hour round, there are several that want to get his or her money's worth and have no consideration of pace of play. It's not just bad players but the single digit guy who insists on marking a 12" putt and re-read the green in a casual round or the guy that doesn't hit a provisional yet loses his ball and insists on driving back to the tee box to hit another one because that's what the pros do.


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russtopher said:
Costs... it's not so much equipment as it is the cost for rounds sometimes. Equipment can be picked up used or on sale, so that's not so much the barrier as it is the $85+ rounds at some courses. If you don't have a goat track or a course that offers deals around you, it can be prohibitive to play a full round someplace.
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That's a tough one to crack. The GM at my home course and I were looking at some old pictures from when the course opened in '97 and it was pristine. The course now is still one of the best in St. Louis but it will never look like '97 again unless the rounds were going for $65+ per round instead of the average $41 the course gets now - it takes a ton of money to keep that course in pristine condition. The issue is that everyone wants lush and green but then a bunch balks at the price per round to keep it that way.


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Agree with the comments on pace of play, but even with some improvement there you're still looking at an average 4-hour round at least. For people who work 40 hours a week or more, have young kids at home, etc., that's a big time commitment. I'm not sure how to define this, but I'd like to see a mental shift away from 18 holes being the "default" golf outing. I know that there are very few courses that don't offer 9-hole rates, but I also feel like so often when you go to play, whether with friends or getting paired up with strangers, there's this expectation that you're going to play a full 18 and some weird sort of shock or disappointment when you can't commit to that timeframe. I know sometimes it's terrible to have to do things that aren't golf-related, but for most of us it's our reality :act-up:
 
i think to grow the game for the masses they need to make the game easier/ more enjoyable. i think if that happens then the pace of play will pickup.

one of my off the wall ideas would be a teared system for beginners make the ball and clubs more forgiving easier to hit balls that fly straighter longer. then novice then pro being how the club and balls are now. this would make people be able to enjoy the game more
 
mmaynard11 said:
Do you think that this could possibly drive some away from taking up the game?

Don't get me wrong I do believe these are great ideas and would speed up the play of golf.


One area that frustrates me the most and could speed of pace, is pre-shot routines. A few on my friends and brother in law, will take 5 practice swings before each shot. Drives me nuts.
Click to expand...

Playing behind players for 5 hours is already driving people away so why not try something that betters people in the long run. I love golf and sometimes I feel like leaving the game because there are so many slow, bad golfers. I'll take bad as long as you keep up. Requiring people to learn before they head out on Saturday makes everyone better.
 
Perhaps, in stroke play, the USGA in its rules should actually state that, under certain circumstances, "ready golf" is the preferred format. Amateurs tend to copy what they see the pros doing. Yesterday, watching the pros I saw several occasions where a player would wait for another to determine how they were going to play around a tree, when they could have just hit their shots.

We need to end the concept that tee use is based on age and gender. Tee use should be strictly based on one's ability to play. There is way too much ego involved in the tee selection.
 
Pace of Play is number one. Also bringing down costs at top notch courses and equipment.
 
Etiquette, pace of play, some (not all) of the costs although honestly golf around me is pretty cheap.
 
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