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Playing Through

radiman

radiman

#TheGrandaddy2019
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Ok, the last two rounds I played were when the course was dead (a rarity this season). I jumped on a cart and flew around the course. Ran into quite a few groups and noticed a pretty big variance in how the handled a faster player coming up behind them.

The majority surprised me. They stepped aside on the next tee and waved me through. Great, common courtesy I thought. They weren't slow. I was just hauling *ss behind them. Nice of them to do. Not what I've seen out there very often in the past.

A couple of groups ignored me until I finally pulled up along side of them and asked if they'd mind if I went through. A couple of those times, I got snickers, eye rolls, and a very annoyed, "I guess." I thought, whatever, I won't see them again anyways and just let it roll off.

Today, I saw a first. I came up behind a twosome. They saw me behind them and started jogging between each shot. I'm not sure if they were trying to keep me at bay, or if they didn't want to slow me down. It was like this for 2.5 holes until I drove past them and played the hole they were on later. I figured I did them a favor as it was pretty warm out with little breeze.

Just got me thinking. I've seen people get antsy and do whatever they could to avoid letting someone play through. But, I've never seen people running between shots like that. I'm curious how long they could have kept that up should I have stayed behind them. In the end, my desire to play fast outweighed my curiosities. Is the act of letting a faster group through a lost art? The course was dead, so no reason not to let anyone through.

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Maybe it was cardio day for them.
 
Danimal said:
Maybe it was cardio day for them.
Click to expand...
Lol, they definitely were burning some calories.

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Usually well skilled players know what they are doing, and if there is room ahead they will step aside and let a faster group play thru. They want to do that because it's no fun having a group on your tail.
Beginner players and, or, those who don't understand the game will ignore a group behind them.
But, if there are no open holes ahead, a fast player or fast group has no business expecting to play thru the group (s) ahead.
 
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DG_1234 said:
Usually well skilled players know what they are doing, and if their is room ahead they will step aside and let a faster group play thru. They want to do that because it's no fund having a group on your tail.
Beginner players and, or, those who don't understand the game will ignore a group behind them.
But, if there are no open holes ahead, a fast player or fast group has no business expecting to play thru the group (s) ahead.
Click to expand...

Right, I get that. No reason to expect every group on every hole to let a single through.

I'm thinking back trying to remember when that was hammered into my subconscious. Don't know if it was my Dad who made it a point that I know that you let the faster group through, a pro from years back, or just an unwritten rule everyone knew.

I always thought that it was just something you did, room in front, faster group behind you, you step aside and let them through.



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If I were a single I'd hope to be waved thru, or at least join them for a hole then go through on the next.

If I were in a group and a smaller, better paced group were approaching I'd have no issues with them going through

I don't get why people are so petty or annoyed by doing something simple and helpful for someone

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radiman said:
I always thought that it was just something you did, room in front, faster group behind you, you step aside and let them through.

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Click to expand...

Yes, the primary factor is whether there are open hole (s) ahead.
But proper golf etiquette is becoming more rare, so I no longer expect to see much of it.
Also, it's becoming popular for course operators to adopt a "4:15 pace of play policy". Sadly, some slow player (s) and groups (s) interpret this to mean that as long as they are on pace to be at 4:15 or better they need not let any other group play thru (regardless of how many holes are open ahead of them).
 
greekelite said:
If I were a single I'd hope to be waved thru, or at least join them for a hole then go through on the next.

If I were in a group and a smaller, better paced group were approaching I'd have no issues with them going through

I don't get why people are so petty or annoyed by doing something simple and helpful for someone

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Click to expand...
My eyes were opened last week when I played with our pro. No need to sit and wait. This dude zig zags all over the course. He'll go as far as to hit his tee shot, mark it with a tee, play a different hole, and come back to finish it out. We finished our round on the 4th hole. We drove up to the tee and he fed the group some line about playing an inner club match and we were in a playoff. He smiles, looks at me and says, "you wouldn't believe how many times I've used that line."

As long as I'm not inconveniencing anyone, I'll just drive around and come back later now. Problem is that our back nine winds through a housing development with no easy way to bounce between holes.

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DG_1234 said:
Yes, the primary factor is whether there are open hole (s) ahead.
But proper golf etiquette is becoming more rare, so I no longer expect to see much of it.
Also, it's becoming popular for course operators to adopt a "4:15 pace of play policy". Sadly, some slow player (s) and groups (s) interpret this to mean that as long as they are on pace to be at 4:15 or better they need not let any other group play thru (regardless of how many holes are open ahead of them).
Click to expand...
Yeah, I was having a discussion in the club house after I finished about it being nice to play faster than the typical 4:30. Guy looks at me and says, 4:30 isn't too bad. There are lot of factors at play. Could go on and on about it.

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As a single I always look to join a group rather than play through one.
I also dont even ask or expect to play through unless the course is wide open ahead.

Very rarely does a group catch up to a group I'm playing in, but when it happens we always wave them through at the earliest convenience.
 
I’ll walk sometimes with my kids. I need the exercise and it helps keep the cost down.

No one walks around here and it doesn’t matter if there are 3 open holes in front of them and we are waiting 10 minutes on every tee, we have yet to let a slow group let us through. Which I’m generally fine with, we’ll take the extra time to chip a couple after we hole out, take a few extra putts, etc.

Where that really stinks is when there’s then a group pushing us. Especially with the kids I feel obligated to clear the green ASAP, I don’t want them thinking we’re the cause for it. Generally they’ll see that we’re waiting because there’ll come a hole when they get to the tee before we can even tee off.

But if we’re not in carts, you can’t drive up and ask to play through and generally they’re just quick enough to be off the tee box before we come trudging up.

I’ll usually invite them to join us even if it makes us a 5-6 some and let them know that if they get a chance to play through they’re more than welcome to. I don’t generally let them through us though if they don’t join us, that’ll just cause more waiting for us since we’re not getting through anyways.

We generally play 18 in about 3 hours to 3:15 if we’re not pushed nor held back but we’ll let any quicker group through, especially if we’re walking. They can tee off with us and they’ll be out of our way most likely or very close to it by the time we walk to our ball.

The only time I ever gave anyone any bit of a hard time was when we were stuck behind a slow group, and he was a single in a cart. He didn’t ask to play through, he told us he was playing through and then we had to wait on him. There was an open hole in front of the slow group, he should have just jumped them and went to the open hole. Or asked, I’d have let him play with us on the hole he picked up on, teed off with us on the next, and then wished him good luck getting through. Instead he picked up, teed off in front of us, and we then had to wait on him to play his second in after the pokey group cleared the green. I guess I just didn’t like him not even asking and then making us wait even longer.
 
ArmyGolf said:
As a single I always look to join a group rather than play through one.
I also dont even ask or expect to play through unless the course is wide open ahead.

Very rarely does a group catch up to a group I'm playing in, but when it happens we always wave them through at the earliest convenience.
Click to expand...

id rather join (if less than 4) vs play through as well.
 
Some people just don’t know what to do. I’m sure the twosome was that way. Most of my friends from back home that don’t play much might do that as they don’t want to hold someone up but might not get how to properly let someone play through (ie when to wait at the tee or play until you are actually up and ready to pass). Anyone eye rolling or getting grumpy about it are just miserable.
 
rollin said:
id rather join (if less than 4) vs play through as well.
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I'm not opposed to joining. But, sometimes, it's nice to just get out and get the holes in. Especially when trying to navigate life with kids. If it was a Saturday morning or something, I'd be all for it.

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radiman said:
Yeah, I was having a discussion in the club house after I finished about it being nice to play faster than the typical 4:30. Guy looks at me and says, 4:30 isn't too bad. There are lot of factors at play. Could go on and on about it.

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Click to expand...

Any stated pace of play time or policy is not necessary and causes problems.
Exactly what you wrote earlier is the (sensible and effective) policy golf courses and players have had for 100 years, and here it is in quotes:
" room in front, faster group behind you, you step aside and let them through "
 
radiman said:
My eyes were opened last week when I played with our pro. No need to sit and wait. This dude zig zags all over the course. He'll go as far as to hit his tee shot, mark it with a tee, play a different hole, and come back to finish it out. We finished our round on the 4th hole. We drove up to the tee and he fed the group some line about playing an inner club match and we were in a playoff. He smiles, looks at me and says, "you wouldn't believe how many times I've used that line."

As long as I'm not inconveniencing anyone, I'll just drive around and come back later now. Problem is that our back nine winds through a housing development with no easy way to bounce between holes.

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Click to expand...
Well that's... Different haha

But hey if it works it works

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rollin said:
id rather join (if less than 4) vs play through as well.
Click to expand...

I don't want people joining me and I don't want to join anyone's group but I also don't want to appear to be a jerk in saying no. So I might play faster if I see a twosome coming up on me and the 2 of them are playing faster than I. Or I'll just wait at a tee and wave them through saying something like, "I'm really slow and would be better if I play on my own."

Either way, I don't like playing with strangers so if I'm by myself I'll play slower if I come up on a group in front who is slow. If they are really slow I'll go around them to the next hole if they don't wave me through.
 
People that won’t let u play thru have no regard for their fellow golfers.


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radiman said:
My eyes were opened last week when I played with our pro. No need to sit and wait. This dude zig zags all over the course. He'll go as far as to hit his tee shot, mark it with a tee, play a different hole, and come back to finish it out. We finished our round on the 4th hole. We drove up to the tee and he fed the group some line about playing an inner club match and we were in a playoff. He smiles, looks at me and says, "you wouldn't believe how many times I've used that line."
Click to expand...
Not something I would want to see a course pro doing. Sounds a bit full of himself. I can see jumping ahead and playing but not going all over the place. Poor example to set.
 
I think the reason people don't want to let someone thru or a faster group is because they think it slows them down to much. No they have to wait for the group they just let pass to tee off, then get down the fairway and hit there second shot.. So now they are waiting the 7-8 minutes and feel inconvenienced.
I personally have no problem letting a single thru at all, that being said if I let you thru you better keep that pace that had you catching us and not be slow once past us.
 
I play a fair amount of golf as a single walking and choose my times strategically due to concerns over waiting. Different courses have different cultures. Some courses people will wave you by others will not. I'd typically rather join up rather than pass if it is a smaller group.

Dave
 
I ALWAYS let faster groups through-----IF----there is somewhere for them to go.

I play nearly equally as often in a foursome as I do alone or in twosome.

I'll always offer to let singles or twosomes join if waiting on the group in front----or gladly wave them through if my group is moving slow.

When I am playing solo I prefer to move at about a 2hr pace on weekday afternoons. I'll often call around to identify my best opportunity to do so.

Usually have pretty good luck---but if there are holes open ahead I'll skip and return later if feasible.

I usually don't ask to play through--just skip.

But if and when I do---I make VERY sure the skipped group never has to wait on me.

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Smallville said:
Not something I would want to see a course pro doing. Sounds a bit full of himself. I can see jumping ahead and playing but not going all over the place. Poor example to set.
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Oh, I don't know about that. He gets his weekly game done in a little over an hour and is back in the shop working behind the counter or giving lessons for another few hours before the rest of us get done.

It's a public course. Pretty laid back. He also wears jeans, but that's a whole different discussion.

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If my group is slower, especially walking I prefer the we all tee off and then let the guy tee off and go about his day. By the time we get to the tee balls the wait shouldn't be much at all.
 
ntanygd760 said:
If my group is slower, especially walking I prefer the we all tee off and then let the guy tee off and go about his day. By the time we get to the tee balls the wait shouldn't be much at all.
Click to expand...
That's the way we'll typically do it. We'll tee off, let them tee off, walk down the hole together and part ways.

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