Avoiding Slow Play on the Course.
This tournament is played in July in Missouri. It is hot and humid and we are playing 36 holes of golf on each of the first two days. That is a LOT and it is tiring enough as it is. It is even worse when an 18-hole round takes 6 hours due to slow play on the course. This has been a big problem in past years and we all need to work on keeping up our pace of play. A 6 hour round in 90+ degree heat gets on your nerves pretty quickly
Most courses expect you to play an 18-hole round in 4 hours and 15 minutes. There is no reason that all of us should not be able to do this.
We've got to speed things along as much as we can, because slow play is something that could threaten some participants' desire to play if it continues to be a problem. Nobody wants to play 5 and 6 hour rounds of golf.
The USGA has started the "While We're Young" initiative to combat slow play. It might be worth a look to give you some things to think about to speed up your game. Also, the following are some guidelines obtained from several sources to help avoid slow play and to help you get your sorry ass into the clubhouse in order to cool off, rest, refresh yourself with food and drink, and be ready for the afternoon round or finish your singles match on Sunday before the heat of the day sets in:
Most courses expect you to play an 18-hole round in 4 hours and 15 minutes. There is no reason that all of us should not be able to do this.
We've got to speed things along as much as we can, because slow play is something that could threaten some participants' desire to play if it continues to be a problem. Nobody wants to play 5 and 6 hour rounds of golf.
The USGA has started the "While We're Young" initiative to combat slow play. It might be worth a look to give you some things to think about to speed up your game. Also, the following are some guidelines obtained from several sources to help avoid slow play and to help you get your sorry ass into the clubhouse in order to cool off, rest, refresh yourself with food and drink, and be ready for the afternoon round or finish your singles match on Sunday before the heat of the day sets in:
- It is not the actual number of swings you take at the ball that slows down the pace of play, it is all the little things you do IN BETWEEN your shots that slow things down. You could shoot a 120 and still play in less than 4 hours and 30 minutes if you don't waste time between shots.
- DO NOT RUSH your shots but keep moving with a purposeful pace. Rushing makes you play worse and slows you down even more. A good rule of thumb is to keep up with the party in front of you if they have the same number in their group as your group.
- Pay attention to the group in front of you (if there is one) instead of the group behind you. If you are keeping up with the group in front of you, what can the group behind you can complain about? If there was a group in front of you of the same number of people, and you can no longer see them after a few holes, something is very wrong with your pace of play.
- Never look for a ball for more than 5 minutes. If 5 minutes have passed, declare it LOST and move on.
- Players should play "ready golf" whenever possible in the fairways and on approach shots to the greens whenever it is safe and it will not be a major violation of golf etiquette. It is fine if everyone is on the green and you want to stick to the "furthest away putts first" rule for strategy/gamesmanship, but otherwise try to be ready to hit your shot as soon as it is your turn.
- KNOW WHEN IT IS YOUR TURN TO HIT AND BE READY TO HIT AT ALL TIMES.
- If you want to tell a joke or a funny story that is somewhat long, do it while you're waiting on the group in front of you or during a wait when it is not a waste of time. Telling your long, super--fucking-funny story on the tee box with nobody in the fairway to hold you up causes the course to back up behind you.
- If you have a pre-shot routine that can be lengthy, begin going through it while the guy you're waiting on is hitting-so long as it is safe, it will not distract him, or it will not be a violation of golf etiquette to do so.
- If a playing partner, opponent, other tournament participants playing behind you, or course marshals ask you to pick up the pace of play then try not to take it personally. It isn't THEIR fault you are playing too slow.
- Try to do little things to speed up play like NOT riding together to one person's ball, waiting for that guy to hit, then riding together to the other guy's ball and having him hit. Ride together to a certain point on the fairway and then have one person walk to his ball while the other player drives on to his ball.
- If one player is not sure where his ball is then he should look for his ball ALONE while his partner hits his own shot first, and THEN helps his partner look for his ball.
- All players in a foursome should watch one another's tee shots whenever possible in order to help mark spots on the course near the location where the ball was last seen. On long holes, help watch second shots as well.
- Each player should use a unique marking on his ball so that there is no question he has located/ is playing his own ball prior to hitting his next shot.
- ALWAYS hit a provisional ball if you have any question at all whether it is out of bounds. There is nothing more time consuming than hitting a shot, looking for it for several minutes, determining it to be out of bounds, and then having to go backward on the hole to hit your next shot from the original location of the shot that went out of bounds. This takes WAY more time than hitting a provisional ball "just in case." If you find the first one, then the provisional doesn't count and you just pick it up. Quick and easy solution with no risk to your score.
- If you leave your partner with the cart to walk to your ball you should always take more than one club with you. Likewise, take an extra ball if you are uncertain that your ball is safe/can be found.
- Pairs should avoid driving to one member of the foursome's ball together in a pack, waiting for him to hit, then the next player's ball together in a pack, waiting for him to hit, etc., etc. all the way to the green. Each player should go directly to his ball and be ready to hit when it is his turn. It should be a rare occasion that the next player is not ready to hit once another player has taken his shot.
- On your way to your ball, be thinking about your next shot before you get there. Don't wait until you arrive at your ball to start the thinking process. The same concept applies as you approach your ball on the green-begin trying to read the break of the green as you walk toward it.
- If using your GPS/laser/smartphone application(s) continually delays play in your foursome and holds up the foursomes behind you, then either use it less often or stop using it entirely.
- While GPS/laser/smartphone apps are nice and all, very few of our golfers are good enough to require one for every shot. Golf was played very successfully for several decades with only the on-course yardage markers. You should be able to hit your shot on the courses we are playing by using traditional course markers when your device can't give you the information you need within 15 seconds.
- Do not stand around for 30-60 seconds before every single shot and wait for your device to "catch up" because it unnecessarily holds up play for everyone. If you do this 40 times (2 or so times per hole), you are wasting 20-40 minutes per round. It is even worse when, between your device, your club selection, and your pre-shot routine, you take 2 minutes to hit your shot and then you proceed to hit a worm-killer and repeat again and again and again from hole to hole to hole.
- If you notice after one or two holes that the course in front of your foursome is wide open, don't be afraid to mention to the guys in your foursome that your pace of play is too slow.
- After you've finished a hole, wait to record your score on the scorecard, put clubs back in your bag, adjust equipment, put on more sunscreen, tell your next super-fucking-hilarious story, etc. until the NEXT TEE instead of doing it near the green your foursome has just finished playing on. You will have plenty of time to do it at the next tee (or later on) instead of holding up the group behind you who is waiting to hit onto the green you just walked off of.
- Do not leave the green and get in your cart and just sit there. Get in and drive away from the hole you just finished as soon as possible. THEN do whatever you need to do so that the group behind you can hit onto the green.
- Never park the cart in front of the green. Always park the cart to the side of the green so that the group behind you can hit as soon as possible. Even better, park the cart in a place that will not result in wasted walking to retrieve the cart after you have finished the hole. If you have to walk back toward the tee to get your cart, you parked it in the wrong place.
- If you want to give swing tips/instruction on the course, don't do it if there is a group behind you waiting to hit. Even better: don't do it at all (unless someone specifically asks you for your advice).
- When waiting on the tee because the group in front of you is in the fairway, ignore etiquette if it means letting the short hitters in your foursome hit if there is a clear understanding that their ball will not reach the group in the fairway.
- When your next shot is a chip or pitch onto the green, take your putter with you as well.
- Avoid a pre-shot routine that has more than 1 or 2 practice swings. 3 to 5 (or more!!!) practice swings are wasteful: they aren't going to do anything more that 1-2 swings will do, other than wear you out as the round goes on. Save all those practice swings for the driving range or practice swings in front of a mirror at home.
- Just because "you paid good money to play golf" doesn't mean you "have the right to take your time, relax, and play at your own pace-even if it IS slow." A 6 hour round sets back the entire course for several hours, YOU are the only person who might be relaxed after that happens-but even you are probably more tired than if you had played in 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Everyone else playing with you or behind you is most definitely frustrated and exhausted after you took 6 hours to play 18 holes.
- Taking 20 minutes per hole=6 hours!!! 15 minutes per hole= 4.5 hours. Keep it at 15 minutes or less per hole!!!
- If you are not waiting on a group in front of you, a Par 3 should take a foursome about 10 minutes at most; a Par 4 should take 13 minutes at most for a foursome to play; and a Par 5 should take 16 minutes at most for a foursome to play . If it takes your foursome longer, the group needs to work together to shorten wait times and/or dead time between shots and from green to the next tee. Even someone who scores an 8 on a Par 4 should be able to finish the hole in less than 15 minutes if they are not wasting time between shots.
- If you find yourself constantly being asked to hit your shot, or constantly saying "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were waiting for me," then you need to do a better job of being ready to hit your shot and a better job of knowing when it IS your turn to hit. Most golfers don't mind being asked if you are unsure when it is your turn to hit. Ask the other members of your foursome if you are unsure.
- Regardless of their handicap, a foursome not being held up by the group in front of them should NEVER take more than 4 1/2 hours to play an 18-hole round. This comes out to an average of 15 minutes per hole, or 4 holes per hour. If you regularly take longer than 4 1/2 hours without a group in front of you that holds you up, you need to examine this list more closely to make sure you are not doing the things listed above.