Range Finder vs. Pace of Play?

[Mtngolfer1]

I had a chance to play a course I truly enjoy yesterday afternoon. My playing partner and I were paired with another twosome after introductions we prepare to walk to the middle tee box when one of the other guys says "we're playing the tips we want to see the course and get the most out of the round". That's a whole other story in it's self, but let's just say they got their money worth and saw the entire course.

 

Well it's a late Colorado afternoon round and we are playing cart golf. A typical routine 4 hour round took over five hours. It was probably the most pain I have endured on a golf course in recent memory. I will do my best to paint the picture.

 

Player one two balls off the tee, drives cart to his second ball that is in play. Player two stays in the cart and cracks open a beer, rather than take a lateral 20 yards walk over to his ball to prepare for his shot. Player one takes out a range finder takes his yardage walks back to his bag grabs a club walks back to the ball with club in hand addresses the ball, backs off the ball walks back to the cart takes out range finder walks back to the ball ranges the yardages again walks back to bag pulls a new club walks back to the ball addresses ball and hits his shot fat coming up 20 yards short of the green. Ok, now on to player two they drive over to his ball he takes the same range finder, he is not sure how to work it so player one comes over shows him how, player two still not sure how to use it, so player one ranges the distances for player two. Keep in mind player two's ball was directly across maybe 20 yards lateral of player one's ball. They range the yardages and player two walks back to the cart pulls a club walks back to the ball takes his address and after a half dozen practice swings and an equal number of waggles, milking the club to point that would make Sergio cringe, hits a shot that flys the green. My partner and I who decided to play the tips with these young guns just happen to out drive them by 25 yards both hit the green in regulation I two putt for a tap in par he makes a bomb and birdies They walk off with a pair of doubles. Next hole more of the same and by this time it's getting painfully obvious that this is going to be a long day. By hole three my playing partner who has very little patience tells them he is going to save them some batteries and share some local knowledge with them and then goes on to explain that the course has yardage marker stakes at 200, 150 and 100 yards and that the sprinkler heads are also marked with yardages to center of the green and the cart they are in has a pin placement sheet for that day's pin placements on the top of the windshield. So if they take a quick look around they can get a good idea of what clubs to pull and if needed they can then range in for a final club decision, but its not necessary to keep walking back and fourth trying to figure out what club to pull.

 

Well it must have been a gift from his wife because player one was going to make sure he used that range finder on every shot and must be a carpenter by trade because he was going to measure twice and hit once every time. If I would have had a ride home I would have enjoyed a few of player two's beers to make the round more bearable. at the end of the day I was ecstatic to break 90 I was a mental case by the sixth and I had not played the tips at that course in five years or more. My playing partner was livid after the round even though he bested us all and got a steak dinner off of me. Player one and two were in triple digits and went through as player two put it $49.00 of Pro-Vs.

 

It may not sound like it but, my point is not to rag on the scores of Player one or two or wither or not they should have played from the tips. My point is for less experienced golfers to learn and understand what the course has in place to assist you with pace of play. Yardage markers, pin sheets, etc. I use a range finder on occasion typically at a course I don't often play. I love the technology I use one for bow hunting as well. However I do my preparation before I ever range in my final yardages and I make sure to keep with the pace of play.

[duffer987]

Slow players are slow. Take away the range finder and you would have an anecdote of players doing this instead:
- Player one drives to his ball, then looks for a sprinkler head and finds one 10 yards behind his ball, he paces off the yardage, but then player two points to a sprinkler head in front of him, so he goes and paces off to that once too, then player two points at the 150 marker, now player one is getting confused and states that if the ball is at 152 yards according to the marker, 155 yards according to the closer sprinkler head and 149 yards according to the further sprinkler head which one is correct? Oh oh! And don't forget player one (player two tells him), to factor in it's a back pin. Sure but how back is it? 5, 10, 15 yards? Can they really trust the pin sheet. I mean if they are not sure what it is to the middle, what chance the actual pin?! After 11 minutes, player one finally hits his shot and comes up short. Then they drive over to player two's ball...

So they were slow, played the back tees (something you and your playing partner are just as 'guilty' of), and drank beer?
At least they didn't give the strangers they were paired up with a condescending 'knowledge transfer' to save their batteries.

Getting stuck with slow slow players is never fun, but apart from pointing out how you are falling behind the group in front and need to catch back up, telling them you are going to wave the group behind you through, or even calling the marshal out on your own group to be put on the clock so to speak, all you can do is keep playing your game. Playing from your intended tees would have helped.

[magnumpl]

From the story above I would say that its not a range finder... Its the cart issue - walk and there wont be a problem with going back and fourth

[Mtngolfer1]

[quote name='duffer987' timestamp='1440482424' post='12203720']
Slow players are slow. Take away the range finder and you would have an anecdote of players doing this instead:
- Player one drives to his ball, then looks for a sprinkler head and finds one 10 yards behind his ball, he paces off the yardage, but then player two points to a sprinkler head in front of him, so he goes and paces off to that once too, then player two points at the 150 marker, now player one is getting confused and states that if the ball is at 152 yards according to the marker, 155 yards according to the closer sprinkler head and 149 yards according to the further sprinkler head which one is correct? Oh oh! And don't forget player one (player two tells him), to factor in it's a back pin. Sure but how back is it? 5, 10, 15 yards? Can they really trust the pin sheet. I mean if they are not sure what it is to the middle, what chance the actual pin?! After 11 minutes, player one finally hits his shot and comes up short. Then they drive over to player two's ball...

So they were slow, played the back tees (something you and your playing partner are just as 'guilty' of), and drank beer?
At least they didn't give the strangers they were paired up with a condescending 'knowledge transfer' to save their batteries.

Getting stuck with slow slow players is never fun, but apart from pointing out how you are falling behind the group in front and need to catch back up, telling them you are going to wave the group behind you through, or even calling the marshal out on your own group to be put on the clock so to speak, all you can do is keep playing your game. Playing from your intended tees would have helped.
[/quote]

Duff you make some good points based on some assumptions due to limited knowledge of the situation. However I want to make the point that Slow Play is Avoidable and it is the responsibility of all players to protect the course pace of play . At my home club slow pay is fined heavily and the fines are encouraged by the membership to ensure a reasonable pace of play and even then no one is put on warning until after multiple holes exceed 15 minutes per hole on 18 holes that would be a 4 1/2 hour round. I also agree with your point of having a group play through and to that point we had a group on the front and back nine play through to an open hole in front of us after receiving approval and encouragement from us to do so. I also agree with your point of playing the proper tee. We were initially playing up per my request, from the tips this is a 7400 yard par 72 course not the longest by Colorado standards but it stretches my bag, we only dropped back with the intent to keep the pace up. My playing partner shot a 79 from the tips and I feel my 88 was respectable for my current index. My regret is not asking for more strokes when we dropped back it would have possibly saved me buying a steak dinner. I assure you neither myself or my playing partner were directly responsible for the slow play, he even suggested we play up on the back nine and his suggestion was declined. To his credit he is a low single digit handicap who takes the rules of golf seriously, he plays with the highest level of integrity and I know he can be credited for introducing and educating a large number of men and women on the game. On this day through the luck of the draw we were pared with much more casual players. FYI I am not a hater of anyone having a malted beverage, and I never had a issue with player two having a few beers as I said if I would have had a ride home I would have joined him. I mentioned it only due to his timing and his decision when to pop open the first one of the round. Timing would have been better on the ride down from the tee box possibly. On another note, I never said my partner was condescending, but he was deliberate and he did politely educate the two of them on the use of a pin sheet, neither one of them had even noticed it on the cart windshield even after it was initially pointed out by the starter and player two said he hadn't even noticed the sprinkler head markings or the yardage stakes. As I said my point was not to debate what tee box they played from or the score they shot, but if you are a less experienced player learn what the course has in place to assist you with pace of play. Like using the yardage markers, using pin placement sheets. We even have courses here that offer GPS with the green fee use it if it's offered.

I have seen a good number of players leave the game over the years and most often its due to lack of time to play the game due to how long it takes to play. The five to six hour rounds are killers especially for those of us with families. As with these two players allot of players picking up the game are in their early twenties, are single and don't have families or careers so time is often more available to them. If players with more experience and understanding of the game leave these new players to figure it out on their own they will eventually leave the game themselves and likey will be a cause of others leaving the game. So Yes I can trust a pin sheet and I can quickly do the math in my head from a yardage marker to ball location to pull a club. I can go to my ball with an educated guess on what few clubs to grab to take with me. I can limit my search for a lost ball to under five minutes, all the things that it takes to be a courteous golfer and keep the course at a reasonable pace of play. Range finders, GPS and even the phone apps available are awesome tools that can be used to make the game more enjoyable should speed pace of play when the other factors are considered.

[Mtngolfer1]

[quote name='magnumpl' timestamp='1440482852' post='12203732']
From the story above I would say that its not a range finder... Its the cart issue - walk and there wont be a problem with going back and fourth
[/quote]Mag, I love walking when possible. I use a push cart and walk when ever I have a chance, but at times the higher elevation courses here are long, My home course is often a challenge to walk, but I do the majority of the time. The yardage of this course is not bad at 7400 yards, however it is a challenge to walk. It's a beautiful course but it was built for its residential value and the distance between tee and green is a challenge even for the most avid walkers.

[jkc-rva]

I see the problem. If I am sharing a cart or cart path only, I shoot the distance from the cart to get a rough idea, take two or three clubs with me to the ball, shoot again to get the right club and then take my shot. This gets rid of the walk to the ball, shoot the distance, walk back to the cart, get the club, walk back to the ball, hit, then walk back.

Using a laser should never slow you down mid anything it should speed up play since you aren't looking for yardage markers, trying to remember flag colors for pin positions, or doing math to calculate yardages to landmarks.

[golfortennis]

Mods, why was this thread moved? Seems much more appropriate to General Golf Talk where it was intially posted.