SLOW PLAY, should you ask to play through?

[MKGolfer]

The most annoying thing in golf... slow play... what should you do?

Slow play is probably the most frustrating and annoying thing in golf. In some low-priced public courses, it's expected, but I'm seeing it more and more at our private club. How do you deal with it, and what has worked?

[ick golfer]

propper golf ettiquette(sp?) is to ask faster players behind you to play through, i believe? its so hard when your playing on a weekend though, and your behind someone slow, because it could very well be someone in front of them or someoneone in front of them, etc etc. last weekend i played with a friend, and it took 5 and a half hours for 18 holes. there was like a 4 group backup ahead of us. from what i heard, there was like 2 and a half holes open in front of the slow group, slow play deffinately sucks

[mcbush25]

Slow play is and will always be a problem. I have never asked if I or my group could play through. Normally I will weigh the situation. As was said above there could very well be another group holding up the one in front of you and if that is the case there isn't much you can do. If you are behind a slow group and you know they are the ones playing slow then I tend to play quick enough to stay on them, but I don't do it in a disrespectful manner. I make sure they are clear before I hit and I try to finish a hole when they are just teeing off that way they might think I am playing faster.

 

No matter what happens you will always have slow play.

[larrybud]

Slow play is probably the most frustrating and annoying thing in golf. In some low-priced public courses, it's expected, but I'm seeing it more and more at our private club. How do you deal with it, and what has worked?

 

Depends on the situation. If the group in front is clearly behind, and they've been given an opportunity to ask you to play through and they haven't, I have been in groups where we've asked.

 

If the entire course is slow, no sense in playing through, and will probably really muck it up for everyone else. In a private club, the pro really needs to take charge and make sure everyone knows the rules and etiquette.

 

 

Just this past weekend there was a situtation in my club. I joined a twosome (father and son) in the middle of the front 9. The 3 of us were walker. There was a 4-some of riders in front of us. Came to the 8th hole and a 2-some of carts caught us. I'm sure the guys I was playing with didn't notice it... The two guys I joined were REALLY slow. The kid would stand over his ball a good 20 seconds. To top it off, he sucked, so there were a lot of time he was standing over his ball.

 

Got to #9 and we hit, then we heard the twosome behind us ask if they could play through (they were playing the tips, a good 50 yards behind us). I said "I don't care, but you have a 4-some right after us". They'd be gone in 2 minutes, I knew. The one guy in my group starts yelling and cursing "f that, just let them wait...". His kid was completely embarassed.

 

Anyway, the two guys hit (BOMB the ball), and the father, still pissed off, is trying to walk to his ball really fast (oh, NOW you move fast??!?!), and he's acting like he's going to hit into them. Whips his FW wood out, throws the head cover on the ground, and is standing there like he's been severely inconvenienced.

 

I thought I was playing with a 5 year old, not a 50 year old.

 

So then, the pro (who was playing in front of us) comes driving back... lost ball. Now there's 3 groups in the spacing of about 60 yards in the FW! So the pro rehits, and the father starts yelling at the twosome we let through to "come on, hit". It was unreal. They yelled back "we can't he just hit". So they finally get to hit, and this jerk hits up on them.

 

There were more words exchanged ahead, but I was too far to hear most of it. What I did catch was the 2-some saying "man, you need to relax". No s***!

 

What was sad is that we BARELY kept pace with the 4-some.

[MKGolfer]

Well said Larrybud,

 

Some people just don't know when to let others play through. I think most of them probably don't know how to effectively do it, and feel offended when faster players come up on them. What they don't realize is that it only takes a few minutes, and they'll never see that group again for the rest of the round.

 

I think some beginner golfers feel that they have a right to play at their own desired pace, even if it means a 5 1/2 hour round. They feel justified because they paid their full green fees, and are calling the shots for their $35. What they don't realize is that they're ruining it for the everyone trailing them. I'm all for enjoying time spent on the golf course, but I just wish slow players would learn the proper etiquette, and abide by the gentlemen's rules of the game. Otherwise, just stay on the driving range with your two jumbo buckets, and have a good time.

 

I can't stand it the most when you follow a group with that one guy that will hold up the group for 10 minutes, and wait for the group ahead to clear the green on a par 5, before dribbling it 40 yards down towards the hold Then they sit there and shake their head in disbelief, while I'm thinking, get back into the cart, and move the heck out of the way. I also can't stand the guys that won't walk 30 yards to their ball, and have to wait to be dropped off on the other side of the fairway.

 

I have no patience for these people, and don't mean to hurry them, but I just want to peacefully finish my round, and get back to my wife and kid. I always feel guilty when I ask to play through, and most of the time, lose concentration because of it. There is nothing worse in all of golf than to be stuck behind a slow group, when you can see there are holes open in front of them, and they just won't let you play through.