Getting really frustrated by the length of rounds.

[radiman]

This is my life right now. Empty course two terrible golfers ahead of me. Been sitting on this bench watching this gabroni for 5 minutes trying to fish his ball out of the water...

 

 

 

That is just wrong on SO many levels. You probably could have just played through without the idiot even noticing. ;)

 

That is a good point. I ended up stuffing my shot on the par 3 17th and tapped in and was on my way to the 18th tee before they even had chance to tee off. We exchanged pleasantries. They seemed like genuinely nice guys. But, they drove off without a thought that I have been waiting on themfor the past 6 holes. But, by then it was the last hole. What was a few more minutes at that point. They did speed up a little on the last hole at least.

 

I was stuck behind another twosome on the front. Thankfully, they were only playing 9. They were playing the tips and definitely shouldn't have been. Took a guy 6 shots to get where my drive eventually ended up on one hole. These guys knew I was behind them. But, they wouldn't even acknowledge me as I walked up to each tee box as they drove away. These guys were younger too. Probably late 20's, early 30's.

 

It is kind of rare for me to experience two groups like this in one round. If I were in a cart, I would have just jumped around homes and avoided them as they were basically the only other groups out there.

[North Butte]

This is my life right now. Empty course two terrible golfers ahead of me. Been sitting on this bench watching this gabroni for 5 minutes trying to fish his ball out of the water...

 

 

 

It was probably his last K-Sig.

[North Butte]

I was walking and playing solo yesterday. Front nine was slow as I was behind the morning stream of threes and fours, all on their final nine. So I’d be turning onto an empty nine and looking forward to not waiting on every shot.

 

Pretty hot day so I wasn’t exactly power-walking the 250yards from 9th green to 10th tee. A couple of “gabroni” (sp?) in a cart over by the clubhouse saw me and drove as fast as they could to cut ahead and arrive at the tee about 5 seconds ahead of me.

 

I stepped aside into the shade and let them do their thing. Big surprise they each hit two tee shots into the woods. Three balls left woods, one ball right woods. For three holes they raced around like crazy, hitting wild shots, for balls and generally hacking all over the place.

 

One guy kept looking over his shoulder at me every five seconds. I’m betting he was having second thoughts about having cut in front of the “walker”. Finally they both missed the third green and just picked up and zoomed off to the fourth tee without chipping and putting.

 

They more or less kept ahead of me the rest of the way and were putting out on 18 when I got to the tee. I was pacing myself in the heat and played that nine in about 90 minutes so it wasn’t like I was pushing them hard pace-wise. They just put too much pressure on themselves cutting in front like that rather than waiting them tee off behind me like the pro shop told them to do.

[wrmiller]

I was getting ready to tee off on the first hole (and the first tee time), when a cart pulled up with a couple of older 'gentlemen' in it. I heard one say something like 'great, we're behind a walker' or something like that. I turned around, smiled, and told them not to worry, as they won't be seeing me again.

 

I was sipping my second coffee on the 19th when they finally came rolling in about 45 minutes after I finished.

 

I walked 18 in 2 hours 20 minutes and wasn't rushing. Old guys ;)

 

Unfortunately, I have not been able to walk the course since returning to the game (I'm an Old Guy too). I'm hoping with the coming fall and lower temps that I can get out and walk 9 from time to time. I play so much better when I walk. :)

[radiman]

This is my life right now. Empty course two terrible golfers ahead of me. Been sitting on this bench watching this gabroni for 5 minutes trying to fish his ball out of the water...

 

 

 

It was probably his last K-Sig.

 

Lol, I had some extras with me if he only would have asked.

[radiman]

I was getting ready to tee off on the first hole (and the first tee time), when a cart pulled up with a couple of older 'gentlemen' in it. I heard one say something like 'great, we're behind a walker' or something like that. I turned around, smiled, and told them not to worry, as they won't be seeing me again.

 

I was sipping my second coffee on the 19th when they finally came rolling in about 45 minutes after I finished.

 

I walked 18 in 2 hours 20 minutes and wasn't rushing. Old guys ;)

 

Unfortunately, I have not been able to walk the course since returning to the game (I'm an Old Guy too). I'm hoping with the coming fall and lower temps that I can get out and walk 9 from time to time. I play so much better when I walk. :)

 

I play better when I walk as well. Two of my regular playing partners, my Dad (75) and a friend of mine who is a brick lawyer (says he works hard enough during the week) both prefer to ride. I have my own issues with some arthritis in my right foot, so some days, walking isn't an option. Push carts have made my life a little easier though.

[chippa13]

I was walking and playing solo yesterday. Front nine was slow as I was behind the morning stream of threes and fours, all on their final nine. So I’d be turning onto an empty nine and looking forward to not waiting on every shot.

 

Pretty hot day so I wasn’t exactly power-walking the 250yards from 9th green to 10th tee. A couple of “gabroni” (sp?) in a cart over by the clubhouse saw me and drove as fast as they could to cut ahead and arrive at the tee about 5 seconds ahead of me.

 

I stepped aside into the shade and let them do their thing. Big surprise they each hit two tee shots into the woods. Three balls left woods, one ball right woods. For three holes they raced around like crazy, hitting wild shots, for balls and generally hacking all over the place.

 

One guy kept looking over his shoulder at me every five seconds. I’m betting he was having second thoughts about having cut in front of the “walker”. Finally they both missed the third green and just picked up and zoomed off to the fourth tee without chipping and putting.

 

They more or less kept ahead of me the rest of the way and were putting out on 18 when I got to the tee. I was pacing myself in the heat and played that nine in about 90 minutes so it wasn’t like I was pushing them hard pace-wise. They just put too much pressure on themselves cutting in front like that rather than waiting them tee off behind me like the pro shop told them to do.

 

I can't stand getting caught behind the "crawling pace but sprint to the next tee" instead of let us thru folks.

[radiman]

I was walking and playing solo yesterday. Front nine was slow as I was behind the morning stream of threes and fours, all on their final nine. So I’d be turning onto an empty nine and looking forward to not waiting on every shot.

 

Pretty hot day so I wasn’t exactly power-walking the 250yards from 9th green to 10th tee. A couple of “gabroni” (sp?) in a cart over by the clubhouse saw me and drove as fast as they could to cut ahead and arrive at the tee about 5 seconds ahead of me.

 

I stepped aside into the shade and let them do their thing. Big surprise they each hit two tee shots into the woods. Three balls left woods, one ball right woods. For three holes they raced around like crazy, hitting wild shots, for balls and generally hacking all over the place.

 

One guy kept looking over his shoulder at me every five seconds. I’m betting he was having second thoughts about having cut in front of the “walker”. Finally they both missed the third green and just picked up and zoomed off to the fourth tee without chipping and putting.

 

They more or less kept ahead of me the rest of the way and were putting out on 18 when I got to the tee. I was pacing myself in the heat and played that nine in about 90 minutes so it wasn’t like I was pushing them hard pace-wise. They just put too much pressure on themselves cutting in front like that rather than waiting them tee off behind me like the pro shop told them to do.

 

I think that's the right spelling :) I typically reserve that little tid bit from my days of a WWE fan for those that really annoy me. I think you chose a good scenario to throw it out there.

[vanillafunk616]

Golfing on the weekend in the summer is like mall shopping on the weekend during the Christmas season. You either have to deal with it or go off hours.

[FourTops]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

[Mikey5e]

We went out (2some) @ 1:00pm yesterday and there were slow groups in front of us. I think it would have been a 6hr round if not for the etiquette-aware groups in front of us that let us play through. 3 groups asked us if we wanted to play through, and we gratefully accepted. After those groups it was pretty much smooth sailing. The round was about 4 hours.

[North Butte]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

 

I play from about 5,700 yards and pick up after 8 strokes (or sometimes fewer, if I'm playing in a group where nothing higher than double bogey counts for the team's score). And yeah, I'm probably as good or better than 70% of weekend golfers.

[Mikey5e]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

 

I play from about 5,700 yards and pick up after 8 strokes (or sometimes fewer, if I'm playing in a group where nothing higher than double bogey counts for the team's score). And yeah, I'm probably as good or better than 70% of weekend golfers.

I play tournament golf where the highest you can card is 9. Lying 8, pick up/move on.

[wrmiller]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

 

I play from about 5,700 yards and pick up after 8 strokes (or sometimes fewer, if I'm playing in a group where nothing higher than double bogey counts for the team's score). And yeah, I'm probably as good or better than 70% of weekend golfers.

 

I typically play from almost 7200 yards, unless I join up with someone who is playing up. I seldom keep score anymore, but will pick up if having an unusually bad hole. Which does happen more often than I like. :)

 

The good news is that I no longer have to play on the weekends, being retired. The bad news is that most of the guys playing during the week are my age or older and none that I've seen play from the back tees. So if I want to play from the back tees I play by myself. If I want some company I move up and leave the driver in the bag.

 

I'm seriously considering putting together a bag with persimmons and FG-17 irons so I can move up and play with the 'old guys'. Could be fun. :D

[FourTops]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

 

I play from about 5,700 yards and pick up after 8 strokes (or sometimes fewer, if I'm playing in a group where nothing higher than double bogey counts for the team's score). And yeah, I'm probably as good or better than 70% of weekend golfers.

 

I typically play from almost 7200 yards, unless I join up with someone who is playing up. I seldom keep score anymore, but will pick up if having an unusually bad hole. Which does happen more often than I like. :)

 

The good news is that I no longer have to play on the weekends, being retired. The bad news is that most of the guys playing during the week are my age or older and none that I've seen play from the back tees. So if I want to play from the back tees I play by myself. If I want some company I move up and leave the driver in the bag.

 

I'm seriously considering putting together a bag with persimmons and FG-17 irons so I can move up and play with the 'old guys'. Could be fun. :D

 

I prefer to play tees where I have a 6 to 7 iron average approach...typically 6500-6900 yard tees, but my home course has elevated greens and a fair amount of forced-carry approach shots to narrow-depth well bunkered greens. Sometimes I play the back tees at 7200 which means I end up hitting 3, 4, 5 hybrids which is good because it keeps my long iron game current. 7400 yards would surely challenge my 2 and 3 hybrids...but that's fine too.

[PIJoe]

An issue we're having locally are the increase in apps for scoring slowing down play. Guys are using their phones to record everything for social media, apps like 18birdies (which is great for yardages) but they are inputting every shot to track where they're playing from, what club, how the damn thing flew, etc- it just takes too long. Thankfully, I can pretty much adjust my schedule to play whenever, so I don't have to play on weekends when the courses are loaded up, and can zip 9 in under 2 hours. That's a fun pace.

[third-times-a-charm]

An issue we're having locally are the increase in apps for scoring slowing down play. Guys are using their phones to record everything for social media, apps like 18birdies (which is great for yardages) but they are inputting every shot to track where they're playing from, what club, how the damn thing flew, etc- it just takes too long. Thankfully, I can pretty much adjust my schedule to play whenever, so I don't have to play on weekends when the courses are loaded up, and can zip 9 in under 2 hours. That's a fun pace.

 

This is something that occurred to me the other day as well. My wife and I use 18 birdies but she inputs the shots after each hole as I am teeing off, so there is no time wasted. We also only do our score + putt count, none of that crazy shot tracking.

 

I just played with a buddy who is REALLY good and shot a 69 that day, but he had all these Arccos sensors in his clubs PLUS he used another app like 18 birdies to track his score a long side it and there were times even with how fast he played that you could tell he was fidgeting with the phone longer than necessary.

[swing thoughts]

Martin Hall and Michael Breed, and some instructors in general, contribute as well. I cringe every time I hear them say "If something doesn't feel right, just back away and start your routine over again." All I can think is: SLOW PLAY!!!

 

WTF? I probably "back away" maybe four or five times a year.

[nix]

My pro says 70% of weekend golfers should be playing 5500 yard courses and picking up after 8 strokes.

 

MORE STABLEFORD!!

[Shifty76]

Martin Hall and Michael Breed, and some instructors in general, contribute as well. I cringe every time I hear them say "If something doesn't feel right, just back away and start your routine over again." All I can think is: SLOW PLAY!!!

 

WTF? I probably "back away" maybe four or five times a year.

 

Geez, sometimes I end up having to back away 4-5 times a round, sometimes even 2-3 times a HOLE.

There are some holes on our course where the mosquitoes are really bad. I'm the kind of guy that will get bit 3-4 times in the 30 seconds it takes me to walk from my car to the clubhouse, no matter how much bug repellent I cover myself with.

 

Anyway, on those "bad" mosquito holes it's not uncommon to have a dozen of the little buggers flying all around your head, in and out of your ears, up your nose etc during your swing.

I'm sorry, but if I'm about to swing and one of those critters zooms up my nose hunting for nose nuggets I'm gonna back away.

Certain times of the year it's damn near unplayable with how bad they get.

[rwc356]

I walked of off the course today when it took 1.5 hours to play 4 holes. Guys I was matched up with were playing from the tips - their best score on a par 3 was a 7!! Walked past the starter (muni course) and they asked what was the problem - told them and they said "Gee, I thought our pace was pretty good today".

 

Just don't have the patience any longer. I'm having tough enough time this year with impact of age and medical issues on my game - then to have slow play issues - really making me think hard about this game - that I've played for over 50 years.

 

Thanks for letting an old guy gripe - now back to the fun topics!

[Yanki01]

push cart players are normally faster players compared to riders (i'm a rider) when i'm out golfing. I've never had issues with a walker slowing the pace. the weekend hacker foursome is another story. by hole #2 - i'm tired of their shenanigans and ready to jump ahead or call the front desk to send a marshal out.

[JDFish]

I agree that generally four walkers are faster than 2 twosomes in carts. It drives me crazy to be behind players in carts that wait on each other on every shot.

 

Our regular foursome walks with pushcarts and plays in about 3:45 on a pretty hilly golf course (a little faster if we're not playing a game and don't' have to putt out every 1-2 footer). Last weekend we had threesome behind us - 2 in a cart and a walker. We kept pace in front of them until we hit the hilly part of the course on the back 9. At the first par 3 I suggested to my group we hit and then let them play through - which was surprising to me to be met with some derision. Ultimately we all agreed, played the hole with them, and they went on ahead. We waited a few minutes for them to hit their 2nd shots before we could tee off (they were playing from the tips), but after that we didn't wait again. Over a beer afterward I mentioned my surprise to my suggestion and asked how they would have felt if they were pushing a foursome and when coming up to a par 3 tee box saw them just walking off without any acknowledgment - they agreed it would not have made them very happy. Just seemed like common sense to me. It cost us 5 minutes, maybe, and made the rest of our round enjoyable because we weren't being rushed and I'm sure they appreciated not waiting on us.

[thug the bunny]

I'm not sure how much creative remembering hyperbole is being expressed here. In 35 yrs of playing I have never experienced the mythical 6+ hr round, and I used to live in the E bay area (SF). It's like when I used to work in DC people would seem to one-up each other with how long it took them to commute a certain distance - "It took me 70 minutes to go 10 miles", "Oh yeah, yesterday it took me 90 minutes to go from arlington to the airport". Or, it is more likely that these rare occurrences are being over-represented due to the theme of the thread.

[North Butte]

I have only once that I can remember played a 5-hour round of golf and that was due to a social commitment keeping me from walking in.

 

But I have quit after 4-1/2 hours with several holes left to play or stopped after a 2-1/2 hour front nine on probably a dozen or more occasions over the years.

 

Not usually a problem because I know what courses that is likely and I don’t go there.

[FourTops]

Martin Hall and Michael Breed, and some instructors in general, contribute as well. I cringe every time I hear them say "If something doesn't feel right, just back away and start your routine over again." All I can think is: SLOW PLAY!!!

 

WTF? I probably "back away" maybe four or five times a year.

 

"If something doesn't feel right, just back away and start your routine over again." The same applies to approaching women at a singles bar.

[SelahVi]

I'm not sure how much creative remembering hyperbole is being expressed here. In 35 yrs of playing I have never experienced the mythical 6+ hr round, and I used to live in the E bay area (SF). It's like when I used to work in DC people would seem to one-up each other with how long it took them to commute a certain distance - "It took me 70 minutes to go 10 miles", "Oh yeah, yesterday it took me 90 minutes to go from arlington to the airport". Or, it is more likely that these rare occurrences are being over-represented due to the theme of the thread.

 

I have never stuck around for a 6 hour round, but I have quit after 3+ hour front nines a couple times and about 4.5 hours for 13 holes. Several Southern California courses will send out fivesomes and push groups off the first tee as fast as they can manage. The 6 hour round, sadly, is a real thing. Rancho San Joaquin in Irvine, CA, Rancho Park in LA, and Mountain Meadows in Pomona are on my no-go list for this reason.

 

[HatsForBats]

I'm not sure how much creative remembering hyperbole is being expressed here. In 35 yrs of playing I have never experienced the mythical 6+ hr round, and I used to live in the E bay area (SF). It's like when I used to work in DC people would seem to one-up each other with how long it took them to commute a certain distance - "It took me 70 minutes to go 10 miles", "Oh yeah, yesterday it took me 90 minutes to go from arlington to the airport". Or, it is more likely that these rare occurrences are being over-represented due to the theme of the thread.

 

It might depend on what courses and times you play. When I was playing only public tracks I had run across the 3-hours for 9 holes and didn't stick around for the back 9. I have also experienced enough rounds close enough to 6 hours to reference them as six hours without much exaggeration. Thankfully it wasn't all that often but they do tend to stick in your memory.

[chippa13]

I'm not sure how much creative remembering hyperbole is being expressed here. In 35 yrs of playing I have never experienced the mythical 6+ hr round, and I used to live in the E bay area (SF). It's like when I used to work in DC people would seem to one-up each other with how long it took them to commute a certain distance - "It took me 70 minutes to go 10 miles", "Oh yeah, yesterday it took me 90 minutes to go from arlington to the airport". Or, it is more likely that these rare occurrences are being over-represented due to the theme of the thread.

 

It might depend on what courses and times you play. When I was playing only public tracks I had run across the 3-hours for 9 holes and didn't stick around for the back 9. I have also experienced enough rounds close enough to 6 hours to reference them as six hours without much exaggeration. Thankfully it wasn't all that often but they do tend to stick in your memory.

 

I also have pulled the chute after a 3 hours 9 a couple of times.

[thug the bunny]

I'm not sure how much creative remembering hyperbole is being expressed here. In 35 yrs of playing I have never experienced the mythical 6+ hr round, and I used to live in the E bay area (SF). It's like when I used to work in DC people would seem to one-up each other with how long it took them to commute a certain distance - "It took me 70 minutes to go 10 miles", "Oh yeah, yesterday it took me 90 minutes to go from arlington to the airport". Or, it is more likely that these rare occurrences are being over-represented due to the theme of the thread.

 

It might depend on what courses and times you play. When I was playing only public tracks I had run across the 3-hours for 9 holes and didn't stick around for the back 9. I have also experienced enough rounds close enough to 6 hours to reference them as six hours without much exaggeration. Thankfully it wasn't all that often but they do tend to stick in your memory.

 

I also have pulled the chute after a 3 hours 9 a couple of times.

 

I have never totally walked off, but many times over 35 yrs I have just sought alternative holes after a 2.5+ hr front 9, so some of those might have turned into 6 hr rounds.

 

But still I'm just saying for the sake of any people new to golf reading this thread that 6 hr rounds are not the norm, nor are they even close to common. I would guesstimate <1%. Realize that a thread like this is going to concentrate or invite higher numbers of accounts of these occurrences and skew your perception of reality out there. (Although people blowing a fuse over a 4hr round are quite common, but again, this is WRX so standards are pretty tough.)