Dealing with slow groups on the golf course

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

I am looking for what you guys think are the best solutions to deal with groups that are behind pace on the golf course. Put yourself in the shoes of the head pro or marshal. Would love to here from those that have experience working as a marshal or a pro at a course and what they did when they had a group or two that was holding up the entire course. Preferably, I'd like to hear solutions that were able to make all parties happy, including the group that was holding everyone up.

 

I should clarify, I'm looking at this from the stand point of a marshal not as a player on what policies you've seen used at golf courses to speed up groups.

[shadymg]

Just experienced this exact thing today. Had a group ahead of us, 5 guys, using nothing but MANY range balls ont he course, driving on the greens, and leaving those said range balls all over the fairways and greens. Called the pro shop about their slow play and driving carts, and the attendant went out and talked to them, but i think it was primarily about the driving on the greens (like, they drove...ACROSS the green. We were pissed).

At the hole 2 green (par 4), and hole 3 was par 3, and these guys were just taking their dear sweet time hacking away range ball after range ball--next 2 holes i could see were wide open.

TL;DR:

I simply went up to them once i was ont he #2 green and asked them if they'd mind if we played through. They said yes, and we didn't see them the rest of the time. 2 groups caught up to us, so clearly these guys knew they were slow or just didn't care. Regardless, we ended up finishing in <4 hours, so everyone was happy.

I hope that helps! I just try to remind myself when i was starting out and how little i knew about golf. Most slow groups like this aren't intentional and I've never had this type of group say no to my group playing through--i'm always NICE about it, not rude like "listen you slow dudes" lol

[MadGolfer76]

If you want to keep everyone happy, you send the cart girl up with a couple drinks courtesy of "the guys waiting behind you." If you don't want to spend the cash, you ask them kindly to play through, and if they decline you call the marshall over, or call the proshop if there isn't one. Rarely is everyone happy because a growing number of people do not possess situational awareness and given how passive aggressive everyone else is, no one has likely ever told them they are snails.

[billh17]

If you're really bothered by it, ask them to play thru. If they say yes,problem solved. If they say no,go around them. The one thing I will never do is let some ones slow play ruin my day,

No, i will not call the marshall/range rat/so called pro shop/ or any other name they come up with for the guys who are there to get free golf. Most of them are not going to say anything worth while to anyone so why bother? To be honest, I am lucky due to courses around here

seldom being crowded,and i have only had one group refuse a request to play thru. I went thru anyway.

[alpineto]

What I do is just call the club house and they normally send a ranger out to speed them up , they have to be really slow for me to do that .

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

> @alpineto said:

> What I do is just call the club house and they normally send a ranger out to speed them up , they have to be really slow for me to do that .

> @shadymg said:

> Just experienced this exact thing today. Had a group ahead of us, 5 guys, using nothing but MANY range balls ont he course, driving on the greens, and leaving those said range balls all over the fairways and greens. Called the pro shop about their slow play and driving carts, and the attendant went out and talked to them, but i think it was primarily about the driving on the greens (like, they drove...ACROSS the green. We were pissed).

> At the hole 2 green (par 4), and hole 3 was par 3, and these guys were just taking their dear sweet time hacking away range ball after range ball--next 2 holes i could see were wide open.

> TL;DR:

> I simply went up to them once i was ont he #2 green and asked them if they'd mind if we played through. They said yes, and we didn't see them the rest of the time. 2 groups caught up to us, so clearly these guys knew they were slow or just didn't care. Regardless, we ended up finishing in <4 hours, so everyone was happy.

> I hope that helps! I just try to remind myself when i was starting out and how little i knew about golf. Most slow groups like this aren't intentional and I've never had this type of group say no to my group playing through--i'm always NICE about it, not rude like "listen you slow dudes" lol

 

Thanks for the reply, I'm wondering more what can be done from the pro shop/marshal's stand point. It seems courses just send the marshal out and tell them to pick up the pace, which does absolutely nothing. Then if the marshal asks them to speed up again, the group just complains that the marshal was harassing them all day.

[shadymg]

i've never been anywhere where I've seen a marshall actually do anything. One time a Marshall actually reprimanded my group, even though we had been waiting for several holes!

Just curious, what's typically your approach that you've had trouble with? Or is your point that this should be the marshall's job? A lot of people are afraid of confrontation, but i think it's much less confrontational to ask to pass rather than (what i find many people prefer) which is hitting into the group.

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

> @shadymg said:

> i've never been anywhere where I've seen a marshall actually do anything. One time a Marshall actually reprimanded my group, even though we had been waiting for several holes!

> Just curious, what's typically your approach that you've had trouble with? Or is your point that this should be the marshall's job? A lot of people are afraid of confrontation, but i think it's much less confrontational to ask to pass rather than (what i find many people prefer) which is hitting into the group.

 

I work at a public course. Recently we had a large group out (8 foursomes) on a busy day where we were booked from 7 am - 4 pm. It took them 6 hours to play their round. Multiple groups behind called the golf shop to complain, and two groups even left after 9 holes because of pace. We had the marshal get on them multiple times to pick it up, which is about all we can do and usually does nothing to help. Then they have the audacity to come in to the golf shop after the round to complain about the starter harassing them all day and "ruining their fun." Is there a point where you force a group to either leave altogether or make them skip a couple holes to get back to where they should be? This isn't the first time situations like this have arisen, and I really don't know what the best way to handle them is. I think this should be the marshal's job. Why even have them tracking pace of play if there isn't anything they can do to enforce it? When it gets to the point that people are leaving because of pace, there's a good chance you lost a returning customer.

[shadymg]

oooh, gotcha. So more from the perspective of the Course/Club/Pro shop that has to deal with all the complainers behind them. That's a bad situation, and i'm sorry you have to deal with that crap. So i'm guessing htey weren't newbies, but just taking their dear sweet time? It's just tough on a public course with so many people and everyone feels so entitled. It's the #1 reason i'll never play at Chester Washington here in LA again, after my last 6 hour round. I'm not sure there is a solution unless the starter is willing to have the courage to either hold that group up (or your point, have them skip 2 holes), but then everyone is always afraid of yelp/negative reviews and their name being called out. Not like those of us who play 4 hour rounds will then write online "hey, thanks to so-&-so for enforcing the pace of play and keeping my round at 4 hours". It's a crap situation. Would love to hear what other shops do as well

[DaveMc82]

It’s really tough because most people get overly defensive when approached. The majority of the time they are so consumed with everything but situational awareness that the groups behind don’t even exist in their thoughts. Conversely they are just arrogant who believe everybody must wait for them and however long they choose to take is their right to impose on others.

 

It sounds really awful but groups beer rail back at our course cart when politely informed that they are being observed to cause a slowing of the course. The main reason is that you have a 6’5 guy with a drill sergeant look accompanied by a very pretty 20 something 5’5 young lady. Normally they are told that the next however many groups are playing through them and that if they cause another obstruction they will be told to skip holes. Failure to comply will result in being ejected from the course.

 

The above only works because proof of ID for all players is required before teeing off unless a member and there’s HD cameras recording at 1st tee and onto the 18th green. All buggies are individually GPS tracked and the data can very easily be analysed to see which groups slow others down. With all of this comes a very strong sense of self policing by groups who don’t want to be labelled as problems. Sometimes it takes some hard but fair policies to stop the idiots ruining it for everyone.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Some of the courses I play at have carts with little screens on them. They show each hole, and include distances to the hole from the cart. They also flash up warnings if you are playing too slow, although these come regardless of whether you're actually slow or being held up by previous groups. Anyway, it's one way of letting groups know they are taking their time, and it saves having to send out a ranger, though it is unlikely to solve the sort of issue you outlined.

 

 

 

[BMC]

We ask slow groups nicely to speed up for a hole or two to get back on pace.

We encourage our marshal to help them rake bunkers and forecaddie their tee sheets. We (the golf course) put in some effort to help them speed up. They get the point.

At some point, you may have to ask them to skip a hole.

A lot of golfers don't respect a marshal, if it gets testy, we send out one of the pros, we don't always get respect either.

There's no one right answer for fixing a slow player problem.

Remember, there's 80 players at one time on a full golf course.

It's not always a well orchestrated symphony.

[Hateto3Putt]

Until slow players admit they're slow, nothing will change.

 

Anybody reading this a slow player? (I thought not)

 

For the record, I've never been upset by a marshal doing his job. (the few times I saw it happen)

[Moonlightgrm]

I have been playing golf for 49-years. I have NEVER witnessed effective marshaling on the golf course. I would take any response directed at marshaling with a grain of salt. Marshals are ineffective and a waste of the club’s money.

[om18v]

If you are playing slow and there is no one there to see it, are you playing slow? I did 3 hours yesterday solo with nobody behind me. Is that slow?

[uitar9]

At the muni I play they occasionally book stag groups, 8,12,16...they are always hung over and starting again. The course always advises us of the possibility of a slow day. They usually play quick enough 4:4:30 and are polite enough. With food and bevies , thats a pretty good nut for the course, probably two grand including fees for 16 players.

For the true "stupid slow" the starter usually identifies them on the first hole (often playing off the blacks and not making the forward tees) and the marshals move them up a hole once they are 15 minutes behind.

[BMC]

> @Moonlightgrm said:

> I have been playing golf for 49-years. I have NEVER witnessed effective marshaling on the golf course. I would take any response directed at marshaling with a grain of salt. Marshals are ineffective and a waste of the club’s money.

My experience is different than yours.

It's usually better, more expensive courses that marshal effectively, the ones that need it least. The lower end courses that need it most usually have no marshals.

Personally, I just adjust my pace to the course, A slow round is not a life changing experience for me.

[om18v]

Here is something I don't see mentioned often. Slow play due to the cart girl. I have witnessed minutes wasted with a foursome getting drinks or old guys (and young drunk guys) flirting. If they see the cart girl 2 to 3 times on the course we could potentially be talking over 10 minutes or more. There have been many posts over the years about wasting seconds standing over the ball and then extrapolating that into long combined times over the course of 18 holes. Those minutes add up quicker than seconds. Bring along a bottle of water and get rid of cart girl.

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

> @om18v said:

> Here is something I don't see mentioned often. Slow play due to the cart girl. I have witnessed minutes wasted with a foursome getting drinks or old guys (and young drunk guys) flirting. If they see the cart girl 2 to 3 times on the course we could potentially be talking over 10 minutes or more. There have been many posts over the years about wasting seconds standing over the ball and then extrapolating that into long combined times over the course of 18 holes. Those minutes add up quicker than seconds. Bring along a bottle of water and get rid of cart girl.

 

Good point. There is no doubt a trend between alcohol and slow play. If a group stops every time they see the cart girl, that alone could put them behind pace 15-20 minutes.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

> @om18v said:

> If you are playing slow and there is no one there to see it, are you playing slow? I did 3 hours yesterday solo with nobody behind me. Is that slow?

 

 

If no ones waiting on you then you can take as long as you want to play a round. With a stacked tee sheet however, reasonable pace is usually considered 4 1/2 hours or 15 minutes a hole.

[om18v]

> @Lloyd_Christmas29 said:

> > @om18v said:

> > If you are playing slow and there is no one there to see it, are you playing slow? I did 3 hours yesterday solo with nobody behind me. Is that slow?

>

>

> If no ones waiting on you then you can take as long as you want to play a round. With a stacked tee sheet however, reasonable pace is usually considered 4 1/2 hours or 15 minutes a hole.

 

I have no issue with 4.5 hours. During tourist season, that is almost fast. lol

[Soloman1]

4:15 can be slow on some courses and not slow on others. 10-15 minutes is not a big deal. I would say that one of the biggest causes of slow play is way too many practice swings by the weakest players. Five or six practice swings followed by a 75 yard slice 5-iron to the right trees. Great, let’s do it again.

 

I agree that most marshals have no value. The really slow players are like the 36 handicaps who play from the tips of a 7,500 yard course, thinking that they’re “getting their money’s worth” by doing so.

 

 

[Carl Spackler3]

> @alpineto said:

> What I do is just call the club house and they normally send a ranger out to speed them up , they have to be really slow for me to do that .

 

Exactly the problem, why is the ranger not out already, generally once a course has been slowed it’s effect Is unrecoverable

[Roadking2003]

Slow play is the easiest problem in golf to solve.

 

Give the ranger some authority. If a group is behind pace and has open holes in front, warn them and then return 20 minutes later. If they haven't picked up the pace, tell them to skip a hole.

 

It's a very easy problem to solve. You just have to want to solve it.

[Roadking2003]

> @Soloman1 said:The really slow players are like the 36 handicaps who play from the tips of a 7,500 yard course, thinking that they’re “getting their money’s worth” by doing so.

 

Maybe I've lived a sheltered life, but I have NEVER seen anything like that on a golf course.

 

 

[Hot Rod 71]

In regards to slow play, this is a topic that has been discussed here ad nauseam. Until courses are prepared to penalize groups for being slow, nothing will change. I spent some time as a marshal and I can tell you its a thankless job. For the most part all you get is a bunch of lip from slow groups when you tell them they are behind and need to speed up. Some people will argue vehemently - I've even been physically threaten once or twice. Again, until management is ready to have a marshal's back and punish slow groups, noting will change.

 

I've read about courses that allow a prescribed time for a round of golf and once that allotted time is reached, groups are pulled off the course if they are not done. Those discussing this method stated the course stayed busy and on time because the golfers knew the rules and appreciated their application.

[Bonneville85308]

I like this sign.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

 

> @Bonneville85308 said:

> I like this sign.

>

>

Best sign I've ever seen

[smashdn]

I hit into them. Seriously. Now before some of you legal eagles go crying about safety and what not let me set the stage. We were behind the group behind them for several holes. We rolled up on these guys to see what the issue was. Now that threesome was not exactly keeping it in the short grass and playing quickly. They eventually had had enough of the group in front of them and skipped ahead of them to play the next hole.

 

It was on a short par four that I decided to hit up on that group to get them moving. I picked my spot and let it rip. No golf wrx inflation it was a legit 315 drive though down hill. These guys were looking for a ball (for too long) way to the right of the fairway in the trees. I was piping it pretty darn good so I let roll up on them. They got the hint and started playing faster. Passive aggressive was the move that worked.

 

As far as on the course, for about the third time in a month this is what one course near me does, and it seems to work. There are clocks about every three holes or so. When you roll up on one of these clocks there is a sign that says something to the effect that your starting time should match, or be later than the time on the clock. Every clock you pass has the sign to remind you of pace of play. It doesn't actually do anything to make you play faster but it keeps you cognizant of how fast you are playing and if you are falling behind. You still may have to wait on a group in front of you but the whole round will not take more than four hours if everyone abides by the clocks.

[BermBuster]

I can tell you that when someone hits into me, I speed up. As far as the sign above, Free Golf would be a good one also.