What is “ready golf”?

[LCP]

Ready golf is what it sounds like. Be ready to hit, always, and whoever is ready to hit, hits. Distance and honors does not matter.  The only time it matters is when someone is in front of you on your line.  Then the person who is out hits, unless of course the person who is out is nowhere near ready, and then the person who is ready hits.

 

It's our club rule.  If everyone followed it, we'd have no problem playing sub-3.5 hour rounds with every tee time booked on a weekend. And on a course that's not busy, foursomes can play in less than 3 hours doing it.  Speed golf gets down to 2-2.5 hour rounds (as a group).

[Augster]

THIS THREAD is why so many players are SO SLOW out there. Many of you people are part of the problem. 
 

Ready golf is hit when you are READY and it’s SAFE to do so. This means playing out of turn nearly all the time as MANY players (as seen in this thread alone) absolutely have no clue what ready golf actually is. 
 

It’s not hard to do. Hit your ball. Go to your ball. Is it safe to hit? Hit the ball. Repeat. 
 

I play with a guy who will NEVER play out of turn. When you play with him, with nobody in front of you, in a 3-some or 4-some, you have ZERO chance of finishing under 4 hours.

 

Play ready golf. PLEASE. This isn’t the tour. 

[antip]

2 hours ago, Augster said:

THIS THREAD is why so many players are SO SLOW out there. Many of you people are part of the problem. 
 

Ready golf is hit when you are READY and it’s SAFE to do so. This means playing out of turn nearly all the time as MANY players (as seen in this thread alone) absolutely have no clue what ready golf actually is. 
 

It’s not hard to do. Hit your ball. Go to your ball. Is it safe to hit? Hit the ball. Repeat. 
 

I play with a guy who will NEVER play out of turn. When you play with him, with nobody in front of you, in a 3-some or 4-some, you have ZERO chance of finishing under 4 hours.

 

Play ready golf. PLEASE. This isn’t the tour. 

Significant agreement from me to this post but I'd add: a) keep it considerate - don't be smacking your ball at the same time as someone else and keep your eyes on everyone else's shots wherever possible; and b) keep moving where you can - if you are first to finish putting and others are still prepping for putts get moving. I'm not suggesting rush off but get to your gear, putter away, mark card, glove on or whatever, so you can move fluently to the next tee and hit. There's obviously a balance here between courtesy and mobility but for me, too many folk just seem to think they have to stay locked to the same piece of ground while the 3 playing partners then take turns to mark, lift, line up line on ball with the hole, repeat etc, etc, etc. 

[chisag]

21 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

 

I can tell you from experience, that’s because the junior competitive series they all play in mandate fast play, and consequently teach them to play this way.  It’s a good thing, I agree, but it’s very different from the way many old school people play OR EXPECT OTHERS TO PLAY.   Can you imagine walking to the tee box before everyone in the group is finished?  That would be looked at by most as terrible, but the kids get taught to do whatever keeps the pace moving.

 

it definitely comes out of the competitive junior events, they are pushed hard to stay on pace or the group in it’s entirety gets penalized.  

 

... I think there is a difference between competitive golf and casual golf, especially with friends. Competitive golf can be agonizingly slow for juniors where 5+ hours is the norm, so anything to speed up play is a great idea. But hanging around and watching your partners putt is not only courteous but is why we are there, to support or commiserate with each other. Granted someone putting for a triple needs neither so moving on to the next tee makes sense IF you are not keeping up. But most rounds I play if everyone stays on the green til all are finished at a typical muni, we still wait on the next tee box. I think there is a difference between being slow, on time and rushing just to wait. With Covid rules of 2 comes only, all walking and 15 minute tee times, 3:30 was pretty much the norm because most were serious about golf. Adding drinking foursomes with carts slowed things down quite a bit. 

[clinkinfo]

15 hours ago, antip said:

Significant agreement from me to this post but I'd add: a) keep it considerate - don't be smacking your ball at the same time as someone else and keep your eyes on everyone else's shots wherever possible; and b) keep moving where you can - if you are first to finish putting and others are still prepping for putts get moving. I'm not suggesting rush off but get to your gear, putter away, mark card, glove on or whatever, so you can move fluently to the next tee and hit. There's obviously a balance here between courtesy and mobility but for me, too many folk just seem to think they have to stay locked to the same piece of ground while the 3 playing partners then take turns to mark, lift, line up line on ball with the hole, repeat etc, etc, etc. 

 

I’ve seen worse than that, we have a group that all move together (as 4) to each ball.  Collaborate (or something, I don’t know what they do), then all move when the shot gets hit.  Best part, none are very good and it takes like 3-5 shots per hole to get to the green.  You kinda know if you end up behind them, it’s going to be a full 4-5 hour day at least.  But the starters know too and try to push them back each day to the end of the morning rush at least.

[clinkinfo]

7 hours ago, chisag said:

 

... I think there is a difference between competitive golf and casual golf, especially with friends. Competitive golf can be agonizingly slow for juniors where 5+ hours is the norm, so anything to speed up play is a great idea. But hanging around and watching your partners putt is not only courteous but is why we are there, to support or commiserate with each other. Granted someone putting for a triple needs neither so moving on to the next tee makes sense IF you are not keeping up. But most rounds I play if everyone stays on the green til all are finished at a typical muni, we still wait on the next tee box. I think there is a difference between being slow, on time and rushing just to wait. With Covid rules of 2 comes only, all walking and 15 minute tee times, 3:30 was pretty much the norm because most were serious about golf. Adding drinking foursomes with carts slowed things down quite a bit. 

I wasn’t stating an opinion, just saying where it comes from.  They are being trained to learn golf gets played like that, and maybe we all should be playing it like that, I’m not sure.  But I think it’s silly to tell a kid you play “this” way.....then expect them to Just know to play a different way other times.

 

 

[clinkinfo]

17 hours ago, Augster said:

THIS THREAD is why so many players are SO SLOW out there. Many of you people are part of the problem. 
 

Ready golf is hit when you are READY and it’s SAFE to do so. This means playing out of turn nearly all the time as MANY players (as seen in this thread alone) absolutely have no clue what ready golf actually is. 
 

It’s not hard to do. Hit your ball. Go to your ball. Is it safe to hit? Hit the ball. Repeat. 
 

I play with a guy who will NEVER play out of turn. When you play with him, with nobody in front of you, in a 3-some or 4-some, you have ZERO chance of finishing under 4 hours.

 

Play ready golf. PLEASE. This isn’t the tour. 

 

its funny, I think that’s why I asked the question because I’ve played with people too who claim we are going to play ready golf, but then play regular golf.  They want honors on tees, everyone on the green together watching as we each put, and get ticked if you play out of order.  I think there’s very different understandings of what it means, as evidenced here.

 

but I’m with you.  We need the game to speed up, especially with its Covid popularity suddenly.  Many of the responses here indicate the problem.  Courses are more crowded, play time is rising again!

[rogolf]

15 hours ago, antip said:

Significant agreement from me to this post but I'd add: a) keep it considerate - don't be smacking your ball at the same time as someone else and keep your eyes on everyone else's shots wherever possible; and b) keep moving where you can - if you are first to finish putting and others are still prepping for putts get moving. I'm not suggesting rush off but get to your gear, putter away, mark card, glove on or whatever, so you can move fluently to the next tee and hit. There's obviously a balance here between courtesy and mobility but for me, too many folk just seem to think they have to stay locked to the same piece of ground while the 3 playing partners then take turns to mark, lift, line up line on ball with the hole, repeat etc, etc, etc. 

Agree.  This isn't three or four people playing as singles alongside each other.  They are still a group and the group still needs to have some etiquette and respect each others' game.  Watch where the others are, what they are doing, don't distract them by walking in front of them or near their line of play.  It's still very easy to respect honours so long as the player with the honour gets ready and plays.  As one of my regular group says, "no gawking" after hitting your shot - get out of the way so that someone else can play.  In my groups, its still not acceptable to walk on or stand on someone else's line of play on the putting green - the player has every right to the lie and line of play that his or her previous stroke provided.

[clinkinfo]

1 hour ago, rogolf said:

Agree.  This isn't three or four people playing as singles alongside each other.  They are still a group and the group still needs to have some etiquette and respect each others' game.  Watch where the others are, what they are doing, don't distract them by walking in front of them or near their line of play.  It's still very easy to respect honours so long as the player with the honour gets ready and plays.  As one of my regular group says, "no gawking" after hitting your shot - get out of the way so that someone else can play.  In my groups, its still not acceptable to walk on or stand on someone else's line of play on the putting green - the player has every right to the lie and line of play that his or her previous stroke provided.

 

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, I genuinely mean this as just a conversational comment, but what your saying is a lot of masked stuff to justify NOT playing ready golf.  Ready golf means whoever is ready on the tee hits period, you don’t respect honors.  I’m sorry, that’s the point, making it faster.   And as for the other “etiquette and respect”, it’s obvious that part of the problem is different people have different levels of tolerance to these terms.   I don’t find it disrespectful to really play ready golf, but by the sounds of it, you may.  Because most of what your saying should be done is the opposite of ready golf.  Your describing pretty much regular golf.  
 

no one is saying to stand in front of someone else’s shot.  That’s obvious no matter what golf you’re playing.  What people are saying is that ready golf means honors, order of play, and some green side etiquette is bent for the sake of pace of play.  That’s really not what you’re describing, which is fine.  But don’t tell random playing patterns your up for playing ready golf, because what your describing is not ready golf IMO (and some others who have chimed in).

 

ready golf is forgoing some etiquette and honors for the sake of keeping the pace of play moving.  And since most armatures take 3-5 shots to reach a par 4, that’s why we need to work hard to keep it moving.  Pros can follow complete etiquette and still play on time because they generally hit greens in regulation.  We don’t as often.  

[sui generis]

Why are we still entertaining "wisdom" from the peanut gallery when Rule 6.4b(2) tells us what we need to know for "ready golf" in stroke play? ?

 

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/rules-of-golf/rules-andinterpretations.html#!ruletype=fr&section=rule&rulenum=6&subrulenum=4

 

 

[ArtMBgolf]

That ready guy who joined you was fast but also very rude to walk in front of others, maybe hit while you are addressing your shot and probably not watching shots of others.      Ready golf means you can hit when you are ready, IF nobody else is ready and IF you don't affect others.    You can still play fast without being in the way of others.   
 
I haven't seen anyone that ready, but I guess it's better than the 5 hour golfers.  ?     

[rogolf]

1 hour ago, clinkinfo said:

 

I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, I genuinely mean this as just a conversational comment, but what your saying is a lot of masked stuff to justify NOT playing ready golf.  Ready golf means whoever is ready on the tee hits period, you don’t respect honors.  I’m sorry, that’s the point, making it faster.   And as for the other “etiquette and respect”, it’s obvious that part of the problem is different people have different levels of tolerance to these terms.   I don’t find it disrespectful to really play ready golf, but by the sounds of it, you may.  Because most of what your saying should be done is the opposite of ready golf.  Your describing pretty much regular golf.  
 

no one is saying to stand in front of someone else’s shot.  That’s obvious no matter what golf you’re playing.  What people are saying is that ready golf means honors, order of play, and some green side etiquette is bent for the sake of pace of play.  That’s really not what you’re describing, which is fine.  But don’t tell random playing patterns your up for playing ready golf, because what your describing is not ready golf IMO (and some others who have chimed in).

 

ready golf is forgoing some etiquette and honors for the sake of keeping the pace of play moving.  And since most armatures take 3-5 shots to reach a par 4, that’s why we need to work hard to keep it moving.  Pros can follow complete etiquette and still play on time because they generally hit greens in regulation.  We don’t as often.  

If you are keeping up with the group in front of you, what some have described as "ready golf" is largely irrelevant and regular etiquette within the group can be maintained.

[clinkinfo]

10 hours ago, rogolf said:

If you are keeping up with the group in front of you, what some have described as "ready golf" is largely irrelevant and regular etiquette within the group can be maintained.

 

No, because the group in front of you might not be playing ready golf or fast enough.  So keeping up with them is the best you can do on any given day, but when you’re that front group, you’re holding the course up.

 

again, it just sounds like you don’t want to play ready golf, which is fine.   But don’t post that your version IS ready golf.  It’s not, as illustrated by the many posts here explaining what most others believe it is.  It is definitely foregoing honors, order, and etiquette for speed.  As armatures, taking more than 2 shots to every par 4, that’s important for most of us!  The extra 1-3 shots per hole we take slow the course to a crawl in proper etiquette.

[clinkinfo]

On 8/21/2020 at 9:23 PM, 2bGood said:

Interesting thread. In my world 'ready golf' generally means no honours on the tee, but in general the furthest from the hole hits first unless they are not ready - but we still call out that we are going ahead of them.

 

We don't play much ready golf. Our course typically plays in around 3:45 with everyone walking, our group would plays faster than most so there is no need or benefit to do things to play faster as we can only play as fast as the group ahead.

A consistent 3:45 is impressive !

 

that raises an interesting side question though based on something else you said, might even merit its own thread.  Do you think if you’re one of the say....first 5 groups out in the morning, do you have an unspoken obligation to play faster to keep the course moving?

 

i ask that because we belong/play at 2 courses consistently, sometimes early.  And at both, the couple groups that go out first are FAST.  And they get PISSED if you aren’t and you end up in front of them.  They had a tee sheet errror one morning, and we were first, we were genuinely playing at about a 3:15 pace, and they “insisted” to PLAY THROUGH at 10!  And to their credit, they were gone, never bumped into them again.  But it did make for an awkward few minutes together on the 10th tee.  What’s interesting is, the first of the 4 showed up and asked to play through, we though he was a single playing the back, and said sure.  Then, as he teed off, the rest of the 3 showed up staggered.  It was Really weird, but clearly they were playing super ready golf lol.

[clinkinfo]

16 hours ago, ArtMBgolf said:

That ready guy who joined you was fast but also very rude to walk in front of others, maybe hit while you are addressing your shot and probably not watching shots of others.      Ready golf means you can hit when you are ready, IF nobody else is ready and IF you don't affect others.    You can still play fast without being in the way of others.   
 
I haven't seen anyone that ready, but I guess it's better than the 5 hour golfers.  ?     

 

Yeah, that’s the question right?  Is the 5 hour round better or that guy.  I agree, I think that guy’s way is better, but probably a bit too extreme for general use.

Edited August 23, 2020 by clinkinfo

[Hawkeye77]

Heat index around 100 today and 3 of us played in a smooth 3:10 (and that's being held up on parts of 3 holes by a group of six all playing their own balls).  Never felt like we hurried one bit and kind of took our time picking spots of shade when needed. Today what helped it not take so long is kind of like in Appaloosa when Everett says, "that was quick" laying on the ground after a shootout and Virgil says, "everybody could shoot" - we were playing well today.

 

Ready golf sounds like a good concept, and I can especially see it working while walking.  We didn't walk, and played probably 95% of our shots "in turn" and no need to worry about "ready golf" in the sense of just go ahead when you are ready - for me, it's just being ready to hit when it is your turn and we generally go by who is away and play plenty fast and don't get in each other's way.

 

 

[clinkinfo]

16 hours ago, sui generis said:

Why are we still entertaining "wisdom" from the peanut gallery when Rule 6.4b(2) tells us what we need to know for "ready golf" in stroke play? ?

 

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/rules/rules-2019/rules-of-golf/rules-andinterpretations.html#!ruletype=fr&section=rule&rulenum=6&subrulenum=4

 

 

 

ok, I’ll play along ?

 

so when you agree to ready golf and site this rule are you:

 

1. Agreeing to play ready, out of order, for all shots from that point forward during the round, unless someone wants to use the correct order and says so for a particular shot?

or 

 

2. Are you just agreeing to consider playing out of order on a shot by shot basis, for each upcoming shot?

 

or

 

3. Did you ONLY agree to play out of order for that very next shot?

 

[LeoLeo99]

2 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

A consistent 3:45 is impressive !

 

that raises an interesting side question though based on something else you said, might even merit its own thread.  Do you think if you’re one of the say....first 5 groups out in the morning, do you have an unspoken obligation to play faster to keep the course moving?

 

i ask that because we belong/play at 2 courses consistently, sometimes early.  And at both, the couple groups that go out first are FAST.  And they get PISSED if you aren’t and you end up in front of them.  They had a tee sheet errror one morning, and we were first, we were genuinely playing at about a 3:15 pace, and they “insisted” to PLAY THROUGH at 10!  And to their credit, they were gone, never bumped into them again.  But it did make for an awkward few minutes together on the 10th tee.  What’s interesting is, the first of the 4 showed up and asked to play through, we though he was a single playing the back, and said sure.  Then, as he teed off, the rest of the 3 showed up staggered.  It was Really weird, but clearly they were playing super ready golf lol.

 I went off at 8:30 this morning and the starter told us that we're going out early and have to maintain pace with the group ahead of us.  There were signs in the pro shop emphasizing this.  The marshal even came to talk to us about keeping up.  We were waiting about a minute to hit the group ahead to clear on every shot.  We sent the marshal away.  Nice to see a course taking PoP so seriously.  

[sui generis]

This being the Rules folder, let's look again at what the Rules say, so for stroke play only R6.4b2 says:

 

Players are both allowed and encouraged to play out of turn in a safe and responsible way, such as when two or more players agree to do so for convenience or to save time, or a player’s ball comes to rest a very short distance from the hole and the player wishes to hole out, or an individual player is ready and able to play before another player whose turn it is to play under the normal order of play, so long as in playing out of turn the player does not endanger, distract or interfere with any other player. But if the player whose turn it is to play is ready and able to play and indicates that he or she wants to play first, other players should generally wait until that player has played.

 

What else do we need to know? The strange experience you had which prompted your original post is likely a one-off. With luck none of us will run into that character. ?

[SNIPERBBB]

Again you don't have to agree to anything for ready golf outside of match play. It's something you do. The question really should be , do you want to try and play a sub 3hr round or not. Of course if there's multiple groups ahead of you, you're stuck. So it's really only feasible for the dew sweepers or late rounds where nobody is on the course. 

 

Unless you get stuck with or  behind certain players in our 12-24person money game group we can usually scoot around in 3:30 if we're not looking for lost balls constantly. 

[LCP]

6 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

A consistent 3:45 is impressive !

 

that raises an interesting side question though based on something else you said, might even merit its own thread.  Do you think if you’re one of the say....first 5 groups out in the morning, do you have an unspoken obligation to play faster to keep the course moving?

 

i ask that because we belong/play at 2 courses consistently, sometimes early.  And at both, the couple groups that go out first are FAST.  And they get PISSED if you aren’t and you end up in front of them.  They had a tee sheet errror one morning, and we were first, we were genuinely playing at about a 3:15 pace, and they “insisted” to PLAY THROUGH at 10!  And to their credit, they were gone, never bumped into them again.  But it did make for an awkward few minutes together on the 10th tee.  What’s interesting is, the first of the 4 showed up and asked to play through, we though he was a single playing the back, and said sure.  Then, as he teed off, the rest of the 3 showed up staggered.  It was Really weird, but clearly they were playing super ready golf lol.

Absolutely! Learn to play quickly. I used to play the first group off. We probably averaged 3:15 as a foursome. 
 

for reference as a threesome this afternoon we played in 3 flat waiting on groups the last 3 holes.  Shot my handicap .

[Argonne69]

16 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

A consistent 3:45 is impressive !

 

that raises an interesting side question though based on something else you said, might even merit its own thread.  Do you think if you’re one of the say....first 5 groups out in the morning, do you have an unspoken obligation to play faster to keep the course moving?

 

i ask that because we belong/play at 2 courses consistently, sometimes early.  And at both, the couple groups that go out first are FAST.  And they get PISSED if you aren’t and you end up in front of them.  They had a tee sheet errror one morning, and we were first, we were genuinely playing at about a 3:15 pace, and they “insisted” to PLAY THROUGH at 10!  And to their credit, they were gone, never bumped into them again.  But it did make for an awkward few minutes together on the 10th tee.  What’s interesting is, the first of the 4 showed up and asked to play through, we though he was a single playing the back, and said sure.  Then, as he teed off, the rest of the 3 showed up staggered.  It was Really weird, but clearly they were playing super ready golf lol.

 

Why was it awkward on the 10th tee? Why did it take until the 10th hole to let them play through? It was probably clear very early on that the group behind you was waiting on practically every hole. If it was my group, they would have been waved through by the 3rd hole. Heck, I would have likely asked them on the first tee what pace they set, and let them tee off first if they were rabbits.

 

Regardless of the pace I'm setting, which is usually very quick, I hate having a group on my tail.

 

[clinkinfo]

22 hours ago, sui generis said:

This being the Rules folder, let's look again at what the Rules say, so for stroke play only R6.4b2 says:

 

Players are both allowed and encouraged to play out of turn in a safe and responsible way, such as when two or more players agree to do so for convenience or to save time, or a player’s ball comes to rest a very short distance from the hole and the player wishes to hole out, or an individual player is ready and able to play before another player whose turn it is to play under the normal order of play, so long as in playing out of turn the player does not endanger, distract or interfere with any other player. But if the player whose turn it is to play is ready and able to play and indicates that he or she wants to play first, other players should generally wait until that player has played.

 

What else do we need to know? The strange experience you had which prompted your original post is likely a one-off. With luck none of us will run into that character. ?

 

again, this does not say what you are agreeing to on tee box 1.  This SOUNDS like something you Would agree to on each shot.  That is not what is being discussed.

 

if I’m agreeing to ready golf on tee one, there’s NO NEED to ever ask me again the rest of the round, that’s not what this rule clearly says to me. Maybe you think it’s clearer, I don’t see it.

 

So which am I agreeing to on tee 1 based on that rules wording?

 

1. Agreeing to play ready, out of order, for all shots from that point forward during the round, unless someone wants to use the correct order and says so for a particular shot?

or 

 

2. Are you just agreeing to consider playing out of order on a shot by shot basis, for each upcoming shot?

 

or

 

3. Did you ONLY agree to play out of order for that very next shot?

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by clinkinfo

[clinkinfo]

7 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

Why was it awkward on the 10th tee? Why did it take until the 10th hole to let them play through? It was probably clear very early on that the group behind you was waiting on practically every hole. If it was my group, they would have been waved through by the 3rd hole. Heck, I would have likely asked them on the first tee what pace they set, and let them tee off first if they were rabbits.

 

Regardless of the pace I'm setting, which is usually very quick, I hate having a group on my tail.

 

 

’pretty sure I made that clear. Player 1 came up and asked, then teed off. We thought he was it, he started moving forward (said nothing else by the way).  AFTER he teed off, the next cart arrived, walked up and hit. After he teed off, the next cart arrived......that’s not typical.  this is a course where you cannot see tee boxes, in fact those holes 9 and 10 are probably 1/2 mile apart.  
 

We would have no problem letting a group through And we did.  But it was awkward to wait and see if there was another player each time since none of them told us more were coming, they just showed up while/after each player was hitting, and left the same way, all 4.  That was THEIR Groups ready golf, and part of why they can be so fast as the first group (I guess)

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by clinkinfo

[SNIPERBBB]

You use judgement based on safety, etiquette and pragmatism.  Its a fairly obvious procedure in practice than how it's written.

[clinkinfo]

2 minutes ago, SNIPERBBB said:

You use judgement based on safety, etiquette and pragmatism.  Its a fairly obvious procedure in practice than how it's written.

I guess you only play with only like minded golfers, your lucky.  I’ve played with people who want tee box honors and ones who don’t. I’ve played with people who want green order and ones who don’t.  I’ve played with people who freely play out of turn and ones who don’t.  All of them told me we were playing “ready golf”  

 

it’s easy when it’s your normal group, not universal when it’s not.

 

 

[2bGood]

On 8/23/2020 at 12:51 PM, clinkinfo said:

A consistent 3:45 is impressive !

 

that raises an interesting side question though based on something else you said, might even merit its own thread.  Do you think if you’re one of the say....first 5 groups out in the morning, do you have an unspoken obligation to play faster to keep the course moving?

 

i ask that because we belong/play at 2 courses consistently, sometimes early.  And at both, the couple groups that go out first are FAST.  And they get PISSED if you aren’t and you end up in front of them.  They had a tee sheet errror one morning, and we were first, we were genuinely playing at about a 3:15 pace, and they “insisted” to PLAY THROUGH at 10!  And to their credit, they were gone, never bumped into them again.  But it did make for an awkward few minutes together on the 10th tee.  What’s interesting is, the first of the 4 showed up and asked to play through, we though he was a single playing the back, and said sure.  Then, as he teed off, the rest of the 3 showed up staggered.  It was Really weird, but clearly they were playing super ready golf lol.

 At our course it is a spoken obligation. We have a pace of play policy and the expected pace changes throughout the day with early morning  tee times being 3:30, mid morning 3:45 then later in the day being  4:00. It works well. Our pro shop also know who are the really fast groups and sends them at first tee time of the day as they play in 3:15 (walking).

 

Most members are good about knowing not to ballot too early if they can't keep pace. For instance if you are playing a Match and know you will take longer you make sure to go out in the 4 hours time slot. 

[sui generis]

2 hours ago, clinkinfo said:

 

again, this does not say what you are agreeing to on tee box 1.  This SOUNDS like something you Would agree to on each shot.  That is not what is being discussed.

 

if I’m agreeing to ready golf on tee one, there’s NO NEED to ever ask me again the rest of the round, that’s not what this rule clearly says to me. Maybe you think it’s clearer, I don’t see it.

 

So which am I agreeing to on tee 1 based on that rules wording?

 

1. Agreeing to play ready, out of order, for all shots from that point forward during the round, unless someone wants to use the correct order and says so for a particular shot?

or 

 

2. Are you just agreeing to consider playing out of order on a shot by shot basis, for each upcoming shot?

 

or

 

3. Did you ONLY agree to play out of order for that very next shot?

 

 

 

One of the nice things about the Rules is the notion that if they don't say you can't, then you can. The above doesn't preclude you and your friend from agreeing to play "ready golf" in stroke play. You may make that agreement at any time, last week, or in the parking lot, or on the first tee, or at anytime during the round.

[clinkinfo]

26 minutes ago, sui generis said:

 

One of the nice things about the Rules is the notion that if they don't say you can't, then you can. The above doesn't preclude you and your friend from agreeing to play "ready golf" in stroke play. You may make that agreement at any time, last week, or in the parking lot, or on the first tee, or at anytime during the round.

 

we aren’t talking about me and my friend, that’s easy, we understand what we are agreeing to.   We are talking about 4 strangers who meet on the first tee and agree to play “ready golf”.  
 

What do those rules you keep posting tell us we’ve just agreed to?  The fundamental question we asked in post 1 isn’t being clarified by those rules because there’s no universally understood meaning of HOW we will play ready golf for the round and for HOW LONG during the round.  That needs to be in our “agreement”, but we all assume it is when we say “ready golf”.  Problem is, that means completely different “how and when” for many people.  Some think it means ever shot we’ll talk about it, some think it means always play out of order.   Those rules seem fine with EITHER of those agreements IF that’s our agreement.  
 

But that’s what we are asking!  What do members think they are “agreeing” to on the tee when someone says ready golf.  It goes beyond what you keep posting because We have assumed agreement on “how” we are agreeing to play it and for “how long” we are agreeing.  The rule isn’t helping with that part, it seems to assume we will agree on our own.  The problem is, we don’t all actually agree!

Edited August 24, 2020 by clinkinfo

[rogolf]

45 minutes ago, clinkinfo said:

 

we aren’t talking about me and my friend, that’s easy, we understand what we are agreeing to.   We are talking about 4 strangers who meet on the first tee and agree to play “ready golf”.  
 

What do those rules you keep posting tell us we’ve just agreed to?  The fundamental question we asked in post 1 isn’t being clarified by those rules because there’s no universally understood meaning of HOW we will play ready golf for the round and for HOW LONG during the round.  That needs to be in our “agreement”, but we all assume it is when we say “ready golf”.  Problem is, that means completely different “how and when” for many people.  Some think it means ever shot we’ll talk about it, some think it means always play out of order.   Those rules seem fine with EITHER of those agreements IF that’s our agreement.  
 

But that’s what we are asking!  What do members think they are “agreeing” to on the tee when someone says ready golf.  It goes beyond what you keep posting because We have assumed agreement on “how” we are agreeing to play it and for “how long” we are agreeing.  The rule isn’t helping with that part, it seems to assume we will agree on our own.  The problem is, we don’t all actually agree!

The real fact is that golfers have generally accepted the purpose of ready golf in stroke play and have established their own views on what it means and how they will apply it - groups establish their own norms.  If you join a group, it's often better to adhere to their norms.  After all, ready golf is only a means to an end, and not the only means to that end.  If the goal is accomplished, does it really matter which route was taken to get there?  

Edited August 25, 2020 by rogolf