New junior tournament rules ideas after two more 5.5 hour round

[Chipwich]

You get to mark your ball one time on each green.  After that, putt it out.  This rule is inspired by Andy, who marked his ball and lined it up on a 10 inch putt.  It was his fourth putt.  He missed.

 

You get two practice swings per shot.  After that, it counts as a stroke.  This rule is inspired by Lee, who took 6 practice swings, hit it OB, reteed, and then took seven practice swings before hitting it in the rough.

 

My kid is getting really close to pulling a Koepka and just hanging out in the bathroom for 20 minutes until the whole group gets put on the clock.  5.5 hours on Saturday followed by 5.25 on Sunday is ridiculous.  

[hangontight]

In all seriousness, I've been an advocate for the first.   If I am with familiar & casual enough company, I finish out myself without asking.   I've also suggested it for my 7yo daughters group at the next tmnt.   I'me not ready to throw out all golf etiquette and tradition, but there are 100 other people who have trampled around the hole today before you.    Your playing partner putting out (even if stepping on your line) isnt going to change things.     

[Tannerbug33]

 it gets better as you play the bigger tournaments. they have check points every few wholes. we normally play 18 in around 4 hours. we had a 9 hole tournament that was 3 and half hours. Horrbile

[heavy_hitter]

Disagree about the marking of the putts.  Unless it is a tap in, my kids coach makes him line up every single putt.  It is an alignment issue and a reason he has to do it.  Mental Coach tells him the same thing.  He must line up every putt unless he is tapping it in.

 

Played an easy 3 hour and 45 minute Tournament round on Saturday.  Sunday was 5 hours, but also wind and rain.  Played lift clean and place as well as a lot of drops for casual water.  Sunday was a different story.

[Abh159]

Not sure what tour or tournaments you're playing or the age of your kid, but most of the more reputable tours and tournaments will enforce pace of play for the older age groups.

 

I've seen plenty of groups get put on the clock and plenty of kids receive penalty strokes for slow play

 

 

[Medson]

I have been asking my daughter to read the green while other players are putting (without bothering other players, of course). 

 

She is not quite there yet. It annoys me that she's watching others putt. Then, she starts to reading her green when it is her turn.

 

It is a tricky situation. When I ask her to do this in a timely manner, she'd watch others putt, then skip her green reading. 😫

[heavy_hitter]

17 minutes ago, Medson said:

I have been asking my daughter to read the green while other players are putting (without bothering other players, of course). 

 

She is not quite there yet. It annoys me that she's watching others putt. Then, she starts to reading her green when it is her turn.

 

It is a tricky situation. When I ask her to do this in a timely manner, she'd watch others putt, then skip her green reading. 😫

 

Drives me nuts.  Generally see it with older kids using Aim Point and drives me nuts.  Like watching paint dry then they still miss the putt.

[hangontight]

7 hours ago, heavy_hitter said:

Disagree about the marking of the putts.  Unless it is a tap in, my kids coach makes him line up every single putt.  It is an alignment issue and a reason he has to do it.  Mental Coach tells him the same thing.  He must line up every putt unless he is tapping it in.

 

Played an easy 3 hour and 45 minute Tournament round on Saturday.  Sunday was 5 hours, but also wind and rain.  Played lift clean and place as well as a lot of drops for casual water.  Sunday was a different story.

I will digress a little here to say I don’t think it should be at the expense of poor play from rushing.   Don’t just step up and hit it, still take care to your routine , even if that is a remark/line up.  But no doubt some time could be saved without alternating for MOST players.  Higher level players can be efficient enough.  For my 7 year olds daughters groups (and some of the choppers I play with) , it would save 30 minutes a round!

[tiger1873]

Every tournament I have been to has rules on slow play some enforce them others don't.  I have learned to avoid the ones that don't.

 

Even when you play tours known to enforce the rules slow play still happens.  The biggest problem is they simply are overselling the rounds.  It's not always the tours fault (In some cases it is).   The underlying problem I have seen is the courses who oversell public rounds before and after the tournament.

 

I would say most kids who play tournaments on a regular basis get around the course in a timely manner.  Having said that stuff happens and there needs to be enough time to  call officials for rulings, dealing with weather or just having an extra minute to make that putt and whatever else happens out there.

 

Some public courses are awful they stack so many people on the course there is just no time for anyone you can't have tee times every 5 minutes. I have seen where they will put 3 or 4 groups on every hole and the whole course just grinds to a halt.   Many times it is these same courses where junior tournaments end up being 5-6 hour rounds..

 

   

Edited February 16, 2021 by tiger1873

[Sean2]

Play ready golf. 

[heavy_hitter]

18 hours ago, hangontight said:

I will digress a little here to say I don’t think it should be at the expense of poor play from rushing.   Don’t just step up and hit it, still take care to your routine , even if that is a remark/line up.  But no doubt some time could be saved without alternating for MOST players.  Higher level players can be efficient enough.  For my 7 year olds daughters groups (and some of the choppers I play with) , it would save 30 minutes a round!

 

Asked my 15 year old about this last night.  He said this thread was ridiculous.  If the tour would enforce the rules set on pace it would stop the nonsense.  To expand on putting, he has been taught to get a pre-routine read and when it was his turn he was going to get another read.  There is no reason those reads have to be slow.

Edited February 16, 2021 by heavy_hitter

[tiger1873]

3 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

 

Asked my 15 year old about this last night.  He said this thread was ridiculous.  If the tour would enforce the rules set on pace of it would stop the nonsense.  To expand on putting, he has been taught to get a pre-routine read and when it was his turn he was going to get another read.  There is no reason those reads have to be slow.

I agree tournaments that enforce slow play rules never seem to have a problem with slow rounds.  The few times that it has been a problem It's almost always not the tournaments directors fault.

 

There a few like top50 where signing up for them means your going to have a 6 hour round because they just don't care.  I avoid stuff like that and so should everyone else. I also Never had an issue of slow play with FJT who are notorious with strict time enforcement almost to the point it too much enforcement.  

 

If you have regular slow rounds complain and start looking for a better place to play.

[leezer99]

SCPGA has a rule that if your group comes to the scoring table 15 minutes after the previous group has left then the entire group is assessed a two shot penalty. Everyone was on time last weekend. 

[heavy_hitter]

48 minutes ago, leezer99 said:

SCPGA has a rule that if your group comes to the scoring table 15 minutes after the previous group has left then the entire group is assessed a two shot penalty. Everyone was on time last weekend. 

The tours here will give an expected time of play depending on the course.  They have to either finish before that time or within 15 minutes of the group in front.  If they do either or there is no penalty.  Never really ever hear of issues with AJGA.

 

I don't understand the philosophy of punishing the masses for a small % of people that breaks the rules.  That is the case with this thread.  Just enforce the rules they have and there shouldn't be an issue.

Edited February 16, 2021 by heavy_hitter

[Tannerbug33]

8 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

The tours here will give an expected time of play depending on the course.  They have to either finish before that time or within 15 minutes of the group in front.  If they do either or there is no penalty.  Never really ever hear of issues with AJGA.

 

I don't understand the philosophy of punishing the masses for a small % of people that breaks the rules.  That is the case with this thread.  Just enforce the rules they have and there shouldn't be an issue.

We played with a kid last year in a local tour that took forever. It was a 2some and they got put on the clock. The official came by me after 1 hole and apologized and said he called the tournament director and asked of he could just penalize the slow player and he said no. He went back to my son and told him not to worry he understood the other kid was painfully slow and do what he was doing. 

 Then he went to the other kid and told him to speed it up today.

 I love tours that do this because it's part if playing golf is pace of play. But glad he had my kids back. 

[heavy_hitter]

5 minutes ago, Tannerbug33 said:

We played with a kid last year in a local tour that took forever. It was a 2some and they got put on the clock. The official came by me after 1 hole and apologized and said he called the tournament director and asked of he could just penalize the slow player and he said no. He went back to my son and told him not to worry he understood the other kid was painfully slow and do what he was doing. 

 Then he went to the other kid and told him to speed it up today.

 I love tours that do this because it's part if playing golf is pace of play. But glad he had my kids back. 

That is wrong.  In no way does the other players have any influence over another player they to get them to play faster.  .

 

Here a group can ask to put themselves on the clock.  When they do a tournament official will time every shot for every player for 2 holes.  They will then penalize the player that is slowing the group down and not the others.  If you don't ask to be put on the clock, the group is penalized.

Edited February 16, 2021 by heavy_hitter

[tiger1873]

I do not like it when they penalize the whole group it is just not fair if the others are playing quick. I know with FJT they will penalize the whole group and there is a lot issues with that.   You can get away from the penalty but it means leaving the offending player behind and sometimes that leaves hard feelings which is unfortunate but necessary.

 

I wish there was a cut at 110 or 120 for any two day tournament. That way they can eliminate kids who should have never signed up in the first place. There is no reason for a kid to keep playing a 2 day tournament  if they're not breaking 100. A kid who is having trouble and racking up very high scores slows everyone down. 

Edited February 17, 2021 by tiger1873

[heavy_hitter]

16 hours ago, tiger1873 said:

I do not like it when they penalize the whole group it is just not fair if the others are playing quick. I know with FJT they will penalize the whole group and there is a lot issues with that.   You can get away from the penalty but it means leaving the offending player behind and sometimes that leaves hard feelings which is unfortunate but necessary.

 

I wish there was a cut at 110 or 120 for any two day tournament. That way they can eliminate kids who should have never signed up in the first place. There is no reason for a kid to keep playing a 2 day tournament  if they're not breaking 100. A kid who is having trouble and racking up very high scores slows everyone down. 

 

There was a FJT where a kid shot 160 once.

[tiger1873]

1 minute ago, heavy_hitter said:

 

There was a FJT where a kid shot 160 once.

 

I know we been there done that with kids well above 120 and it's not fun at all.  It horrible for kids paired with them too since they almost always have to deal with the penalties. 

 

[hangontight]

On 2/16/2021 at 10:42 AM, heavy_hitter said:

 

Asked my 15 year old about this last night.  He said this thread was ridiculous.  If the tour would enforce the rules set on pace it would stop the nonsense.  To expand on putting, he has been taught to get a pre-routine read and when it was his turn he was going to get another read.  There is no reason those reads have to be slow.

Your 15 year old "said this thread was ridiculous " 😆 , yet you've posted 5 times on this thread.  C'mon Heavy!  Of course if the tour would enforce the rules on pace it would stop the nonsense, haha.  But clearly the rules are not being enforced in the OP's case....which is why he made the original complaint.   I dont think it was directed to the advanced level that your 15 year old plays at.  Pace of play is going to be an issue in the younger ages especially....its part of the learning process for players, parents (and tour directors I guess).  The OP's suggestions were made (at least halfway) in jest, but has sprung some good talk on finding a SOLUTION from some....and typically, more bellyaching from others.  Such good value to be had on this forum if you can weed through the complaining.   I've picked up that you've got two kids who have gone to play at high level and a wealth of knowledge from experience to share from that.   Lighten up a little and remember that not everyone on this thread is in the same boat....chances are at some point in your journey you dealt with the same issues.  Add helpful advice if you have it, skip the conversation if you dont.  🤷‍♂️

[heavy_hitter]

12 hours ago, hangontight said:

Your 15 year old "said this thread was ridiculous " 😆 , yet you've posted 5 times on this thread.  C'mon Heavy!  Of course if the tour would enforce the rules on pace it would stop the nonsense, haha.  But clearly the rules are not being enforced in the OP's case....which is why he made the original complaint.   I dont think it was directed to the advanced level that your 15 year old plays at.  Pace of play is going to be an issue in the younger ages especially....its part of the learning process for players, parents (and tour directors I guess).  The OP's suggestions were made (at least halfway) in jest, but has sprung some good talk on finding a SOLUTION from some....and typically, more bellyaching from others.  Such good value to be had on this forum if you can weed through the complaining.   I've picked up that you've got two kids who have gone to play at high level and a wealth of knowledge from experience to share from that.   Lighten up a little and remember that not everyone on this thread is in the same boat....chances are at some point in your journey you dealt with the same issues.  Add helpful advice if you have it, skip the conversation if you dont.  🤷‍♂️

 

At the end of the day, you are going to have to suffer through those types of long rounds.  Everyone has experienced these, especially with younger kids as they learn how to play.

[golfer929]

I don't understand how only marking your ball once will help pace of play? The root cause in that scenario was that the kid was not a good golfer and 4-putted. I'm not a scientist but I would bet that kids who line up their putts will on average make more putts then those who do not in the long run. Yea, Andy from the OP can tap in a 10 inch putt without lining up, I get that. But you're saying that if I have 50ft and lag it to 4ft I can't mark it again? Makes 0 sense, and saves 0 time. Just play ready golf. 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

We can talk about slow play and penalty shots.  As soon as the rules officials start handing them out.  The whining parents come out to sing. 

[leezer99]

My son’s group was put on the clock multiple times this weekend. On 17 they were put on the clock for the 3rd time. When my wife asked why (the group ahead of them were still in the fairway waiting) the rules guy apologized and said he was with the wrong group.