When should you allow others to play through?

[phizzy30]

On 5/29/2021 at 9:39 PM, jordan2240 said:

Was playing with one of my regular foursomes recently.  I was walking, but the other three were riding.  There were two guys behind us, each in their own carts.  Eventually, they caught up and were having to wait for us to hit.  However, there were at least two foursomes in front of us, and we were often having to wait to hit too.  Should we have let the two guys behind us play through, hoping that the other foursomes would as well, or were they just stuck since we were keeping pace with the groups in front of us?  Had we not been keeping pace, it would have been a no-brainer, but if we let them play through and the other groups didn't, it seems it would have served no useful purpose for anyone.  What's the etiquette on letting groups play through - is it always when they are faster, or does it depend on whether or not there are empty holes in front of you?

In your situation, no.  There's no way the other four somes are going to let the 2 golfers behind go through.  FYI, I've been in your situation many times.  We play really fast and rarely do we have to let anyone play through.  The rare few times that the group behind us had fewer golfers, and there weren't any groups in front of us, we would always let them play through.  It's the right thing to do IMO.  Many golfers however, do not abide by this especially around here. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by phizzy30

[4x4GGG]

It's funny to see the different views on this. 

 

Last week I "went away" to play golf. Resort course, package deal, mid week, solo. 

11AM tee time and the course was mostly open. As a single I caught up to the 4 in front of me around 2 or 3. Around 3 or 4 I get to the box as they pull away, and one cart circles back to ask if I want to play thru. I could see the 3 on the green in front of them. I thank the guy for the offer, tell him I'm on vacation and in no hurry, and not to worry about me behind them. If I want to advance at some point I'll hit up and let them know. I'm a single, I have no rights on the course. Besides, I hadn't eaten and there's a snack shack on 4 and I'm getting a dog and chillin. He microwaved the bun for 20 seconds but the dog on the roller was still cold. I ate 3 bites and tossed it. 

 

I'm letting this group walk onto the green before hitting my tee shot. Waiting for their carts to pull away before hitting my approach. I'll practice putting listening for their carts to pull away from the tee box before heading up. This was fine until about 6 or 7. That's when I noticed Club Pro Guy and his 2 buddies behind me. I hit my approach, and after wiping off my club and pulling away I see the first tee shot land 10 yards behind me. I can feel their anxiety. Around 7ish I drove a ball to what looked like an open fairway and open green. The 4 in front of me had just hit the cart path and were out of sight. I didn't see my ball land left side and decided to hit a provisional. They pulled up as I grabbed a second ball and ripped it 230 down the middle. They pulled right up to my cart bumper. 

"Hay guys, if you're in a hurry you can go ahead and hit". 

"What's in front of you?" 

- "A 4some and a slow 3some in front of them" 

" I guess there's no where to go..." 

 

I roll out and find my first ball left bunker. I had plenty of room on the par 5 so I hit a 6i out and rolled to my 2nd for pick up. The 4 in front is on the green so I just sat there. I'm not pushing them so no reason to head to my 2nd shot yet. They vacate the green and I head up, check my yardage and hit up and on. Get to the green and CPG is in the fairway behind me, leaning on his fairway wood. 

So I'm in the fairway on 9, sitting in my cart playing on my phone. The actual employed club pro pulls up to me. "Ahh... it's so tough being a single out here..." . I tell him I'm fine. The group behind me is giving me a little anxiety but I've got no where to be and I offered to let them pass. Apparently the 4 behind me called the club house to complain? The pro just wished me a good round and pulled away. When the 4 cleared the green I stepped out and stuck my 8i to 6 feet. By the time I got to the green CPG behind me was standing over his ball in the fairway. I hit my birdie and head in. When I get to the clubhouse I asked the starter what happened to the 4 in front, he tells me they went right to #10 tee. OK. I go into the club house, grab a cooked dog and head out to my cart. 

I intentionally sat on the passenger side of my cart as I stuffed my face while the CPG and his buddies roll up. They ask me if 10 is clear and I just shrug. They teed off, don't know where they are. One guy in the group asked why I should have 2 hats like mine, I said I don't know, he said 1 to poop in and 1 to cover it up. What??? He pulled away to the 10th tee. I wait until they're on the green and smack another bomber 230 yards right up the middle. 

I spent the rest of the round letting them know I was there but not pushing them. By about 16 you could hear the thunder rumbling. I mentioned to them at the 15th tee that if they hear me hit or land it's only to avoid the weather and not to push them. By 18 drops started falling while I was on the tee box and I was just trying to beat the horn so I drive into them after a giving a loud whistle. They, of course, were waiting in the fairway for the 4 who were waiting for the 3 to clear the green. Eff that, I'm smacking in just to finish the day. 525 par 5 I hit the fairway, played a 210 hybrid up the middle, then hit to the green before they were done cleaning their clubs. Birdie. 

They were chatting with the guy who helped me the day before when I had no cash as I approached and thanked him for his help the day before and sorry I had no cash but here's a box of Pro V1's I was gifted and won't play. I was in my car and pulling out as they reached their cars. 

 

Moral to the story, don't ride the group in front of you. I will not speed them up and most likely will make them rush and play worse. Relax out there people. You don't HAVE to play golf, you GET to play golf. 

[cadoipi]

8 hours ago, 4x4GGG said:

By the time I got to the green CPG behind me was standing over his ball in the fairway.

 

 

Not sure I would have let CPG play through until he gave me the crucifixion.

I am joking of course.  If I have someone riding my tail, then I will let them play through in a way that minimizes the length my round is extended (such as teeing off together on a hole, then wait for them to clear the green before my group hits our approach shots).

Edited June 18, 2021 by cadoipi

[klebs01]

11 hours ago, 4x4GGG said:

I'm a single, I have no rights on the course.

[klebs01]

11 hours ago, 4x4GGG said:

I'm a single, I have no rights on the course.

 

This is no longer true, it was removed from the ROG years ago. Singles have equal standing on the course.

[bcski]

Yes, as far as "rights" go, you are correct.  Nowhere in the Bill Of Rights does it address golf.

 

However, singles have no "standing" on the course is still very much true.

Edited July 2, 2021 by bcski

[klebs01]

40 minutes ago, Par Be A Joke said:

Yes, as far as "rights" go, you are correct.  Nowhere in the Bill Of Rights does it address golf.

 

However, singles have no "standing" on the course is still very much true.

you are very much incorrect. The rule saying singles have no standing was removed from the ROG in 2004. It was further clarified in 2008 that a single constitutes a group. For the past 17 years, singles have had equal standing to all other groups on the course. 

[sui generis]

7 hours ago, Par Be A Joke said:

However, singles have no "standing" on the course is still very much true.

 

Wrong, wrong and wrong. 🤨

[MtlJeff]

In general...Let faster groups through unless there is nowhere for them to go.

 

I will say, one thing that really grinds my gears is when you play a late afternoon round (say a 3:45pm tee off) as a foursome and then when you crossover to the back 9, suddenly it's an onslaught of singles behind you who just walked onto the course trying to get a 9-hole in after work, and they all expect to play through. It's really crappy to let like 7 guys through over a 9 hole stretch because they didn't want to play together.

[Imp]

On 6/18/2021 at 2:56 AM, 4x4GGG said:

One guy in the group asked why I should have 2 hats like mine, I said I don't know, he said 1 to poop in and 1 to cover it up. What???  

Sounds like the IDP crowd from our old place/days. Irreverent and ill-timed "jokes".  Hope all is well guhguhguh. 🙂

--kC

Edited July 2, 2021 by Imp

[MountainKing]

If you know the course is boked solid, it is what it is.  If there's only a a couple of groups in front and you know it's wide open after that, let them through. 

[bcski]

11 hours ago, sui generis said:

 

Wrong, wrong and wrong. 🤨

Sigh, the world is not rules rules rules,  Common sense comes into play for most,

 

But not you....

[bcski]

If we are playing in a 4 some and there is a hole or so open ahead of us and solid 4 somes ahead, we are not letting a single thru only to have to wait on him/her when we get bunched up again...  Hence - singles have no standing on the course.

 

What you are missing is courses can have any policy/rule they want regarding anything golf.  Not every swing on every course is taken under the usga's "rules"

 

You do you and I will do me.  Your favorite course can enact there plans/rules/policies and others can enact there plans/rules/policies.

 

 

Everyone needs a whiskey with 2 ice cubes and just relax...

Edited July 2, 2021 by bcski

[sui generis]

1 minute ago, Par Be A Joke said:

Sigh, the world is not rules rules rules,  Common sense comes into play for most,

 

But not you....

 

Common sense is one of heuristic methods of decision making. Those "guessing" methods provide an answer, but often not a very good answer.

 

Common sense is a lazy method of problem solving. In the case of the Rules, it's employed by those who cannot be bothered to look it up. In your case it's a source of personal embarrassment. 

 

 

[bcski]

1 minute ago, sui generis said:

 

Common sense is one of heuristic methods of decision making. Those "guessing" methods provide an answer, but often not a very good answer.

 

Common sense is a lazy method of problem solving. In the case of the Rules, it's employed by those who cannot be bothered to look it up. In your case it's a source of personal embarrassment. 

 

 

You are so far of base it is funny...  How did you wind up in Left Field? 

[jimbo123]

What did “singles have no standing” actually mean in practice?  I couldn’t figure it out from google.  Did it relate to playing through? 

Edited July 2, 2021 by jimbo123

[sui generis]

14 minutes ago, jimbo123 said:

What did “singles have no standing” actually mean in practice?

 

I'm not sure anyone outside the R&A really knew. But, as you suggest, perhaps it meant that if a group got backed up behind a single, the single was obligated to let them through even though there was nowhere to go. 🙂

[bobfoster]

My decision making starts with a single question: Is my group keeping up with the group in front of me? Which is really all you can do - often, especially on weekends, bottlenecks come from a group several holes ahead. Rangers/Marshalls can fix that, I can't. The only thing I can control is making sure I'm playing responsibly and expeditiously in my own little corner of the world. If my group is falling behind, I'll immediately offer to let a twosome (or foursome for that matter) play through. But that rarely happens. Myself, and most of the friends I play with golf respectfully and relatively quickly. Myself and my peeps are held up far more often than we are holding anyone up. 

 

Beyond that? Well there's the basic problem with the nature of groups. A twosome will (obviously) nearly always play faster than even a quick foursome. If I'm being held up, and a twosome is behind me, I try to determine whether they are intelligent, or impatient.

 

Intelligent twosomes will see my group standing around and BSing on the teebox and smoking cigars between holes, and get that it is not us holding them up, but the group in front of us (or even a group three of four in front of us). They'll do the same thing I'm doing, resigning themselves to a slower pace, and enjoying conversation and the beauty of the course. Since I've been on golf discussion boards, or watched golf on TV (many years) people have been moaning about the pace-of-play problem (especially when it comes to weekenders on public courses with no Marshalls). In all those years, I've seen virtually nothing actually change. There simply are going to be 4.5 and 5 hour rounds sometimes. Getting frustrated about it only diminishes one's own enjoyment of the day.

 

Then there are the impatient ones. And they let you know it. You know the type. Heavy sighs. Thumping their drivers on the ground, audibly whispering while staring at you and your group. Yahoos like this? I invite them to play through with a big smile on my face. Because I'm polite and courteous and I'm doing it for them? Heck no - I'm doing it for myself. I get rid of people breathing down my neck on every teebox, while adding very little additional time to my round. 

 

Now and then I get an urge to mention to them that it makes no difference whether my foursome, their twosome, or the flock of geese waddling up to us are on the tee, none of us can tee off until the group on the par 4 in front of us has all hit their second shots. But such sentiments would likely be wasted on people that are locked into the "I should never have to wait to tee off" mindset. 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2021 by bobfoster

[Mr. Bean]

On 7/3/2021 at 3:06 AM, sui generis said:

 

I'm not sure anyone outside the R&A really knew. But, as you suggest, perhaps it meant that if a group got backed up behind a single, the single was obligated to let them through even though there was nowhere to go. 🙂

 

It meant that a single player was not a group, so any guidance in the Etiquette related to groups was not applicable to single players. In practice that meant that a group did not have to offer a single player to play through even though the single was faster than the group.