Slow Play Solutions - feedback requested

[Pete O'Tube]

😄

Item 3 was rubbish.

 

 

[Pete O'Tube]

On 12/29/2022 at 10:35 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

 

Has it occurred to you that there are a lot of golfers who prefer to play at a certain pace... and it's not the fast one that we prefer.  Personally, I am fast, almost too fast.  But there are people out there who move at a slow pace while shopping, while at work, while driving (in front of me), while doing their lawn work, while thinking, while eating, while taking a walk.  

 

Maybe the problem is too many golfers who want to move too fast???  

 

Not at all. My foursome takes between 3 hours 30 and 3 hours 50. It's a long and difficult course.

 

What really gets my goat is the amount of time wasted on the golf course:

Marking your card while you're still on the green.

Not being ready on the tee.

Not being ready to play when it's your shot.

Stopping in the middle of the fairway to have a conversation. Strangely enough, I can walk and speak at the same time.

Never turning round and noticing that you're hold someone up and letting them through at the earliest opportunity.

My last point is more about simple good manners. I think we'd all agree that that is something we could all improve on.

 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

I'm worried. I have never had a pre-shot routine, through high school golf, through college golf, nor afterwards.  I'm implementing one today for the first time. I did the math and it will add 9.6 minutes to my round. I'm a fast player so I don't know where else I can make up the lost time.  I've already alerted my playing partners for today.

[Pete O'Tube]

On 1/3/2023 at 2:43 PM, Double Mocha Man said:

 

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by Pete O'Tube
I can't post a reply. Finger trouble, I suspect.

[Mcgeeno]

A club in my city put up the punch card time system years ago just before the big provincial tournament and it did seem to help hold members accountable.

 

You punch your card when you tee off and when you walk off the 18th green and hand it in. (Not handing in the card was treated the same as having a 6 hour round essentially)

 

They had a graduated system if certain groups were consistently coming in over the expected time. Players couldnt book at peak times in the morning or on certain weekends if they had continued to pile up 5 hour rounds etc.  

 

I am not sure on the answer to this question. My home course has a marshall but he doesnt do anything to assist players or keep the pace moving. Just an old retired guy who drives around and makes sure the place doesnt burn down.

[caniac6]

15 minutes ago, Mcgeeno said:

A club in my city put up the punch card time system years ago just before the big provincial tournament and it did seem to help hold members accountable.

 

You punch your card when you tee off and when you walk off the 18th green and hand it in. (Not handing in the card was treated the same as having a 6 hour round essentially)

 

They had a graduated system if certain groups were consistently coming in over the expected time. Players couldnt book at peak times in the morning or on certain weekends if they had continued to pile up 5 hour rounds etc.  

 

I am not sure on the answer to this question. My home course has a marshall but he doesnt do anything to assist players or keep the pace moving. Just an old retired guy who drives around and makes sure the place doesnt burn down.

If he’s not looking for balls, he isn’t doing his job.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, caniac6 said:

If he’s not looking for balls, he isn’t doing his job.

 

And remember, he also needs to take advantage of his free rounds...

[naval2006]

On 1/3/2023 at 11:22 AM, Pete O'Tube said:

 

 

What really gets my goat is the amount of time wasted on the golf course:

Marking your card while you're still on the green.

Not being ready on the tee.

Not being ready to play when it's your shot.

Stopping in the middle of the fairway to have a conversation. Strangely enough, I can walk and speak at the same time.

Never turning round and noticing that you're hold someone up and letting them through at the earliest opportunity.

My last point is more about simple good manners. I think we'd all agree that that is something we could all improve on.

 

 

 

I agree with this 100%.  Most slow players become slow just because they don't stick to the above; it's as if they're not aware of the pace of play for the day.  The genuine slow players are not so many, and it's a bunch that simply can't change, you just have to accept them that way or avoid them altogether.  

[Trouble_shooter]

Pace of play never bothered me one way or another. Golf is my de stresser in life. Good round bad round, long round, I'm just happy to be out there drinking a coffee grinding away. Personally though, I keep up the pace of play, if I'm blowing up I'll pick up and go to the next hole. No pre shot routine, just get up and hit it. I've played behind people that take practice swings like they are preparing for the us open. To each is own though. I respect the rules of golf, but doesn't bother me one way or another.

[Carl Spackler3]

On 12/29/2022 at 6:43 PM, smoky25 said:

I run the morning dogfight at our club.  We had 4 foursomes today, which is about average. Teams are drawn up by computer trying to equalize team handicaps (we play stableford). I look at the teams and order them by expected pace of play for that team based on my experience having played with individual team players in the past.  The team I expect to play the fastest will tee off 1st and so on, with the slowest team dragging up the rear.  Doing this, it is very rare for any group to be held up by a slower playing group.  This has been well accepted by our dogfight group since the faster players know they won't be held up, and the slower players can play at their pace without feeling rushed.

 MOST dogfight groups do this, they have an in on the course, they get a block of times. They ensure that they are not inconvenienced by their own  slow players, then put them out last to ruin the day of guys not in the dogfight group. Nice you don’t want them rushed by your group but screew the rest of the course. Unreal

Edited March 3, 2023 by Carl Spackler3

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, Carl Spackler3 said:

 MOST dogfight groups do this, they have an in on the course, they get a block of times. They ensure that they are not inconvenienced by their own  slow players, then put them out last to ruin the day of guys not in the dogfight group. Nice you don’t want them rushed by your group but screew the rest of the course. Unreal

 

Interesting other side to that story. 

 

To speed up play, in general, I suggest that your greens fee be refunded if you play 18 in 3:30.  I can just picture all the slow and cheap guys trying to speed up by running to their ball, huffing and puffing...

[Naptime]

I think you have an unsolvable challenge.  Split the group and have the fast guys tee off first.

[rogolf]

We have similar sized groups, but don't try and arrange them by speed of play.  If there are slow players/groups, peer pressure within the group(s) sort them out.  Somebody within our large group will have a word with slow individuals - something like, speed up or you'll become a "spare".

[Augster]

19 hours ago, Carl Spackler3 said:

 MOST dogfight groups do this, they have an in on the course, they get a block of times. They ensure that they are not inconvenienced by their own  slow players, then put them out last to ruin the day of guys not in the dogfight group. Nice you don’t want them rushed by your group but screew the rest of the course. Unreal

Very close to what we do. If we have 4 groups, we put the slow players in the 3rd group, then guys that just like being out there in the 4th group. 1st two groups finish in 3:15-3:30, then the 3rd and 4th groups finish in 4:15-4:30. 
 

The fast guys get to get on their way or sit around and drink coffee and play cards for an hour some time. But the 3rd group never has to let anyone play through because the 4th group is always behind and “protecting” them. General public groups can’t play through because there’s never a gap between the 3rd and 4th group and they can’t see the course is wide open ahead of the 3rd group. 
 

If we put the slow players 4th, they constantly have to let groups through and end up playing close to 5 hours. By putting them in the 3rd group, and never having the pressure to let anyone through, they sometimes finish in 4 hours. 
 

So, in a way, protecting them speeds up the rest of the course. And it certainly shortens the wait time to square up bets for the first 2 groups. 

[smoky25]

On 3/3/2023 at 4:20 PM, Carl Spackler3 said:

 MOST dogfight groups do this, they have an in on the course, they get a block of times. They ensure that they are not inconvenienced by their own  slow players, then put them out last to ruin the day of guys not in the dogfight group. Nice you don’t want them rushed by your group but screew the rest of the course. Unreal

There are no tee times at my club. When I speak of slow play, the slowest group in our dogfight will play in about 3.5 hours while the fastest group will play in 3 hours or less. It is extremely rare for our slowest group to hold up another group behind them.  When it does happen it almost always a 3-some or a 2-some following.  Our biggest problem occurs when a group tees off in front of our dogfight and can't match our pace of play.  Fortunately, most members at our club know who are the fast groups and will blend in behind us so they can play at a pace comfortable to them.