At what limit should slow play = partial refund?

[twixster888]

[quote name='ryancjordan' timestamp='1354133366' post='5991011']
Another California resident here. The guy who thought a 6 hour round gave you no right to complain is insane. The longer people pretend like 6 hours is fine, the more common this will become. I recently joined a private course because I was so sick of 5-6 hour rounds and sitting on the tee box waiting for old couples to hit the ball 6 times to get 100 yards and let me tell you, it is fantastic. Our Marshalls actually keep the pace of play fairly quick, the members themselves are quick when they play and I have finished in 3.5 hours a few times. Played by myself one morning and was first off and finished in 3 hours, walking. This is how golf should be played and until public courses start kicking hilariously obvious offenders off, it will only get worse. I simply will not tolerate having many hours of my time wasted because the people in front of me have no self awareness and the Marshalls are too scared/lazy to do anything about it. For what it's worth, one of the last public rounds I played this year was at Tilden and our 3 hour and 10 minute front 9 was just too much, I went and asked for a refund and they gave me a rain check. Fair enough, but I have no plans on using it if you refuse to address the specific problem that got us here in the first place...
[/quote]

You will generally see more better players on average and players who knows about certain etiquettes on private courses. Not logical to compare the two.

[Sean2]

8 minutes between tee times don't help either...

[ryancjordan]

[quote name='twixster888' timestamp='1354311083' post='6001731']
[quote name='ryancjordan' timestamp='1354133366' post='5991011']
Another California resident here. The guy who thought a 6 hour round gave you no right to complain is insane. The longer people pretend like 6 hours is fine, the more common this will become. I recently joined a private course because I was so sick of 5-6 hour rounds and sitting on the tee box waiting for old couples to hit the ball 6 times to get 100 yards and let me tell you, it is fantastic. Our Marshalls actually keep the pace of play fairly quick, the members themselves are quick when they play and I have finished in 3.5 hours a few times. Played by myself one morning and was first off and finished in 3 hours, walking. This is how golf should be played and until public courses start kicking hilariously obvious offenders off, it will only get worse. I simply will not tolerate having many hours of my time wasted because the people in front of me have no self awareness and the Marshalls are too scared/lazy to do anything about it. For what it's worth, one of the last public rounds I played this year was at Tilden and our 3 hour and 10 minute front 9 was just too much, I went and asked for a refund and they gave me a rain check. Fair enough, but I have no plans on using it if you refuse to address the specific problem that got us here in the first place...
[/quote]

You will generally see more better players on average and players who knows about certain etiquettes on private courses. Not logical to compare the two.
[/quote]

Right, my point was simply that for me, it has gotten so bad on public courses that I simply stopped playing all of them. I'm clearly aware that what you state is the case since that is basically my reason for joining.

[eers2u]

Six hours is ridiculous. You probably have no right to demand a refund, but you certainly have a right to voice your complaint. If the course values your business, they'll do something for you in the form of a discount/free round, etc.. If not, just leave and don't go back.

[1fairway2another]

my home course refunds for 9 holes at least for me. No cash refunds but they put it in the computer so the next time you come you get it credited.

[highergr0und]

If I owned a course, I probably wouldn't pay a ranger. Want to know why? Because most people treat them like crap, and if they actually do have to kick someone off the course it's a huge hassle. I have never once read on here or heard anyone say that they're the cause for slow play.

I hate long rounds, but they're a fact of life. We spend a great portion of our lives waiting longer than we should for things. We drive to work in rush hour. We all go to lunch at the same time and wait in line. We drive home in rush hour. On the weekends we go to busy restaurants, when we go to special events we sit in huge lines of cars, stand in long lines for beer, etc. If we play a round of golf on a weekend at an ideal time, it's going to take longer than it should.

It's up to you to figure it out. In MS, I had a club and played at 5:30-5:45 AM. Done and home with the family by 9am at the latest. I currently telecommute. Since moving to TN, I pretty much only golf during the week when I get a chance. I don't really like the lines, but I do something about them

[Bingo1976]

What the heck do people do for 6 hours on the golf course? I don't see how I can run a marathon in 4 hours, but take 6 hours to ride or walk about 5 miles.

[ncblademan]

I had a guy come in the pro shop the other day and ask for a rain check for the course being slow. He said that him and his other playing partner had to wait on every shot and the group would not let them through. What is funny is that they played in about 4 hours and 15 minutes. I told him that there was nothing I could do.

[theonlybfc]

While it will obviously never happen, i think that it would be cool if you got refunded for the pace being to slow. Maybe work in a pro-rated system? haha

[rockinar]

[quote name='pssywgn' timestamp='1343674061' post='5378886']
[quote name='crapula' timestamp='1343673594' post='5378824']
6 hours? That's it?

If you are unhappy with that courses pace of play, don't play there.

6 hours is normal in Los Angeles on a weekend starting after 8am. Hell, I'll play a 5 hour round during the week starting at 6am.

You share the course with 120 strangers, get over slow play or don't play those courses.

You have no right to ask or receive a refund. Sure, there are times I wish it was possible, but seriously, get real.
[/quote]

I think the location above: "Los Angeles" has a lot to do with your response. Probably a lot of people out that way with "entitlement issues" and "the world spins for me" kind of crap.

Let me tell you buddy, if you think it's ok for 18 holes in a cart to take 6 hours, condoning that kind of crap is being part of the problem.

These people come out on the course and think, "I've paid my $$ to play, now this course is mine to do as I wish." I don't know what planet people like that live on who think it is their right to take 1/4 of an entire 24 hour day to ride 18 holes.

This wasn't a little po-dunk muni course. Around here $55 for 18 is in the upper 1/3 of pricing for courses.

Either way, just because I am sharing the course with 120 others, doesn't mean that those 119 have the right to take 6 hours to play 18.

I agree with the above statement that my voice now is to not return, which I won't.

I've played golf around here and in the Sandhills for 20 years, and NEVER in 20 years and probably 500 rounds of golf has it taken me 6 hours to play 18.

I think by that assertion, it would be fair to say 6 hours is unnacceptable on any level.
[/quote]



$55 is not high end. That's average/low end anywhere in the US. At that price, I would never expect a fast round in that range. That's almost muni course prices.

[Prog8r]

Slowest course I have ever played was in Winter Park, FL. It is one of the most heavily played courses in the US. I was new to the game way back then and would walk off now a days.

[The Grifter]

I agree.

[LaBraeGolfer]

The slowest round I ever played was this tournament in high school probably an 8 to 9 hour round at this course where the green was very shallow and near impossible to land it on the green unless you were a pretty good player. The problem being no one got the ball to the tier were they needed to be so their ball would run straight off down a 70 degree slope (it was pretty darn steep) and sometimes 9-10 groups of four would be backed up on this hole because of the difficulty for average players I never played it that good as we stopped playing my sophomore year of high school but I remember I bogeyed it my freshman year and chipped in from behind the green my sophomore year for birdie (that hole is the high school equivalent to 16 at TPC it was awesome to chip in), but anyway slow play sucks and I take one quick practice swing and go and around the greens I will take two to three to get the feel, fastest round I ever played was in pouring down rain with puddles laying on the greens took me an 1:15 minutes shot 82 you just flew it to the hole and it stopped dead were it landed and then smack it into the hole I was the only idiot, I mean *Golfer* on the course that day.