How long does a round of golf take you?

[tony Q]

I'm getting %$£*&ing angry at slow play. I hope I'm not the only one.

 

How do we improve the speed of play though?

 

Increase spacing in tee off times?

 

Get course marshalls to enforce a reasonable speed of play? ie "speed up or your off the course"

[cheeser]

Unfortunately, money talks and the courses will never go to any more than say, around 7-10 minutes per tee-time. Some higher-end courses I've played have had 15 minute gaps. Marshalls could do the trick but the marshalls usually end up trying to keep people happy instead of enforcing pace of play. Golf is so popular that until people stop coming out, I think we're stuck (pun intended). I am very luck in that the only course I have access to is very quiet and I can walk on at any point in the day and get a 3-4 hour round.

[packerfan1]

When I walk, even 2-4 of us, it rarely takes us more than 3-1/2 hours if the course is clear. We play ready golf...whoever gets to their ball first takes their shot...shortest drivers off of the tee go first, so that they are ready to walk to their second shot when everyone else is done driving their ball from the tee.

 

I have always thought that getting rid of motorized golf carts (except for the disabled and elderly who can't walk a course due to health or age) would speed up play...usually a 4some in a golf cart holds us up and lengthens our round, and most times we can keep up with a group ahead of us in a cart.

[emc]

I go between 2 hours 45 minutes to 3 1/2 hours. Usually it's around 3 1/2 in a threeball

[cwglum]

3hrs walking if no one is in front of me on my home courses.

 

It takes me longer to play new courses because I have to figure out what's going on from the tee, what club to hit, where the preferred misses are at, etc. But on my home course, it's just blast away ... go find it, and hit it again until you're done.

 

Don't you just love those tournament rounds that balloon to 5-1/2 hours?

 

Everyone has a pre-shot routine ... but for the love of god, when it's your turn to hit be ready to play. If that means you have to take your first 13 practice swings at half speed next to the tee while others are hitting ... do it :)

[johnnypro]

Where do all you people live? Ever play public courses on Long Island?

 

At Bethpage, expect 5:15 whether you tee off early or late. The other 4 courses aren't much better, if any.

 

There's just nothing you can do about it. They're afraid to eject anyone for fear of lawsuits, so you just get used to it. You just tell yourself on the first tee that this is going to take 5+ hours and that's that. It beats not playing. Besides, when you've been married 32 years, what's the hurry? :)

[tarheel]

alone, abt 2 hours for 18 holes.

two-ball about 2.5 hours.

three-ball, abt 3 hours

four-ball, abt 3.5 hours.

 

that's assuming we are the first flight and aren't impeded by slow hackers.

 

last week i played a round which lasted 5 hours, with 4 really stupid fools who waited for each and every green to clear before they tee'd off -- even the par 5s! now, if they all could whack the ball like zubak, i would've kept my mouth shut but two of them were banana-ing their balls all over the place and short (200 yards max), one was a hooker who would take 7 practicve swings (we counted) and the last fella was the best of the lot, with avg drives of 220-240 yards.

 

so short, and they wait for the green to clear 400+ yards away (and they played from the men's blue tees!). so i walk up to them after the 4th hole and they said it was the flight ahead which was slow. on the 6th hole i asked them again while they were chatting on the tee box and again they blamed the flight in front, who were just walking off the green 440 yards away. that's when i semi-lost it and called the marshall to file a slow play complaint. they then came over to us before they tee'd up on the 8th (we just finished 7th) and said it wasn't their fault and the flight in front was slow. so i told them this: "how can you blame the flight ahead when they are leaving the green and you haven't hit your tee shot? i've been watching you guys for 7 holes and not one time have you hit anything close to 250yards, so why in the world are you waiting for the flight in front to leave if they are 400+yards away? i mean, if you were all brothers of tiger i'd say fine, but seriously ..."

 

obviosuly the fellas weren't too happy.

 

then on the 12th hole, whilst they were on the green and one of my friends was about 230 yards away with a bad lie, he decided to lay up 50 yards from the green. so he takes a 7 iron and drops it 60 yards from the front of the elevated green and it rolls downhill a little before climbing up the slope ... rolls abt 30 yards.

 

on the next hole, those morons come charging at us, again with the flight in front just bout leaving the green, saying we were playing dangerously by landing the shot near them. i mean 60 yards isnt near. so i tell them this "first off the ball rolls 30 yards, second, why don't you people tee off before coming over to grumble? and finally, let's just call the marshall and let him decide".

 

the fella on that flight pointed his driver at one of my players, who obviously got riled up waiting and a confrontation ensues. he walks to the moron in front and they are now abt 2 inches from each other's face and obviously many words are exchanged and finally these buggers panick and start playing quicker, with the marshall watching their every shot, chasing them and constantly reminding them to fill their divots and rake the bunkers. one of those idiots was so flustered that he spent 6 strokes trying to get out of the bunker and two of them were told to play from the white (18 hcap and above) tees.

 

we started the round at 2.30pm and ended at 7.45pm ... thank goodness the club had night golfing lamps. the bad part was we couldnt see the tee shots and obviously that compromised putting and (some) shot selection.

[stage1350]

I can get around anywhere in 3.5 hours easily if I have an open course in front of me. Probably quicker than that.

 

But there is always a slow group. This weekend it was a FIVESOME and they waited four holes before finally letting our threesome play through.

 

There's no shame in letting someone play through.

[sync71]

If I play 18 by myself I can do it in about 3 hrs and then it goes up to a little over 4 hours for 4 of us to get around like 4:05, 4:15 unless we have absolute hacks in front of us. I'm not saying I'm good but I'm talking about he guys who think they are pro and we catch up to them on ever tee box only to see them duff it and of course they wont let us play though. At the 1st tee there is a sign saying it should take 4:10 to get around the course.

[ce_me_golf]

I walk with a pushcart. It usually take about 3 hours and fifteen minutes to 3 and half hours to complete a round.

[scotty01292]

I play alone quite a lot. Even playing more than one ball at some holes, I always go round sub 3 hour pace. My fastest round is roughly 1 hour 45 mins for 18 holes, walking. At my home course, 3 and a half hours is probably an average pace for 18 holes, but at the municipal next to my house, there are so many hackers who play on it with little to no golfing knowledge, I was playing as a single, and took 4 hours 15 mins because I was held up and couldn't cut on any other holes because it's usually busy.

[Moneyman]

5 of us will walk and we could play a 3 hour round but we are always held up by a twosome in a cart. I also hate when you are walking and being held up and a group comes up and complains to the clubhouse that we wouldnt let them play through.

[squash3b]

I played in a club championship match about 5 years ago which was a 36 hole match. I will grant that we did have a marshall who cleared the course and spotted our balls and we also each had our own cart, but we played a highly competitive, high quality 36 hole match with 1 extra playoff hole in 4 hours and 40 minutes. It just goes to show that you do not have to play slowly to play well.

[jimbonecrusher]

I can get off on one of the two base courses and walk 18 in less that 3 hours. That is with the course measuring around 6600 from the back and not too much yardage between greens and tees. One is an old Donald Ross design with some short and long par 4's and a 600 yard par 5. If I get out on a tuesday or thursday for PT and walk in the first group it is not bad at all. The only problem that I run into is when I get stuck with some guys that think they are players, but can break 90.

[pengster1970]

I am AMAZED at the times being reported on this thread. I live in California and have played all types of courses - publinx, upscale public, upscale private and have never, ever finished below 4 hours. Before you accuse ME of slow play, I can honestly say I dont hold anyone up, nor am I being held up excessively. Of course, if I play alone, I have finished in slightly more than 2 hours, but that is as a single, a cart and no one in front of me - but when is the course ever empty around here?

 

So unless you guys are repoting your fastest times possible, I am wasting some serious time out on the course......

[KDMullins]

I'm assuming we're talking about playing in 4somes. If so, you guys must all either play at small country clubs where everybody knows the course and you can't get into too much trouble or places where you're the only people on the course. I can count on one hand the number of sub 4-hour rounds I played last year.

[Johnny]

were is the sub 2.5 -2 hour range... my normal 3some complete a round in just about 2 hours if nobody is holding us up.

[DaveyH]

My club is so bad for slow play on saturday comps its like 4 and a half hours to do 18.I played in the juniour boys open around my area and it took me 5 hours and 20 mins to do 18!!!Nearly died.

[Rabidpenguin45]

I can play most rounds in 3 hours to 3 and 1\2 hours...

[DBPGolf]

when me and my dad play together we can finish in 2 hours we normally end up going off the back first and play that in 45 min then the front nine will be 2 1/2 hours so it kinda sucks. i think that rangers should enforce the keep up with the group infront of u rule and if you dont you let the group behind you play through. thats in the rule book so youd think that it would be enforced, but like cheeser said money talks.......

[Grimace45]

If I get out at 7 on the weekends it is a 3 hour round. If I get out at around 10 it is a 6 hour round. I need to get out before the hit and giggle crowd or I walk off and head to the range after 6 holes.

[birdiegirl11]

Fastest ever was 3 hours. Most rounds the courses around here are backed up and it's 4 1/2 to 5 hours normally. One guy that we play with reads his greens like he's putting to win the Open Championship. The problem is that he doesn't start analyzing the green until it's his shot. Drives me nuts. One day I had to work, and my hubby played with him... a 3-some. They shot low to mid 80s and were an hour behind with NOBODY in front. The round was 5 1/4 hours on a Monday morning, and I waited an hour in the parking lot for them. Ugh.

 

Marshalls really need to marshall the courses, but golfers need to be aware of what's going on around them. I'm not the world's greatest golfer, but when I'm having a bad day, I pick up the ball. I played double-par for months when I first started playing, now I pick up at ESC or if I can't reasonably beat my ESC limit. It's so much easier on my psyche and on my speed of play.

 

Most people I've talked to have no idea whether they are slow players or not. They aim, take a practice swing or three and then take 45 extra seconds over the ball. That really eats up time. An instructor once told us that pace of play is impacted in 30-second increments. It's so true.

 

There are so many ways to speed up play... I'd love to see an article in one of the major mags about that!

[tony Q]

My normal round of golf will be about 4 hours. that is if we are being held up. if we weren't it would be closer to 3 hours.

 

And just to brag, my friend and i played around my home course in 1 hour and 25 min and we played in a cart. ok so we went through 8 groups, but boy did we have fun.

[Goose]

My group i play in which usually consists of 3 or 4 groups of 4 we can usually get around in 3:15-3:30 at my club.

 

 

 

goose

[hanknalex]

We normally play first off at my club throughout the season and if it's a twosome(separate carts)--under 2 hours; threesome--under 3 hours.

[johnnypro]

Note to all: What's the hurry?

[Evil R1]

I voted 4.5 hours.

 

I can personally get around in under 3.5, but with how crouded the courses are around here, I will never finish in under 4.5 hours unless I'm the only one on the course.

[chasm]

A huge amount depends upon where you play which seems to affect both course design and conventions/etiquette etc. All my slowest rounds have been in the US on resort/ public courses - e.g Poppy Hills took 5 hrs 30 mins. I was a single following a fourball. Seriously painful. Bethpage Black took 5 hours too. Two things struck me while playing over the pond. Buggies slow you down massively if shared and only speed things up when you have a long walk or drive from green to the next tee (a few courses in Florida spring to mind). Also, generally, players seem much more inclined to spend a lot of time both searching for lost balls and lining up putts and just generally trying to ape the pros with pre-shot routines etc.

 

That said, my quickest round in the States was at Winged Foot where, with a caddie each, my brother and I got round in 2hrs 45. No lost balls, even in the rough that was set up forthe PGA in 97 (we played a week later so it might have been cut back a bit too!) and club selection decided by the time we got to the ball etc. All we had to do was walk and hit it. Fantastic.

 

Back in the UK if you're playing a two ball on a members course, particularly one of the older courses such as Sunningdale, you would annoy a number of members if you took more than 3 hours. Keys to keeping up the pace of play here are a disinclination to spend the regulation 5 minutes looking for lost balls - if you can't find it in the first 30 seconds of arriving in the heather you should declare it lost and move on (of course you played a provisional....). Also, the older courses were designed before buggies became available (and we don't have as much space to play with as you do in the US) so typically have nice short walks from green to tee. This can be a major contributor to lengthening rounds.

 

My best ever was late one evening in Frnace where I played 9 holes in 54 minutes.

[jimbonecrusher]

I generally play on two courses that are on my military post. They get the normal retiree play, but these groups play rather quickly because they know the course and don't lose their ball too much. Most of them walk with push carts and this tends to speed up play a bit.

 

I think the average score of your total group adds to the time that it takes to play. The other big thing, is if the group is out there to enjoy a round of golf, or if they are out there to mess around and kill time. With the younger troops in my courses, they are generally out there for the second option.

 

My courses take slow play rather seriously. They will pull you from the course if your pace of play is really slow. I have occasionally had the 5+ hour round, and it was very painful. The key is to be ready when it is your turn to hit and also keep your mind occupied so that it doesn't drive you crazy.

[dmboak]

4 hours