COMMUNITY

Agree,maybe All golfers should carry a Golf Rules / Handicap Card,that shows that you know the golf rules and have a hanicap.That way you can show it to the starter and he can tell you what tee box to hit from.

The USGA and R&A can address slow play all they want but until the local course want to take action, slow play will always be with us. Rangers/marshalls at local courses are too "friendly" to move slow groups along. Money is everything in this time of need.

Daniel a lot of it is pure ego. The starter can advise all he or she wants but once past the first tee, the participants will either ignore the advise or revert back to the tees they want to play. I have been on many a vacation where I was paired with individuals who played from the back tees and could barely make it beyond the forward tees. But they felt since they were putting out the money they should play whatever tees they wanted and not care about those behind them. aturally when the ranger came around to push us along I felt a little embarrassed as I knew what was the problem.

I just think it's a matter of being better educated. This might be different for different people, but when I was first being taught the game, no one told me about playing at a certain speed. It wouldn't hurt if parents or instructors told their kids/students very early on in the learning process about playing the game at a solid pace.

We experienced slow play today. The first warm weekend since probably mid December.

We were a foursome that was behind a threesome who were also behind 2 foursomes. The first hole is a par 5 with water in play about 300 yards out. It took one guy in the group in front of us 7 shots just to GET to the water. Naturally they were playing from the tips but nobody in that group deserved to play there. The twosome caught up to us in about 3 holes. Two guys in our group weren't exactly the fastest players and I mentioned it to the twosome behind us. I was glad to hear them say, "well there's really nowhere to go. There's at least 5 groups in front of us".

Our group PURPOSELY play forward 1 tee because of the cooler temps and we all knew that the ball would not travel as far. In fact many of the tee boxes were combined with the ladies tees for the day. I didn't mind. First round for the season and nothing is in sync yet.

Slow play always is a big topic. But I'll bet many of us sitting inside to keep away from the snow would gladly trade slow play for no play.

I played today. and the GPS in the cart said we were 2 minutes behind as we were on the 15th hole. Not our fault. The group ahead of us made us wait in the fairway on every hole since hole #1. And they were pushing the group in front of them. By the way, we finished our round in just under 4 hours.
Heres the real problem in my opinion. Every course has starting times based on a certain amount of minutes. Some 7 minutes, some 9 minutes. Some courses have a majority of senior players which in my experience can be extremely slow walking to and from the greens. And when I say seniors, I'm not talking about the ones like me that are just over 55 and still can move around. I'm talking about the ones that walk like a damn penguin. You all know of someone like that I'm sure.
Par 3's always seem to bring the pace of play to a stand still. Tight courses or courses with lots of hazards or bushes or lakes slow play because of players spending too much time looking for balls. Courses like these, should adjust their starting time windows so that groups aren't packed in and waiting on each other .
It's all about revenue. One of the slowest courses in my area is Plantation Preserve. You can't finish a round in less than 5 hours on a weekend. Its one of the nicest courses around here, and expensive too. So all the rich hackers that play slower than a broken clock jam this course on weekends.
Wow. So many reasons for slow play. I guess the only relief is to be a dewsweeper.

lol.

Yep

Don, you aren't embellishing even a little. One of my top 3 favorite courses in S FL is easily Plantation Preserve and I have NEVER finished a round in under 5 hours... ever. It is such a shame because I love taking people their for the course, but hate taking people there because of the play. It is brutal. They did the 3rd round of Q School there the past 2-3 years and it was a crawl. :(

Isn't Florida where ALL penguins eventually end up?

Seems to me that if you live in Florida, you've got to expect slow everything. You're probably lucky to get through the line at the grocery store in under 4 hours.

Had a nice talk with a lad on the course Saturday. He was playing alone and walking. I caught up to the older gentlemen (75+ and also walking) playing behind him. He was waiting on the tee box on # 5 as the lad meandered down the fairway hitting his 2nd and 3rd shots. He invited me to play thru so long as I would have a word about pace of play with the lad. I agreed and drove my 1st shot just as he cleared the dogleg. I walked to my ball and arrived before he found his ball in the rough left of the green. His next shot sailed over the green far enough to allow me to hit my approach without danger of hitting him. His next shot sailed the green again and he turned, left the ball, and headed to the next tee box. I holed out, moved to the #6 tee box only to find he had yet to tee up. He looked lost and confused, I asked "you don't want to be here do you?". He replied "that last hole just got to me".
I thought for just a moment and said "Son, that was the last hole, this is a new one. Other golfers will be patient with poor play so long as you move quickly between shots. If you continue as you are you will not make any friends out here. We must all play in a manner that respects both the game and other golfers. Keep up with the group in front or invite others to play thru. Get you chin up and respect the game"

I played thru. A few holes later I saw him waiting on the tee box allowing the older gentlemen to play thru. Perhaps he was paying attention during our talk. Let's hope so.

Walking I was able to play 27 holes in just over 5 hours. (28 holes to be accurate, I was the last "group" and replayed #16 to allow the turtles in front to gain some distance) It worked and I played 17 and 18 without any delay.

Ain't that the truth, Mark. The roads are the worse.

I'm normally a walker, and I usually play (on an empty day) in around 3 hours, sometimes as quick as two-and-a-half. But when it's crowded, I have to crawl along like everyone else. What I have found I get held up the most by is:

1: Not being ready to hit. This happens frequently with two guys in a cart, although sometimes with walkers as well. What happens is that both people drive to player A's ball, player A gets out and hits, then they drive to player B's ball and player B hits. Now, if the balls are very far apart then that's fine, but if not, then why didn't player B grab a couple clubs and walk over to his ball so he could be ready to hit when it was his turn?

2: Not taking the right clubs out of the bag. This is not an issue with walkers usually, since their bag is right there with them...but whenever I take a cart, I make sure that I bring a few clubs from the bag out to my ball. Too often I see guys grab a club, walk to the ball, realize they need a different club, walk back to get it, then walk back to the ball and hit.

3: Clearing the green. Sometimes guys seem to just meander around on a green after the hole is finished. You've gotta remember where your clubs are (if you had to bring a wedge or something), and when you're done putting, get to the cart and go to the next hole! Don't write your score down until you're on the next tee! It's not the PGA Tour...your score is still valid even after you leave the hole.

4: People thinking they hit longer than they actually do. News flash: If you can't put the ball halfway down the hole with your driver, what makes you think you can reach the green (which is still longer than halfway away!) with a shorter club? I see guys all the freakin' time waiting for par 5 greens to clear when they've still got 300 yards to go. Use a little common sense.

5: Endless practice swings. I'm not a big practice swinger anyway, but you guys know the kind of folks I'm talking about...10 to 15 practice swings, sometimes taking divots with each one...then they chunk their shot...waste of time. Take a couple half-swings to practice, then go. Your swing isn't going to magically improve in 10 quick whiffs.

Now we don't all have to be lightning quick like Snedeker or something, but a lot of time can be trimmed off of a round when you cut out some of the fluff that happens between shots.

AMEN!! This issue enrages me on a golf course!! Particularly when the person waiting to hit a 300 yard shot to the green is 70 years old and holding a 1 iron that he bought way back in the 60's when he was 20 years old and couldn't hit it then either!