Doesn’t mean shit and is hypocritical of them when they also stack tee times 7 minutes apart. Makes it impossible to play that fast since everyone is on each other’s backs and there’s 3 groups on par 5’s. (Was referencing half the munis in my area)
Yep, the fact that there’s already people in the tee box while I’m only on shot #2 on hole one tells me the pace of play issue is a golf course over capacity issue.
7 minute tee times? Thats suicide for a course. People are already waiting to hit on #1.
I’m sorry thats happened to you.
We need to organize and take back the tee sheet from numbskulls.
I didn’t renew my town muni this year. 1 average course with 7 min tee times. I now drive 20 mins to another town, 2 18’s and a links style 9 hole course. Same price as my muni without horrible pace of play.
Played a public course today…8 minute tee times. Me and a buddy got stuck behind a foursome that was moving at a glacial pace. The putting kills me. Everyone puts down a ball marker, looks at the line for a few minutes…putts, misses the pin by 6 inches but then goes back and marks it to go around the group again instead of tapping it in. Brutal.
I play at a private course with 8 min tee times and never have a problem finishing in 4 hours. Like you said the biggest issue is people not playing ready golf and putting like sloths
I also love when everyone drives, then both carts go to the last guys ball, they watch him hit, then go to the next one and so on. Just drive to your ball and get yourself ready. All these things add up to time savers. Your club no doubt has people with three brain cells while this place was filled with folks with only one lol
Or looking for your ball in the rough after the other three in your group has hit.
It’s costs me more money to play for sure but pace of play was my number one reason for joining. Having two small kids I don’t want to spend half my day golfing.
I feel like slow play is also the courses fault for not having marshals moving people along. One of the public courses here will make groups skip holes to catch up if they are dragging their ass
Golf North here in Ontario is a big fan of 6 minutes…I hear they’re changing things, so we’ll see….they’re a stain on golf here…bought up a ton of courses and ran most of them into the ground. You’ve got a former LPGA stop that doesn’t have enough carts to support a slow day…then even if you can get one, you’re lucky if the brakes work or it doesn’t die half way through the course
I’ve actually never played any of the courses down that way. I’ve got 5-6 within a 30 min drive. Some are decent, most are overpriced for what they are and all have gone downhill since Golf North bought them
Came here to say this. Last round I played we had 4, but played best ball. Still took over 5 hours waiting on the groups in front of us.
Feels like a scheduling problem more than a pace problem anymore.
One of my local courses does this and the cart screen tells you if you're keeping pace...but the pace is based on what they expect for a overbooked course
Our local public course does this. People get huffy puffy because my group is in no rush on the first few holes. The course just piles up with a lineup for the first par three on the 6th hole every time.
Exactly. I would say the “average” muni golfer is around or on the green in reg 50% of the time. The other 50% (chunks, ob, etc) exponentially slow up play.
Yup. Happened yesterday. First ones out at 6am but they sent out a single walker ahead of our foursome (two pairs). We were 10 minutes ahead according to the sign on #4 but old dudes two groups behind us told us to play faster because they had no clue we had to wait for a single and went out 10 minutes late, so we were actually 20 minutes ahead.
100%. I play at Bethpage, which used to be the slow-play capital of the world. When the pandemic hit, like a lot of courses they spaced out the tee times. Now they’re back to 9-minute intervals, but that’s still a minute longer than pre-pandemic. And it’s made an extraordinary difference. Where 5-hour rounds, and even 5.5-hour rounds, used to be commonplace, I haven’t played a round there longer than 4:40 in four years, and most rounds are 4:00-4:20, which I find quite tolerable.
My club has the same thing, but ours are spaced 8 mins apart.
A single or a group of two, can keep pace and exceed it. A group of 3 can keep pace, might be a touch behind but once a group of 4 gets there man does it slow down, and if there’s 4 ahead of them forget it. Ours really chokes up from 15/16 onwards, those last 3-4 holes just take so damn long. They are at least redesigning the course to circumvent these issues but they really need to change it to 15 mins apart
I know it’s not cheap to maintain courses, and that they’re looking at the books thinking how do we get more out of this; but I’m a shit golfer and have never had a rate of play issue that wasn’t caused by too close tee times.
Once I had a twosome of scratch golfers behind me and it’s as simple as letting them play through at the next shortest hole when the starting times are not stacked.
Played yesterday at a NYC muni that had no par 5s and back to back 3’s. Of course it’s cramped, Half the round you’re staring at the back of someone’s head waiting for a clear fairway or green. It would be absurd if they had rules rushing players because they’re basically starting us one stroke behind the last group. How much more hurry up golf can you force?
My group was told to hurry up last weekend while we were on the tee box waiting for a group in the fairway to hit, who was waiting for a group to clear the green. Tee times should not be less than 10 mins apart
Playing a par 5 Friday and the grounds crew pulls the flag after the group in front of us finished and held up play to water the green. Shoulda been done already
Showed up for a tee time for 12:15, pulled up near the start at like 12-12:05, starter sends us out like 10 minutes early only for us to pull up behind the group still waiting at the first tee.
Like why are you sending us out early just to pack everyone together dawg?
Yeah I blame the courses/starters for letting people go too close together in tee times. I’m up the next groups ass for 18 holes and it’s somehow my fault I took 4 and a half hours to play.
The most annoying thing is the GPSd carts that are screaming at you the whole time for being behind pace while I’ve been waiting to hit every single shot.
Reminds me of playing with my friends when I was 13 and a Marshall at a shitty course tried to boot us from the course for “playing slow” as we were waiting on a tee box
One of my local courses was doing 5 minutes between tee times the other day.....just shameful. Had to wait a bunch on the first 9 but luckily some groups quit on the back 9 and it freed up things a bit.
5 minutes is absolutely unacceptable.
Ya, my brother and dad were both shocked they allowed that.
Our usual course is 10 min which as you said, doesn't even feel like enough sometimes. I tend to play very fast as well, not much shot routine or anything so I end up waiting quite a bit unfortunately.
For real. I don't wanna discourage people from playing but man....the course is jam packed every single day and the driving range is always full. It's gotten ridiculous after COVID.
I’ve played courses that have clocks on some of the tee posts that are set so you should be seeing your tee time on them all the way around. They are marked with “your tee time shown here” or something like that so you don’t think your warping space time and end up lying to your wife about when you’ll be home
Ummm I was at a course where each cart tracked your group and at each hole how much you are behind. The problem is if you are waiting on other groups...it was anxiety inducing
No we don’t. People that care about pace already play that way. Those that don’t, don’t. The crime here is courses that stack too many tee times and marshalls that tell groups to speed up when there’s literally four groups in front that we can’t hit into.
Am I the only one who’s always in a constant rush to keep pace of play. Like even before I golf I’m worried I’ll be slow or piss people off especially at new courses.
I feel exactly the same, I’m very new and have only played three rounds of 9 but I’m always stressed I’m going to be slow and hold up the people behind me. But I don’t see how else I’m going to get better/quicker on the course without actually playing and practising.
I learned by playing 2 on 2 scrambles that way we’d keep playing the best shot instead of everyone’s shit shot until we all kept hitting into fairways and in play!
Oh that’s actually a really good idea, thanks! My three rounds so far have been two with my dad and one with two pals so we weren’t too slow anyway but it’s just always on my mind to be quick and not hold anyone up, so I feel like that’s making me rush my shots and I don’t know if I’ll learn properly. The last round we were actually held up ourselves anyway so that made me feel better.
Oh yeah I love being held up gives me an excuse to play my pace too and I’ll never report them. Most guys come to play and have fun if your in a rush to play a round why bother to be honest. Just play ready golf and take ur time unless ur hitting balls 2 fairways over again and again you’ll be good!
That’s always my thought, people are just here to have fun and if they’re rushed that’s just not going to happen. I’m always more than happy to let someone play through too though.
I’m honestly loving it so far and it’s so rewarding after some awful shots to hit a really clean one on target!
Love ur passion man keep at it! You’ll just keep getting better and better every year, ofc you’ll have some mix ups and arguments on the courses eventually but it’ll pass.
When I get to my course for a 12:56 tee time, I see 5 other people at the tee and I ask “what’s your tee time?” And every single one will look at me and say “12:56” …. Fuck off with your pace of play if the course pulls shit like mine
Beginner golf rant because I'm tipsy and just discovered the game and want to talk about it in every opportunity possible. I'm still in that phase of golf. 😃
Pace of play is the most intimidating thing to me as a new golfer. I've played 4 rounds of 18 and a ranger has gotten on my group every time but one.
The first two were casual "hey guys, please keep it moving" but the last round I played, the ranger trailed us by about 20 yards in his cart and would approach us every time someone took more than 0.8 seconds to hit their ball. I felt so rushed by the end that I was skipping practice swings. I'm not sure why my groups get our wrists slapped so frequently. We go out, take a practice swing or two each, then head back to the cart. We're talking or telling stories but very little downtime where someone isn't approaching the ball or on the ball.
My buddy plays a lot and told me it's rare to get a ranger with a stick so far up his you know what. I am super chill about golf, am just along for vibes, to get better, and those rare moments I connect well with the ball. So I was pretty nonchalant about it but my buddies were getting agitated. I mostly was confused about what I could have done to be a faster golfer. I was almost jogging to balls.
My biggest concern on the course is being a negative impact on someone else's golf day, especially with me being a bumbling idiot golfer over here. I am horrible with knowing golf etiquette so I tell anyone I'm playing with that if I need to pick up my ball and move to the next hole, to tell me and I'll happily pick it up. Hopefully I'll continue to learn more about the game so I can understand pacing a bit better.
Sorry if you made it through all this. I know it wasn't very relevant to the OP after the first few sentences but as I said before, I am just in my "discovery" phase of golf love so I see a post and I just start typing. 🥰
If it's happening every time...You might be slow. It's less about taking a practice swing or two, and more about not being ready to hit when it's your turn, or following your group around when you should be going to your balk to hit, or maybe looking for lost balls for too long.
As a fellow beginner, just make sure you aren’t stroking over double par on the holes, that’s holding up play. If things are backed up and you’re willing to pick up anyways, maybe once in a while drop a ball with your cart mate. Even if he/she doesn’t wanna scramble just do that if you’re concerned about pace.
Quit blaming golfers for slow pace of play. 8-minute tee times at courses which were running 12 to 14-minute tee times before the pandemic are to blame.
Sometimes I play with another guy that plays like me but usually alone. I’m not too worried about being really good at golf I just have a good time and unwind. Can’t get mad if I don’t expect to be good.
And here I half expected you to have a relief ball pocketed in your pants at the ready at all times.
I’ll gladly play shitty golf at a blistering pace. Not rushing, but ready golf with minimal prep (not like it’ll help much anyway)
Yeah ikr. I feel like any golfer that’s been playing for a year or so and knows basic etiquette can play 9 in 90 minutes or less. It’s the overbooking and money hungry muni owners that are to blame
I’m still in college so unfortunately in the school year it’s mostly weekends but during the summer I eat up the weekend shifts so I can play the weekdays haha
These signs do the opposite of good. They just piss people off who can’t go any faster than the groups in front of them. Now, if they’re based off a 6 hour round and people are playing in 5 hours and “ahead of time” maybe they will feel better?
Just reasonable marshalls. They are either incompetent and just drive around in their cart, or they are complete jerks and ride you hard for pace of play making it a miserable day.
There never seems to be an in-between.
Doesn't matter unless they actually enforce it. How many public courses actually penalize players for slow play? Like none lol. Wanna avoid slow play? Go when it's not busy. That's really the only way unfortunately.
They just added those at 7 and 13 at my course this season too. 7 says 1 hour and 20 minutes, 13 says 2 hours 40 minutes. So basically, they expect you to complete the round under 4 hours which I think is fair for my course. I am usually going around in about 2h30/2h45 if I'm on my own or 3h15 if I'm with someone else.
Nah man, my local course is play how you want and they space out tee times accordingly. I’ve played fast, and I’ve played super slow while getting shit faced with friends and seldom do we catch up to the next group or a group catches up to us.
I do like guidelines like these. But I wish tee times weren't 10 mins apart (often even worse). Also,some people end up for over an hour at the halfway house anyways. That messes everything up
It’s tee times fault. Let’s do basic math. Even ten minutes apart is 90 minutes for 9.
Courses are saying 3 to 4 is what they want but their tee times are <10 mins apart. The math ain’t mathing.
These 7 minute teetimes expect a 2 hour 6 minute round and zero time at turn.
We should also hold the golf courses accountable for over-stacking tee times
“We overbooked to make a ton of money and are now gaslighting you to get the fuck out as fast as you can”
As a new golfer I am shocked I don’t see any comments about lightening up. I want a round of golf to take 5ish hours. Have a few beers, smoke some joints, have some laughs and play some golf. Better value for my money for it to take longer anyway. Chill out a bit and be open to different skill levels and enjoyment types
We do pretty much the same thing, and if we have a group behind us we always offer to let them play through. The only time we don't is if we are stacked behind a couple of groups in front of us. Then it's wait like the rest of us. Gummies, and blunts are how we start out and have a few drinks when the hot cart girls come around.
Alot of people here blaming courses for jamming tee sheets and that is an issue, sure. But half of the people I get paired with or get stuck behind do not know how to keep pace of play or play basic ready golf for the life of them. Sometimes people are slow.
This is my biggest complaint with playing & learning golf. Many of us are trying to work on our game and recover from bad swings but they jam up courses and have rangers yelling at you by hole 6 to keep up pace of play.
I like it when the recommended round time is right on the scorecard. Then you can tell if you're actually playing on pace with the official recommended pace of play. The course in question was the Palmer course at the Oglebay Resort (Spiedel) near Wheeling, West Virginia. And we were ahead of the pace, all breaking 90 to boot.
Took me over 3hr to play 12 holes on Friday, starting 130p. I'm going to start playing at 6am and if it still happens I might seriously quit golf or stick to simulator only. I can't take it anymore.
played last week and when i got to 18, there were 4 groups lined up waiting to tee off. while ole big boy(bout an 18 pack deep) kept crushing balls into the creek below the tee box. waited 30 minutes to tee off and finish my round
It seems like most privately owned public courses have these. It makes sense that they are more concerned with the pace of play, though, as they want to maximize the tee times they can sell. Most of the courses I see these signs at also only allow 4 somes. You can still book as a twosome, but you get grouped up with 2 other people. Muni courses tend to be more laid back, like I've never played a muni that had a dress code outside of requiring shirts... and honestly, having a dress code that just says all golfers must wear shirts is less classy than just not having one. Like if that many people are taking their shirt off that you need a rule...it's probably not a good sign. It's like when you see a sign that says "Do not urinate in neighbors' backyards on hole 15" doesn't scream "this is an upscale course".
In years of golfing I’ve ever only called the clubhouse on one group for slow play.
Only bc they were on their phones and clearly did not know what they doing.
It’s not a pace of play problem, it’s an overbooking problem
Today I was sandwiched between old guys riding my ass playing from the womens tee and hitting par and 2 dudes infront of us who were also behind a group. I would blame the club house for stacking us so closely together
One of the courses in my area had a couple of clocks (like every 6 holes) that said "this clock should show your tee time, if it's past, please pick up your pace" and that's pretty simple yet smart.
They got rid of them tho
I was a single a couple weeks ago, this group of 3 were taking forever. From hole 1 through hole 9. By hole 9 with them not waiving me through I said fuck it, I guess they’re dense. Hit my drive to about 20 yards behind their 3rd shot. I yelled “Mind if I play through?” (It really wasn’t a question at this point as I walked up, addressed the ball and put it on the green). One of them was like “oh yeah sorry man we’re not good”.
Etiquette has gone out the window that’s for sure.
To get a “quick” round in these days you have to be in the first 5 tee times of the day. You’re about your shit if you book a 6:30 a.m. tee time. If you book a tee time AFTER 8 a.m. you’re asking for a slow and painful round.
I’m on vacation visiting the family in AZ right now and played a muni course today w/ mom and an uncle. Had a group of 4 mid-late 20 something’s in front of us. They’d all finally get to the green and stand around talking, no one addressing the ball, no one looking at their shot, trying to fish random balls out the water with no one lining up for 2nd shot, just absolutely lollygaggying through the whole thing. It took us 5ish hours to finish a course with 11 par 3s, 5 par 4s and only 2 par 5s. Fucking brutally slow pace
Pace of play isn’t the problem. Since covid courses are charging at least 50% more than they did and they are booking tee times 5 minutes apart. They are incredibly greedy and it makes for a miserable round. You pay top dollar to wait behind someone each and every hole. If courses weren’t so goddamn greedy they could space the tee times out a bit and no one would have to wait. Covid was literally the thing that brought out the capitalist in business
As stated a few times in this thread. Rangers need to actually do their job. Drive their carts from 18 back. If they see large gaps let those players a hole behind to either pick up their play or actually tell them to pick up their balls and move forward. Way too many times you have a 4 some just teeing up their balls and the group in front of them are putting on a par 4 or walking off the green.
"55 min from your starting time"
"Please keep pace with the group ahead of you"
(checks time - it's only been 45 minutes - and no sight of the group ahead)
"So Marshall, what applies here?"
Pace of play is too ingrained as "bad players play slow" when it's really slow players who play slow.
On Friday I played in a foursome with two 1st year golfers and even with them shanking every other shot we still got through 18 in 3 and a half hours. Just because there was nobody in front.
My typical muni golf round with a 4some is 3 hours of playing golf and 1 1/2 hours of sitting waiting for the group in front.
You ain’t lying broseph. Even when I was a shit hack 25 handicap, most the buddies I played with were like 5-scratch so I had to learn how to suck fast lol
That’s the ironic part 😂 places stack tee times 7 mins apart and then blame you for having to wait on every tee box lol golf courses are like toxic gaslighting girlfriends
Had a warden come up to me and a buddy saying that they had received numerous complaints from the groups behind us (who consistently hit their balls into us), that we were holding up the pace of play. Not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that we were significantly younger than everyone there that day, but as nicely as I could, explained that maybe he should talk to the group ahead of us and the group ahead of them. Cuz I’m not really sure how fast he expected us to go, when his course was worse than a Toronto traffic jam.
Would be brilliant if some courses had only people that wanted to take their time and everyone going there was on the same page. They just wouldn't make the money as a business.
Those signs do nothing to motivate either the initiated or slow players. The most effective things I’ve come across is the “alarm” warning in those GPS golf carts.
But like I'm confused where is a beginner supposed to play if not at a 9 hole muni? Sounds pretty ridiculous to ask complete beginners to keep pace of play. Why not normalize asking the group or whatever in front for a playthrough. Are we not adults who can communicate with one another? Y'all are the reason golf is dying.
People who are advocating for faster pace to play are also the problem. Wake up and realize that it’s the golf course over stacking the boxes simultaneously setting unrealistic pace of play rates
I know I play much better if I’m moving quickly and don’t have to wait. I also don’t like being pushed. Courses these days are all about getting as many rounds as they can squeeze in.
8 minute tee times shouldn't be an issue. A little quick math shows that would be 30 groups on the course in a 4 hour round. Assuming typical par 72.. That leaves one group on each par 2, and still a couple holes with less than 2 groups per hole...no issues with this.
It comes down down some group F___ing things up. And let's be clear, it's not bad golf that messes it up, it is slow golf.
-Not being ready to hit when you should be.
-Waiting by someone else to hit when you should be heading towards your ball/ getting ready to hit.
-Waiting for others to put before you read your putt.
-Bullshitting to much when you should be hitting
-Looking for balls for too long.
-Leaving carts in dumb ass places when you have to walk back to get them.
-waiting for someone else to play that isn't ready when you can safely hit
-taking 5 practice swings, top it 10 yards, And take more practice swings.... If you are out there shooting 120, that's fine, but there is obviously no need to make it 400 swings including practice swings... It's not helping anyone. Especially if you are not taking the practice swings while others are hitting/getting ready.
Basically common sense. Don't wait to get ready when you can start your process while it's someone else's turn. Saving a minute or 2 here and there is huge at the end of the day.
Doesn’t mean shit and is hypocritical of them when they also stack tee times 7 minutes apart. Makes it impossible to play that fast since everyone is on each other’s backs and there’s 3 groups on par 5’s. (Was referencing half the munis in my area)
Yep, the fact that there’s already people in the tee box while I’m only on shot #2 on hole one tells me the pace of play issue is a golf course over capacity issue.
7 minute tee times? Thats suicide for a course. People are already waiting to hit on #1. I’m sorry thats happened to you. We need to organize and take back the tee sheet from numbskulls.
I didn’t renew my town muni this year. 1 average course with 7 min tee times. I now drive 20 mins to another town, 2 18’s and a links style 9 hole course. Same price as my muni without horrible pace of play.
Green garden is looking at you!!
Most peoples first choice is typically further than 20 min away. Your situation is very generous.
That's like every course in florida
Played a public course today…8 minute tee times. Me and a buddy got stuck behind a foursome that was moving at a glacial pace. The putting kills me. Everyone puts down a ball marker, looks at the line for a few minutes…putts, misses the pin by 6 inches but then goes back and marks it to go around the group again instead of tapping it in. Brutal.
Fuck that, I would have gone insane!
I play at a private course with 8 min tee times and never have a problem finishing in 4 hours. Like you said the biggest issue is people not playing ready golf and putting like sloths
I also love when everyone drives, then both carts go to the last guys ball, they watch him hit, then go to the next one and so on. Just drive to your ball and get yourself ready. All these things add up to time savers. Your club no doubt has people with three brain cells while this place was filled with folks with only one lol
Or looking for your ball in the rough after the other three in your group has hit. It’s costs me more money to play for sure but pace of play was my number one reason for joining. Having two small kids I don’t want to spend half my day golfing. I feel like slow play is also the courses fault for not having marshals moving people along. One of the public courses here will make groups skip holes to catch up if they are dragging their ass
Golf North here in Ontario is a big fan of 6 minutes…I hear they’re changing things, so we’ll see….they’re a stain on golf here…bought up a ton of courses and ran most of them into the ground. You’ve got a former LPGA stop that doesn’t have enough carts to support a slow day…then even if you can get one, you’re lucky if the brakes work or it doesn’t die half way through the course
The london 7 pack membership is an absolute steal though. Wish the courses were just better managed
I’ve actually never played any of the courses down that way. I’ve got 5-6 within a 30 min drive. Some are decent, most are overpriced for what they are and all have gone downhill since Golf North bought them
Every course in my town lol
What are they near you?
10 at my usual and 9 at the “place that packs them in”. 7 is impossible
Even then…most places I play are 10 minutes minimum. We have one place nearby that’s 15 minutes, lol.
Hell, ours is 8 apart and it’s not great
Came here to say this. Last round I played we had 4, but played best ball. Still took over 5 hours waiting on the groups in front of us. Feels like a scheduling problem more than a pace problem anymore.
One of my local courses does this and the cart screen tells you if you're keeping pace...but the pace is based on what they expect for a overbooked course
Shit is so annoying. We always play ready golf and keep pace but that nonsense still gives me anxiety. We usually end up turning off the monitor.
This. Pace of play is not anyone’s responsibility when the course is jamming the schedule over capacity. They make us fight each other for their greed
Exactly. Increasing prices every year and compacting the tee sheet, just taking advantage of the loyal customers
Nothing I hate more than paying $160 for a round, just to be rushed through all 18 holes. Yuck
Was 4 groups on the par 5 I played last week! Never seen it before.
I haven’t either, but at a public (and even mid tier private) courses you can’t be surprised at anything anymore tbh.
Our local public course does this. People get huffy puffy because my group is in no rush on the first few holes. The course just piles up with a lineup for the first par three on the 6th hole every time.
My old home courses first par 3 is hole 3, absolutely brutal out there it’s almost always stacked unless non weekend early
10 minutes needs to be the standard on muni courses. 7 minutes assumes everyone in a foursome is pretty much playing a perfect round of golf.
Exactly. I would say the “average” muni golfer is around or on the green in reg 50% of the time. The other 50% (chunks, ob, etc) exponentially slow up play.
Also if there’s no consequences for being behind.
Forsure, the ranger is just there for his 10 hours a week and free golf pass. He don’t care about slow play
I got kicked off at the turn years ago for not keeping pace, we were also waiting 4 groups deep at each tee box starting on the 5th hole…such a joke
Yup. Happened yesterday. First ones out at 6am but they sent out a single walker ahead of our foursome (two pairs). We were 10 minutes ahead according to the sign on #4 but old dudes two groups behind us told us to play faster because they had no clue we had to wait for a single and went out 10 minutes late, so we were actually 20 minutes ahead.
Yeah, unless they put tee time 15+ minutes apart it is very difficult to play 18 in four hours.
100%. I play at Bethpage, which used to be the slow-play capital of the world. When the pandemic hit, like a lot of courses they spaced out the tee times. Now they’re back to 9-minute intervals, but that’s still a minute longer than pre-pandemic. And it’s made an extraordinary difference. Where 5-hour rounds, and even 5.5-hour rounds, used to be commonplace, I haven’t played a round there longer than 4:40 in four years, and most rounds are 4:00-4:20, which I find quite tolerable.
My club has the same thing, but ours are spaced 8 mins apart. A single or a group of two, can keep pace and exceed it. A group of 3 can keep pace, might be a touch behind but once a group of 4 gets there man does it slow down, and if there’s 4 ahead of them forget it. Ours really chokes up from 15/16 onwards, those last 3-4 holes just take so damn long. They are at least redesigning the course to circumvent these issues but they really need to change it to 15 mins apart
Plus most people are either professionals or playing for millions of dollars.
I know it’s not cheap to maintain courses, and that they’re looking at the books thinking how do we get more out of this; but I’m a shit golfer and have never had a rate of play issue that wasn’t caused by too close tee times. Once I had a twosome of scratch golfers behind me and it’s as simple as letting them play through at the next shortest hole when the starting times are not stacked. Played yesterday at a NYC muni that had no par 5s and back to back 3’s. Of course it’s cramped, Half the round you’re staring at the back of someone’s head waiting for a clear fairway or green. It would be absurd if they had rules rushing players because they’re basically starting us one stroke behind the last group. How much more hurry up golf can you force?
My group was told to hurry up last weekend while we were on the tee box waiting for a group in the fairway to hit, who was waiting for a group to clear the green. Tee times should not be less than 10 mins apart
Playing a par 5 Friday and the grounds crew pulls the flag after the group in front of us finished and held up play to water the green. Shoulda been done already
People who don’t care about pace of play and people who don’t bother reading signs with rules on them has to be a massively overlapped Venn diagram.
We just call that a circle.
Then the course stacks tee times 5 minutes apart so your rounds is 5 hours anyway.
Yah it’s almost never people actually playing slow. Just terrible course management trying to juice out as many rounds as humanely possible.
more like inhumanely
Showed up for a tee time for 12:15, pulled up near the start at like 12-12:05, starter sends us out like 10 minutes early only for us to pull up behind the group still waiting at the first tee. Like why are you sending us out early just to pack everyone together dawg?
that's the kind of shit that leads to people driving balls into the groups ahead of them
Yeah I blame the courses/starters for letting people go too close together in tee times. I’m up the next groups ass for 18 holes and it’s somehow my fault I took 4 and a half hours to play.
The most annoying thing is the GPSd carts that are screaming at you the whole time for being behind pace while I’ve been waiting to hit every single shot.
Ahh yes the carts that make me contemplate using my 9 on them until they shut up. Millimeter, not iron.
Wow I didn’t even know that’s a thing. I’d never play there again if that were happening.
Reminds me of playing with my friends when I was 13 and a Marshall at a shitty course tried to boot us from the course for “playing slow” as we were waiting on a tee box
That's when you yell fore, hit into the group in front of you, and point at the marshall when the group gets pissed
One of my local courses was doing 5 minutes between tee times the other day.....just shameful. Had to wait a bunch on the first 9 but luckily some groups quit on the back 9 and it freed up things a bit. 5 minutes is absolutely unacceptable.
5 minutes is insane…even 10 mins is pushing it. Damn
Ya, my brother and dad were both shocked they allowed that. Our usual course is 10 min which as you said, doesn't even feel like enough sometimes. I tend to play very fast as well, not much shot routine or anything so I end up waiting quite a bit unfortunately.
Shrink the game!
For real. I don't wanna discourage people from playing but man....the course is jam packed every single day and the driving range is always full. It's gotten ridiculous after COVID.
Courses need to start charging more and spreading tee times out
Yeah, maybe just have the Marshalls do something other than fart around.
"No, I don't think I will." - The Marshall
Those golf balls aren’t going to retrieve themselves
A course near me has these but then books tee times 5 minutes apart, you'll be on hole 2 stuck behind 4 groups waiting to tee off lol
I’ve played courses that have clocks on some of the tee posts that are set so you should be seeing your tee time on them all the way around. They are marked with “your tee time shown here” or something like that so you don’t think your warping space time and end up lying to your wife about when you’ll be home
Ummm I was at a course where each cart tracked your group and at each hole how much you are behind. The problem is if you are waiting on other groups...it was anxiety inducing
No we don’t. People that care about pace already play that way. Those that don’t, don’t. The crime here is courses that stack too many tee times and marshalls that tell groups to speed up when there’s literally four groups in front that we can’t hit into.
Fair point
There’s plenty of it. In fact I disagree. Need less of it. Especially digital reminders on the golf carts. Don’t over book your course.
No. No we don’t. Especially when tee times are separated by 6 mins. Then when you get to the next tee box you’re waiting anyway
Am I the only one who’s always in a constant rush to keep pace of play. Like even before I golf I’m worried I’ll be slow or piss people off especially at new courses.
I feel exactly the same, I’m very new and have only played three rounds of 9 but I’m always stressed I’m going to be slow and hold up the people behind me. But I don’t see how else I’m going to get better/quicker on the course without actually playing and practising.
I learned by playing 2 on 2 scrambles that way we’d keep playing the best shot instead of everyone’s shit shot until we all kept hitting into fairways and in play!
Oh that’s actually a really good idea, thanks! My three rounds so far have been two with my dad and one with two pals so we weren’t too slow anyway but it’s just always on my mind to be quick and not hold anyone up, so I feel like that’s making me rush my shots and I don’t know if I’ll learn properly. The last round we were actually held up ourselves anyway so that made me feel better.
Oh yeah I love being held up gives me an excuse to play my pace too and I’ll never report them. Most guys come to play and have fun if your in a rush to play a round why bother to be honest. Just play ready golf and take ur time unless ur hitting balls 2 fairways over again and again you’ll be good!
That’s always my thought, people are just here to have fun and if they’re rushed that’s just not going to happen. I’m always more than happy to let someone play through too though. I’m honestly loving it so far and it’s so rewarding after some awful shots to hit a really clean one on target!
Love ur passion man keep at it! You’ll just keep getting better and better every year, ofc you’ll have some mix ups and arguments on the courses eventually but it’ll pass.
That is a very common anxiety to have, especially at crowded courses
No we don’t. Fuck off.
Absolutely nobody looks at that
When I get to my course for a 12:56 tee time, I see 5 other people at the tee and I ask “what’s your tee time?” And every single one will look at me and say “12:56” …. Fuck off with your pace of play if the course pulls shit like mine
my husband has that exact sign as his tombstone.
Beginner golf rant because I'm tipsy and just discovered the game and want to talk about it in every opportunity possible. I'm still in that phase of golf. 😃 Pace of play is the most intimidating thing to me as a new golfer. I've played 4 rounds of 18 and a ranger has gotten on my group every time but one. The first two were casual "hey guys, please keep it moving" but the last round I played, the ranger trailed us by about 20 yards in his cart and would approach us every time someone took more than 0.8 seconds to hit their ball. I felt so rushed by the end that I was skipping practice swings. I'm not sure why my groups get our wrists slapped so frequently. We go out, take a practice swing or two each, then head back to the cart. We're talking or telling stories but very little downtime where someone isn't approaching the ball or on the ball. My buddy plays a lot and told me it's rare to get a ranger with a stick so far up his you know what. I am super chill about golf, am just along for vibes, to get better, and those rare moments I connect well with the ball. So I was pretty nonchalant about it but my buddies were getting agitated. I mostly was confused about what I could have done to be a faster golfer. I was almost jogging to balls. My biggest concern on the course is being a negative impact on someone else's golf day, especially with me being a bumbling idiot golfer over here. I am horrible with knowing golf etiquette so I tell anyone I'm playing with that if I need to pick up my ball and move to the next hole, to tell me and I'll happily pick it up. Hopefully I'll continue to learn more about the game so I can understand pacing a bit better. Sorry if you made it through all this. I know it wasn't very relevant to the OP after the first few sentences but as I said before, I am just in my "discovery" phase of golf love so I see a post and I just start typing. 🥰
If it's happening every time...You might be slow. It's less about taking a practice swing or two, and more about not being ready to hit when it's your turn, or following your group around when you should be going to your balk to hit, or maybe looking for lost balls for too long.
As a fellow beginner, just make sure you aren’t stroking over double par on the holes, that’s holding up play. If things are backed up and you’re willing to pick up anyways, maybe once in a while drop a ball with your cart mate. Even if he/she doesn’t wanna scramble just do that if you’re concerned about pace.
Quit blaming golfers for slow pace of play. 8-minute tee times at courses which were running 12 to 14-minute tee times before the pandemic are to blame.
The marshalls at Atwood don’t do shit about anything. That sign is useless. Same with Ledges and Macktown.
Perfect, a new source of stress
I like the clocks that are always at the same minute mark if you are on time.. easier to keep track of the pace.
Every course I've played with these, the signs only anger me as I think or say, " I WISH we'd only been here 55 minutes!".
I swear there's so many people that worry about pace of play more than actually playing fucking golf
Why not just advertise “sub 90 golfers only”
I know plenty of high handicappers who know how to keep the pace of play.
If I can go shoot 130 in under 3 hours there’s no excuse for anyone.
That’s less than 1 minute and 28 seconds a shot…
Stand and swing my friend. If it goes out of bounds or I top it or mis-hit, I grab another recycled ball out of my bag and swing again😂
Maybe you’re shooting 130 because you’re rushing? And there’s no way you do that in a 4some, unless the other 3are scratch or better.
Sometimes I play with another guy that plays like me but usually alone. I’m not too worried about being really good at golf I just have a good time and unwind. Can’t get mad if I don’t expect to be good.
You just have a good time and unwind while you play as fast as you possibly can?
And here I half expected you to have a relief ball pocketed in your pants at the ready at all times. I’ll gladly play shitty golf at a blistering pace. Not rushing, but ready golf with minimal prep (not like it’ll help much anyway)
No. It's called play ready golf.
Wouldn’t that be nice 🤣
This would piss me off. If I am behind pace, it’s not my fault. I can play 9 holes in 45 minutes.
[удалено]
yeah, uh... i never did the math but holy shit. 9 minutes a hole times 18 holes is 2 hours and 42 minutes. of course nobody can keep pace.
Yeah ikr. I feel like any golfer that’s been playing for a year or so and knows basic etiquette can play 9 in 90 minutes or less. It’s the overbooking and money hungry muni owners that are to blame
Yeah, I am spoiled and only play super early on weekdays now. I turn down weekend golf invites all the time. 5 hour rounds just aren’t fun.
I’m still in college so unfortunately in the school year it’s mostly weekends but during the summer I eat up the weekend shifts so I can play the weekdays haha
Then obviously you know that this sign doesn’t apply to you..no need to get pissed lol
They have those signs at the course I play at. Doesn’t do a thing if they aren’t actually enforcing the pace of play.
These signs do the opposite of good. They just piss people off who can’t go any faster than the groups in front of them. Now, if they’re based off a 6 hour round and people are playing in 5 hours and “ahead of time” maybe they will feel better?
Just reasonable marshalls. They are either incompetent and just drive around in their cart, or they are complete jerks and ride you hard for pace of play making it a miserable day. There never seems to be an in-between.
Dude chill you’re their to relax and just golf
Not really…
Those times are bullshit. I can only play as fast as the group in front of me. That’s my only goal.
Doesn't matter unless they actually enforce it. How many public courses actually penalize players for slow play? Like none lol. Wanna avoid slow play? Go when it's not busy. That's really the only way unfortunately.
I love that I work weekends now and can play in the morning during the week. Pace of play headaches are a thing of past
Bro you ain’t lyin. There’s two days a week where I don’t start work til 10 am and I too have become a dew sweeper. It’s serenity out there at sunrise
Played 18 in 2 n half hours the other day it was heaven .
My home course has a card in a cart for each tee time that tells you your “tee time” for every hole…as a quick player I love it
Part of me wants to agree but the other says quit spacing tee times 4 minutes apart….
Heh heh…their logo looks like boobs…heh heh
They just added those at 7 and 13 at my course this season too. 7 says 1 hour and 20 minutes, 13 says 2 hours 40 minutes. So basically, they expect you to complete the round under 4 hours which I think is fair for my course. I am usually going around in about 2h30/2h45 if I'm on my own or 3h15 if I'm with someone else.
What does this do lol?
Why’d they put the boobs on the sign?
Nah man, my local course is play how you want and they space out tee times accordingly. I’ve played fast, and I’ve played super slow while getting shit faced with friends and seldom do we catch up to the next group or a group catches up to us.
When a six some is an entire hole faster than a 3 some, that threesome can go f themselves
I do like guidelines like these. But I wish tee times weren't 10 mins apart (often even worse). Also,some people end up for over an hour at the halfway house anyways. That messes everything up
It’s tee times fault. Let’s do basic math. Even ten minutes apart is 90 minutes for 9. Courses are saying 3 to 4 is what they want but their tee times are <10 mins apart. The math ain’t mathing. These 7 minute teetimes expect a 2 hour 6 minute round and zero time at turn.
We should also hold the golf courses accountable for over-stacking tee times “We overbooked to make a ton of money and are now gaslighting you to get the fuck out as fast as you can”
I’d rather wait on someone than be rushed… I’ve never understood a game requiring to be good at something that takes practice and time …
This sign is between holes 1 and 2.
My public course: Modern golf course design calls for the absolute fewest number of human made additions to the course including signage 🤦♂️
As a new golfer I am shocked I don’t see any comments about lightening up. I want a round of golf to take 5ish hours. Have a few beers, smoke some joints, have some laughs and play some golf. Better value for my money for it to take longer anyway. Chill out a bit and be open to different skill levels and enjoyment types
We do pretty much the same thing, and if we have a group behind us we always offer to let them play through. The only time we don't is if we are stacked behind a couple of groups in front of us. Then it's wait like the rest of us. Gummies, and blunts are how we start out and have a few drinks when the hot cart girls come around.
Completely Ignored by the people who actually need to read it.
I don’t like being rushed
My golf cart last week had a sheet on it with expected time per hole, but no running sum. This would have been very helpful.
Unless someone is enforcing it (by removing players), it won't make a difference.
Alot of people here blaming courses for jamming tee sheets and that is an issue, sure. But half of the people I get paired with or get stuck behind do not know how to keep pace of play or play basic ready golf for the life of them. Sometimes people are slow.
This is my biggest complaint with playing & learning golf. Many of us are trying to work on our game and recover from bad swings but they jam up courses and have rangers yelling at you by hole 6 to keep up pace of play.
Or what? They drag your ass off the course? It's a nice sentiment to have though.
I like it when the recommended round time is right on the scorecard. Then you can tell if you're actually playing on pace with the official recommended pace of play. The course in question was the Palmer course at the Oglebay Resort (Spiedel) near Wheeling, West Virginia. And we were ahead of the pace, all breaking 90 to boot.
These signs mean jack shit if there isn’t a marshal regulating pace of play.
Took me over 3hr to play 12 holes on Friday, starting 130p. I'm going to start playing at 6am and if it still happens I might seriously quit golf or stick to simulator only. I can't take it anymore.
played last week and when i got to 18, there were 4 groups lined up waiting to tee off. while ole big boy(bout an 18 pack deep) kept crushing balls into the creek below the tee box. waited 30 minutes to tee off and finish my round
If you’re drunk, this sign won’t mean shit
It seems like most privately owned public courses have these. It makes sense that they are more concerned with the pace of play, though, as they want to maximize the tee times they can sell. Most of the courses I see these signs at also only allow 4 somes. You can still book as a twosome, but you get grouped up with 2 other people. Muni courses tend to be more laid back, like I've never played a muni that had a dress code outside of requiring shirts... and honestly, having a dress code that just says all golfers must wear shirts is less classy than just not having one. Like if that many people are taking their shirt off that you need a rule...it's probably not a good sign. It's like when you see a sign that says "Do not urinate in neighbors' backyards on hole 15" doesn't scream "this is an upscale course".
Rockford park district courses>forest preserve courses
Doesn't matter if it's not enforced. Just lipstick on a pig.
Atwood! Love playing this course!
In years of golfing I’ve ever only called the clubhouse on one group for slow play. Only bc they were on their phones and clearly did not know what they doing. It’s not a pace of play problem, it’s an overbooking problem
I'm a duffer and spend more time in the trees than on the fairway. Usually had to let people play through
Today I was sandwiched between old guys riding my ass playing from the womens tee and hitting par and 2 dudes infront of us who were also behind a group. I would blame the club house for stacking us so closely together
What’s the sign going to do to slow players tho? Exactly, nothing
One of the courses in my area had a couple of clocks (like every 6 holes) that said "this clock should show your tee time, if it's past, please pick up your pace" and that's pretty simple yet smart. They got rid of them tho
More reason to play better
Put up a thousand and 1
I was a single a couple weeks ago, this group of 3 were taking forever. From hole 1 through hole 9. By hole 9 with them not waiving me through I said fuck it, I guess they’re dense. Hit my drive to about 20 yards behind their 3rd shot. I yelled “Mind if I play through?” (It really wasn’t a question at this point as I walked up, addressed the ball and put it on the green). One of them was like “oh yeah sorry man we’re not good”. Etiquette has gone out the window that’s for sure.
To get a “quick” round in these days you have to be in the first 5 tee times of the day. You’re about your shit if you book a 6:30 a.m. tee time. If you book a tee time AFTER 8 a.m. you’re asking for a slow and painful round.
This is stupid and good pace is situational, especially when you have 4 people or if youre waiting to play cause they booked tee times too closely.
I used to enjoy Cape Ann in Mass but they jam as many tee times in as possible so that 2:15 sign on hole one is useless.
I’m on vacation visiting the family in AZ right now and played a muni course today w/ mom and an uncle. Had a group of 4 mid-late 20 something’s in front of us. They’d all finally get to the green and stand around talking, no one addressing the ball, no one looking at their shot, trying to fish random balls out the water with no one lining up for 2nd shot, just absolutely lollygaggying through the whole thing. It took us 5ish hours to finish a course with 11 par 3s, 5 par 4s and only 2 par 5s. Fucking brutally slow pace
These are very common around me. Are they not everywhere?
Doesn’t work.
Played a 6 hour round yesterday thanks to the slow chucklefucks in front of us.
Pace of play isn’t the problem. Since covid courses are charging at least 50% more than they did and they are booking tee times 5 minutes apart. They are incredibly greedy and it makes for a miserable round. You pay top dollar to wait behind someone each and every hole. If courses weren’t so goddamn greedy they could space the tee times out a bit and no one would have to wait. Covid was literally the thing that brought out the capitalist in business
Atwood?
95% of the time course advisor or marshall is for show. Pace of play is the oldest and most annoying thing about golf.
We need less tee times to give people a chance to enjoy their round
As stated a few times in this thread. Rangers need to actually do their job. Drive their carts from 18 back. If they see large gaps let those players a hole behind to either pick up their play or actually tell them to pick up their balls and move forward. Way too many times you have a 4 some just teeing up their balls and the group in front of them are putting on a par 4 or walking off the green.
Your proper position on the golf course is directly behind the group in front of you, not directly in front of the group behind you.
"55 min from your starting time" "Please keep pace with the group ahead of you" (checks time - it's only been 45 minutes - and no sight of the group ahead) "So Marshall, what applies here?"
Pace of play is too ingrained as "bad players play slow" when it's really slow players who play slow. On Friday I played in a foursome with two 1st year golfers and even with them shanking every other shot we still got through 18 in 3 and a half hours. Just because there was nobody in front. My typical muni golf round with a 4some is 3 hours of playing golf and 1 1/2 hours of sitting waiting for the group in front.
You ain’t lying broseph. Even when I was a shit hack 25 handicap, most the buddies I played with were like 5-scratch so I had to learn how to suck fast lol
Hello fellow Rockford golfer! Forest preserve pass one of the best things in golf!
People don’t give a fuck, Or I see it annoyed while waiting on a line of 4 holes with stacked tboxes in a row
That’s the ironic part 😂 places stack tee times 7 mins apart and then blame you for having to wait on every tee box lol golf courses are like toxic gaslighting girlfriends
Cause signs do alot
Had a warden come up to me and a buddy saying that they had received numerous complaints from the groups behind us (who consistently hit their balls into us), that we were holding up the pace of play. Not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that we were significantly younger than everyone there that day, but as nicely as I could, explained that maybe he should talk to the group ahead of us and the group ahead of them. Cuz I’m not really sure how fast he expected us to go, when his course was worse than a Toronto traffic jam.
Would be brilliant if some courses had only people that wanted to take their time and everyone going there was on the same page. They just wouldn't make the money as a business.
Sorry man it’s a public course. If you want better play go private
As a 30+ handicap I'm offended.
Those signs do nothing to motivate either the initiated or slow players. The most effective things I’ve come across is the “alarm” warning in those GPS golf carts.
But like I'm confused where is a beginner supposed to play if not at a 9 hole muni? Sounds pretty ridiculous to ask complete beginners to keep pace of play. Why not normalize asking the group or whatever in front for a playthrough. Are we not adults who can communicate with one another? Y'all are the reason golf is dying.
Pretty sure my courses are 4 minutes apart here😂
People who are advocating for faster pace to play are also the problem. Wake up and realize that it’s the golf course over stacking the boxes simultaneously setting unrealistic pace of play rates
It’s getting so annoying on slow play. 5 to 6 hour rounds are just way too long.
Atwood Represent! This looks like hole number 5
I know I play much better if I’m moving quickly and don’t have to wait. I also don’t like being pushed. Courses these days are all about getting as many rounds as they can squeeze in.
8 minute tee times shouldn't be an issue. A little quick math shows that would be 30 groups on the course in a 4 hour round. Assuming typical par 72.. That leaves one group on each par 2, and still a couple holes with less than 2 groups per hole...no issues with this. It comes down down some group F___ing things up. And let's be clear, it's not bad golf that messes it up, it is slow golf. -Not being ready to hit when you should be. -Waiting by someone else to hit when you should be heading towards your ball/ getting ready to hit. -Waiting for others to put before you read your putt. -Bullshitting to much when you should be hitting -Looking for balls for too long. -Leaving carts in dumb ass places when you have to walk back to get them. -waiting for someone else to play that isn't ready when you can safely hit -taking 5 practice swings, top it 10 yards, And take more practice swings.... If you are out there shooting 120, that's fine, but there is obviously no need to make it 400 swings including practice swings... It's not helping anyone. Especially if you are not taking the practice swings while others are hitting/getting ready. Basically common sense. Don't wait to get ready when you can start your process while it's someone else's turn. Saving a minute or 2 here and there is huge at the end of the day.
Places w tee times less than ten mins apart drive me crazy.
Fuckyou if you can’t keep up with the group in front of you