Tee it Forward

[golfisforfun]

A lot of golfers on this forum might not think they are slow but very well could be part of the problem.
Everyone needs to look at speeding up their own play.
30 seconds is often too much time, especially in the fairway.
If you hit your ball and I am already at my ball, I can usually hit within about 10 seconds of you hitting.

[Marcos]

My personal experience is that the later in the morning you play, you will get a slow round if the course is busy. Its just a fact of life as one or two or three groups slow down and next thing you know,its the 417 at rush hour !!!! Very early morning or late afternoon are the only way to go.

[gregnol]

i think a lot of golfers just aren't aware they are slow. yesterday i played a round in 3.5 hours. it felt terribly slow. we were a twosome playing behind a slow threesome. we then slowed down groups behind us because we were always waiting. was the group in front of us playing slow? no not at all, they finished under 4 hours. did it cause delays? yes. course awareness and common courtesy i think would help a lot. it's like those people who think they are so clever on the 417 by using the off ramps to skip ahead and then cut in. if no one did it traffic would flow a lot smoother.

[jeffc]

i think a lot of golfers just aren't aware they are slow. yesterday i played a round in 3.5 hours. it felt terribly slow. we were a twosome playing behind a slow threesome. we then slowed down groups behind us because we were always waiting. was the group in front of us playing slow? no not at all, they finished under 4 hours. did it cause delays? yes. course awareness and common courtesy i think would help a lot. it's like those people who think they are so clever on the 417 by using the off ramps to skip ahead and then cut in. if no one did it traffic would flow a lot smoother.

nothing wrong with under 4 hours for a threesome. Not everyone is out to race around a golf course. They finished well ahead of the expected pace so I don't consider that slow. If anything it is fast. And yes, 2 people are generally quicker than 3.

[gregnol]

nothing wrong with under 4 hours for a threesome. Not everyone is out to race around a golf course. They finished well ahead of the expected pace so I don't consider that slow. If anything it is fast. And yes, 2 people are generally quicker than 3.

i totally agree. the issue at hand is the effects of not letting a faster group play through. we slowed down groups. that multiples all the way back. same as traffic. one person hits the brakes= most people hitting their brakes

[jeffc]

i totally agree. the issue at hand is the effects of not letting a faster group play through. we slowed down groups. that multiples all the way back. same as traffic. one person hits the brakes= most people hitting their brakes

yes, they should let others through. Did you ask them if you could? or ask a marshall if he could ask them? some people don't think to let others through - they are usually the ones in the passing lane on the highway as well.

[gregnol]

[QUOTE=jeffc;483338]some people don't think to let others through[QUOTE]

this is the problem. and it's mostly just an entitled attitude that causes it. i had it happen all the time when i was a junior golfer, oh you're a junior you can wait or oh we never let juniors play through. it should never even come to the point of having to ask.

[jeffc]

[QUOTE=gregnol;483340][QUOTE=jeffc;483338]some people don't think to let others through

this is the problem. and it's mostly just an entitled attitude that causes it. i had it happen all the time when i was a junior golfer, oh you're a junior you can wait or oh we never let juniors play through. it should never even come to the point of having to ask.

no it shouldn't. But like everything, there is often a need for education. I'd rather not assume anything.

[GJS16]

The point made above about Marshals that actually Marshal hits the nail on the head. Ive been on both sides of the equation---been in groups that hold up play as well as being behind others that are slowing things down and to be honest I cant remember the last time Ive had a Marshal do anything about either situation.
Courses obviously dont want to anger the patrons by nagging them to get going, but by not doing that they are angering countless other groups out there. Tell them to play ready golf, dont mark scorecards near the green, accept lost balls, enforce a wave-up on tougher par 3s or force them to let groups go through--there are many options to keep things moving somewhat quickly out there. Id get more golf in if it didnt take me 6-6 1/2 hrs round trip from the house to get a round in on the weekends.

[John]

This happened to us a couple weeks ago at SB. The round was moving quickly as it normally does at SB however our threesome was waiting on the threesome ahead of us on every shot for most of the round. Now they weren't slow by any means, they finished in under four but when i asked the Marshall if we could possibly play through he looked at me like i had two heads even though there were three groups on the hole. "They are playing under a four pace?", "Yes but we are waiting and as you can see there is also another group on the tee waiting on us, obviously we are two faster groups and they have no one ahead of them..." Drove away.

[jeffc]

to be honest, I can't honestly remember the last time it took me more than 4.5 hours to play a round of golf in Ottawa?

[spackler]

to be honest, I can't honestly remember the last time it took me more than 4.5 hours to play a round of golf in Ottawa?

I'm betting pace of play is one of the criteria you use for choosing where and when you play golf though. If you want to head out to Pineview or Meadows or Manderley...etc on a summer Saturday at 10am, I think you'd hit a speed bump.

[jeffc]

I'm betting pace of play is one of the criteria you use for choosing where and when you play golf though. If you want to head out to Pineview or Meadows or Manderley...etc on a summer Saturday at 10am, I think you'd hit a speed bump.

ya, perhaps. I play mostly Stonebridge, eQuinelle, Loch March and Outaouais. I don't really pick them for pace of play, I pick them because I like the courses. Meadows I like. Pineview and Manderley - no thanks.

[jimmyc]

While slow play is a killer, so are people playing at their pace and ignoring the other golfers pace. Speed golf is not how this game is meant to be played (while thats how i play). There are people who could care less about the striking of the ball but are there for the social component. I have to respect their time on the course as much as they do mine.

If I am 45 mins ahead of pace at the 8th, odds are i am not even considering letting the group go through. If you ever Marshall or know one they can tell you that in itself can really bork a courses pace.

Ive never had an issue with pace (except mens night - its like they are playing for millions at GH ) but can understand some people wanting to take sometime to smell the proverbial roses.

[Gobble_It]

to be honest, I can't honestly remember the last time it took me more than 4.5 hours to play a round of golf in Ottawa?

I played a west end course in 5 hours this past weekend with my son.

As some said, it's one or two groups that slow down everyone. The 4-some ahead of us has 2 beginners so they took their time advance the balls pass the lady tee...We called the Marshals twice during the round but couldn't pass the 4-some ahead of us..their reason - it's slow up front also..but a few times we looked, there was no one ahead of the 4-some.

I must have hit 5-6 balls every hole.. The 18th, I hit 10 balls while waiting for the group ahead to put out....
I wont' come back there again at least not teeing off at 9am which I thought was not too bad.

[Wknd_Warrior]

A lot of golfers on this forum might not think they are slow but very well could be part of the problem.
Everyone needs to look at speeding up their own play.
30 seconds is often too much time, especially in the fairway.
If you hit your ball and I am already at my ball, I can usually hit within about 10 seconds of you hitting.

I don't mean to take you too literally, but in the same vein, I'm not interested in taking just 10 seconds to hit my ball, especially if I'm playing well that hole. I really don't think ready golf solves much until you start hitting big numbers. This is where people should pay attention. The farther you get off the pace, the faster you should play, especially if you are a beginner or playing poor all day.

Specificallky, after you've duffed your approach shot, you don't repeat your 30 seconds of visualization, 2 full practise swings, 30 seconds of thought over the ball etc...you had a chance and you blew it. Maybe if it's just the odd bad shot, but if it's all day long, forget about it. Pick up the pace when you start making a lot of swings, it's really that simple IMO.

[goliath]

I think there are many issues that effect pace of play. I dont see the extremes being a member at Outaouais and usually playing early in the morning. It has happened a fair amount where we are waiting on the group in front of us and wish they would let us pass even though we are on pace for a 4-430 round.

I was playing the blues last year and my handicap was around 10 all year. This year I started the year really bad and moved back to the green tees which is a combination of blues and whites. My handicap is now back to 10.

I hit my 5 iron 200 ish yards so by the previous calculation I would be playing PGA length courses. That is ridiculous. Yes I can play the blues and shoot 80-85 pretty consistently and I suck at putting. Yes I could prob hang from the blacks for distance but then I would feel the pressure to with my driver which isnt very consistent and my game would suffer.

People who say 10 -20 yards dont make a difference are either scratch golfers or I am the exception. I have long par 3's on my course where some are 210 from the blues (230ish blacks) greens and whites are 200 or slightly less. I feel way more confident with a 6 or 5 irons then a 4 iron of hybrid. If I bomb a drive on a long par 4 from the greens, ill have 7-8 irons, sometimes alot less but even if I miss its still an iron. If its from the blues and I miss, its either a ship out followed by a fairway metal or a 4 iron (which usually means a missed green). If its a good tee shot then its usually a 7 iron (sometimes less, sometimes more).

Everybody can play fast when your playing well and hitting fairways and good shots but what are the odds that all 4 people in 1 group are playing awesome and the correct tees. Not very likely. I find it many times that its 1-2 people in the group that hold up a group because they are looking for balls and playing horrible (tee box has something although not everything to do with that)

I think courses need to rethink their tee boxes for the casual golfer. Some holes are not well thought out. Never should a person playing from the whites have to hit 5 or 3 wood to hit a par 3. It should be possible for people playing the correct tee box to reach greens in 2 for par 4s and 3 for par 5s if they hit good shots. That is not the case on many courses. There are odd holes (I would say approx 5 -6 holes where its just impossible for them to do). It slows down play and it doesnt make golf fun for these people.

I would say the worst tee box is the women's. I havent played with many casual women golfers that can hit a ball past 150. Which means all other shots barely go past 100. Why are they playing 350yard par 4s?? Even 300 is pushing it. I understand courses want to mark down that they have a hard course rating but its time to add new tee box options. Leave the big hitter / extremely good golfer tee boxes but add some closer tee boxes because in the end they are the majority.

I still dont understand the pace of some people though. I usually play with the same 3 or 4 some. If we are free and clear 3 some plays in 3 hrs, 4 some in 330. That isnt rushing, walking ahead (unless its in the rough and out of peoples line of sight), or rush putting. Its not like we are amazing golfers either, I am a 10hcp others are (16ish and a 23).

Sorry rant over.

[justdoit]

I totally agree.But I think a lot of guys that play from the blues but should play from the whites is due to too much testosterone or 1 to many red bulls...

Just wondering what everyone thinks about the new Tee It Forward initiative being promoted.
It focuses on people moving up a set of tees to make the game more enjoyable and help speed up play?
Would you ever do this?

I firmly believe you should be able to consistently shoot at least in the 70s beforeoving back a set of tees. I know people disagree with me, but I played whites until I was a single digit capper, and shot a few rounds in the 60s.
Now I play blues whenever possible unless my playing partners all play whites.

I think tee decks should be chosen based on ability and not as much the distance you hit your clubs.

If you can't score from the whites, then the blues are too tough for you.

I wish more guys would play whites!

[stevek]

I totally agree.But I think a lot of guys that play from the blues but should play from the whites is due to too much testosterone or 1 to many red bulls...

My wife surgically removed my testosterone creating orbs and wears them on a chain around her neck; thus creating more swing speed and moving herself (and her similiarly bejeweled girlfriend) from the reds to the whites. This has caused myself and my similiarly afflicted friend to require shots of adrenaline (beer) before every round in order to play from the blacks and still enjoy our round.

[Marcos]

My wife surgically removed my testosterone creating orbs and wears them on a chain around her neck; thus creating more swing speed and moving herself (and her similiarly bejeweled girlfriend) from the reds to the whites. This has caused myself and my similiarly afflicted friend to require shots of adrenaline (beer) before every round in order to play from the blacks and still enjoy our round.

Hilarious. I know exactly what you are talking about.

[Sunny D]

Pace of play issues used to cause me to not enjoy some rounds. A slow day was frustrating and was just not fun. While pace of play is a larger issue how it affected me... is my issue. So, now either as single or with buddies I get one of the first 3 tee times in the mornings on the 3-4 courses that we like to play. Have only 42 rounds in Ottawa so far this year, but we've only played one round later than 7:18 am. Know that might not work for everyone but it does work for us.