Slow play

[chucky]

Hate to bring this topic up again but our foursome just doesn't know what to do anymore, we have played 20 rounds this year so far and maybe 2 or 3 of those have been in the ball park of 4 hours. Every weekend is the same 5 hr rounds, But last weekend was the last straw played Gatineau on Saturday our tee time was at 1:20 in the afternoon thinking a quick round. Oops 5 and half hrs later we were still on the golf course, every tee box was backed up I mean a group on the green a group in the fair way and three groups on the tee box EVERY HOLE. I know we thought about leaving but the green fees were already paid so we stuck it out. So Sunday we go to Cedarhill 11:10 tee off, threesome in front of us one on a cart, front nine took 2 and half hrs they would not let us pass on the 7th tee I called the club house asking for some help when the marshal showed up he actually didn't seem to think there was a problem until we pointed out there was no one in front of them for three holes.funny he wouldn't figure that out for himself, Finally passing them at 10 we finshed the back nine in 1 hr 30 mins. Later that night I got a call from one of our foursome saying he's had it he's taking a break from golf, my wife and are also thinking the same, what is happening in golf today are golf courses packing every body in as much as possible to make a buck regardless of pace of play. Do people not care about slow play holding other groups up not letting them through, its just not relaxing any more, who can play 15 mins between shots not us.Please we love the game of golf but not like this, does anyone have an answer.We are with golf select,we work during the week and there are restictions on the weekend at some courses. PLEASE HELP

[big mac]

I hear you Chucky---unfortunately I don't think any course is going to enforce time to play recommendations. We played SB yesterday---had a great front nine and then it slowed up like the Queensway---------the marshals were out but did nothing. Found the same thing at the Meadows on Wednesday after 1:00.

Played Bearbrook on Tues for 15.00---walk on tee time and played in a little over 3 hrs--------the condition was not that bad for 15.00

I also try and play out of town on the week ends but other than that the only solution is to retire !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[314314]

Well, simple avoid rush hour... Play weekdays or weekends really early 6/7am or late games 3/4pm+ on weekends. Everyone wants to play...and it does not take much for someone to delay games on popular (or cheap) courses. You probably are not the only ones who wants to play for $20/$25 on weekends.

If I do not get out by 8am latest on weekend, I just don't.

[Marcos]

Play early mornings.Less traffic and 4 hour rounds are the norm for a foursome.

[Steelhead]

Another option would be to join a private or semi private club. At our club the pace of play is strictly enforced. We rarely have rounds exceeding 4h15.

[ipoh]

I guess it is good to see that the courses are doing well and more people are playing.

We have had a couple of unfortunate situations this year as well.
It didn't help that we were sent out as a twosome (either no one booked the same tee-time as us or the other twosome did not show up).

Incident #1:
Foursome in front on pace for a 4:30hr round at Cedarhill...and they were approximately 1.5 to 2 holes behind the threesome that they were following. We were, on a number of holes, waiting near the teeboxes while the 3rd/4th person was teeing off.

We tried not to "rush" them...and I believe the etiquette is for the group in front to offer to let you through but I could be wrong. Anyway we were stuck in the foursome pace.

Incident #2:
Similar to above. The only difference is that the marshall was actually monitoring the situation and had politely asked the group in front to let us through (we did not ask the marshall to do so, it was all proactively done by the marshall himself).

So on the next tee, the foursome teed off while we were standing behind the teeboxes and they seemed oblivious to what the marshall had told them a few minutes ago. I guess they were not very happy that we are "rushing" them...and they feel that they were on adequate pace for a foursome.


What would/should we do in situations like this? I can understand that if they let us pass through, they might feel that that is going to compromise their pace and add 5 minutes to their time which they might not be able to recover if another twosome happen to catch up to them later and wanted to pass through and so on and so forth with snowballing effect...

Or perhaps we should just say no to the starter to go off as a twosome and try to pair up with another twosome before teeing off?

We really, really do not like to "rush" people but we don't use 15 minutes per hole either...

[chucky]

Ipoh the mentality of someone who is in a foursome that is one hole behind if not more reguardless of time and is holding any group up should have the etiquette to either pick up their pace or move over, thats what is so frustrating.Many times our foursome will happily let a twosome or even a threesome through no problem. We would all rather enjoy ourselfs than always be looking over our shoulders.

[THUNDAH]

We had our first round of intersectionnal quaifying at the Gatineau on Saturday. Because these rounds take longer to play, we were sent off in threesomes, starting at noon. We ended up waiting on every hole, because two foursomes of guests (greens fees) ahead of us decided they had every right to play at the pace they seemed fit because they paid full price. They were told to speed up play by the marshall and when the pro showed up to have them move faster, they started to flex there muscles. The pro backed off. It took 5 and a half hours to complete our round. When we finished, we saw these same players huddled around the back of a pick-up, drinking beer in the middle of the parking lot. Such class!

[Gobble_It]

Hate to bring this topic up again but our foursome just doesn't know what to do anymore, we have played 20 rounds this year so far and maybe 2 or 3 of those have been in the ball park of 4 hours. Every weekend is the same 5 hr rounds, But last weekend was the last straw played Gatineau on Saturday our tee time was at 1:20 in the afternoon thinking a quick round. Oops 5 and half hrs later we were still on the golf course, every tee box was backed up I mean a group on the green a group in the fair way and three groups on the tee box EVERY HOLE. I know we thought about leaving but the green fees were already paid so we stuck it out. So Sunday we go to Cedarhill 11:10 tee off, threesome in front of us one on a cart, front nine took 2 and half hrs they would not let us pass on the 7th tee I called the club house asking for some help when the marshal showed up he actually didn't seem to think there was a problem until we pointed out there was no one in front of them for three holes.funny he wouldn't figure that out for himself, Finally passing them at 10 we finshed the back nine in 1 hr 30 mins. Later that night I got a call from one of our foursome saying he's had it he's taking a break from golf, my wife and are also thinking the same, what is happening in golf today are golf courses packing every body in as much as possible to make a buck regardless of pace of play. Do people not care about slow play holding other groups up not letting them through, its just not relaxing any more, who can play 15 mins between shots not us.Please we love the game of golf but not like this, does anyone have an answer.We are with golf select,we work during the week and there are restictions on the weekend at some courses. PLEASE HELP

You played the peak hours..Traffic is definitely slow..anything less than 5hrs is a bonus...nothing you can do really. As someone said, if you play on the weekend, play before 9am or after 3pm.

[Guzman]

There is not justification for slow play. Watching the US open, you could see when Tiger Woods group was asked to keep pace, Golf Magazine Dec 2013 have a big article about it, I do understand that it is a business and as an operator you have to maximize your income, however as a player I easily spot players that will cause problems to a golf course, most operators may not notice, but when I see players dress out of etiquette, right away I know they will ignore the 90 degree rule, the will drive cars poorly, they will drive up to the green or ignore the exit points, they will not rake the sand or fix divot marks and I have even call on a marshal to look for people dragging their feet on the green and causing score marks, maybe wearing metal spikes. If golf operators will pay attention to this little details, maybe slow play will be the least of problems and that $100.00 from this occasional golfer, may not cover the damage they do.

[spuds]

We had our first round of intersectionnal quaifying at the Gatineau on Saturday. Because these rounds take longer to play, we were sent off in threesomes, starting at noon. We ended up waiting on every hole, because two foursomes of guests (greens fees) ahead of us decided they had every right to play at the pace they seemed fit because they paid full price. They were told to speed up play by the marshall and when the pro showed up to have them move faster, they started to flex there muscles. The pro backed off. It took 5 and a half hours to complete our round. When we finished, we saw these same players huddled around the back of a pick-up, drinking beer in the middle of the parking lot. Such class!

Yes I can see that happening,Kingsway 2 weeks ago was the same problem except there was no marshall anywhere insight and afterwards these 'young' morons were in the parking lot drinking ,possibly the same jerks

[jeffc]

we were playing Stonebridge yesterday, 4 of us, in carts, all decent golfers and it was pretty quiet out there. We were out for a fun, casual rounds with some laughs and we were moving along nicely. There was a twosome behind us which we decided to let through on #6 so they could get on with their round. This slowed us down a bit. After making the turn in just over 2 hours, the marshall makes a comment on #11 that we speed things up and can we make up 5 min in the next 6-7 holes. Seriously? There was almost no one there. We smiled and said sure and ended up finishing in just over 4 hours. Sometimes these guys just need to keep quiet and move along.

[big mac]

Yes--this subject is getting old but what are we to do ???

Marshalls really can't do anything except to suggest and they management does not want to scare away players.

Last Friday at Arnprior---2 groups of 5---30 to 35 years old. They book as 3somes and dbls and hook up after the second hole. We spoke to the manager and all he said was "no marshals"

Too bad for the game.

[BullDog]

Last Friday at Arnprior---2 groups of 5---30 to 35 years old. They book as 3somes and dbls and hook up after the second hole. We spoke to the manager and all he said was "no marshals"

Too bad for the game.

This renders me speechless. If it's November and the course is closing in a few days and 16 people are playing that day in total, I wouldn't have an issue with that. But in the middle of the summer and the course couldn't care less?

Wild....

[KOKO72]

This is where common sense should prevail...if the course is busy then obviously no 5 somes. I have played a few times in groups of 5 with no issues as long as eveybody is ready to hit. Also if there is a group behind then let them go through. 5 somes can be a lot of fun but only if they do not interfere with pace of play.

[big mac]

I really have to commend one course in our area for customer service. They have continued to advise customers on this forum as to condition etc on their course. We did have a small problem last week and it was promptly taken care of with great professionalism.

Many thanks to Stonebridge and in particular Mr. Joe Warner.

[Wknd_Warrior]

I played Pineview a lot last year, I think I only had one round over 4 hours. This year it's been slow every time I've been there .

Sometimes (not at any particular course) it seems they the marshals are either on you like a cheap suit for being a minute over 2 hours a nine, or do absolutely nothing while everyone stands around and endures 5+ hour rounds. On a busy weekend if we could just get it to 4 and a half I'd be happy enough.

[dq2003]

Pineview a few weeks ago.
We were a foursome following 2 twosomes and a threesome in front of them.
Don't know why the 2 twosomes didn't join but on holes 3 to 6, the four groups were on the same hole. (1 on green, 1 in fairway and 2 on tee box). And this was a 4:00 tee off time.

A few days later, same course, we played as a fivesome (2 of us shot in the 80s, 3 in the 90s)
4 some in front of us were always "in view" and threesome behind us never caught up.
Sometimes a fivesome (if golfers are of decent ability) is better than a twosome and threesome.