I have a hard time understanding how people are so slow. I have really been trying to slow myself way down and go through the preshot routine ect, and now I play 18 in like 2hrs 40min compared to 2 hours. Like how in the world do you see 2somes take nearly 4 hours and a full group of slow dudes makes me want to blow my brains out. The worst par is you don't usually play through if the course is packed which means I can't spend 10 mins on a green chipping after I hole out because the group behind is waiting. Slow golf just blows, probably why anytime I play a weekend I usually just end up drunk

USGA should do a three hour round day, where groups (even foursomes) are encouraged/forced to finish 18 in three hours. Not everyone would enjoy it, but the slower golfers would become more aware of how to save time on the course.

I'm surprised there aren't public courses that force a three hour pace of play. It would have to be in places with big populations or a golf destination like Myrtle Beach, but I would be all over that.

The metroparks in Cleveland have a thing called fast play Friday where they advertise you will finish your round in

I wonder how a course would do if they strictly enforced like a 3.5 hour round policy.

And by enforced, I don't mean they'll just have some old guy in a ranger cart come up to you and ask you to try to speed it up.

I mean that they would make it extremely clear to you when you pay that you will be held to a 3.5 hour pace with no exceptions, and will be forced to skip hole/s or whatever if necessary. Again, they would have to make it very clear up front so there's no surprises on the course.

Maybe give each group one warning before having to skip to allot for the off hole where two or three guys in the group have a really rough hole.

I am sure the course would lose business to slow players who refuse to speed up...and to people they piss off by making them skip holes, because undoubtedly no matter how clear you make it, you'll get people screaming the whole "I paid full price yada yada yada".

But I also would have to imagine you'd pick up quite a bit of business from people once they were aware 3.5 hours was actually stuck to, even on the weekends.

Hell, I know I would drive considerably farther if I knew I was going to play in 3.5 hours as opposed to 5 or 5.5 +

I can't remember the last time I took a practice swing on the course. Chipping and pitch shots sure but never on full shots. Just slows up the game

It's pretty simple: The course charges 25% extra which you get back if you finish in the required time or within 12 minutes of the group in front of you.

This would solve nothing. I could still play a 4.5 hour round and get my money back by finishing right after the 4 some of slow pokes that wouldn't let me play through.

I this. How do we convince them?

Yes, you and everyone else in this thread are already fast players, I get it. It's those slow pokes in front of you that are being payed to speed up. Many people are oblivious to pace of pay concerns. When they hear about the promotion in the pro shop they will at least have a clue that keeping up isn't such a bad idea.

And slow golfers are much more likely to try and speed up for fun and prizes than because the ******* Marshall is yelling at them.

If you are dismissive of 25%, certainly you must agree paying an extra 200% would make every group finish in 3.5 hours flat. That amount would surely never fly but anything will doubtlessly speed things up to some extent.

Lol at saying it would solve nothing. Good idea, Allen C.

I have moved groups. I'd never let a ranger do it. I would always do it myself as one of the pros. It's not a fun job, but neither is explaining to 3/4 of the people on the golf course that "Yeah, there's a slow group that went off at 8:24 and everything's backed up"

Split tees. Worked on the slowest course I've ever played at 1 hour faster on average.

People just need to be held accountable and if they know in advance they will be held accountable, they will play faster.

How do you charge members 25% more? Make them put down a speed of play deposit every time they tee off? Most courses around me don't have a ranger so they have no clue how fast groups are getting around.

Most people probably aren't talking about private courses.

Public courses where you live don't have memberships available? Where I am every course offers memberships.

Most do I would think even if there isn't a price listed for it on the site. City run courses might not though.

I am a member at a city run course.

I'm not sure I've seen a city course that didn't offer an annual pass.

Where/when I grew up in MA, most courses around where I lived were strictly private or public. I haven't been in the area for a while, but that's what stuck out in my head. I can also see a problem with taxing slow groups in that the group might be a mix of people who didn't make a tee time together. (That is, they don't all know each other prior to booking.) So, one slow player could bog down the whole group, and they all get charged.

A big reminder board on 1st tee about pace of play and ways to stay moving works very well. And before you all say "nobody would read" all the pro shop would have to say is please check the message board prior to teeing off for some important news.

Also a time clock where you punch your score card in and out.

All things being equal, I'm having trouble seeing how split tees speeds up play. Fast groups will still get stuck behind slow groups. In fact it can be worse, because at least if I am fast and get the first tee time of the day, I can get through 18 holes quickly, as can anyone else until the first "slow" group tees off.

With split tees, the fast groups would only get through the front 9 quickly, then I would likely run into the herd on the back nine.

If you say it improved the average round by an hour, I bet you just had more aggressive marshals. A slow group playing their first nine will mess up all the back nine tee times, so the marshals are more likely to ride their ass, make them pick up, etc. So it did improve speed of play, but not any more than if the marshals had been more strict before moving to split tees.

It probably improved revenue, since they are able to get more groups off during peak hours. But I bet the average round would be slower with split tees (everything else equal).

Speaking from experience... I got the most compaints about slowplay when we ran split tees.

Is that because the first group off whips around the first 9 in like 1:20 and has to wait for a 2:30 back nine?

Pretty much.

Walked off at #13 Saturday due to slow play. Unbearable. It didn't really start to get slow until about #7 or 8, but after we made the turn it was 3 groups deep at nearly every tee box. No assistance from the Marshall who was bacially sleeping in his cart off #11. Haven't played that course in over 10 years and I won't be going back.

Opinions on weather these are poor etiquette or not

• Whenever a playing partner has extra clubs around the green he places them on top of the pulled flag forcing the guy that putts out to grab his clubs
• 4 balls in the fairway 50 yards apart. Player that hits the longest always has to drive to his ball to see if its his than U -turn back to the ball farthest from hole
• Were playing $10 a round and same guy always keeps score. The other player also keeps score of everyone in the group as he is a little untrusting
• Get to the green and the guy that is the farthest always says you guys go ahead as I want to walk around the green and get my line. Never ready

These are just a few from the same player. This is a guy when we say we have to speed up he ignores it