Golf pace of play too slow? Guest blog post by Matthew King
Pace of Play our part and The courses part is this a growing problem?
I felt a need to write about this as I have seen Gentleman Jack AKA The Golden Bears commercials which are primarily focused on the Seniors but I get it. So I wanted to look at this not just from the point of view of the golfers responsibility but also how I have experienced different courses and how they handle pace of play with tee times and policing us as we play.
OK first lets look at it from us the players perspective and I am sure many will not agree with my views but that's OK because I believe this is a problem and there needs to be a solution. We have all heard the term "Ready" golf but do all of us understand the true definition? Well my understanding of ready golf is no order but if you are ready and someone whom might be further back or looking for a ball but is not ready to hit then you can go ahead and hit your shot, right? sounds easy enough so why is it so many just ignore this type of play, as I believe this is not a hard method to adapt and probably one of the best ways to help. Now personally I love the game of golf and tend to be a slower player because I like to enjoy the game and play it with purpose, meaning scoring low and find when I am rushed it throws my tempo off which leads to poor swings, do you agree? I also believe that when you are lower handicap golfer you should hit better quality shots therefore leading to less looking and a better pace of play even if you are a bit slower, do you agree? But i often find myself playing with people who get to there ball no practice swing and off they go, in turn huffing and puffing because I don't run through my game.. which leads me to my next part how the courses are creating what I think is a problem and reducing the enjoyment of the game.
Now I know after that last statement you are wondering huh, how can the course take away from the enjoyment of the game, and if you are then I am guessing you have never played a course with 10 minute tee-times where they stack you on top of each other with little to no wiggle room, now if you have experienced this can I get an amen!
Now I have worked at, rangered at and played at a few of these and let me tell ya, you can see the frustration this brings to the game. Now I understand courses need to make their money I just can't wrap my head around how this can't be done while still protecting the integrity of the game, meaning why we all love it so much! For me I spend good money to play courses like all of you do, and when I turn around every shot and see someone standing in the fairway pushing my every shot when I'm trying to give the group ahead of me time while maintaining a good pace it drives me "CRAZY" and takes away form every ones enjoyment. Or to see a ranger following a group hole by hole hiding yet still being seen causing stress and frustration because we all know what he or she is doing "clocking us" just takes away from the game.
Then when I see one guy in a cart with 3 walkers, or a twosome stuck in the middle of 2 foursomes I just begin to wonder is this working? Why not send people off the front and the back early? Some do, and some don't. Why not 15 minute windows as it has been proven that most foursomes take up to 14 minutes to play any given hole? Now I get it they have rules and don't want the course to back up but I just think some of the tactics used are overboard and can be solved other ways.
At any rate I can go on about this topic for hours and I know there is really no right or wrong answer I just believe courses should exercise more courtesy for those of use spending good money to play rather than herd us like cattle and demand that we play so dam fast.
Golf pace of play too slow? What do you think?
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