Slow play remains a scourge of the modern game. There’s no worse feeling on the golf course than being stuck behind a four-ball playing at a leisurely pace and showing a flagrant disregard for the rest of the golfers on the course.
It’s a topic we’ve written about at length at Golf Monthly. From a 12-point action plan to solve slow play to articles on why players aren’t necessarily the problem and musings on whether fast play is equally as annoying, it’s a subject we’ve covered extensively.
Most recently, our Secret Club Golfer penned an article entitled: ‘Slow play isn’t just rude… it’s pure arrogance,’ thoughts that mirror how many feel about the issue. It attracted a number of comments, which provided some food for thought.
One of them suggested unrealistic expectations might be at the heart of the problem, which is certainly something I’ve felt before. Think about how many people are on the golf course at one time. If a third of them believe rounds should never take longer than four hours because that’s what’s been drilled into them, they are probably going to leave annoyed. Golfers who think three-and-a-half hours definitely will.
The pace of play could be objectively reasonable, but some will still find it unacceptable. That’s the nature of the beast when people with different views, motives and skill sets share the same recreational space.
Of course, if anyone is disregarding etiquette and best practice – leaving their bag on the wrong side of the green, standing around marking a scorecard after the hole is finished or spending a minute lining up a short putt, for example – ire is justified.
Sometimes, however, people do nothing wrong and still attract criticism. Golf is hard and if you’re having a bad day, you will take longer by virtue of the fact you’ll hit more shots.
‘Often overloaded beyond capacity’
This is a point haohughes made in the comments underneath the Secret Club Golfer’s article:
“I recommend reading the R&A Manual on Pace of Play. A formula for anticipating game time can be expressed as no. of players x par = minutes of game. If a two-ball, three-ball or a four-ball played nine holes of par 35, predicted average times would be 70 mins, 105 mins and 140 mins.
“An average four-ball will not…
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