Slow play in golf is always a hot topic of conversation. Just recently the LPGA made a stand by updating their pace of play policy, introducing fines and shot penalties. They are the pros, the best of the best, so what about us mere mortals on the course?
Club-level golf has indeed got slower; most weekend golfers don’t expect to see much change from five hours. Growing up playing golf, three and a half hours was always set as the benchmark and if you didn’t achieve that, there would be comments. I would love to see that pace of play make a comeback, so here some suggestions of how to speed up your game.
Take Responsibility
There is a fine line between being an efficient golfer, who is ready to play, or trying to play so fast that you spoil the atmosphere for others by constantly rushing. The good news is that it doesn’t take too much thought to ensure you are doing what you can to maintain a favourable pace of play and your good habits will hopefully rub off on those around you.
A well organised golf bag is a great first step. We have all witnessed people emptying all sorts out of their golf bags just to find a pencil every other hole. Keep the things you know you will need easily to hand. Consider organising your golf bag seasonally. A golf bag packed for winter and bad weather should look different from one packed for summer months. This simple act of taking responsibility for your equipment will have a big impact on your readiness and efficiency of play.
Tech Talk
The last ten years has seen golf go through a huge tech boom and now people are keener than ever to have the best golf range finders, shot trackers, GPS apps, watches, AI enhanced golf trolleys and much more. All this tech can come with the price of slowing down the game while people input data or check recorded data.
While I believe some of the insights that tech can provide are very useful, it can ruin the natural flow and rhythm of a game and potentially hinder people’s ability to be in the moment and cause indecision.
If you have new tech, my advice would be to practice with it first before you inflict your learning curve of using it on others. It’s also worth remembering the danger of how terribly boring you can become if you get too obsessed with your own stats. All too often I see golfers wildly overestimating other people’s interest in their driving averages. Like pictures of your own children, your stats are only interesting to you, so be mindful of that.
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