Take all golf off TV.... NOW!!!!

[SiberianDVM]

I agree that there are some "overly speed obsessed" players out there, but there are also a fair number of turtles. It is possible for a foursome, either walking or riding, to play a decent round of golf in 4 to 4 1/2 hours. All it takes is a reasonable golf swing and not having to look for lost balls.

But not if there's a hack in the group shooting 100+ and still grinding over his 2 footer for double bogie. Which usually describes my tournament performance lately.

 

[WMitch6]

You don't have to rush to play the game quickly. Take all the time in the world when the course is empty but keep up the pace when the course is full. My foursome played 18 in 3 1/2 hours walking. We're old, hit the ball a lot and never, ever feel rushed. It's all about being efficient and ignoring the "who's away" and "who's got honors" crap.

 

[TEA Time]

I was reading the OP with an open mind until I got to this part...

Never compromised his ridculously long pre-shot routine on any of his 105 shots!!!!!!

facepalm. If the kid shot 68 or something, it would be different. There's no excuse for this.

Come play a round with us!!! My best golf buddy, hits his driver off the deck a LOT. He carries 7 total clubs. Has an old Snake Eyes 12 degree driver that he has literally worn out. We've seen him hit driver, driver, putter, putter and make pars on 4's often. We kid him when we see him hit driver, driver, driver, putter, putter on 5's. He hits a big fade and can seem to dial that driver in from almost any distance over 150 yards.

That's barely a driver though. My 3 wood is 13* so hitting a 12* from the fairway doesn't sound too far off. I used to hit my 10* driver off the deck all the time, but haven't tried the new 8.5*... someday I might.

+1

Why does everyone have to be in such a huge hurry? Where do you need to be that's more important than on the golf course? Why do you let 1 slow person ruin your entire round/day on the course?

It's not about being in a hurry, it's about courtesy. He was the new guy, he should have noticed the pace of the other 3 people and at least attempted to adjust his game accordingly.

 

[limpalong]

It's not about being in a hurry, it's about courtesy. He was the new guy, he should have noticed the pace of the other 3 people and at least attempted to adjust his game accordingly.

Sunday morning, we had a pretty good visit w/the SIL. He works with the guy. The next time the guy asks if he can join us, the SIL will tell him that he's welcome... if he keeps up.

Most everyone has made some good, accurate comments. Not everyone can, wants to, or should play fast. As long as you are not holding up groups behind you, play at whatever speed is comfortable. Our group has the first tee time on weekeds for a reason. The course knows we will play quickly and can easily set the pace for the day. They also know that if we go off behind anyone, we would be wanting to play through by the 2nd hole. A number of us have reasons why we want/need to play without undue delay. I'm on the road quite a bit. I enjoy spending weekends with my wife. She is not an early riser... I am. Many days we can tee off at dawn, play 18, and I am home about the time she's rolling out of bed. Two of our regulars are younger fellows with families at home. To be away from home for half of a weekend day would find resentment from family. Playing in our group, they are home with most of the day remaining. Works out well... except when we have a slowpoke.

Oh, as far as conversing, etc... We have a blast, telling stories and listening to stories. If you play in our group, be prepared for about 3 hours of non-stop chatter. If you need complete silence while teeing off or while putting... forget about it!!!! We tone it down when you're hitting, but you better be able to handle the occasional early a.m. fart in your backswing or someone trying to mimmic the sound of one of the geese guarding a nest along the fairway. One regular always has a pair of ear muffs in his bag... even it it's 100 degrees out. If he wants us to tone it down, he'll drag out the ear muffs and that's our sign to cool it a tad. Of course, he's also learned that can lead to a couple of holes where no one talks... period. One does not understand how loud complete silence can be until our group completely shuts up!! :>)

 

[eclark53520]

Everyone knows a pre-shot routine is the basis for every good player. Not one single pro plays without one.

So anyone that shoots over 100 can't have a pre-shot routine? Somehow they're just supposed to line up and hit the ball and somehow become better by doing that?

I get the courtesy thing, and if i'm three fairways over i'm probably going to forgo my pre shot routine just to simply get on with it, but just because someone shoots over 100 doesn't mean they shouldn't be practicing a pre shot routine. That's just plain silly to suggest.

 

[limpalong]

Difficulty seems to be defining "pre-shot routine". A couple of players in our group line up behind the ball, pick out their target, step up to the ball, take a couple of practice swings... and hit. I line up with my target, visualize my shot, waggle 2 or 3 times... and hit. SIL takes two practice swings... and hits. Everyone does have some sort of pre-shot routine. Some pre-shot routines, however, can get entirely too cumbersome to keep the game moving at a tolerable (tolerable is subjective) pace.

The particular young man who we had difficulty with turned his pre-shot routine into a long and tedious process. On the tee, he would spend significant time behind the ball determining his target. Once he stepped up to the ball, he would have to align himself with the target by way of holding his club across his chest. Once comfortable that he was aligned, he would take at least 3 practice swings. If something didn't feel just right, he'd back off and begin all over.

This was the same routine he would use on every shot from the fairway. His shots from the fairway were many. He suffered from a wicked slice and I don't think he hit a drive over 180 to 190 yards all day.

On the green, he would mark his ball and clean it. He would set the ball down, squat down and spend quite a bit of time lining up the ball logo with the putt line. Once comfortable that he had it lined up properly, he would leave his marker behind the ball and act like he was ready to stroke the ball. He would take a couple of practice putts beside the ball. Then he would return to behind the ball and recheck that the logo was line up properly, pick up his marker, and return to address. This time he would take another couple of practice putts and, finally, stroke the putt. His putting was no better than his ball striking and we would see him go through this same putting routine 2 or 3 times on every green.

Again, consistency with a pre-shot routine is a necessity to having a decent game. One of our daughters is OCD... and readily admits it. When she and her husband were first married, she would alphabetize cans in her pantry. Everything had a specific place. Three children later, she isn't quite as organized... but still would well qualifty as sever OCD. We often kid her about "paralysis through over-analysis". Sometimes a project can be defeated, simply due to spending entirely too much time over-analyzing. In the case of this young man, I firmly believe he would play better if he didn't spend as much time worrying about the next shot.

Someone once compared putting to eating. We pick up a fork full of food and hit a small hole in the front of our face that we cannot even see. If we fed ourselves with no better skill than we putt, we'd have faces full of wounds caused by errant forks. We eat reactively. We do it without thinking. Good putters line up their putts, but once addressed, stroke the ball into the hole with the ease of taking a bite of food. Few pros have a routine anything like Jim Furyk on the green. (Thank goodness! Otherwise, we'd have pros taking 6 to 7 hours/round.)

 

[Golfanatic]

+1

Why does everyone have to be in such a huge hurry? Where do you need to be that's more important than on the golf course? Why do you let 1 slow person ruin your entire round/day on the course?

4 to 4.5 hours is PLENTY of time to play 18 holes..I do it in less when I AM talking and playing casually and pulling a cart on top of that.

The problem isnt so much players who are getting thru in 4.5 hours....its the ones who, like the guys I know, hit every other ball into the damned trees and then take a full 5 minutes to find it. They abuse the lost ball rule to the extreme. 2 lost balls per hole x 5 minutes per lost ball....do the math.

I let them ruin my day ONLY if they are being asses and wont let me just play thru.
In ONE round today I hit FOUR of these groups who were just plain slow.
The one guy hit a tee shot and I have no clue how he did it but the ball flew out at about 1 oclock from his tee pin.
He puts another ball down and I'll be damned if he didnt do it AGAIN.
And then......the children ages 5 and 7 got up to tee off.
I got to sit behind them for almost 15 minutes JUST TEEING OFF on hole one !
The nightmare went on from there.....

 

[Golfanatic]

I agree that there are some "overly speed obsessed" players out there, but there are also a fair number of turtles. It is possible for a foursome, either walking or riding, to play a decent round of golf in 4 to 4 1/2 hours. All it takes is a reasonable golf swing and not having to look for lost balls.

But not if there's a hack in the group shooting 100+ and still grinding over his 2 footer for double bogie. Which usually describes my tournament performance lately.

Actually I only recently broke into the 90s and I am FASTER than most guys riding in golfcarts when Im pulling my bag on a pullcart.

Even a player scoring a 100+ CAN keep it where he can find it or just drop a ball where he lost the last one. Ive done it often enough in the past.

 

[Golfanatic]

Difficulty seems to be defining "pre-shot routine".

Mine consists of getting behind the ball and getting my line and finding something in the grass in front of the ball to line up with. (5 seconds)
Next step is to address the ball...."Hello you little $$$$$$".....and then take a swing or two to get the feel for timing and to loosen up my grip (about 8 seconds)
Then I swing.
My preshot routine is about 15 seconds or less.
If I think about it any longer than that I WILL start messing shots up. Happens every time. Its the main reason I get completely screwed up if there is a group of snails in front of me because Ive got too much time to stand there thinking about my swing and all of the separate components which just gives me brain rot.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Even a player scoring a 100+ CAN keep it where he can find it or just drop a ball where he lost the last one. Ive done it often enough in the past.

Unfortunately, tournament rules do not allow this, and during the season, I play a tournament almost every weekend. I hardly ever play a casual round anymore, one reason being the pace is so darn slow. If I do, 9 holes is about all I can take.

 

[Golfanatic]

Unfortunately, tournament rules do not allow this, and during the season, I play a tournament almost every weekend. I hardly ever play a casual round anymore, one reason being the pace is so darn slow. If I do, 9 holes is about all I can take.

They actually HAVE to take the time to look for the ball regardless?
I guess I thought it was optional.
I bought a lot of used balls while I was learning to play the game last fall just so when I lost one, which we all know new players are going to do, so I didnt have to feel like I was losing a $3 ball and want to take time finding them all.
I certainly dont want to have to feel like I HAVE to go digging thru the brush to find a 20cent ball if I can just drop one where mine went in.

 

[anonymous golfaholic]

They actually HAVE to take the time to look for the ball regardless?
I guess I thought it was optional.
I bought a lot of used balls while I was learning to play the game last fall just so when I lost one, which we all know new players are going to do, so I didnt have to feel like I was losing a $3 ball and want to take time finding them all.
I certainly dont want to have to feel like I HAVE to go digging thru the brush to find a 20cent ball if I can just drop one where mine went in.

I HATE losing my ball, if I think it can be found. I will take the full 5 minutes to find my ball buried in the deep cabbage. If it's 50 yards into the woods, it's a different story. But I'm not going to give up on my ball and take a two stroke penalty because I don't want to hold up the group behind me. Sorry, buts that's the way it is. Trust me, it sucks just as bad being the guy looking for his ball as it does for the guy sitting on his ass waiting.

 

[SiberianDVM]

Lost ball and OB ball are both 1 stroke and distance penaltys, so you bet guys are going to take 5 minutes to look for them in tournaments.

Half the time somebody has to "encourage" them to hit a provisional so we don't have to take that ignominius ride back to the teebox.

 

[Golfanatic]

Lost ball and OB ball are both 1 stroke and distance penaltys, so you bet guys are going to take 5 minutes to look for them in tournaments.

Half the time somebody has to "encourage" them to hit a provisional so we don't have to take that ignominius ride back to the teebox.

I see. Makes sense if youre in a tourney.

Lord, if I tell two of the guys I play with sometimes to hit a provisional ball we'd be there all day.