Hi Fellow TT'ers. I realize that the subject of "slow play" is one that evokes strong feelings and thoughts amongst golfers. However, there is something that I believe that should be stated about "slow play".
I submit this post partly in response to one that is located on the main TT site discussing a slower player.
As someone who has golfed for much of the past 35 years I have pretty much seen all types of players and group dynamics on the golf course -- so much so that there probably is little that would surprise me.
When the topic of slow play comes up, I often look around at the people "complaining". I notice that many of the players that do complain about slow play are the same players that do not pick up their tees from the tee box, they do not repair their divots or replace them either.
And to boot, I have rarely seen one of these players bend down to repair a ball mark let alone repairing their ball mark and one other as we have all been encouraged to do.
It seems to me that many of these golfers focus more on the aspect of pace of play and how it may interrupt their own game and their own interests. Yet, they don't really observe any of the other rules of "etiquette" that golf has.
It seems that it is wiser to be a tad more tolerant of others. Not everyone can play at a rabbit's pace. Many people play for a variety of reasons. Many older folk play purely for the recreation of the game -- being outside, enjoying some fresh air and physically walking the course. It is a very important part of their physical and emotional well being.
I know that I would prefer seeing a group of older men and women playing golf like that rather than sitting around at the coffee shop or worse yet, simply staying in and becoming more isolated. Even if it means that I am waiting a little bit longer on each hole, I am prepared to be patient (there are times where it can be a bit frustrating - we all are human after all). Yet, seeing people outside being active is something that we should encourage -- it means that they are being more proactive in their own "health outcomes".
When it comes to newer or lesser skilled players, I understand that they will take some time to play a hole -- sometimes a group of four each scoring 6-7's and the occasional "summer snowman - 8". Yet, I remind myself that we want these players to play. We want to encourage participation so that our local golf courses can remain viable financially.
I used to belong to a semi-private Golf and Country club with tennis privileges, etc. but I looked around and often witnessed otherwise fine people becoming caricatures of the "judge" (Ted Knight) in Caddyshack. Of course, there were others that were caricatures of Rodney Dangerfield's character too (but I digress!)
Another thought that I keep in mind is that there are those golf courses that list the time to play a round of 9 or 18, yet their tee booking policy runs counter to it. For example, one of our local courses which sees plenty of traffic, lists the playing time as 4.5 hours for a round of 18. That averages out to 15 minutes per hole. Yet, their tee sheet allots times at 8 minute intervals -- the idea being that while on group is on the green the other is in the fairway waiting to hit their approaches and yet another group is waiting on the tee box.
This works only in theory -- if courses were really interested in pace of play they should be creating a better interval for groups so as to reduce the likelihood of bottlenecks.
I know that I have gone on at length, but I wanted to throw some thoughts out there now that we are entering the traditional golf season. Like my regular coaching sessions, I sometimes find myself thinking about Pace of Play and Golf Course Etiquette as a "pre season" primer. If you've read this far then thank you for your kind consideration.
D.