Tim McDonald

Love this blog,

I couldn't agree with you more. Gone are the days where you could run out and play nine in a hour and a half. Now you have these marathon rounds behind high three-somes They have just as much priority as anyone else, it just kills me to wait on a 5-6 hour round for no good reason.

Unless you have hundreds of thousands on a putt, there is no reason for a person to be checking it from every angle. I'll take it a step further and say that it will not help them anyway. They should be working on their stroke on the practice greens, not holding up play on a public or private course.

Another thing that urks me is people who walk along the boundries hoping to find a ball as if it is an Easter Egg hunt. The irony is that they will pay 50$ for a round, but hunt for a 3$ ball. What is that?

Great post, keep em coming!

One of the explanations for this, according to my European friends, is that Europeans use match-play format when playing recreationally, whereas Americans want to keep their full score, and use stroke-play.

So there's no picking up the ball when a hole is won--everything has to be putt out. That adds a tremendous amount of time to a round.

I blame most of the slow play in America on golf carts. Golf carts are not needed.

I blame slow play on public/private US courses on the marshal. MOVE THESE SLOW/LAZY FOLKS ALONG! And for David - if you think you can play faster walking than I can in a cart...you need to take a remedial math class.

No, I do not need a remedial maths class.

A fourball playing in carts generally take longer to get round than a fourball carrying bags, walking briskly from shot to shot.

Or is it just because many Americans are just fat, lazy bastards?

No, I don't that is the reason.

Blame it on the marshals! (What the heck?)

Let me reiterate the fact that David and David Meyers are two different bloggers. We don't necessarily share the same views or language.
There are many reasons for the slow play, but much of it can be attributed to the fact that every player acts as if they are playing for big money.
Also, people are worried about etiquette such as walking while someone is hitting or hitting before the furthest person away hits. They forget that quick play is also a part of etiquette.

No need to reiterate the differences DM, they are easily discernable. You would be the one who has a grasp of the English language who writes inciteful and informational blogs, David is the functionally illiterate American-bashing fool.

Trip,

You must be the only person who has never accidentally missed out one word from a sentence while typing.

(By the way, names begin with capital letters.)

Oh, and since you chose to get all picky and self-perfect on me, let me take another pop at you.

It seems that you have very few grammar skills, also. (Actually, I'll revoke that statement; my grammar is much better than yours.)

>> No need to reiterate the differences DM, they are easily discernable.

There should be a semicolon after '.. the differences DM..' and before '.. they are easily discernable.' If you want to be really fussy, there should also be a comma between 'differences' and 'DM.'

>> You would be the one who has a grasp of the English language who writes inciteful and informational blogs, David is the functionally illiterate American-bashing fool.

That is such poor English. 'You would be the one who has a grasp of the English language who writes..' Furthermore, 'inciteful' isn't a real word; and in any case, I still don't know what you mean by it.

You didn't use a single comma throughout, save for the instances where you really should've been using a semicolon. Your grammar is poor, making you a hypocrite.

Also, don't call me a fool.

Actually, the proper spelling is "discernible."

As in, "the dislike between you two is discernible."

Oh, another spelling mistake.

I don't dislike Trip. This is a blog; furthermore, a GOLF blog, meaning that the users are supposed to argue among each other about very insignificant things, act like children, and also temporarily pretend to dislike each other.

I'm sure Trip is a good guy.

:)

Anyway, good post, Tim. This entry does in fact cover a topic which is VERY significant to the game of golf.

Slow play is the result of overcrowding the course. Slow play is the result of golf courses with too many forced carries off the tee and into the green. Slow play is the result of long distances between greens and the next tee. Slow play is the result of the cart girl serving sandwiches and beverages during the play of the round. Golf has been overtaken by real estate developers and food and beverage experts. They've taken the fun out of the game. I agree with David about walking. Make everyone walk, give them a course where they can roll the ball down the fairway and onto the green, and give them 4 hours and 10 minutes to complete 18 holes (2 hours for the front, 10 minutes between nines to make a call, use the bathroom, or get a bite to eat, and 2 hours to play the back,) and they'll be able to take their time and enjoy the competition and camaradarie of the game. Golf is not a race, low score wins. The cart jockeys who ride up the backs of the groups in front of them are just as rude as the golfers who take too much time to play.

Obviously Mr. Laing did not know that a Yank consulted with the R&A to improve the pace of play at the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield. The results were that not one round (including those played in heavy rain and wind) took five hours or more. "It was the best Open we've had in years," said David Rickman of the R&A.

The same American exported to golf administrators from Great Britain and Europe, a comprehensive understanding of the causes and solutions for improving the pace of play through a two-day seminar hosted by the R&A in St Andrews in February of 2003.

So, don't tell me that Americans are at fault for the slow play crisis, and don't tell me that the players are the main culprits either. I know better. I'm the American who has helped over 100 courses in the U.S. and abroad and who the international governing body of the game called on for insight and assistance at Muirfield.

Bill Yates

100% agree with Bill Yates!!!!

Slow play.

It is a generally accepted fact that 90% of golfers don't break 100. If I play 75, it is normal to think that somebody playing 100 or more will take 33% more time to play a round.

This takes into account setting up for a shot, choosing strategy, lining up, pratice swings, difficulties around the green and lining up putts. Its mathematical.

When the course is not crowded, we usually play in 4 hour or less. Even then, we do not rush, we tell jokes, walk at a reasonable pace, line up putts and enjoy the day. So, if you add 33%, you will play that round in somewhere around 5 hours.

That is why there is yet no real permanent solution to slow play on most courses, unless you force people to think only in terms of keeping up with the preceeding group and "picking up" too often to enjoy the game.

At St-Andrews the policy is: "we will warn you once and then we will take you off the course". It works, but you won't do that everywhere.

The Scots, especially members of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, Carnoustie, and The R&A, do not tolerate slow play. Some of the more traditional clubs in England, e.g. Royal Liverpool and Royal St. George's, are the same.

The Americans are not governed by The R&A (who have been with golf from almost the beginning), rather the USGA. In recent years the USGA have made an absolute hash of the U.S. Open, and have made a fool of themselves. Yes, Americans ARE at the heart of the slow play crisis. Watering greens between groups - what a joke! Ever see anything like that happen at The Open? (It's 'The Open,' NOT the 'British Open.') Do you reckon that slowed play down a little? Just a bit.

Let's face it, Americans generally do take longer to play than the British. The USGA are not as serious about slow play as The R&A; four hours is a fast American round, but quite slow as far as The R&A are concerned.

Golf carts ARE a big factor in slowness of play. They also take the fun out of the game, and cause many deaths every year just because some lazy bastard couldn't be assed walking around the course.

A big part of the enjoyment of golf is walking the course, studying it, getting some fresh air, and SPEEDING UP THE GAME.

In the fall I played four rounds of golf in Scotland, all on foot, of course. None of these were over 4 hours. After this experience, I've come to believe that carts really do slow down the game. They're also no damn good for you health wise.

Exactly. Thanks, Mark.

Everybody wants to play:
1.Early on Saturday morning, so they can get home in time to do the Honey-do list, or,
2. Play after work weekdays because they have to work to afford everything else.

Try playing on weekend afternoons. I can walk a three and a half hour 18 because nobody's on the course. Green's are a little rough, but the way I putt, who cares?!