It normally irritates me when Europeans lecture us Americans about anything. But, a Scot named W. Eric Laing has some good things to say about the ridiculously slow pace of play in the U.S.
“Slow play has become a universal curse in American golf and is talked about on every course in the country,” Laing writes in his book, “America! What have you done to the Auld Game?”
What’s worse, Laing says, is that we are exporting our excruciatingly slow pace to other countries. Among U.S. culprits allowing and even encouraging slow play are televised golf tournaments. The reasoning is that duffers watch the pros on TV and try to copy them.
I agree. Who hasn’t seen the guy walking around his putt six times, studying it from every angle, trying to save triple bogey, while you’re standing in the hot sun in the fairway waiting to hit your approach?
Amateurs should not try to play like the pros, whose every shot means money won or lost.
“Why won’t a major tournament figure explain that to amateur golfers?” Laing decries. “All it would take is for someone important to say it to make it stick.”
The USGA should ask Tiger Woods or someone of like stature to do exactly that.
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Jason Scott Deegan:
The Accidental Golfer:
Katharine Dyson:
Kiel Christianson:
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!
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.
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?
Blame it on the marshals! (What the heck?)
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.
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.)
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.
As in, "the dislike between you two is discernible."
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.
:)
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
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 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.
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?!