[Abraham]

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/...075444,00.html

Slow play isn't just an issue on Tour. It plagues golfers and golf courses all over America. In a recent Golf.com survey of 4,000-plus golfers, more than 85 percent of you told us you encounter slow play either occasionally or frequently on your home courses, and three in four of you believe your home course could be doing more to combat the epidemic.

Most alarmingly, 93 percent of you said slow play detracts from your enjoyment of the game, which means the industry ought to be doing everything in its power to pep things up - pronto! "Slow play is an illness," says Bill Yates, a pace of play consultant to the USGA, R&A and scores of courses worldwide, "but the good news is, there's a cure."

Is pace of play an issue at your home course?
Yes, occasionally: 56.2%
Yes, frequently: 30.3%
No: 13.5%

How much does a slow pace of play detract from your enjoyment of a round?
A lot: 47.9%
Somewhat: 45.8%
Very little: 5.2% Not at all: 1.1%

Do you believe your home course could do more when it comes to keeping play moving?
Yes: 76.2%
No: 23.8%

Have you ever asked a fellow playing partner to pick up his/her pace?
Yes: 70.1%
No: 29.9%

Do you believe you have the right to ask a fellow playing partner to pick up his/her pace?
Yes: 89.7%
No: 10.3%

Do you consider yourself a "slow player"?
No, I consider myself a fast player: 57.4%
No, I consider myself about average: 41.7%
Yes: 0.9%

Do you think your golf buddies consider you a "slow player"?
No: 93.1%
Yes: 2.3%
Maybe: 4.6%

Do you believe your home course allows too many players on the course at the same time?
No: 56.7%
Yes: 43.3%

Would you support a handicap requirement to play at certain times at your home course?
No: 71.3%
Yes: 28.7%

Generally speaking, what do you believe is the No. 1 cause of slow play?
Players not ready to hit when it's their turn: 57.3%
Players overanalyzing shots/yardages: 21.6%
Players refusing to pick up, even after nine or 10 shots: 9.3%
Tee times not spread out enough: 7.8%
Courses are too difficult/penal: 1.4%
None of these: 2.6%

[Abraham]

From the same magazine:

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/...075400,00.html



How the average hacker can pick up the pace of play

You may never play as quickly as Christopher Smith, the World Speed Golf record holder (who once shot a 65 in 44 minutes). But you can learn a lot from his lighting-fast ways.

1. Eliminate Practice Swings
"Let's say the average guy shoots 100, and each practice swing takes two or three seconds. That adds up to around five minutes per player per round, or 20 minutes for a foursome. Work out a good routine without them. In my 15 years of playing speed golf, I've never found that not taking a practice swing is detrimental to my game."

2. Stop Obsessing over Yardages
"You don't need to pace off the distance to the last inch. If you can tell yourself, this shot is about 150-ish yards, that's plenty. That's what most of us need in our games. A lot more 'ish.' "

3. Cut Out the Laser
"You look at golf in recent years, and we've gone from pin sheets to lasers to lasers that tell you temperature and elevation. A lazy brain is an ineffective brain and all these devices make us lazy. Maybe a Tour pro can benefit from so much detailed information. But in the hands of the average player, I would argue that all a laser does is slow things down."

4. Don't Read Too Much Into It
"We watch TV and we see guys reading putts from all angles and those fancy graphics that tell us the exact line the ball is supposed to follow, provided it's hit at a pace that will leave it precisely 17 inches past the hole. Talk about slowing down the game! You try that kind of thing yourself, and you're so overloaded with information you can't possibly perform. Go with the read you get in the first five seconds. Your first instincts are as good if not better than what you're going to get after all that other stuff."

[Abraham]

http://www.golf.com/golf/tours_news/...074942,00.html


On the Clock: Slow play study pits Joe's vs. Pros

We took stopwatches to a busy public course and the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational. Top 100 teacher and CBS Sports analyst Peter Kostis explains what we learned.

ABOUT THIS STUDY
For the Tour pro data, we timed every shot 45 players hit over nine holes at Orlando's Bay Hill during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. We started the clock only when a player had arrived at his ball and it was his turn to hit. Some of the groups we followed we selected at random; other groups we chose because they included a player, or players, who have a reputation for playing either slowly (e.g., J.B. Holmes) or quickly (e.g., Rickie Fowler). Cumulatively we clocked 1,497 shots. For the amateur data, we timed 91 players at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course at North Carolina State University on a Saturday in April. Using the same guidelines that we employed with the pros, we tracked every shot the amateurs hit on the 1st and 18th holes (a par 5 and a par 4), or 581 shots in all. For both groups we omitted tap-in putts from our calculations.

I often hear the assertion that amateurs play slowly because they mimic the pre-shot routines of their favorite Tour pros. These charts show that's not true. Still, the amateurs we timed did take a grueling average of 4 hours and 58 minutes to complete their rounds, which means that while "Joes" may not spend much time over their shots, they do spend too much time between shots. To liven your pace, be smart with your cart management; save small talk with your buddies for when you're walking or driving to your balls, not when you're preparing to hit; and above all be considerate of your fellow golfers. A little respect goes a long way.



AMATEUR DATA:
Amateurs spend less time with each successive shot, which suggests that they lose focus or grow increasingly frustrated. This variation also tells me that amateurs don't have a consistent pre-shot routine. Take it from the pros: the first step toward building a consistent, repeatable swing is to have a consistent, repeatable routine. Which doesn't have to mean a slow routine.

It's striking how little time amateurs spend over their chips and putts. Don't shortchange your short game. Those shots count just as much on your scorecard as your drive and your approach. One of the keys to speeding up play is to shoot lower scores, and when you invest time in your putts the way the pros do, your scores will go down and your pace will go up.




PRO DATA:
Perhaps not surprisingly, the two shots the pros take the most time over are those that can lead to a birdie: the approach and the first putt. That's why you see pros taking additional time to commit to their strategy and stroke on these important scoring opportunities. Notice how the pros also invest a good chunk of time over their bogey attempts, which is a good lesson for amateurs. I'm not suggesting you eat up the clock grinding over bogey putts, but if you want to score, you should show as much respect to those putts as you do your par and birdie tries.




BUSTED!
Of the 1,497 shots we timed at Bay Hill, 279 of them - or 18.4 percent - exceeded the Tour's 45-second limit. Over nine holes, here are the players who most frequently exceeded 45 seconds to play a shot, including the percentage of the time they were in violation:
Kevin Na: 58% (18 of 31 shots)
Nick O'Hern: 52% (16 of 31)
J.B. Holmes: 47% (15 of 32)
John Senden: 44% (14 of 32)
(Shot totals exclude tap-in putts)

DRILLING DOWN
Other facts and figures from our PGA Tour study*:
Most time per shot (avg.): Nick O'Hern (55 seconds)
Least time per shot (avg.): Rickie Fowler (16 seconds)
Avg. time per tee shot for the field: 31 seconds
Avg. time per putt for the field: 37 seconds
Most time over a single tee shot: Hunter Haas (119 seconds, par-3 second hole)
Most time over a single putt: Kevin Na (91 seconds, 9'11" inch birdie putt on par-5 12th hole; he missed)
Tiger Woods's avg. time per tee shot: 38 seconds
Tiger Woods's avg. time per putt: 39 seconds
*These statistics include averages of all 45 players we timed.

[Ferkilort]

This hasn't really been an issue for me this year. Longest round has been 4.5 hours, which isn't bad for a Sunday. I'd rather finish in about 4 hours, but I can deal with 4.5. What I've done is quit playing the slow courses. It was the easiest solution ever.

[FelixQY]

I think the longest round I've had at my home course is 3 hours 50 minutes. It's a 6800+ yard course but almost all members like the pace of play and they will keep up on public players to make sure they arent going over 4 hours.


Tapatalk... Loved by me hated by the wife.

[VogsHoock]

I really like the stat that says the Pro spends more time on their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shots compared to the amateur who spends most of their time on the 1st few shots.

[aburva.org]

It doesn't bother me when guys are at their ball getting ready for their shot. It's the other crap like taking 20 years to clear the green, BS'ing on the tee, spending too much time over a triple/quadruple bogey putt, and most of all spending FAR too much time looking for a lost ball. I was following a league scramble and I swear they took at least 5 minutes on every hole looking for someone's lost ball. It's a scramble guys! Grrrr!

[Abraham]

I really like the stat that says the Pro spends more time on their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shots compared to the amateur who spends most of their time on the 1st few shots.

Added a couple graphs from the story.

[drugsprevi]

Isn't this part of the reason "tee it forward" was started?

[sbrscnds]

Wow that was a lot of good info! i like to play faster than most and sometimes slow play gets me out of my groove. it seems like its gotten worse over the last few years rounds are taking longer and longer. Most courses i play (all public courses) don't do anything to combat slow play. so you just have to deal with it and hope they let you play through but anymore the group in front of them are playing just as slow.

[Ferkilort]

I think it has more to do with just not being an inconsiderate tool that measuring yardages, taking a practice swing, etc. Walk to your ball, have a club, get a yardage, quick pre shot routine, hit the ball. All of that stuff, except for actually hitting the ball, can be done while another person is hitting theirs. We do all of those things and mark our balls on the green and regularly wait a bit on the people in front of us.

You run into slow play when people are talking to each other, not watching where their ball went, driving their cart 15 feet at a time, etc.

[Arximedus]

I thought the articles were good except C. Smith.

1. contradicts everything I'm reading or watching about creating a pre-shot routine. From the 3rd article, "Take it from the pros: the first step toward building a consistent, repeatable swing is to have a consistent, repeatable routine. Which doesn't have to mean a slow routine."

2. & 3. are contradicting each other. In 2, he advises don't pace off distance to the last inch. I'd agree as it takes time to find the nearest sprinkler head and then march off a few paces and do some math. But in 3, he advises a "lazy brain is an ineffective brain and all these devices make us lazy." Which is it? Use brain to add or subtract after a few paces? Or, quickly zero in on a target with a laser and receive yardage? "...in the hands of the average player, I would argue that all a laser does is slow things down." I completely disagree.

4. The only item I can agree to as I know I am not good enough to see different breaks in a putt from different angles. If I want to read a putt from the other side of the hole, I do so while not my turn. When it's my turn, I've already been trying to read the putt from behind the ball. So it's just get into stance and swing.

[Dwencejed]

Yeah, a laser dun slow me down none. 190? club? Done.

[valiumnopresc]

If I can play fast I'll play fast if I have to wait between shots then I'll take my time and start analyzing everything. I like a round where I barely have to wait.

[Turbo-ip]

since joining a club, hasnt been an issue yet. Today I was playing solo, had a threesome in front of me that wouldnt let me pass the final 5 holes for whatever reason. Pissed me off a bit, and took away from the round, but if thats the worse I encounter the rest of the year, I'll survive

[jokiruss]

Is pace of play an issue at your home course?
Yes, occasionally: 56.2%
Yes, frequently: 30.3%
No: 13.5%


Do you consider yourself a "slow player"?
No, I consider myself a fast player: 57.4%
No, I consider myself about average: 41.7%
Yes: 0.9%

Does everyone see the disconnect here? Almost 90% of people say that slow play is part of the problem, but less than 1% of players consider themselves a slow player. There's little motivation for people to try to speed up their play if they don't think that they are the reason that there is slow play out there. It's a shame.

[EspanaCamsInfo]

I wish marshals policed slow players more. It just doesn't happen.

Interesting article, thanks Smalls!

[WelcomeMe]

I had an interesting pace of play situation today. There was a foursome ahead of me and I think they just were not very thoughtful or considerate of what they were doing. They were very loud and very slow the entire time. So, I just would not rate them highly for course etiquette.

Anyway I get onto the tee box for 3. Holes 2, 3 and 4 run side by each in up and down fashion for the most part. That is particularly true for 3 and 4 as they virtually border each other.

From what I could see, the foursome ahead of me decided to drive just as the guys ahead of them were taking their second shots. So instead of waiting in the tee box for 4, they ended up driving pretty close to the guys ahead of them and then waiting out where their tee shots landed. As you might have guessed by now one of them landed his tee shot onto the right side of the 3rd fairway, the fairway I was going to be driving into from the tee box for 3. So instead of being back in the tee box for 4 as I was about to tee off on 3 he and his cart were on the right hand side of the fairway I was about to drive into.

While the right hand side is not the place to be on 3, I am still very reluctant to tee off when a guy is standing right in what is a very likely landing area for my drive. So they ended up waiting to hit their approach shots and I ended up waiting before I could drive down the 3rd for the most part because they had taken their tee shots earlier than they should have and then landed at least one of them into the 3rd fairway.

They seemed pretty oblivious to the whole thing because they could clearly see me standing there in the tee box for 3 and they were not yet able to take their 2nd shots on 4. All it would have taken would have been for that one guy to get in his cart and move off into his fairway while I drove my tee shot on 3. Does it sound like I am being unreasonable or do you think he should have moved off into his fairway and waited there so I could tee off on 3? It was not like he was close to being able to hit his approach shot. The guys ahead of his foursome were nowhere near ready to leave the 4th green and anybody with eyes could see that.

[zoppiklonikaa]

IMHO, slow play breeds bad golf. I know that I like to keep a quicker pace. A usual round for me if I am playing alone takes about 2:15-2:30 max, but if my friend plays with me, his pre-shot routine reminds me of a young Sergio....takes every bit of 4-4:30 hours. I am constantly on him about how many practice swings he takes and for him to play "ready" golf. Problem is, he's a pretty good golfer and that's just his pace, it's his comfort. So if I want to play him, that's part of the deal, and I have learned to accept it.

[rhiniddibiarmr]

Does everyone see the disconnect here? Almost 90% of people say that slow play is part of the problem, but less than 1% of players consider themselves a slow player. There's little motivation for people to try to speed up their play if they don't think that they are the reason that there is slow play out there. It's a shame.

This is a big part of the problem. Far too many slow players don't know that they are slow, and will fight to the death defending that belief. And it's nearly impossible to educate a person who doesn't feel that he needs to educated.