"Waving Them UP"
 

I have played several courses that have signs posted on their par 3's stating that: "UPON REACHING THE GREEN, YOU MUST WAVE UP THE GROUP WAITING ON THE TEE"

The operative phrase being: "You Must".

I personally think that this practice is essentially pointless and that it does not in any way speed up the pace of play. In fact, I can make several arguments as to why this practice may actually serve to slow things down, yet many courses insist that this be done.

At one of my regular courses, no one bothers with this "rule" despite the signs on the tee and the general consensus is that it's a waste of time. In fact, there have been times when a ranger was positioned at the tee (to monitor the pace of play) and even he did not insist that anyone wave anyone else up to the green.

So what are your thoughts on this?

Is "waving up" the group behind you on a Par 3 a good idea or a bad idea?


-JP

That has got to be the most useless rule I have ever heard of. Do you mean that if my group has reached the green and is preparing to putt out and a group shows up on the tee behind us, I have to stop what we are doing and allow them to hit into the green BEFORE we putt out and move on? That is asinine!

Sounds pointless to me, and it sounds like it would hinder play more than help it......

I have not encountered this on any courses yet but it seems to me that you would gain approximately nothing.

Wait at the tee then wait again at the green. I would just as soon let the group ahead of me finish before I hit my tee shot. Some days it would be better for them as well, being off the green is no guarantee that I won't hit you.

[QUOTE=Chesnutt;207795]I have not encountered this on any courses yet but it seems to me that you would gain approximately nothing.

Wait at the tee then wait again at the green. I would just as soon let the group ahead of me finish before I hit my tee shot. Some days it would be better for them as well, being off the green is no guarantee that I won't hit you.[/QUOTE]

LOL i agree with you there, it would also seem like more if a distraction as well.....I can't stand someone standing next to me let alone in front of me where i'm trying to hit to.....aren't we supposed to try to avoid hitting into someone else

I actually played on a course yesterday that had this rule on two of their par 3's. Complete waste of time if you ask me and actually slowed us down.

It would have only taken us a few minutes to putt out. But since we had to waive up the group behind us we waited on a couple reshoots etc before they were done on the tee. Then they just got to wait longer on the next par 4.


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It seems to me this is a potentially dangerous situation. If I am on the a par three green, why would I invite someone to hit a ball at me? Most folks can reach a par three green. How far off to the side of the green do I need to stand to avoid being hit by an errant shot? Not a good rule.

Come to think of it, I can't remember ever seeing this sign, or this rule in print on a score card. Probably just missed it.

Well at the course I played yesterday both of the holes which had this rule were right near the clubhouse.

Hole #1 par 3 - I'm sure they did this here to just get more people out. Rather have more people backed up further on the course than right at the clubhouse.

Hole #7 par 3 - again teeing off right near the clubhouse. My guess would be to make people think te course is moving smoothly?


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Generally, it works like this:

When all of the members of a group reach the green (either through their tee shots or by chipping on), they either leave their golf balls where they are or mark them and then wave up the group on the tee.

Usually, everyone at the green moves to the back of the green and waits/watches the group on the tee and when they've finished teeing off, the group on the green continues to putt out.

The number one problem I've seen with this practice is "performance anxiety". The folks on the tee are in a sort of goldfish bowl and the eyes of the world are upon them and as a result most people end up hitting the worst tee shots of their lives.

Maybe this is mostly a "New York" thing or a regional thing, but I remember this "rule" being there since I learned to play this game over 40 years ago.


-JP

Ridiculous rule. I have never seen that on any course that I have played. We do it if we're letting someone play through but that's it.

I have seen it before, but not too recently. It is pretty stupid. The only advantage I can see is if everyone is walking and there is a abnormally long walk to the green. Meaning you would have to walk around the pond and over the bridge, etc. In that instance, the players on the green can finish and be on their way while the other group is walking to the hole.

Other than that, it does nothing to speed up play. Especially since the current players on the green will probably now have to fix ball marks and mark balls so that they can putt out.

This used to be more common around here than it is now. My home course did this many years ago on one hole. Then somebody got smart and actually spent a few days having the ranger time play on that hole and the next 2 holes. Then they temporarily rescinded the rule and timed it again.... absolutely no significant difference overall. When they rushed them through the par 3 they tended to wait slightly longer on the next 2 holes until the compression eased out.

It turned out to be one of those plans which looks good on paper, but in practice it just doesn't accomplish anything. http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...milies/doh.gif

Probably created by one of those civil engineers that created some of our traffic patterns in the city. http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...es/biggrin.png

The first time I've ever seen this course "rule" was at a course in Wilmington CA. It's indeed a stupid, dangerous rule.

+2. I have never come across this sign anywhere and I've been playing at least 30/35 years. I would think just hitting after the green has cleared would be good enough and of course this is the most common way of doing it.
I'm guessing they must have some "good" reason for the signs and the practice, but I sure can't figure out what it would be.

YEARS ago (~45) when I caddied, it was common courtesy to wave the next group up - on the #9 par 3 hole. There wasn't a lot of debate about whether it was a dumb rule or not. I never heard any of the members question it, but everyone followed it. In that particular instance I think it was because the halfway house was located there. Groups would tee off and then stop to pick up a drink or snack before proceeding to their next shot. I think it made sense in that case.

Nowadays I don't see a lot of merit in it unless you intend to let the group behind you "play through." JMHO http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo.../confused2.gif

I also agree this is a useless rule... while it is intended to speed up play, it simply doesn't work when the starter has so many groups stacked up that you wait at every hole... or play is so slow that your round is > 5 hours.

Ive never seen this rule before or maybe I just never payed attention. Is this more of a muni thing?