The Grimsby Golf Club

Ways to Improve Pace of Play or how to avoid 'Slow Play'.

Slow play on the golf course is usually a condition that a golfer acquires over time, as he or she acquires bad habits.
Or it's the result of the golfer never having been taught proper golf course etiquette. This means a slow golfer can usually be "cured" of his malady.
Of course, that golfer has to be aware that he's slow, and that's where buddies come into play.

But as we often take a look at other golfers on the course and notice the things they do to slow down play, so should we take a look at ourselves.
When we do take an honest look at ourselves, we often discover we're doing many of the same things to slow down play that we're complaining about others doing.
Before we run down a list of suggestions for speeding up play, it's important to note that many of these tips have nothing to do with rushing your play, but rather with simply being ready to play, and with using common sense and good etiquette on the course.

The bottom line is, as soon as it's your turn to play, you should be ready to step right up and make the stroke.

Here are some tips for speeding up slow play on the golf course:

* After teeing off, walk directly to your ball. Members of the group should not travel together as a pack, walking first to one member's ball, then to the next. Each member of the foursome should walk directly to his or her ball.

* When two players are riding in a cart, drive the cart to the first ball and drop off the first player with his choice of clubs. The second player should proceed in the cart to his ball. After the first player hits his stroke, he should begin walking toward the cart as the second golfer is playing.

* Use the time you spend getting to your ball to think about the next shot - the yardage, the club selection. When you reach your ball you'll need less time to figure out the shot.

* If you are unsure whether your ball has come to rest out of bounds, or may be lost, immediately hit a provisional ball so that you won't have to return to the spot to replay the shot. If you are playing a recreational match with, shall we say, a "loose interpretation" of the rules, then simply drop a new ball somewhere around the area where your ball was lost and keep playing.

* Begin reading the green and lining up putts as soon as you reach the green. Don't wait until it's your turn to putt to start the process of reading the green. Do it as soon as you reach the green so that when it's your turn you can step right up and putt.

* Never delay making a stroke because you're having a conversation with a playing partner. Put the conversation on hold, make your stroke, then pick up the conversation again.

* If using a cart on a cart-path-only day, take more than one club with you when you walk from the cart to your ball.
Getting to the ball only to find out you don't have the right club is a huge time-waster on the golf course.

* After putting out, don't stand around the green chatting or take any practice putting strokes.
Leave the green quickly so the group behind can play. If there is no group behind, then a few practice putts are fine.

* Mark your scorecard after reaching the next tee, not while lingering on or near the just-completed green.

* When using a cart, never park the cart in front of the green. Park it only to the side or behind the green. And don't mark your scorecard while sitting in the cart next to the green (do it at the next tee).
These practices open up the green for the group behind.

* If you're the type who likes to offer tips to playing partners, save it for the driving range - or only do so on the course when you're sure that you're not slowing down play.

* If you are searching for a lost ball and are willing to spend a few minutes looking for it, allow the group behind to play through.

* Don't ask you’re playing partners to help you search for a lost ball - unless you are absolutely certain there is time for them to do so (e.g., there is no group behind waiting).
If the course is crowded, your partners should continue moving forward, not slow things down further by stopping to help your search.

* On the tee, pay attention to your partners' drives. If they lose sight of their ball, you can help direct them to it and avoid any searching.

* When waiting on the tee for the group in front to clear the fairway, don't be so strict about order of play. Let the short hitter - who can't reach the group ahead anyway - go ahead and hit.

* Work on building a concise pre-shot routine. If your pre-shot routine is a lengthy one, it's probably in your best interests to shorten it anyway. Limit practice strokes to one or two at the most.

* Don't bother marking lag putts - go ahead and putt out if it's short enough.

* Leave your cell phone in the car.

* Walk at a good pace between shots. No, you don't have to look like a race-walker.
But if your between-shot gait can be described as a "shuffle" or an "amble," you're probably going too slow.
Speeding up your gait a little is both good for your health, but also might help your game by keeping you lose.

* Carry extra tees, ball markers and an extra ball in your pockets so you never have to return to your bag to find one when needed.

* When chipping around the green, carry both the club you'll be chipping with plus your putter so you don't have to return to the bag.

* Be ready to hit when it’s your turn to play! (Have club in hand)

* Walk faster between shots

* Think about the upcoming shot BEFORE you get to your ball

* Reduce the length of time of your pre-shot routine

* Speak to your fellow competitors and encourage your group to stay in position before being timed!

* In intermittent wet weather, leave the trouser bottoms on, only take the top off if necessary.

* If four players lose their balls on the same hole, try to conduct those searches simultaneously.

* Find your ball first, and then help to look for the lost ball, consider the distance to walk though in doing so. This in itself could induce slow play.

* Upon reaching the green, do not turn your foursome into a convention.

* Concede putts, but don't spend time trying to make the putt. Move on!

* If you are the player to whom they gave that putt, bear in mind that this does not mean you still have to make it.

* Having finished, do not take practice putts or stand around the cup filling in your scorecard. Leave.
You will expedite that departure by not leaving your carts, bags, shoes, purse, wallet, clubs, and Palm Pilot scattered in front of the green.
Keep your equipment with you. Nobody appreciates a golfer who has finished, who then runs halfway back up the fairway.

* Prepare to take your shot as you approach the ball, check wind direction etc then.

* Late arrival at the tee starts the round off in the wrong manner. Be on time at the first tee, at least 5 min. (better still 10mins).

* Reduce the number of practice swings.

* Always hit a provisional ball, if in doubt, the walk back to the tee is embarrassing.

* Don't try to emulate the professional. They practice for hours.

* Mark up at least 3 balls before you reach the first tee. Be prepared to start on time.

* Have all your equipment checked and available before you go to the first tee. Delays at this stage are accumulative.


Remember, none of us are innocent.
We may rationalize that each slow play 'sin' only takes a few seconds, but when strung together, those seconds become minutes,
minutes become hours, and then those hours turn into words because your wife has her unique way of putting them together when you’re really late.

Finally, for anyone who really thinks he or she already plays as quickly as possible, remember the last time you raced a setting sun to the 18th green.
I'll bet that in your desire to finish, you picked up the pace while the groups ahead did, too.
There is a lesson in that. Think about it. The fastest golf takes place half an hour before sunset.
Perhaps, if we applied just a fraction of that urgency during the rest of the day, some of us might even get home before dark.

You can avoid Slow Play.