You value your time right ? Do you value your fellow golfers time ? Does your club value your time ?
Pace of play has become a big issue and is likely to get even bigger. Lack of time is seen as one of the major reasons people are giving up golf. Now don't get me wrong as with most things on the Isle of Wight we really don't know we're born compared to the mainland.
The problem is the players perception of a slow round has nothing whatsoever to do with time taken but comes down to wether they have to wait for the group in front. I had an instance where I was asked my opinion about the "slow play" of a group of college kids playing on a mainland course in amongst the usual Tuesday morning seniors roll up. The kids had lost a hole on the group in front in the first three holes and the seniors behind we're waiting on every shot, by the ninth it had stretched to a two hole gap in front of them but never let them through for the full 18 holes.
Under Etiquette the Rules of a Golf say
"It is a group’s responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group. Where a group has not lost a clear hole, but it is apparent that the group behind can play faster, it should invite the faster moving group to play through."
Cut and dried under the rules really but when I dug a little deeper by asking a few pertinent questions I got some interesting answers.
What tee time interval was used? - none, we hit our tee shots before the kids had hit their second shots, they're so long we couldn't get any where near them.
How long did your round take ? About 3 hours 20 minutes.
When we run a Tournament at that course our definition of slow play is 4 hours 10 minutes - if your pace is slower than that referees will do all they can to help you get back on track without having to result to putting you on the clock.
Now Troon Golf in America have introduced Time Pars for their courses where the starter writes your expected time at various holes on your card and have introduced Pace Setter Tee times where your guaranteed to get round say 20 minutes under the time par. One of the clubs offers a special cheaper menu for players that have completed their round under time but I can't see that going down too well with your franchised caterer !!!!
Take a look at the USGA's article on Troon Golf at the link below but just remember how lucky we are on the Island, next time your held up take a deep breath admire the view and smell the flowers - slow play can be like beauty, it's in the eye of the beholder.
http://www.usga.org/news/2014/March/Pace-of-Play-Case-Study--Troon-Golf/
