It's Way Past Time to Start Speeding Up Play
Mike Dudurich
Posted 2009-03-31
It’s that time of year. A new golf season is upon us and the excitement of getting outdoors, enjoying great scenery, competition and companionship has begun to build. In the back of my mind, however, I know there is one other thing we’ll get to experience as we head to the course: Slow play.
Gary Player once told me, “There’s no shame in shooting a 94. There is, however, great shame in shooting 94 slowly.”
To this day, the diminutive South African does little at a slow pace, including playing golf.
Oh, that more golfers would follow the mantra of the 74-year-old Hall of Famer. Unfortunately, we as a golfing nation do not. While there’s nothing wrong with getting out and enjoying your round of golf, there is plenty wrong with five and six-hour rounds of golf.
Always.
No exceptions.
Regardless of where you’re playing – the local muni or an elite country club – nobody should be required to run through their round of golf. Unless we’re competing in an event, we are out there to have fun, get away from the most recent bad news of the day, right?
Enjoying yourself and doing things that contribute to the ever-increasing length of time it takes to play a round of golf do not go together. Well, let’s say they shouldn’t go together, but far too often, they do.
Because slow play is not a new phenomenon in golf – those old enough to remember Jack Nicklaus knew the Golden Bear brought the pace of play to an excruciating slowness in his heyday and unfortunately recreational golfers around the world became convinced that was the way to play – there are no miracle cures.
That’s the bad news. The good news is that there are so many little things that we as individual recreational players can do that could make big differences with very little effort.
Let’s start with this premise: all of us could do things to help. Yes, the group ahead of you is taking forever and it’s easy to point the finger at them. But the easiest place to influence change is in your own group.
Check out this list and see if any of these apply to you or someone in your group.
-- Be ready. Or, said another way, play “ready golf.” Keep an eye on what’s going on in your group. For the most part, everybody should have a very good idea as to who’s away as the group leaves the tee. When it comes time for you to hit, be ready and in this case, that doesn’t mean be ready to start your pre-shot routine. If you are to be the next to hit after a playing partner and he’s on the other side of the fairway, why should you sit in the cart or stand next to your ball and not do all of those pre-shot things while he’s hitting? And unless you’re in an event, why not just play ready golf? Forego the technicality of who’s away, etc. Whenever you get to your ball, if you’re ready to play and your partners aren’t, hit away.
-- Be realistic. Ego is a wonderful thing … in great doses of moderation. If you’re playing a big boy, 420-yard par four into a bit of breeze and slightly uphill, is there any reason for you to wait for the green to clear after you hit a 190-yard drive? Do the math. That’s a 230-yard 3-wood, uphill, into the breeze. How many of those have you hit?
-- The rules say 5 minutes is the legal time to search for a ball. For the most part, if you’re still looking at 4 minutes, it’s probably time to reach in your pocket. If you’ve got someone in your group abusing that time limit, remind them that darkness is coming and that the rest of the group would like to get finished.
-- Be considerate. If you’re riding a cart, park it on the side of the green nearest the next tee. Don’t park it near the front of the green because your ball happens to be located in that area. There’s nothing more exasperating than waiting for someone to walk slowly to the other side of the green to pick up their clubs and then amble listlessly to the cart parked in front of the green.
-- There are no rules anywhere that prevent anyone from lining up their putt, while others are doing the same. Especially if you’re a player who likes to look at the putt from all angles, all of that can happen well before it’s your turn.
-- Keep up with the group ahead. If every group on the course would do that, pace of play would automatically improve. Unless, of course, the first group of the day is the slowest and that’s when help has to come from the pro shop staff.
-- Players giving their games more credit than is deserved are on the short list of biggest reasons for slowing down the game. Unless your handicap is in single digits (or the course is wide open), your exposure to the back tees should be limited to your driving past them on the way to the white tees.
Bottom line?
Common sense should be the guide in golf as well as most of the other parts of our lives. If it isn’t employed, then the suggestions above won’t do much in the way of solving the problem.
No, golf isn’t a fast-paced game like football or hockey or basketball.
But unless we at the grass roots level of the game, don’t pick up the pace a bit, the downward trend in people participating in the sport will continue.
Those coming into the game don’t have the inclination or time to put up with the glacial pace that those of us already in have become used to.
Don’t forget, shooting 94 isn’t a crime. Doing it slowly definitely is.
It’s a crime against your fellow golfers.
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As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf.
He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com.
Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August.
The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at