Hot topic: Why are we still waiting?
'In 35 years I have never been called through three times in as many holes and it’s a tribute to all three groups’ appreciation of etiquette...'
Watching the clock
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I see the spectre of slow play has raised its head once more on the European Tour.
Several players were spoken to by Rules officials in the final round of the Deutsche Bank in Germany yesterday – including the eventual winner Trevor Immelman.
He was paired in the penultime group with Joakim Haeggman – who tends to lie flat on his belly when reading the line of his putts and is notoriously indecisive over club selection.
Immelman himself uses the belly putter and tends to stay just within the rules by holing more putts trimming seconds off this round, but is described by one top referee as not having a second gear when his group gets out of position on the clock.
It was perhaps fortunate for the luckless Frenchman Gregory Havret – who slipped from overnight leader by two shots to tied 22nd after a ten over par 82 – that he didn’t suffer with a further fine and penalty shots after taking two minutes over a shot on the 11th which should have taken less than 50 seconds.
According to one insider, Christian Cevaer – another Frenchman – used to be the slowest player on Tour and was the first to be fined when new Rules were introduced a few years ago, but has speeded up his act. As a result his golf has improved and he claimed the Spanish Open title earlier this year.
At local level, play is tending to be slower than ever this year and I blame the weather.
The wet conditions, followed by a couple of weeks of sunshine in the UK, has led to a faster growth in grass. And while the fairways and greens are kept in good order at most courses, the rough tends to get neglected making it tougher to find a wayward ball.
However, on a personal note I had no complaints at my own course on Sunday.
Having pitched up without a game, I fixed up with 13 handicapper David Dalglish (a cousin of Liverpool and Celtic legend Kenny) and we joined the ‘motley queue’ on the first tee, most of them new to the game.
On reaching the penultimate position we were invited through by the three-ball who’d also been waiting patiently and ushered forward again on the second tee by another threesome. Another trio were waiting to play on the par-3 third but as we quietly hovered at some distance we were waved forward yet again.
In 35 years I have never been called through three times in as many holes and it’s a tribute to all three groups’ appreciation of etiquette that we suddenly had an open course in front of us.
If only some of our more experienced golfers were equally magnanimous.
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Why are we waiting?
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Here a few tips for eliminating slow play
"Your place on the golf course is directly behind the group in front of you. Not directly in front of the group behind you!"
On the Tee
*Be aware of the speed of the group behind. If they’re playing straighter and faster than you. Let them through with a smile.
*Be ready to play at all times and hit when it’s safe, when the group ahead is clear.
*Encourage shorter hitters to hit first without always being restricted by the ‘honour’ system
*Always play a provisional ball (stating the fact and its identification) if there’s a danger the first may be hard to find.
On the Fairway:
*Be ready to play when it’s your turn, even out of turn if the way ahead is clear and safe and with agreement from playing partners.
*Watch the shots of others members of your group as well as your own.
*In social games where the course is busy, limit searches for lost balls to three minutes.
*When driving a buggy, drop your partner at his/her ball, then continue to yours.
On the Green:
*Place your clubs between the green and the next tee, never in front of the green.
*Study your putt while others are putting and continue putting until holed out unless you are stepping on the line of a colleague or an extension of it.
*Leave the green immediately after holing out and proceed to the next tee. Do not complete your scorecard on or near the green while the next group are waiting to play.
*On longer par-3 it’s often a good idea to stand back and let the group behind play their tee shots.
Tell us on the forum what slow play is like at your course and how you overcome it.
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Discuss this story
All of the points seem to be valid here but I do wonder if greedy, or unrealistic, clubs are a part of the problem as well. For example my home course is generally good for time(no tee reservations) and muttering is heard if we reach 4 hrs for a 4 ball. However you look at competition days and suddenly the times spiral up, start times are in place! There have been all sorts of suggestions for fixing this but none seem to have a good prospect of success. My second club operates a tee reservation system and I have yet to get under 4.5 hrs round there.
Through lengthy, and occassionally heated, 19th hole debate the general consensus appears to be that reserved tee times don't work. They are frequently too tightly spaced allowing only 6-8 minutes for completion of a hole. People seem to regard that time slot as theirs and appear reluctant to play faster groups through. Times are booked 'just in case' then not used or cancelled. An acceptance of longer rounds seems to be adopted and the etiquette ignored. Finance is also a big factor with visitors being accepted on their wallets and not golfing criteria. Finally, whilst knowing several widely acknowledged slow players, I have yet to meet anyone who actually believes they are slow.
I don't want a route march but I work on the basis of 2.5 for a 2 ball, 3 for a 3 ball and 3.5 for a 4 ball. You do not have to be superfit or a super golfer to achieve this, I am certainly neither of those things. But I can definitely go round in these times without feeling hurried and whilst being able to enjoy my surroundings. Bobs'pointers in his article are good and will really help. Here are some further things to avoid that might help:-
1. hearing the words 'don't know'or 'wasn't watching' after you ask your playing partners if they saw your ball
2. asking which way to the next green after you have parked your bag/trolley on the wrong side
3. hitting loads of provisional balls just becasue you want some practice
4. holing out last and then having to fetch the pin as your 3 partners wander off.
5. waiting for the green to clear from 250 yrds, 20 yrds further than your tee shot, because you hit a fairway shot this far once 20 years ago.
6. allow yourself to be pressured into a bad round of golf by the group behind. If they are pressing let them through, you will play better after they are gone. You also get to laugh as they have the traditional duffs playing through you.
Posted: 26/05/2004 13:25
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