How many times have you hit the links wishing you had stayed home? For most players, especially those who do not play as often as they would like, this is a rare occurrence. The joy of golfing does help many players done rose coloured glasses; yet, there are times when on course or outside influences tip the scales towards walking off the course. In many cases, the decision to leave is not taken lightly. Regardless, leaving the golf course was the best decision and I have made that decision a few times myself over the years. Have you?
Continue readingslow play
Keeping The Right Position On The Golf Course
Over the years, I have engaged in a plethora of discussions on slow play. I cannot tell you the different ideas that players have on how to speed up the play on the their golf course. Personally, I think staying in the right position is key to speed of play, but that only works if most of the groups are playing at the same relative speed. Of course we all know that if the course is playing slow, it boils down to one or two groups who set the place. Ultimately, from time to time you will find yourself out of position and need some techniques on how to close the gap; well I have a few suggestions.
The first is to play ready golf. I have written about this a important skill and think that if most players adopted ready golf, then the pace on the golf course would be quicker. Unfortunately, this skill needs to be taught to new players and that is rarely done from what I can see.
Play the correct tees. Stop playing the whites just because you think that is where you should be. Select your distances based on ‘Driver Distance Recommended Yardages’:
- 275 yards 6,700 – 6,900 yards
- 250 yards 6,200 – 6,400 yards
- 225 yards 5,800 – 6,000 yards
- 200 yards 5,200 – 5,400 yards
- 175 yards 4,400 – 4,600 yards
- 150 yards 3,500 – 3,700 yards
- 125 yards 2,800 – 3,000 yards
- 100 yards 2,100 – 2,300 yards
This not just a Canadian initiative, the PGA and USGA are supporting partners as well. “When you TEE IT FORWARD, you hit more lofted irons into greens, putt for birdies and pars more often and play faster and score better!
Follow the three minute rule for a lost ball. Over the years I have watched players look for their ball for 5 minutes, then the rest of the group comes over to look for 5 minutes, then they have a bit of a discussion. Watching this scenario frustrates all onlookers.
Let faster groups go through. If the group behind is watching your every shot and the hole in front is open (this is the important point about this last hint) then let the faster groups go through. I have had discussions with players who refuse if they are playing (in their minds) fast enough, so the group behind will just have to wait. This is poor etiquette in my opinion. There is nothing wrong with letting a group go through if your group is blocking the golf course.
Walk, ride and play to a pace of 4 hours. This timing has a +- time of 15 minutes. My group plays faster, however if we are on this pace, we will slow down to meet this mark. Unfortunately, this pace is a challenge for some players and it does clog up the golf course on busy days. Hence, I recommend that you keep track of your pace and aim for a 4 hour completion.
Keeping in position on the golf course is important to everyone. The enjoyment of playing golf, in my mind anyway, is to play at a comfortable pace to completes the round in the reasonable time of 4 hours.
I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!
The Ability to Play Ready Golf
Prior to our current challenges, speed of play was an ongoing topic of discussion. One of the solutions for slow play was for amateurs to adopt the concept of ‘ready golf’. Basically, this means that every player, in between shots, should get ready to play their next shot. This is a concept I adopted years ago and with some great success. However, from my experience of playing with other amateurs, I am not entirely sure all amateurs have the where-with-all to actually execute the ‘ready golf’.
Continue readingIt is Like Pulling Teeth on The Golf Course
There are times when I hit the course and find myself less than grateful. I am all psyched to be there, then suddenly our smooth comfortable pace comes to a screaming halt. We are behind a group who seems to not be aware of their surroundings and ignores that we are waiting on every shot. I feel like I am in a dentist chair! This situation happens often on my course because we are fast players and many are not. But, this is not the whole story!
Continue readingFinal Thoughts From The Masters 2019
What an amazing finish to four days of stellar golf. The leaderboard was a virtual whose who throughout the weekend and it was anyone’s game until the very end. I notice a few things that were different than in previous Majors that I thought were noteworthy; some might be a ‘ah-ha’ moment for you because they were for me.
Continue reading
The Grateful Golfer 