Quite a thread---I'm sure the National Organization for Women would have a field day with this one
I rarely play executive courses, but last time I did I was stuck behind a foursome of women----Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Paula Creamer, and Michelle Wie---yeah, they refused to pick up after 10 shots, played the wrong tee for their abilities, talked incessantly and kept fishing for golf balls. I was annoyed until I saw they were being held up by the foursome of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickleson and Dustin Johnson.
Point is that you will NOT see any of those players on executive golf courses. Who do you see?----beginners (of both genders), octogenarians and perhaps some with disabilities---none of whom are "slow" by definition. Others play to be with a spouse or friend, even if they are pretty decent golfers, which would not be a hold up either.
I agree the main problem is ATTITUDE, not gender. There is a small minority that feel "entitled", since they "paid" for free golf by virtue of living here. They are the same people who rope off seats at the squares, stand up to take photos at the Sharon, talk on their cell phones at the movies, etc. and therefore will spend 3 minutes lining up a putt for a 14 on an 89 yd par three. I think they are the forerunners of the "me" generation that I see increasingly prevalent everywhere else. Thankfully, there aren't very many in TV.
The rest of the slow play could easily be remedied by mandatory good golf school for repeat offenders, as long as the ambassadors are free to identify them.
As far as the "what's the hurry" crowd goes, as one poster put it, golf is a serial sport. Some may want to chit-chat for 3 hours on the course, but most do not. I wonder if they feel the same way about sided by side drivers on an interstate going 45 mph. There are 70 pages of weekly activities on the calendar at TV, many will be amenable to dawdling---but the golf course is not the place. And btw, I also hate when women golfers leave their cigar butts on the greens
|