To the OP, it's free golf, what do you expect? It brings EVERYONE out, no matter what level of player they are, from hack to scratch. As a solution for you, there are plenty of courses "outside the bubble" you can play. :boom:

If you can't afford to play the championship course:
play from the tips
carry a camera and take photos [that's what i do]
hit a second ball
play in the first morning group
go to the course while it's raining--and wait till it stops
walk more slowly
i'm thinking about listening to a book on tape---i can't remember the last time someone needed to yell fore
get to the course early and ask women if they need your help and advice to play more more quickly [let me know how that works out]

Since you feel passionately about slow golfers on Exec courses, have you thought about becoming an Ambassador?
Then you could hustle those pesky women along! :icon_wink:

The initial comment has only one inaccuracy as it berates certain ladies groups
The pace of golf is defined by using the ready golf procedure and applies to everyone
I find it frustrating following a group playing from black where their first shot seldom passes the front tee, and continuing until they putt out

Memory fails me sometimes but I took an intro to golf which included the ready golf system which included - after twice the number of shots v par you left the hole
you played when safe to do so and when you were ready, not always
in true golf order
most often a lost ball is in an area where you are best not advised to go -
either the bushes or lake
leave the green area before marking your card
I have seldom come across a handicapped golfer who causes delay and if there was just put up with it with a smile - one day we may be in that position ourselves

Hi everyone
Just coming down next week to buy a home and become a full time villager. Looking forward to maybe playing some golf with some of you. I too can get frustrated by.slow play but I have found in my 45 years of golf that the source can be from a variety of culprits. A couple areas of a golf course that seems to always slow down are the par 3's and short par 4's. This defines an executive course and would seem to be the genesis of the issue. Yes everyone should practice ready golf and be more aware of the issue but other than spreading out tee times it probably is what it it is. Hope to see you all soon

I find it very frustrating to be behind golfers on an executive course who take 12 shots on a par 3 or 4, holding up 4-6 carts of people because they say "I pay my amenity fees, I'll play as long as I want and take as many strokes as I want". The groups I play with have all taken the Good Golf School, pick up after double par and try to be considerate and respectful on the course. I sympathize with the Ambassadors as some have been fired when asking a group that is very slow to pick up the pace. BTW I am a woman, and a newbie golfer, the first thing I did when I came to The Villages was sign up for good golf school, a very valuable tool when golfing.

I just hate it when the group behind me starts looking impatient before I can tee off with my second ball! :gc:

Well, I am ready to duck, but to all the ones that say, "what's the hurry", etc.. It is not about hurry or anyone wanting to interfere with your "enjoyment"; it is more about everyone's enjoyment, not just a select few. Personally, slow play drives me nuts because I find that I play much better if it is not slow out there (not just here...any place). I also hate to have to feel rushed. It's not about how "fast" you can get out of there, either. I don't care if you can't hit every green (I can't either), but: 1) be ready when it is your turn, 2) write scores and put away clubs on the next hole and getting your club for that hole out and ready, 3) finish your conversation on the way to the next hole (you can talk while the cart is in motion, 4) pick up after double par, and the list goes on.

Bottom line: Be courteous of the other golfers because you are not the only one(s) on the course, and they pay their amenities just like you do and are just as "entitled" (hate that word) to play as you are and to enjoy their game.

And, yes, I am a woman golfer.

What is nice about the above is that it is applicable to either side of the discussion of pace of play.

Golf is a serial game, meaning your slow play impacts everyone playing behind you. If you play fast, no one behind you is adversely affected. Get with the program, or go sit in a rocking chair and watch the season change.

Or how about sunflower shells all over the green? YUCH!

Do not categorize all women players together. My wife went to play Bonifay last week as a single in the afternoon. We were waiting at the starter shack and 3 men pull up behind us. My wife asked if she could join them and their facial expressions were priceless (oh, no, we got to play with a woman?). After hemming and hawing for a few moments, they reluctantly said ok but only if she would play from the same tee as them. After her saying she would play from the blues if they wanted to, one said no, the whites are fine. At the end of 9, she had a 38 and the three men had 44, 47, and 52. They all decided they had other things to do after 9. It was really enjoyable watching that.

So you went along and watched your wife play golf with 3 men?

Heheh...that's what I was wondering.

When the round is extra slow how do you pass the time?


I coached hs golf. I'll teach you a side game the students use to play while waiting to tee off. In NJ group and state tournaments are over booked, there is a lot on the line and kids that are not seasoned golfers take extra practice swings. Anyway, the game was called knock-out. Using the club you are going to tee off with the first person starts at the left the marker and tries to hit the right tee marker. If they do next they try to hit the left tee marker and if they do they try to hit their opponents golf ball. If they miss, and everyone usually misses, the next player goes. All four players go in rotation and are trying are trying to knock out the other players after they first hit the 2 ball markers.

I learned this trick too if you get nervous waiting for your turn to hit. Toss the ball up a foot or 2 and catch it. Your instincts will focus on catching the ball and not on getting nervous.

Or you can just hope everyone in the villages plays faster golf because they read this thread.

Thanks for your insight:)
 

Thanks for your insight:bigbow:

I think we aught to change ready play to courteous play and all be reasonable instead of telling people to sit in a rocking chair-we will all be getting older and slower if we l ive long enough!

No need to change anything. They go hand-in-hand.

So true. You are such a fair person, Polar Bear.


And I am proud to brag that Dilly is my friend too.

My husband and I began playing golf less than a year ago, when we moved to TV. We took lessons, but we are still learning...We probably take a couple hours to play nine, shame on us! Not everyone is a pro like the person who started this thread. Plus, take in account the weather, heat and humidity, can slow down the best golfer! We have been known to let faster groups play thru if we felt we were holding them up. Most decline, are not in a hurry...We are retired, what's the rush? If you are in a hurry, maybe you should find a different sport to play...

This past Tuesday a friend and I played Bacall. The tee time system assigned another pair to the foursome. Both of these guys had to be in their mid-80's. They informed us that they would be playing from the green tees, and they did.

They probably averaged 6 shots per hole. After two holes one of them, Ed, suggested we might enjoy the game more if we didn't always try to make the green off the tee. I hit my next tee shot into a large trap and it me 2 shots and a hand ball to get out.

We thoroughly enjoyed playing with these guys. They stopped after 6 holes. The starter and ambassador knew them by name. I'd like to think I might enjoy the same status when I am their age and, hopefully, still playing.

The game should be fun and not just based on time or ability.

OK, you have given us the viewpoint of someone who has played the game for less than a year. The USGA, which is our governing body for golf in this country said that slow play "threatens the long-term health of the game".

And that is why you crossed the road.


This is so hard sometimes for beginners to understand. But I was taught as a beginner, and know from playing with many beginners, that beginners can keep the pace of play and not only enjoy the game but make it enjoyable for all on the course. I hope all folks new to the game take the beginning golf lessons offered. Then no one will growl at them under their breath for slowing down the course for the entire day.

I'm sure I played with the same guy (Ed) yesterday at Bacall. Yes, everyone there knew him. He plays 7 days a week. And by the way, he's 92+ years old.

:bigbow:

not in the villages---
Elsewhere working people with families will quit if they can't get 18 holes in 4+ a little hours.
When they retire and move down here they will pick it up again.

Hot damn. That must be the guy. How lucky are we to have played with him!!!

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