Championship courses and the Afternoon wave
 

I often get the 1st or second tee times for the afternoon wave, I find that after completing the first nine which often goes very quickly, The courses often fill in 2 to 3 foursomes in between the waves, from then on I find that the fill-ins play very slowly and it make the continuity of play very disruptive. we would normally finish around 4:00 pm and now we are lucky to finish near 5:00 pm.

This practice of adding in a couple of foursomes into the wave is very disruptive to the players trying to complete their rounds, stop closing off a course in the PM and put 9 hole players on that course

There's no in between waves. If you teed off at 11:56 at the beginning of the afternoon wave, they calculated that you would finish the front nine and go the back nine at about 2:00. The problem you're finding I've encountered twice in the past couple of months. You finished the front nine not at 2:00 but about 1:30 to 1:45 and they won't let you start the back nine until the last couple of teetimes get off. Teetimes have priority over crossovers. If you ask why, they'll say you've played too fast.

You are playing the first 9 too fast.

BINGO!!
I will never understand how and why people cannot understand this.

That’s true to explain the delays in the current system. Points to a flaw in the system though imho...there’s no such thing as playing too fast!! :)

The USGA is trying to speed up pace of play, they are changing the rule to improve POP
https://www.usga.org/content/usga/ho...e-of-play.html
The wave system is creative, but it hurts the game overall. The first few tee times of the day should be able to get 9 in in less than 2 hours.

You are correct, this happened to our group 2 out of 3 times. In 60 + years of golfing, I have never been told that I played too fast, people making the turn always go through, thats correct golf etiquette. It's all about extra money, since they say there are plently of players, even though at $64/round the CC are way overpriced. Solution, don't play the CC and play off campus where golfers are treated like customers should be, at half the price per round.

This was discussed just two days ago on the thread "Say Goodbye to the Wave at the Championship courses", I posted a solution that a few people agreed should be adopted, here it is again. Now we need to take this to management and have them put in use.

There would be no wave, those playing 18 holes would have teetimes all day every 8 minutes on Destin in my example below and all those playing 9 holes would have teetimes every 8 minutes on Ft. Walton. The current wave system does not promote faster play.

Totally agree. Another good reason to dedicate one 9 to those wishing to only play 9 holes and go with straight T times on the other 18 as mentioned in another thread earlier this week. Last week I played the 11:56 at Palmer, Laurel to Riley, and our foursome had to wait 25 minutes at the turn, and that was with a foursome that was not rushing the pace of play.

To the point of being treated well off campus, when was the last time you were consistently thanked for playing this course? Rarely or never in TV

Sorry, but this will NEVER happen, Christmas Day, the nine hole course is half full. The 18 hole course, one nine is not used for 2 hours. The speed of play is caused by everyone using their own carts. 27 courses here are designed for the wave system.

The 9 hole course would be less use when it's free, that's logical, but when you're paying $64 like now a lot of people would rather pay $32 and be happy with just 9 holes. Yes, the back nine would not get any play the first 2 hours, that's the way it is everywhere. By 10:00 AM the back nine would be in use all day.

There is a difference when making the turn on 18 hole stand alone courses and 27 hole complexes that use the wave for tee times. I agree those making the turn on 18 hole courses have priority since there should be no tee times on the second nine. But on all 27 hole complexes that use the wave for the tee times, the player with the tee time has the priority. I have played elsewhere that have three sets of nine; they used the wave system just like is done here.

Off campus is not always what it is built up to be. My wife and I decided to try the highly recommended Baseline golf course today. I called to make a t time and was informed the don’t take any, just show up. I told them I was uncomfortable with that as we didn’t want to show up and have a long wait. They assured me the wait is very short, 20 minutes maximum, so we took the risk and drove there. Upon arrival it didn’t look busy so we went into the pro shop and paid, after again asking if there would be a long wait, and were told just pull up to the starter on the first hole and he will get you right out. We paid, loaded up the cart (we hate not using our own cart) and went down the path to the first hole. Around the corner we went to see about 30 carts in line waiting to t off. I walked to the front to find the starter and asked approximately how long our wait would be. He very rudely said, don’t ask me I just work here, you will be able to tee off when your cart gets to the front of the line. Back to the cart I went, and we waited. After a few minutes we asked the group in front of us if they played here often and about how long they expected to wait. They said it was their first time at Baseline and they have been there fore 25 minutes and have not yet moved. I went to the pro shop and asked for a refund, which they reluctantly agreed to and we were out of there, having our days plans wasted. Lesson learned, never go anyplace off campus that does not take t times. We will never go back to that place, and wouldn’t even recommend it to our enemies.

Golfing in the bubble during high season is $$$$$, but we have never had a bad experience in the Villages like we had today at Baseline. Next time we will not worry about saving $50, and wind up wasting the better part of our day.

we play every week
 

we play Baseline every week and have never had that kind of experience. we get there around 8:00 am and longest wait we have had is about 20 minutes. Staff has always been very friendly. Great course and great price and we will continue to play there.

Everywhere I have ever played (except here) those making the turn have right of way

Could they have the wave system in the morning so they can cram as many golfers in as possible and in the afternoon go to straight 18 and one course for 9 hole only

True but flawed
 

The problem or should i say the challenge is how to maximize the 27 hole layout on most of the courses. If you only have 18 holes it is simple as you use #1 for 18 hole times and #10 for 9 hole rounds for two hours. After that everything is straight forward.
With 27 holes the Wave is the most efficient way to get the maximum number of golfers through in the course of the day. The hazard of the wave, as you previously stated, it is dependent upon a normal pace of play. Anything slower or faster brings out conflict.
The wave is to facilitate maximum number of players.

Absolutely
 

You are 1,000 percent correct!!!!!! That happens all the time. There were several occasions when we waited for a half hour. It makes no sense. Maybe someone can tell me why they close nine? Your just putting more wear and tear on the others. Just makes no sense. Kind of like the “winter” rates through MAY!!!!!!!!

Absolutely
 

I stated something similar. Great idea

The nine hole course is half full on Christmas Day because they can play 18 for FREE.

Sometimes our group has to wait 25 minutes to turn because they let people in who want to play the big course but only want to play nine holes. They usually are late arriving and have to get theirselves together . The starter will not let use go ahead of them. Sometime we could play three holes before they arrive. It’s awful. It’s been this way since I came 13 years ago

Wave play
 

The real problem is, they allow the slow players to take their time. They are most of the time only playing nine holes. If you watch them, they act like they are the only group on the course.

Baseline is far from reflective or typical of courses outside of TV. Recommend Eagle Ridge (36 holes); very competitive rates with carts. Baseline is the only course I now of that operates on a first come first serve basis. Nice executive course but it can be slow. I generally don't play it in high season.

Slow down and smell the roses!! :)

Not a golfer. :D

Correct
 

You are correct. There’s no such thing as playing too fast. However, when you do, you may have to wait on the back nine for people to tee off. I play every Sunday around 7:30 AM and we’re supposed to finish the front nine at 9:30, but we usually finish about 9:15, so we have to wait for the last two tee times on that nine, in the “wave”, to tee off.

Last time I checked it’s the score that you put down on the card not the time it took you to play.

You can tell that to the first group out all the time and they still don't get it.

There is no wave on Saturday or Sunday. Now through end of May, it’s straight tee times on weekends. You can play 9 or 18. Only weekdays have the wave. Before 8, you can play 9. After 1 you can play 9. This applies to weekdays only.

That is so wrong. THERE ARE waves on Saturday and Sunday mornings. YES, you can play nine on the weekends.

In the Course Etiquette section of The Rules Of Golf:

"In the "Pace of Play" section: "It is a group's responsibility to keep up with the group in front. If it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group."

"In the "Priority on the Course" section: "Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, priority on the course is determined by a group's pace of play. Any group playing a whole round is entitled to pass a group playing a shorter round. The term 'group' includes a single player."

TV courses are USGA approved courses, so why are they not following USGA guidelines ? I have never seen a rule by the TV Golf Committee that supersedes this.

"In the "Priority on the Course" section: "Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, priority on the course is determined by a group's pace of play."

The Starters and Ambassadors are "the Committee"

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/ho...y%20day%20play.
1A- General Play


"During general play, the structure of the Committee is often more informal than in competitions, and in many cases the responsibilities of the Committee will be delegated to or undertaken by one or more course representatives, such as the golf professional, course manager or other employee of the course. "

Welcome to The Villages.

That does nothing to solve the problem of no t times between 9:30 and noon.

I play off campus from Jan-March every year and the waves are part of the reason. I spoke with 2 of the Golf Course managers about the wait at the turn with the same results. "You play too fast", in reality they schedule the T-times to maximize the income with no gap in time allowed between the end of a wave and the golfers making the turn. Instead of planning for the first group of the day to play in 2 1/2 hours plan for 1 3/4 hours leaving a open period for "Fast Golfers" or as previously suggested designate one of the 3 nines to accept the people making the turn.

The "plan" is for the first groups to play in 2 hrs 8 min, NOT 2 1/2 hrs. (7:28 first tee time, 9:28 last). If you play faster, you WILL hit the wave. They do this to maximize tee times, especially in high season (and profit as well). Separate carts have added to the faster times as well. If you're first out just be aware that arrival at the back 9 quicker than 2:08 will probably result in a short wait. IMHO, that's better than getting stuck behind a group that takes 2:40 to play the front nine. (I'd rather wait 15 minutes at the turn than wait on EVERY shot all 18 holes)

When you have 27 holes, an efficient tee time system will fill 9 holes at a time, within all 3 nines crossing over to another nine. If you finish the first nine under the alotted time (2:08 hours), you will have to wait for the remaining tee times to go before you start the back nine.

I fully understand the system. And I really don’t have a major problem with it, especially at a 27 hole club. Doesn’t change the fact however that it can punish fast play. That part I’m not crazy about.

Oops, you are correct. I was thinking summer play