9 hole tee times on Championship courses
 

9 hole tee times on Championship courses should changed to after 2pm. Nine hole players would be able to play at least 9 holes before sunset and this would allow 18 hole players to keep up the pace of play. Comments????:undecided:

In season I was not aware that playing 9 holes is even an option.

Nine hole players now can not play until after 1:30 and are expected to keep up the pace of play. No need for any change

I don't think that will work. The first time for the PM wave is 11:56. That group will be making the turn about 2:00. It is not fair to make them, and all the groups behind them, wait while 9 hole groups tee off. And that will mean the group that had the last tee time in the PM wave has less chance of finishing in daylight.

Not sure of the point you are trying to make. Nine hole play is available anytime after 1:30 pm at this time of year.

Totally my point!!!!!

The golf industry has been trying to revive an interest in golf ergo the larger putting holes, ready golf philosophy, etc. Many championship courses around the country have been moving to allow 9 hole play.

I believe that they let 9 hole players out at 1:30-2:00 but not directly in front of the 11:56 wave. They do not want to hold up any players from the prior wave. If you were held up.... some one messed up, that is a main concern for the CC's

Yesterday at MH we had the 1156 tee time and at the turn there were 3 9 hole 4sums that we had to wait until they teed off before we could tee off on #10.

On the one par three we ended up with 2 of those 4sums in front of us waiting on the tee box. 4 hours 45 minutes play time is rediculous.

BTW all 8 of us are priority members.

That's just wrong. No way should you have to wait for them. What I think they should be able to do is to use any unbooked times in the PM wave and let those 9 hole groups take those slots. Yes, it means you would have to contact the course the day of play to see if there were any slots and you might have to call multiple courses, but at least you would get to play and finish before dark without holding up those who were playing a complete round. This time of year most courses are booked up with 18 hole rounds and they do/should have priority.

Regardless of 18 hole play or 9 hole play, pace of play needs to be enforced and most of the time it is not enforced. All it takes is one group to be allowed to drag along and the chain reaction kicks in.
BTW, some of us 9 hole players are priority as well.

Just wanted to chime in. I'm relatively new, will be a somewhat frequent 9-hole player, and have not really understood how it is handled.

Informative thread.

Many of the comments here are correct. During the afternoon wave from 11:56 to 1:56, if there are open tee times, they can be sold on the day of play to any group, regardless of whether that group is playing 9 or 18 holes. On a normal busy day, there should not be any times available to anyone in the afternoon until the last afternoon group makes their turn at around 4 pm.
One point I would like to make is this, the tee time system used everywhere by every golf course that I am aware of is based on 4 some play, with tee time and turn times set accordingly. If a group tees off at 11:56 am, their second 9 tee should be available @ approximately 2:05. If a group plays fast on their front 9 (and I am not suggesting that is the case in the previous post) and the tee times up to 1:56 are booked with golfers 9 holes or not, you just have to wait. And if an 11:56 group turns at 2 PM and there is more than one 4 some on the tee, that is the fault of the golf course.

Or slow groups on the nine they are going to.


Your comments precisely point out the reason ambassadors emphasize staying on time. One group can create a domino effect that diminishes the enjoyment of multiple groups behind them. I suspect they are especially concerned with slow play from the early groups in a wave.


One thing I've noticed is that, when following a slow group, the group I'm in tends to get into a slower rhythm. It's as if we slow down so we don't sit and wait as much on the tee or in the fairway. We tend to take our time from green to tee. It's hard to get them moving again. I wonder if the slow group in front looks back and doesn't see us waiting, so they don't make any effort to speed up, so the backup gets worse.


The time par is pretty generous. IMO, it should not be considered an ideal time, but a maximum time to complete a round.

9 hole tee times on Championship courses
 

Definitely.