How long does it take ?

To play 18 holes usually.

On Sundays, competition day, it takes 4 1/2 hours to play.

And we are usually a 2 ball.

Terrible really.

4 hours is what it SHOULD take to complete an 18 hole round for a 4some. MAXIMUM up to 5 hours is tollerable. This of course depends on the length of the course, the amount of hazzards and how many are on the course.

I think a 4 ball should take 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

What slows the play on our course is when a ball is lost there is never any waving thru anymore.

We have many courses here that even with power carts and no one in front of you it takes 4 1/2 - 5 hours to play because the course is long and the distance between hole is quite a distance.

Dream on boys!

I played 6 events on pro tours this year. 3 in Europe, 2 in America and 1 in Australia.

For a 2 or 3 ball - 5 hours is normal. The final rounds (I only made 2 cuts) can be longer!

The first 2 days of a tournament in England around a links course took 6 hours on the first day and 5 3/4 hours on the second. I shot 71, 74 and my marker shot 68,72 so we weren't playing ****e either!

It is rediculous I know ...

On average, your 'average' player on an 'average' course.
Your looking at 3 to 3.5 hours.

On a bigger course, your looking at about 4 hours.

My course in Central FL has a 4 hours average for 4 players.
Carts usualy start to turn around at about 11:00am.

I know this may seem a little controversial but does it matter how long your round lasts as long as your not held up or holding anyone up?

I suppose that I quite lucky at my course, 60% of our membership is over 60 this is due to the course being very long standing and difficult to join. I am told there is no waiting list "unless you have family there" then I think its about 3-5 years wait.
Therefore we don't have a lot of members playing at weekend as they all play in the week, we have a rule on comp days that 3 ball is max and they don't tee off until the group in front have left the 1st green and it's a par four.

We always take around 4 hours with no hold ups, everyone plays nice and steady with time to think.

I'm not a slow player but I do like time to think, everyone seems so hung up on getting it over with as soon as possible, Golf was invented as a social game to be enjoyed.

I think some courses are simply getting to commercial and this leads to allowing far to many players on at short tee off times this is what hold you up not the game of golf.


Ian.

To some extent your right.

Last thing in the courses quiet season, before the course becomes over run with outsiders, A superintendent will lower the rough by upto 1/4 - 1/2 inch.
This speeds play up, making balls easier to find and the rough easier to hit out of.
They also have a tendancy to keep the greens slower than is actualy possible, because Fast greens slow play.
FWays are usualy cut further back also, to speed play.

Private clubs are lucky enough to have a garunteed income to some extent, but public cources are reliant on making the most of their "busy" season.

I asked the owner of my course one day, how much we make during the year. He said that perhaps %75 of our courses income occures between Nov - May

Looing down #1 fairway in the morning you can usualy expect to see a groups on the tee, a group on the fairway and a group on the green.
This seems to work well, Especialy once they pass hole 2 while is a par 3. At that point there is a choke, and hole 3 which is kinda hard spaces everyone out more.

You are spot on Fraggle, doing all these things to the course to speed play up is a front, it's to generate more revenue.

What fun is golf when you are made to use a buggy like the US, the fairways are 100yds wide with no rough and slow greens, it's all geared around getting as many paying public on the course at one time.

I played an open competition this year and several groups complained that a guy in a buggy came up to them and told them to speed up because they had nearly dropped one hole back, fair enough you should try to keep up with the group in front, but get over it, it happens now and then when two or three slower players are drawn together or a couple of bad tee shots.

It maybe just me but I don't think I have ever seen anyone slower than a tour player, either weighing a shot up or putting. But they don't mess about between shots so why can't we play the same as them.




Ian.