Last Updated on May 23, 2024 by Britt Olizarowicz
Slow golf is just annoying. I’m a fast player, and if nine holes takes more than two hours, it really starts to ruin my golf game. I know I shouldn’t let that happen, but it’s tough to get into a routine, and then it gets slowed down by time-wasters. If you want to speed up your play or forward this one along to the slow golfer in your group, here are eight ways to ruin the pace of play during your next round of golf.
Unnecessary Golf Apps
There are a lot of golf apps out there.
Some are great for your game and can give you yardages to the pin and help you keep track of your score and stats. However, when they take you more than a few seconds to input the information, they are wasting everyone’s time.
The real problem is when you get bogged down in stats and information not necessarily important for the shot in front of you. A basic golf app giving you the yardage to the pin will actually speed up your round.
The problem is when you start looking at your average two-putt percentage on long par 4s while in the middle of playing a hole.
The bottom line is to be smart about the apps you use and when you use them.
Poor Golf Cart Parking
Never part the cart in a position where you’ll have to walk backward to go and get it. This makes it difficult for the group behind you to keep their round moving forward. Pick the spot close to the green but also in the general direction of the next tee.
You should also plan accordingly with the golfers in your group to ensure that the person closest to the cart path always takes the cart to the next location, and the other one walks a little.
If you hit a poor shot, run to the cart quickly and move it to where it should go; walking up and walking back to the cart slows things down.
Not Playing Ready Golf
I’m all for playing honors golf in a tournament situation.
Why?
It actually matters; there may even be some strategy involved.
However, when you are playing with your friends on a Saturday morning does it matter if you shoot 94 and they shoot 92.
Let’s face it even with a few dollars on the line it’s not going to matter if you made a bogey on the last hole and your friend who made a double goes first on the next tee box.
Keep the pace of play moving by playing ready golf.
More Than One Practice Swing
One practice swing will do it. If your pre-shot routine requires you to take 6-7 practice swings, it’s time to get a new one. Limit yourself to one or two practice swings at the most.
You’ll be less tired at the end of the round, and so will all the people in the foursome behind you.
You can’t really fix your golf game on the course. Feel what you need to feel in the practice swing and move on to hitting a great shot.
If It’s Lost, It’s Lost
If you always play the same golf course, you know which golf balls you will find and which ones are lost for good. Limit yourself to about three minutes to find the golf ball. If you can’t find it, take a drop and keep moving.
When you take 5 to 7 minutes to find the ball, it really affects your and everyone else’s games.
Again, if it’s 40 yards into the trees, just hit another ball. Sometimes, you won’t even want to find that first one!
Not Organizing Your Golf Bag
Golf bags now have many organizational features. It should only take a second to grab a tee, a ball marker, or your rangefinder out of your bag. In addition, many bags have individual club slots, so you never really have to look for a club, either.
Stay organized so that when it’s time to play your shot, you have everything you need to get it done. If you are a disheveled mess, you’ll take a few seconds longer each time and eventually end up with minutes of time wasted.
Chatting Too Much
In a four—to five-hour round of golf, there is a ton of time to talk. This time is in between shots. You only need a few seconds of quiet to execute the shot you have in front of you. Take those few seconds, get it done, and then move on with the conversation.
If you like to talk while on the course, start taking push carts.
You can talk with everyone in your group as you walk down the fairway instead of splitting in two and heading in different directions.
Overreading the Greens
Finally, the golfers who are stealing our time are those who spend too much time on the greens.
Granted, it can take a little while to know what a putt will do, but if you spend minutes reading, lining up, questioning, and thinking, it’s just too long.
Here’s the funny thing about green reading. Even if you do a perfect job of reading the green, you still have to execute the putt. Read the green, trust it, practice the stroke, and make it.
You don’t have to rush your putting stroke to play fast golf; you just need to be efficient and realize that standing over the putt for minutes on end will not increase your chances of making it.
Final Thoughts
These time wasters really ruin the pace of play. They make the golf course less fun for all involved. If you can do anything to speed up your pace of play and ensure that those behind you don’t have to deal with any of these hold-ups, you’ll make the game better!
