Playing 'Ready Golf' in a foursome

[aaagc]

Originally Posted by rulie

The Referee walking with each group does not do any timing - that is done by the Roving officials. It's done that way for consistency.

Which organisation's PoP CoC are you referring to?

[rulie]

Originally Posted by aaagc

Which organisation's PoP CoC are you referring to?

The Open Championship.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by shankuverymuch

The sad part of this whole discussion, is there should be no need to have to use the phrase "ready golf" when describing a round of golf.

It's GOLF !!!

Why in North America do we consider a 4 hour round some panacea that we should aspire to, when in most of the rest of the world, a 4 hour round is considered an unacceptable pace of play.

I'd love to see The PGA Tour, The R&A, etc start actually using the RoG and penalizing players for slow play. Unfortunately, John Q Golfer gets his education on golf and etiquette from watching TV golf, and if it takes Tiger and Phil 5 and a half to play, that's what he figures it should take him.


In most cases 4 hours is plenty of time to play your shots, give your putts a good look, and not have to rush at all.

- Start thinking about your next shot BEFORE you get to your ball.
- Leave your cell phone in your car or locker
- Finding the cart girl should not be the number 1 priority when you are on the course.
- When there is a water hazard or wooded area on a hole, it is NOT mandatory to go ball hawking for 10 minutes.
- It does not take a committee of 4 people to evaluate every shot.

Etc.,etc

I played a 4:15 round last week and found it very slow. We waited every hole on the foursome ahead (private course and they were good golfers).

The OP was the perfect example of a person who'd I hate to play with and vice versa as he is a stickler for etiquette and was perturbed on hole two when they did not play "in order". If a twosome are playing a match (and only match play, not stroke) I will respect that if they are playing at a good pace, but once they start playing every putt out and checking putts from 4 angles, pacing off shots..... I've had enough.

I can easily play well under 3 hours, which includes multiple shots, extra putts and chips all the while searching for partners lost shots and trolling by hazards for pro-V1's.......

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by aaagc

People forget that 40 years ago courses were significantly shorter and therefore took less walking time if nothing else. Many public courses require players to play in 4s. It's almost impossible to get 4 players round a 6800+ yard course in 4 hours.

More players are using buggies, so get up behind the group ahead sooner. Courses are more crowded and owners don't give enough spacing between tee times. These simply add to the feeling that the game is slow.

Completely disagree with the statement. Sorry 6800 yards and properly spaced holes 4 hours is no big deal when playing ready golf and not playing out your 8's and provisionals......

[stuckintheoffice]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Completely disagree with the statement. Sorry 6800 yards and properly spaced holes 4 hours is no big deal when playing ready golf and not playing out your 8's and provisionals......

Not holing out, regardless of score, is not golf. As for provisional balls, they save time compared to having to walk back to the tee. I'm sure the game you play can be completed easily under 3 hours without rushing, but to call that golf would be wrong.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by stuckintheoffice

Not holing out, regardless of score, is not golf. As for provisional balls, they save time compared to having to walk back to the tee. I'm sure the game you play can be completed easily under 3 hours without rushing, but to call that golf would be wrong.

Really I'm not playing golf? Boy you must be a joy to play with.... Whatever......

[Leftygolfer30]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Boy you must be a joy to play with.... Whatever......

The same might be said about you...

[stuckintheoffice]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Really I'm not playing golf? Boy you must be a joy to play with.... Whatever......

Yes, it's terrible to play with me, knowledge of the game, respect for the rules and traditions. Horrible stuff.

[SwingingSticks]

Originally Posted by Leftygolfer30

The same is confirmed about you...

fixed for ya

[ace in the hazard]

4 half decent golfers should have no issue getting around a 6800 yard course in 4 hours with no one in front of them.

[snowma888]

Make golf balls cheaper so weekend players don't spend 5 minutes looking for the ball...
Know your yardage. If you're 250y out and you're going for it, be realistic.

I find most times I'm waiting due to golfers searching for a ball or think they're Dustin Johnson on par 5s... Oh also guys who mark the ball when they are a few feet away... just finish off your putt.

[srixonlover]

Originally Posted by ace in the hazard

4 half decent golfers should have no issue getting around a 6800 yard course in 4 hours with no one in front of them.

they should be better then decent to be playing from 6800 yards from a good course unless decent means 7 handicap or better and they dont care much about scoring.

[petvan]

Originally Posted by snowma888

Make golf balls cheaper so weekend players don't spend 5 minutes looking for the ball...
Know your yardage. If you're 250y out and you're going for it, be realistic.

I find most times I'm waiting due to golfers searching for a ball or think they're Dustin Johnson on par 5s... Oh also guys who mark the ball when they are a few feet away... just finish off your putt.

Please do not rush people into hitting shots where they think the group ahead is in reach just because most of the time they aren't getting there. This is the players call. If they think a shot is dangerous, they shouldn't take it. Even if its only dangerous 10% of the time, its dangerous.

I'm all for playing fast, but lets not get anyone hurt.

Pete

[snowma888]

Originally Posted by petvan

Please do not rush people into hitting shots where they think the group ahead is in reach just because most of the time they aren't getting there. This is the players call. If they think a shot is dangerous, they shouldn't take it. Even if its only dangerous 10% of the time, its dangerous.

I'm all for playing fast, but lets not get anyone hurt.

Pete

Oh I'm not suggesting to hit up on the group or anything of the nature of unsafe play. All I'm saying is if the group ahead of you is well out range then why wait, you don't need to group to clear the green if they are out of your range.
I have friends that never hit their drive over 250 yards, 220 is their max. Why wait when the group ahead of you is 300y out.

[Toughpar3]

Originally Posted by buckhornification

My buddy and I were recently paired up with two strangers. I threw a tee in the air on the first tee to decide who hit first. On the second hole one of the strangers quickly teed his ball up despite having taken a higher score than my buddy so for clarification I said 'OK, good idea, let's play ready golf'.

This fella hit 50% of his shots and putts ahead of the golfers who were further from the hole. Does 'ready golf' include shots from the fairway and putting or was this guy just being a knob?

I'd say yes thats fair for 'ready golf'. or being Knob if the dude was hitting while others in the group are about to hit

[IXFe]

Originally Posted by buckhornification

My buddy and I were recently paired up with two strangers. I threw a tee in the air on the first tee to decide who hit first. On the second hole one of the strangers quickly teed his ball up despite having taken a higher score than my buddy so for clarification I said 'OK, good idea, let's play ready golf'.

This fella hit 50% of his shots and putts ahead of the golfers who were further from the hole. Does 'ready golf' include shots from the fairway and putting or was this guy just being a knob?

stop your itchin' and moanin' ... hit when ready and keep up the pace. that's what he was doing ... 'ready golf' means whoever is ready go ahead and play to keep the flow goin... i don't care if you birdied the last hole and i bogeyed it .. if you're sitting there at the cart on the cart path pontificating on what club to use and the whole in front is wide open .. i'm gonna step up and grip-n-rip, while you're still daydreamin.

Originally Posted by aaagc

'Ready Golf' originally meant simply being ready to hit when it was your turn.
Now, many courses in North America encourage players to believe it means play as soon as you are ready, regardless of whose turn it is.

ding-ding-ding!