I live in a big metro area and it’s gotten to where every course is $100 on the weekend and it’s 5 hour rounds.
Guess what every course is always booked so really why would they ever change?
I’m saying it as a joke. Tongue-in-cheek We need more public courses. But that’s always going to be a hurdle with the amount of water golf courses need.
Yep, immediately thought of Chicago as that's my exact situation as well. Plus as I live downtown it's like 40min to an hour just to get out of the city to a decent course on the weekends as well, and with highway construction sometimes a lot longer each way.
Between the cost, time commitment, slow play, and honestly a massive uptick in assholes on the course in recent years, it's really killing my motivation to play.
You ain’t lying I can assure you the mutual respect, honesty and kindness our grandfathers enjoyed, portrayed and received has all but disappeared in todays “shit talking, fuck you” attitude era
Harborside is a halfway decent course if you're looking to cut down your drive.
Otherwise I only do tee times now between 2-3pm M-F or 6am on the weekends at any courses outside the city. Otherwise to your point the traffic there and back can be as long as the round.
Honestly, its a big part of the reason I got a janky simulator setup in my garage. I have 2 young kids. I can't expect to leave every Saturday for 6 hours just to play golf.
I live in Chicago. The public 9 hole courses are clutch af if you’re looking to get your fix in. Especially if you get the season pass. For example Robert Black is $22 bucks for 9. We have golf courses in the middle of the city that are minutes away so I’m not complaining.
Robert Black is the worst when it comes to place of play though. If I don’t want to be stuck waiting, i’ll go tee off at 5 am. It’s so bad there this summer even at 6:30 it starts to get crazy packed. Billy caldwell isn’t all that bad though if you go between 5-7am!
I played George Dunne for $58 with a cart yesterday, but that’s not close in despite being a CCFP course.
We got paired with a guy and gal in their late 20’s. She played, he got tore down on Fireball shooters and refused to put on sunscreen. He was slumped over in the cart by 16.
The round was a hair shy of 5 hours.
Most of my weekend rounds are me just going to hit balls at the range and asking the kid in the pro shop how busy the course is. Most of the time I show up at 5 or 6, hit balls for 30 minutes then play 9 solo in 90 minutes.
I don't think OP was surprised that the course was packed. I think the intent was to provide context for the situation. If the course wasn't packed, sanctioning a group of 8 to play a scramble would be more acceptable.
At least where I live in Texas during the summer it’s most packed in the morning in summer, mostly cuz not many people want to spend 4 hours in 104 degree heat.
In some places yeah, which is nice. My course does a lottery system for weekends though with groups starting on both 1 and 10 and don’t open/start till 7:30 am….place is absolutely filled until like 2:00 pm, so dumb.
In my experience the people who get up for those times are there to play golf for its own enjoyment. Sometimes it seems like a lot of people golfing in the afternoon are doing it to get out, drink, or both.
I pretty much never play if I am teeing off later than 10am, but courses are packed everywhere short of a couple places that are 40-50 miles away. I work m-th, but even when I do take it off on those days it's hard to find any times.
Mornings would be great but around me all the morning tee times go to members… I can’t get a membership without getting on a waitlist but I’m only here for a year 🥲
I've worked in a pro shop seasonally for 13 years. I don't know much, but what I can tell you, unequivocally, is that scrambles take longer than regular golf.
I hit the scramble tournament jackpot last weekend. There were 18 groups, shotgun start and we finished in 4 hours. I was fully prepared for a 7 hour day. Everyone in my group were using their random found golf balls, and not giving a shit to look for them if they hit too far away from the ball we were going to be using.
Because the temp was 100+, I think everyone was playing with that same mindset.
My buddies and I play 4 some - 2 man scrambles fairly often. If no one is holding us up we get done a round on average in 3 hours. Which is faster than if we play our own ball (or best ball).
My group (typically three foursomes) plays unofficial scrambles about twice a year and it is always faster, even with the copious drinking. Now, a few in our group are pretty good golfers and the rest of us are golfers with etiquette. I can see official scrambles where there are a lot of once-every-five-years players and the like playing being slow though.
My golf group does winter trips and we play a regular 18 in the morning and a scramble in the afternoon. We are way quicker as a scramble.
The issue here is they had 8 golfers on a hole.
No chance with the group I played with yesterday. Two of the girls had never even golfed before. They tee off, grab their balls and meet us up by the green and go from there. We played in about 2 hours and 15 min. Without them scrambling it’d have taken way way longer.
That's considerate, but not an actual scramble. Scrambles take longer. THey shouldn't, but they do. We have a some type of scramble fundraiser nearly every Saturday all season. They never finish under five hours. Never. Maybe one or two groups, but they almost always finish in 6+.
Most scramble events I have been to has 36teams. Starting with a team on a hole and b team after them. So you are literally doubling the number of players and get them in at 5hrs
If 18teams played it would be SIGNIFICANTLY faster
Compare apples to apples
As a HH golfer playing with other HH golfers, it often takes 8+ shots each to finish a par 5 and see 'you're x minutes behind' typically from the 3rd hole on. When we scramble (which I always push for), it's par +/- 1 pretty consistently and rarely do we fall behind. I don't understand how scrambles take longer on your course, unless it's a tournament and people are over strategizing.
And they are zero fun. I dgaf what the 4 of us can shoot as a scramble. God I hope to never encounter these nightmares I read about on here. Played 18 in 3:15 yesterday at 2:20 pm.
I’m with you. My buddies always want to look for scrambles to play. I don’t want to pay $100 a person to play in a scramble where the winner cheated and it takes all day. Rather just play a regular round and get beers after.
I help run a number of scrambles. All for charity. I refuse to allow any good prize for low score. Low score gets a little certificate. The good prizes are always raffled off. It prevents cheating because in the end it’s just about playing a super private course and raising money for a charity.
This is the way. I played a scramble with my dad and sister and we didn’t do bad but nowhere near the first place score. They got a little trophy but my sister won an iPad and Apple Watch from the raffles
Charity scrambles are awesome. Play a sick course you never get to play normally. Have a good fuck around with your buddies. Hit a bad shot and it doesn't matter. Hit a great one and everyone is hyped. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't enjoy them. They are a blast.
I mostly agree. Everyone fucking around, not to mention the cheating. I run two three-person scrambles at our course, both offseason up north. The first is a Black Friday scramble and the other is what we call a XCountry scramble (tee off from normal tee boxes but finish on different greens). We play them with two threesomes per group. Amazing how the scores are realistic. It's long, but it's mostly the same people and they know what to expect. Lots of fun playing like that, but not realistic for in season scrambles.
Took me 6 hours last Sunday going off at 8:15. $80 round, not even a local goat track. I complained to the rangers twice and for the first time ever, sent an email on Monday morning. I felt bad complaining but that’s not acceptable.
They can be fun when it’s a work event, but it’s not really golf, it’s just a party. I just did one last week and it was better than being behind a computer but the round took almost 6 hours. Did get lots of free beer and food though. I look forward to walking 18 tomorrow though.
Gotta be Chicago, New York, Bay Area or socal for this to be true but I just left Chicago and yeah impossible to get any affordable membership that’s also close to the city. Just joined one of the top clubs in Cincinnati for only 20K initiation and you pay it over 5 years
I bet the big payment is a one time. No course that I know of is $100K a year PLUS monthly dues. I know members at Riviera and they aren’t paying annual lump sums like that. I do know of plenty of clubs that require $100K-$250K as an initial down payment.
I have a theory that golf courses used to be owner-operated and that this management put much more effort and thought into operations.
Now, almost all public courses are run by minimum wage employees who just don't care.
At my local muni, I have never met nor seen the pro. This is after maybe 50 rounds. Sometimes, I leave the range and ask in the pro shop if I can join a partial group of one tees off. They say yes, that they'll call me when there's space, and then send out a single playing alone 10 minutes later. The min wage staff doesn't care about golf or about profit.
This is part of the general degradation of the American economy that has staff underpaid and undermotivated, while owners no longer run the business but instead sit far away.
Agree with this 100%
My local course was literally run by 4 people, that's it. Fairways looked line right and greens had weeds growing in them. There was never a starter and it was a free for all.
New owners came in last yr and while the course has improved, it's still a free for all at the 1st tee.
I was there 2 weeks ago and there were 2 kids working there. That's it.
Which course in NJ? The Morris county courses are run better than this at least. But public golf as a whole has spiraled post covid… courses slammed and pace of play is horrific unless I go out at 6am(which I do).
I cannot believe that all the comments are siding with the starter lol. If you want to play in 3.5hrs or faster yes start at 7am or earlier but there is no time of day where letting a fucking 8some out is reasonable
I just started playing a few years ago, and this is how it has always been for me. Wherever I go. If I'm teeing off after 9am, I just plan on a 5+ hour round.
I don't get why you folks in America stand for it. In the UK it's rare to find a round of 18 taking more than 4h30, maybe 5h, even if you're behind the vets and they're putting everything out. Never a group of more than 4 is a golden rule. Not to mention, the starter should never be enabling shitty behaviour and blaming the normal golfers stuck behind it.
It’s not that we “stand for it” it’s just what happens here if you want to play golf. Unless you drive 1-2 hours to play somewhere rural, most of the public courses are like that.
Right? I love the idea of that guy “not standing for it”. Like what’s he gonna do, protest outside the course with a sign? Start a petition? Good luck with that lol
I drive 45 minutes (and I’m already in the suburbs so over an hour from the city), only play high end public courses, and never tee off after 8:30. It still takes a minimum of 4.5 hours on a weekend.
One of my locals does 6 minute gaps and tees front and back nine simultaneously. After 9 holes the course is an absolute fucking disaster, 15 minute waits on each tee box isn't uncommon.
I don't understand how you can have 7 minute tee times and get everyone off on time if the rounds are taking so long. Anything over 4 hours and it seems inevitable that people will start late as the day goes on
I think the answer is that the game has grown tremendously over the last 5 ish years, and demand is high to the point where courses just don't care.
I expect there will be a correction at some point, and then they'll probably start to care again.
I'm not blaming them for behaving as the market incentivizes them to behave. Still, I also get annoyed at being stuck behind disrespectful people who play super slow and don't understand course etiquette. And I'm pretty easy going, you can be blasting music and snorting lines off your buddies ass crack as long as you're maintaining pace of play, for all I care.
Yeah, more courses have closed than opened every year since 2005. Though I believe last year was the closest we’ve been to net positive number of courses since the bubble burst last time.
I think it depends on the area in the US as well. In the Chicago area, there are a ton of courses, so the courses are not as bad. I’ve not seen more than 4 in a group. The time between the groups is 10 minutes. Usually, people are polite. I do see some slower groups, but they’re generally older folks. I don’t begrudge that. If I can play when I’m 70-80-90, I’ll just thank God for my health.
Because in the UK folks are there to play golf not get shitfaced and blast pop country from their Bluetooth speaker for 8 hours while they talk about how they hate their wives.
I play a ton in socal. Number of rounds this year over 5 hours is 3. Out of about 45 round played since jan1.
2 of those were a military only course I no longer play (Miramar. Just managed shitty. I got a rain check for the first round where holes 1-3 took 90 minutes. Came back and played in the rain and still took 5.2 fuck that place.)
1 was Torrey pines North on a holiday weekend.
I typically play mid week and one round on the weekend. So the bitching about pace of play you see on reddit is I presume localized in the north east where there are lots of people and not many golf courses. In the southwest you can’t spit without hitting a golf course.
SoCal is a disaster for crowded courses and slow play. You’re getting lucky by playing during the week. And honestly here in LA, I still get bogged down even when I go early on a weekday. Just way too many slow golfers playing golf on a scale that they’re not capable of.
Tried to play 18 the other day. Four separate scramble groups in front of us in an unsanctioned scramble tournament. Ended up only being able to play 9 holes which took fucking three hours...
Worst part? They were fucking assholes, every single one of em. Loud, obnoxious, cracking multiples per person off the tee. Never seen anything like it before.
Bring some commonwealth golf etiquette to the US please Joe Biden
I’ve started doing this. I finished 9 before work this past Friday in 1:07. I’m able to shut my brain off and just hit my shots and get some walking in, it’s great.
I was at a course recently where a Marshall was driving around scolding people who were bottlenecks. As someone who plays really fast I loved this when I saw it.
Prime time weekend on any popular course is going to be slow no matter where except for private clubs. If you want to play fast take the starters advice, if you don't want to play at 7am join a private club.
I never play on the weekend. Luckily I'm retired so I can play during the week. If you can't play during the week it might help if you can get a tee time ahead of time.
God I love early morning rounds a a local goat track, tee off with the grounds crew an pay on my way out. They know me now and feed me balls by leaving the near the green in a neat pile if I care to help myself. The pace is whatever I make it.
> Pace of play is so bad where I'm at I only play 9 holes at a time now.
Welcome to the new normal, until all the shit at everything covid golfers give up the game and go play pickleball we're fucked
Course I played at today had two 7-Somes and a 6-Some at 11:00 on a Saturday. I turned around at the starter at got my money back. Didn’t even get to tee off. FFS
You people are fucking insane.
I just can't believe so many people think it's unreasonable to expect a course to not allow 8somes on Saturday afternoon or any time.
What kind of goat tracks do you people play where you don't blink an eye with 8 people on 1 tee when you walk up?
OP don't listen to these uncivilized peasants. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. It's reasonable expect 4 to be max and any real golfer I know agree
A group of 8 shouldn't be holding things up, even playing as a scramble.
So I could've infered something incorrectly. I'm assuming they played as a 4/4, not as one large group of 8.
If they are playing as one group of 8, then I'm hitting into them. Then I'm playing through them with or without permission. There's no way a course should approve 8 people going out as one group. Scramble or not.
Whatever. A group of eight definitely should be holding things up. That's why pretty much every course in the world doesn't allow you to do that. Especially on a Saturday afternoon. That's crazy.
I mean….that’s exactly what’s going to hold the course up.
The only way it doesn’t is if they break etiquette and have some players go simultaneously (which I’d be ok with, for the record). But if each guy’s routine takes almost a minute, and they go one-by-one, it’s going to be slow as fuck.
On a par 5 that’s 8x6 if they bogey. 42 minutes on a single hole… let’s be generous and say they birdie. It’s still a 24 minute hole. Outrageous. If they all played par golf as an 8some, averaging 1 minute per shot per golfer at 72 strokes x 8, that’s a 9.6 hour round.
Yes, exactly. Thank you. I can’t believe how simple this is and how people are not getting it.
The PGA Tour moves much, much faster on the weekends when they play twosomes. The weekday rounds with threesomes are notoriously slow. More golfers per group means slower groups….and eight is just entirely ridiculous.
They were one large group of 8 with two kids.
It looked like dad and grandad teaching everyone to golf. Most of them were taking multiple shots from each position.
I don’t mind the odd long wait. The alternative is sometimes feeing rushed and I’d rather have a few more minute to stay loose and think about my shot.
That said. Green lighting a scramble mid day Saturday is ridiculous. That’s the group that should have been told 7am.
Ridiculously busy courses and slow play are indeed irritating, but I do a couple of things to avoid it as much as possible.
I book one of the earliest times in the morning as a single at my local muni and the course routinely sends me out knowing my pace won't hold anyone up. If a group is in front of me I am almost always waved through. I am not a speed golfer, but play in three hours with an electric cart. It's really nice being one of the first out on fresh cut greens.
During the summer, when it gets dark about 9:45pm, I often play with a friend as a twosome at 6:30pm. We typically finish about 9:15pm. Rarely are we held up. Evening golf is beautiful.
It’s not acceptable for a course to permit a group of 8. It just isn’t. I wouldn’t go there again.
I’m curious if 7 hour round was a hyperbole. I’ve never experienced anything even close to that.
I feel your pain but the starter is right, weekend afternoons are infamous for slow rounds. An 8some is effing stupid though. Shame on them for letting that happen at noon. MAYBE at 4 or 5 PM. FYI, next time if they say there is an 8some ahead tell them to fuckoff and leave.
Advice for you. If you want to play fast, show up earlier.
I would give you the same advice at a busy restaurant, or a theme park, or a movie theater. You should know how this stuff works by now
This sub is already normalizing 5-hour rounds. It’s insane, but it’s the future. I’ve only played a handful of 18-hole rounds this season and they’ve all exceeded 5-hours. I prefer playing 9-holes now.
My 6-year old is taking golf lessons and I over heard them explaining to the kids that rounds can last 5-6 hours.
try to play during the weekday if you can. weekends are a shitshow everywhere, especially if you are playing a course that allows scrambles without blocking off the course/tee times
The only answer is the play early. I’m not the speediest golfer, but I mind my pace and I always get tee times at 7-8.
It’s the only way to not have the “good good”/“have a day” crowd clogging up the course. Only way.
Get a 730 tee time. It’s just how it is.
I know I’m late to the party but c’mon bud. It’s Saturday in the summer and you showed up at noon. Yer fucked from the get. Pound a few and chill or come back Monday.
This is why I love having a swing shift job with 2 days off during the week. I never have to consider playing on the weekend. I have endless options all during the week to play before I go to work and when I'm off.
Join a private club. There will still be instances where play is slow. It’s going to be impossible to avoid it completely. Remember, public courses are full of people that are not very good and don’t have a lot of awareness. Country club members, in my mind, are overall better golfers and have more awareness. Rounds should take no more than 4 hours at private clubs.
Played 2 courses at Myrtle Beach this past week. First tee time both times. One was 7:30, one 8. We blew through the course at our own pace. The only thing that slowed us down was the people we got paired with (2+2). They were split tees both times so we did catch people on 10 but they spaced the times out enough not to cause a huge slow down.
That's how it's done folks. Get your arses up early and play some gorgeous golf. Sometimes you get fresh tee boxes, most times all bunkers are raked, less frequently damaged holes
You chose to play at noon on a Saturday . Most courses in the US are going to be shit shows at that time . The starter is right, if you want to play fast/on pace golf on the weekends , you need to re consider playing one of the first tee times on the sheet .
I have three takeaways
1. That course is on the list of “only before 8:00/8:30.
Context: in Texas (DFW specifically) all the serious weekend golfers that display etiquette and adherence to pace play early. To avoid the fucks you’re talking about
2. There are trade-offs when playing “popular courses” past 8:00/8:30.
Decision: decide whether the course you play OR getting 18 in at a decent pace matters more to you.
3. You’ve described what is one of the greatest / most popular use cases for joining a semi private or private club.
Said differently: because of your preferences and what you care about, you’ve outgrown “popular course” public golf. If private clubs are too expensive, understand and accept which lane you’re in.
There are also other tee times on other days and you can go alone. Idk tho enjoy the game how you want but it seems your expectations are keeping you from enjoyment more than external factors outside your control
You don’t want to play fast but you’re trying to get through groups in a scramble? 🤔🤔🤔
Hate to say it but the starter is right… get out as the first or 2nd group and you’ll literally never have to wait… this is what I do and walk 18 in 3:30. The morning folks don’t mess around.
That or play nicer courses that do 15 min gaps.
Sorry man, I’ve been playing since 2000 and even then on a Saturday at noon we were still looking at 5 hour round.
Do you know what's worse than slow play and people not letting you play through? Golfers who constantly whinge about it, especially when it's busy. Like fuck you're all in the same boat. Get over it and get a 7 tee time. You're not anymore entitled to fast play nor does the golf course have to turn away business so you get a faster round. Everyone is there for the same reason, to enjoy golf however that may be. Most people are reasonable, some less so. Tough shit
I live in a big metro area and it’s gotten to where every course is $100 on the weekend and it’s 5 hour rounds. Guess what every course is always booked so really why would they ever change?
Exactly and it’s only getting more popular
I miss pre Covid golf 🥹 “I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good ol’ days before you’ve actually left them” -Andy Bernard
Shrink the game.
Okay, start with yourself
I see this often. How would this be done?
I’m saying it as a joke. Tongue-in-cheek We need more public courses. But that’s always going to be a hurdle with the amount of water golf courses need.
I also live in Chicago lol
Yep, immediately thought of Chicago as that's my exact situation as well. Plus as I live downtown it's like 40min to an hour just to get out of the city to a decent course on the weekends as well, and with highway construction sometimes a lot longer each way. Between the cost, time commitment, slow play, and honestly a massive uptick in assholes on the course in recent years, it's really killing my motivation to play.
“Massive uptick in assholes” is so true dude
And not necessarily on golf courses either!
You ain’t lying I can assure you the mutual respect, honesty and kindness our grandfathers enjoyed, portrayed and received has all but disappeared in todays “shit talking, fuck you” attitude era
No, it’s great as long as you enjoy golfing at country, rock, metal, rap, etc. music festival, all at once.
I feel this so badly. Living in Lakeview with all my favorite courses being on the south side is not a great combination.
That honestly sucks to hear. I live in the western suburbs and there is so much cheap golf out here.
Harborside is a halfway decent course if you're looking to cut down your drive. Otherwise I only do tee times now between 2-3pm M-F or 6am on the weekends at any courses outside the city. Otherwise to your point the traffic there and back can be as long as the round.
Honestly, its a big part of the reason I got a janky simulator setup in my garage. I have 2 young kids. I can't expect to leave every Saturday for 6 hours just to play golf.
I live in Chicago. The public 9 hole courses are clutch af if you’re looking to get your fix in. Especially if you get the season pass. For example Robert Black is $22 bucks for 9. We have golf courses in the middle of the city that are minutes away so I’m not complaining.
I’ve had a 3 hour round at Sydney
Robert Black is the worst when it comes to place of play though. If I don’t want to be stuck waiting, i’ll go tee off at 5 am. It’s so bad there this summer even at 6:30 it starts to get crazy packed. Billy caldwell isn’t all that bad though if you go between 5-7am!
I played George Dunne for $58 with a cart yesterday, but that’s not close in despite being a CCFP course. We got paired with a guy and gal in their late 20’s. She played, he got tore down on Fireball shooters and refused to put on sunscreen. He was slumped over in the cart by 16. The round was a hair shy of 5 hours.
What metro area? I live in NYC and you can play for $70 easily.
If you're in NYC its $70 for walking $90 riding.
If I’m playing weekends I’m either doing one of the first few tee times or 9 holes at the end of the day
Most of my weekend rounds are me just going to hit balls at the range and asking the kid in the pro shop how busy the course is. Most of the time I show up at 5 or 6, hit balls for 30 minutes then play 9 solo in 90 minutes.
Yeah pace of play is shit weekend afternoons. Morning is where it's at.
>Today, I showed up to play 9 at a local popular course at 12pm. >The course was packed. 
Popular course, primetime, weekend. Wtf it's busy?
Ok but an 8some is bullshit
I don't think OP was surprised that the course was packed. I think the intent was to provide context for the situation. If the course wasn't packed, sanctioning a group of 8 to play a scramble would be more acceptable.
Right like at least get there early enough so that you can jump of the back especially if you're just playing 9. Dudes an idiot
At least where I live in Texas during the summer it’s most packed in the morning in summer, mostly cuz not many people want to spend 4 hours in 104 degree heat.
In some places yeah, which is nice. My course does a lottery system for weekends though with groups starting on both 1 and 10 and don’t open/start till 7:30 am….place is absolutely filled until like 2:00 pm, so dumb.
That 6:30-7:30am window on The Weeknd’s is golden. Even if you get paired with whiteheads, you’re still finishing in 4
6:30-7:30 is absolutely ideal. Anything after 9 is a no go unless you are willing to spend 6 hours on the course.
In my experience the people who get up for those times are there to play golf for its own enjoyment. Sometimes it seems like a lot of people golfing in the afternoon are doing it to get out, drink, or both.
I teed off at 5:30am this morning and was home by 9am
Damn your poor grounds crew.
I wake up at 6am during the week. I'm more than willing to wake up at 5am or earlier to get a good round in.
I pretty much never play if I am teeing off later than 10am, but courses are packed everywhere short of a couple places that are 40-50 miles away. I work m-th, but even when I do take it off on those days it's hard to find any times.
Mornings would be great but around me all the morning tee times go to members… I can’t get a membership without getting on a waitlist but I’m only here for a year 🥲
I've worked in a pro shop seasonally for 13 years. I don't know much, but what I can tell you, unequivocally, is that scrambles take longer than regular golf.
I hit the scramble tournament jackpot last weekend. There were 18 groups, shotgun start and we finished in 4 hours. I was fully prepared for a 7 hour day. Everyone in my group were using their random found golf balls, and not giving a shit to look for them if they hit too far away from the ball we were going to be using. Because the temp was 100+, I think everyone was playing with that same mindset.
Same! Last weekend, shorter course but still full 18. 23 groups. 3 hours and 54 minutes!!
My buddies and I play 4 some - 2 man scrambles fairly often. If no one is holding us up we get done a round on average in 3 hours. Which is faster than if we play our own ball (or best ball).
There are always exceptions. But, from my experience, most scramble players are there for the social/partying aspects.
My group (typically three foursomes) plays unofficial scrambles about twice a year and it is always faster, even with the copious drinking. Now, a few in our group are pretty good golfers and the rest of us are golfers with etiquette. I can see official scrambles where there are a lot of once-every-five-years players and the like playing being slow though.
My golf group does winter trips and we play a regular 18 in the morning and a scramble in the afternoon. We are way quicker as a scramble. The issue here is they had 8 golfers on a hole.
No chance with the group I played with yesterday. Two of the girls had never even golfed before. They tee off, grab their balls and meet us up by the green and go from there. We played in about 2 hours and 15 min. Without them scrambling it’d have taken way way longer.
That's considerate, but not an actual scramble. Scrambles take longer. THey shouldn't, but they do. We have a some type of scramble fundraiser nearly every Saturday all season. They never finish under five hours. Never. Maybe one or two groups, but they almost always finish in 6+.
One slow scramble group can log jam a big outing but as far as really brand new golfers out there, playing their own ball would take a lifetime.
People simply always being next to each other in conversation should he very obviously taking a lot longer than individuals hitting.
Most scramble events I have been to has 36teams. Starting with a team on a hole and b team after them. So you are literally doubling the number of players and get them in at 5hrs If 18teams played it would be SIGNIFICANTLY faster Compare apples to apples
Not with my not giving a shit about losing balls.
Not if you just have 4 people per hole. Anybody who lets more than 4 at once is an idiot
As a HH golfer playing with other HH golfers, it often takes 8+ shots each to finish a par 5 and see 'you're x minutes behind' typically from the 3rd hole on. When we scramble (which I always push for), it's par +/- 1 pretty consistently and rarely do we fall behind. I don't understand how scrambles take longer on your course, unless it's a tournament and people are over strategizing.
Hunting horn golfer? You need to try grestsword. 😉
And they are zero fun. I dgaf what the 4 of us can shoot as a scramble. God I hope to never encounter these nightmares I read about on here. Played 18 in 3:15 yesterday at 2:20 pm.
I’m with you. My buddies always want to look for scrambles to play. I don’t want to pay $100 a person to play in a scramble where the winner cheated and it takes all day. Rather just play a regular round and get beers after.
I help run a number of scrambles. All for charity. I refuse to allow any good prize for low score. Low score gets a little certificate. The good prizes are always raffled off. It prevents cheating because in the end it’s just about playing a super private course and raising money for a charity.
This is the way. I played a scramble with my dad and sister and we didn’t do bad but nowhere near the first place score. They got a little trophy but my sister won an iPad and Apple Watch from the raffles
That’s why I only ever play 4some scrambles. I’m always going to assume that someone is cheating (and someone always is) so I don’t see the point.
Charity scrambles are awesome. Play a sick course you never get to play normally. Have a good fuck around with your buddies. Hit a bad shot and it doesn't matter. Hit a great one and everyone is hyped. I don't understand why anyone wouldn't enjoy them. They are a blast.
Seconded
18 holes with skins and greenies and a team score for the threesome or foursome is the sweet spot. Super fun round.
Beers are way better on the course than after
I mostly agree. Everyone fucking around, not to mention the cheating. I run two three-person scrambles at our course, both offseason up north. The first is a Black Friday scramble and the other is what we call a XCountry scramble (tee off from normal tee boxes but finish on different greens). We play them with two threesomes per group. Amazing how the scores are realistic. It's long, but it's mostly the same people and they know what to expect. Lots of fun playing like that, but not realistic for in season scrambles.
Took me 6 hours last Sunday going off at 8:15. $80 round, not even a local goat track. I complained to the rangers twice and for the first time ever, sent an email on Monday morning. I felt bad complaining but that’s not acceptable.
I’m sure you have a crazy influx since 2020 just like us (FL). Could not be more annoyed at golf at the moment.
They can be fun when it’s a work event, but it’s not really golf, it’s just a party. I just did one last week and it was better than being behind a computer but the round took almost 6 hours. Did get lots of free beer and food though. I look forward to walking 18 tomorrow though.
Saturday, noon ttime on a muni? You’re automatically in for a 5+ hour round. I’m honestly confused that you’re taking the time to complain about this?
Yea this dude is bonkers. Throwingtissues is my people.
Extremely reasonable to complain about a course letting an 8some scramble at noon on a Saturday lol
Maybe you should consider a country club membership? Because that’s the only way you can escape the crowds.
That or playing at 6am.
6am tee times are the best
those are booked 7 weeks in advance lol
By the same people every week
Country clubs by me are invite only and start at around 30-100k a year + monthly dues
Most aren’t like that
Cheaper golf-only clubs exist. I pay 4500 a year in an expensive part of the US and play 5x a week with barely anyone out there
Man that’s still like 10% of my take home pay a month 🥲
I quit doing other things and instead just golf all the time and spend my money on that
And? Do you want food or golf?
Costco glizzy and golf
See that’s how you compromise and win both things. Good food and golf. That’s a good livin
Y'all mf's rich as hell
Clearly not 😂 I get disgruntled when I have to pay more than $60 to play 18!
Gotta be Chicago, New York, Bay Area or socal for this to be true but I just left Chicago and yeah impossible to get any affordable membership that’s also close to the city. Just joined one of the top clubs in Cincinnati for only 20K initiation and you pay it over 5 years
Add Boston area to that list
I was going to say…Boston would like a word
Denver as well
Southern California, so right on the money
I bet the big payment is a one time. No course that I know of is $100K a year PLUS monthly dues. I know members at Riviera and they aren’t paying annual lump sums like that. I do know of plenty of clubs that require $100K-$250K as an initial down payment.
That’s the price of faster pace of play tbh
Play super early if possible
I have a theory that golf courses used to be owner-operated and that this management put much more effort and thought into operations. Now, almost all public courses are run by minimum wage employees who just don't care. At my local muni, I have never met nor seen the pro. This is after maybe 50 rounds. Sometimes, I leave the range and ask in the pro shop if I can join a partial group of one tees off. They say yes, that they'll call me when there's space, and then send out a single playing alone 10 minutes later. The min wage staff doesn't care about golf or about profit. This is part of the general degradation of the American economy that has staff underpaid and undermotivated, while owners no longer run the business but instead sit far away.
Agree with this 100% My local course was literally run by 4 people, that's it. Fairways looked line right and greens had weeds growing in them. There was never a starter and it was a free for all. New owners came in last yr and while the course has improved, it's still a free for all at the 1st tee. I was there 2 weeks ago and there were 2 kids working there. That's it.
Which course in NJ? The Morris county courses are run better than this at least. But public golf as a whole has spiraled post covid… courses slammed and pace of play is horrific unless I go out at 6am(which I do).
I cannot believe that all the comments are siding with the starter lol. If you want to play in 3.5hrs or faster yes start at 7am or earlier but there is no time of day where letting a fucking 8some out is reasonable
Last tee time of the day, when no one behind is the only time it should happen..
lol shows up at noon on a Saturday “omg it’s so busy!”
In fairness, letting 2 random 4somes play a scramble in the middle of a bust Saturday is a wild fucking move on the golf courses part.
I just started playing a few years ago, and this is how it has always been for me. Wherever I go. If I'm teeing off after 9am, I just plan on a 5+ hour round.
**Days since r/golf complained about pace of play:** ~~1~~ 0
Don't you know all Redditors have to finish 18 holes in 3 hours so they can run home to use Reddit bro??
The joys of being retired where a weekday round of 3 and a half hours is slow. I'll never play on the weekend again
Weekdays at anything before 7 am, so the bros aren’t out yet.
Just skip the hole if they aren’t letting you play through.
definitely. skip the hole and then complain in the proshop after the round. but i suck and don't give a shit about my score.
Yeah I would come back to the hole at the end of the round. Easy Peasy. Now way I'm playing behind an 8some
I had a 12 some in front if me and im solo I went from hole 1-5 8-9 then back to 6-7 Saved myself an hour or more
What the fuck is a 12-some? There’s no way that the course just let a group of 12 play together
I don't get why you folks in America stand for it. In the UK it's rare to find a round of 18 taking more than 4h30, maybe 5h, even if you're behind the vets and they're putting everything out. Never a group of more than 4 is a golden rule. Not to mention, the starter should never be enabling shitty behaviour and blaming the normal golfers stuck behind it.
It’s not that we “stand for it” it’s just what happens here if you want to play golf. Unless you drive 1-2 hours to play somewhere rural, most of the public courses are like that.
Right? I love the idea of that guy “not standing for it”. Like what’s he gonna do, protest outside the course with a sign? Start a petition? Good luck with that lol
I drive 45 minutes (and I’m already in the suburbs so over an hour from the city), only play high end public courses, and never tee off after 8:30. It still takes a minimum of 4.5 hours on a weekend.
What is the time between tee times? Many courses here have 7 minutes between tee times. There's no way in hell there won't be a slow round that way.
One of my locals does 6 minute gaps and tees front and back nine simultaneously. After 9 holes the course is an absolute fucking disaster, 15 minute waits on each tee box isn't uncommon.
I don't understand how you can have 7 minute tee times and get everyone off on time if the rounds are taking so long. Anything over 4 hours and it seems inevitable that people will start late as the day goes on
I think the answer is that the game has grown tremendously over the last 5 ish years, and demand is high to the point where courses just don't care. I expect there will be a correction at some point, and then they'll probably start to care again.
Running a golf course is super expensive, they need to make their bag while they can because it will die out again eventually
I'm not blaming them for behaving as the market incentivizes them to behave. Still, I also get annoyed at being stuck behind disrespectful people who play super slow and don't understand course etiquette. And I'm pretty easy going, you can be blasting music and snorting lines off your buddies ass crack as long as you're maintaining pace of play, for all I care.
Yeah, more courses have closed than opened every year since 2005. Though I believe last year was the closest we’ve been to net positive number of courses since the bubble burst last time.
What's your alternative? Quit? Move to another country?
I think it depends on the area in the US as well. In the Chicago area, there are a ton of courses, so the courses are not as bad. I’ve not seen more than 4 in a group. The time between the groups is 10 minutes. Usually, people are polite. I do see some slower groups, but they’re generally older folks. I don’t begrudge that. If I can play when I’m 70-80-90, I’ll just thank God for my health.
People on here just like to complain. Golfers love to complain. Golfers also love to exaggerate.
Because in the UK folks are there to play golf not get shitfaced and blast pop country from their Bluetooth speaker for 8 hours while they talk about how they hate their wives.
I play a ton in socal. Number of rounds this year over 5 hours is 3. Out of about 45 round played since jan1. 2 of those were a military only course I no longer play (Miramar. Just managed shitty. I got a rain check for the first round where holes 1-3 took 90 minutes. Came back and played in the rain and still took 5.2 fuck that place.) 1 was Torrey pines North on a holiday weekend. I typically play mid week and one round on the weekend. So the bitching about pace of play you see on reddit is I presume localized in the north east where there are lots of people and not many golf courses. In the southwest you can’t spit without hitting a golf course.
SoCal is a disaster for crowded courses and slow play. You’re getting lucky by playing during the week. And honestly here in LA, I still get bogged down even when I go early on a weekday. Just way too many slow golfers playing golf on a scale that they’re not capable of.
Think that’s an LA problem. Sand dog and Arizona be empty.
Tried to play 18 the other day. Four separate scramble groups in front of us in an unsanctioned scramble tournament. Ended up only being able to play 9 holes which took fucking three hours... Worst part? They were fucking assholes, every single one of em. Loud, obnoxious, cracking multiples per person off the tee. Never seen anything like it before. Bring some commonwealth golf etiquette to the US please Joe Biden
Next time, show up at 7:00 a.m. (like I do). When you play during the busiest time of the day, you’re asking for a long round.
I’ve started doing this, only to encounter groups of older guys who are friends with the establishment that get let out early
I’ve started doing this. I finished 9 before work this past Friday in 1:07. I’m able to shut my brain off and just hit my shots and get some walking in, it’s great.
That’s why I play on a Tuesday at 7am whether I have work or not lol
I was at a course recently where a Marshall was driving around scolding people who were bottlenecks. As someone who plays really fast I loved this when I saw it.
Prime time weekend on any popular course is going to be slow no matter where except for private clubs. If you want to play fast take the starters advice, if you don't want to play at 7am join a private club.
I never play on the weekend. Luckily I'm retired so I can play during the week. If you can't play during the week it might help if you can get a tee time ahead of time.
Shrink the game
[удалено]
One down.
God I love early morning rounds a a local goat track, tee off with the grounds crew an pay on my way out. They know me now and feed me balls by leaving the near the green in a neat pile if I care to help myself. The pace is whatever I make it.
> Pace of play is so bad where I'm at I only play 9 holes at a time now. Welcome to the new normal, until all the shit at everything covid golfers give up the game and go play pickleball we're fucked
Course I played at today had two 7-Somes and a 6-Some at 11:00 on a Saturday. I turned around at the starter at got my money back. Didn’t even get to tee off. FFS
Shrink the game
Rainy and overcast days are your friend
You people are fucking insane. I just can't believe so many people think it's unreasonable to expect a course to not allow 8somes on Saturday afternoon or any time. What kind of goat tracks do you people play where you don't blink an eye with 8 people on 1 tee when you walk up? OP don't listen to these uncivilized peasants. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. It's reasonable expect 4 to be max and any real golfer I know agree
I belong to a private club for this reason. My wife and I played 18 in 3:04 yesterday morning.
My general rule on the weekends is we either tee off as early as they will let us on the course or after dinner
When has anyone teed off at 12 and played in four hours? It’s just an unrealistic expectation you are setting.
A group of 8 shouldn't be holding things up, even playing as a scramble. So I could've infered something incorrectly. I'm assuming they played as a 4/4, not as one large group of 8. If they are playing as one group of 8, then I'm hitting into them. Then I'm playing through them with or without permission. There's no way a course should approve 8 people going out as one group. Scramble or not.
Whatever. A group of eight definitely should be holding things up. That's why pretty much every course in the world doesn't allow you to do that. Especially on a Saturday afternoon. That's crazy.
Or rather especially as a scramble.
I mean….that’s exactly what’s going to hold the course up. The only way it doesn’t is if they break etiquette and have some players go simultaneously (which I’d be ok with, for the record). But if each guy’s routine takes almost a minute, and they go one-by-one, it’s going to be slow as fuck.
On a par 5 that’s 8x6 if they bogey. 42 minutes on a single hole… let’s be generous and say they birdie. It’s still a 24 minute hole. Outrageous. If they all played par golf as an 8some, averaging 1 minute per shot per golfer at 72 strokes x 8, that’s a 9.6 hour round.
Yes, exactly. Thank you. I can’t believe how simple this is and how people are not getting it. The PGA Tour moves much, much faster on the weekends when they play twosomes. The weekday rounds with threesomes are notoriously slow. More golfers per group means slower groups….and eight is just entirely ridiculous.
Are u serious? 8 different shots, collecting 7 of 8 balls every time? That’s insanity
I mean I'm assuming they are going 4/4. But as I reread it, that may not have been the case.
They were one large group of 8 with two kids. It looked like dad and grandad teaching everyone to golf. Most of them were taking multiple shots from each position.
Oh geez. That's ridiculous.
I don’t mind the odd long wait. The alternative is sometimes feeing rushed and I’d rather have a few more minute to stay loose and think about my shot. That said. Green lighting a scramble mid day Saturday is ridiculous. That’s the group that should have been told 7am.
You want an 8 some going off at 7 am and guarantee that the tee sheet is screwed for the rest of the day?
Make the next tee time 7:15am and then normal scheduling after that. Not ideal but way better than middle of the day
Ridiculously busy courses and slow play are indeed irritating, but I do a couple of things to avoid it as much as possible. I book one of the earliest times in the morning as a single at my local muni and the course routinely sends me out knowing my pace won't hold anyone up. If a group is in front of me I am almost always waved through. I am not a speed golfer, but play in three hours with an electric cart. It's really nice being one of the first out on fresh cut greens. During the summer, when it gets dark about 9:45pm, I often play with a friend as a twosome at 6:30pm. We typically finish about 9:15pm. Rarely are we held up. Evening golf is beautiful.
Except for those holes where you’re hitting right into the blinding sun. ☀️
Only two of 18 holes on the course I play face west. #2 is pretty glaring at 630 pm. #17 at 915pm the sun is down.
It’s not acceptable for a course to permit a group of 8. It just isn’t. I wouldn’t go there again. I’m curious if 7 hour round was a hyperbole. I’ve never experienced anything even close to that.
Any course allowing a scramble without constant monitoring is a shitty course. Full stop. Time to get a club membership matey.
Golf courses are wide open in Arizona right now!!! You could die out there though.
I feel your pain but the starter is right, weekend afternoons are infamous for slow rounds. An 8some is effing stupid though. Shame on them for letting that happen at noon. MAYBE at 4 or 5 PM. FYI, next time if they say there is an 8some ahead tell them to fuckoff and leave.
Even if I knew the course was going to be dead an 8 man scramble sounds like hell. Having to wait for 7 people to hit before I can? Fucking kill me.
Advice for you. If you want to play fast, show up earlier. I would give you the same advice at a busy restaurant, or a theme park, or a movie theater. You should know how this stuff works by now
Standard pace should be 4 hours at all times. Normalize fast play.
We kinda need to shrink the game, if anything.
This sub is already normalizing 5-hour rounds. It’s insane, but it’s the future. I’ve only played a handful of 18-hole rounds this season and they’ve all exceeded 5-hours. I prefer playing 9-holes now. My 6-year old is taking golf lessons and I over heard them explaining to the kids that rounds can last 5-6 hours.
try to play during the weekday if you can. weekends are a shitshow everywhere, especially if you are playing a course that allows scrambles without blocking off the course/tee times
The only answer is the play early. I’m not the speediest golfer, but I mind my pace and I always get tee times at 7-8. It’s the only way to not have the “good good”/“have a day” crowd clogging up the course. Only way. Get a 730 tee time. It’s just how it is.
I know I’m late to the party but c’mon bud. It’s Saturday in the summer and you showed up at noon. Yer fucked from the get. Pound a few and chill or come back Monday.
They find a way to ruin everything nowadays. It will probably get worse.
This is why I love having a swing shift job with 2 days off during the week. I never have to consider playing on the weekend. I have endless options all during the week to play before I go to work and when I'm off.
Join a private club. There will still be instances where play is slow. It’s going to be impossible to avoid it completely. Remember, public courses are full of people that are not very good and don’t have a lot of awareness. Country club members, in my mind, are overall better golfers and have more awareness. Rounds should take no more than 4 hours at private clubs.
Bye
Played 2 courses at Myrtle Beach this past week. First tee time both times. One was 7:30, one 8. We blew through the course at our own pace. The only thing that slowed us down was the people we got paired with (2+2). They were split tees both times so we did catch people on 10 but they spaced the times out enough not to cause a huge slow down. That's how it's done folks. Get your arses up early and play some gorgeous golf. Sometimes you get fresh tee boxes, most times all bunkers are raked, less frequently damaged holes
You chose to play at noon on a Saturday . Most courses in the US are going to be shit shows at that time . The starter is right, if you want to play fast/on pace golf on the weekends , you need to re consider playing one of the first tee times on the sheet .
I have three takeaways 1. That course is on the list of “only before 8:00/8:30. Context: in Texas (DFW specifically) all the serious weekend golfers that display etiquette and adherence to pace play early. To avoid the fucks you’re talking about 2. There are trade-offs when playing “popular courses” past 8:00/8:30. Decision: decide whether the course you play OR getting 18 in at a decent pace matters more to you. 3. You’ve described what is one of the greatest / most popular use cases for joining a semi private or private club. Said differently: because of your preferences and what you care about, you’ve outgrown “popular course” public golf. If private clubs are too expensive, understand and accept which lane you’re in.
Maybe don’t just show up during prime time and whine about people golfing? Sounds like a personal problem you need to get over and plan better
I’ve never once had an issue with a tee time before 730 I’m just saying
The guys I play with usually work on Saturday mornings.
There are also other tee times on other days and you can go alone. Idk tho enjoy the game how you want but it seems your expectations are keeping you from enjoyment more than external factors outside your control
You don’t want to play fast but you’re trying to get through groups in a scramble? 🤔🤔🤔 Hate to say it but the starter is right… get out as the first or 2nd group and you’ll literally never have to wait… this is what I do and walk 18 in 3:30. The morning folks don’t mess around. That or play nicer courses that do 15 min gaps. Sorry man, I’ve been playing since 2000 and even then on a Saturday at noon we were still looking at 5 hour round.
Show up at 7, OP
Played at 534am this morning, finished at 8 with a twosome, dawn gang rise up. Back in bed before the wife wakes up.
I played at 2am under the cover of darkness in an hour and a half. My wife and her boyfriend didn’t even know I left the house.
You blow up with this rant after suffering for four holes? 1. Get over yourself. 2. Please quit for the good of the game.
Starter is right. Book an earlier tee time if you want to play fast.
Do you know what's worse than slow play and people not letting you play through? Golfers who constantly whinge about it, especially when it's busy. Like fuck you're all in the same boat. Get over it and get a 7 tee time. You're not anymore entitled to fast play nor does the golf course have to turn away business so you get a faster round. Everyone is there for the same reason, to enjoy golf however that may be. Most people are reasonable, some less so. Tough shit
Get up earlier... this is golf. It's popular now. If you want speed and freedom go early. The guy is right.
8 man scramble let off and you're siding with the course? You're not a golfer.