How to shave an hour off your 5 hour round.
One of the most irritating things about playing public golf is the nearly ubiquitous slow pace of play. In my experience, there are a number of very simple things that you can do to pick up the pace of play and I'd like to share those things here.
1. Have a sense of urgency. Many golfers do not walk with a sense of urgency. They walk like they are strolling through the park with no one waiting on them. People are waiting on you; pick up the pace! Normal walking pace (walking with no sense of purpose, like a walk in the park) is 2 mph. A brisk walking pace is 3 mph. The difference for walking an entire 18 holes at 3 mph instead of 2 mph translates to an average of 2 minutes per hole, or 36 minutes for 18 holes. (you cart riders are not off the hook. see number 3 below)
2. Line up your putt and read the line BEFORE its your turn. There is nothing more frustrating that playing a 5 hour round and your playing partner waits until three other people to putt before he even looks at his line. Then he prances around looking at the putt from all angles, as if he is performing Ben Crane's pre-shot routine just for the imaginary TV cameras in his head. No one cares about how awesome you are walking around the green while everyone watches and waits. Do this stuff while others are putting. If each person in a foursome takes 30 second longer per putt per hole, this equates to 2 minutes per hole per foursome, or 36 minutes for a foursome on 18 holes.
3. Never wait in the cart for your turn. Instead of lounging around in the cart while your cart partner waits for the group in front, allow your cart partner to gather the clubs and equipment he needs, and proceed to your own ball. That way, you aren't making the group behind you wait while you watch your buddy clean his club and replace his divot after his shot, and while you travel to your ball. You can be hitting while he does this stuff. Then when he picks you up in the cart, don't put your club away or clean it, take it into the cart with you, then put the club away when you arrive to your next shot. This could save at least 15-20 seconds per twosome per shot, or 1-2 minute per hole per foursome, or 18-36 minutes per round, depending on how lazy you are. If you ever find yourself waiting in the cart for someone else to hit, you are doing it wrong. You should always be traveling to your ball.
4. Never record your score while on the green or parked next to the green. Why make the group behind you wait? You can easily write the score after arriving on the next tee while the other players are preparing for their tee shots. Doing this could easily cut out 10-15 seconds per hole or 3-4 minutes per round.
5. YOU ONLY GET 5 MINUTES TO LOOK FOR A LOST BALL. Its tempting to look longer, but you only get 5 minutes. The average golfer probably takes 6-7 minutes and looks for at least 1 lost ball per round. That's an extra 4-8 minutes per round for the average foursome if each looks for just one ball, not to mention the 20 minutes each player is already taking under the 5 minute rule. Windy days cause more lost balls, and would cause this time to multiply 4 or 5 fold.
6. Don't clean your clubs after your shot if people are waiting on you. You should have time to clean them on the next tee while waiting for others to hit. This could save 10-20 seconds per person per hole, or 12-24 minutes per round for a foursome. If you are already following rule 3 above, this won't save you that much time. I just thought I'd rephrase the same info for those of your who didn't get it the first time. :-)
7. Play "Ready Golf". Everyone always says that: "play ready golf". What does that mean? It means, stop playing "with honors" and allowing the person with the lowest score on the last hole tee off first, the person farthest away from the pin to putt first, the farthest from the green to hit first, etc. "Ready golf" means whoever is *ready* should hit. The entire purpose of the honor system is to speed up play so that everyone knows the order in which to hit. But turning honors into parliamentary procedure in which you are pacing off putts and arguing about who goes first, is not helping anyone play faster. If you are *ready*, its your turn. If you wait an extra 5 seconds on each shot adhering to perfect "honors", that adds up to and extra 24 minutes per foursome of scratch golfers (72 shots), and and extra 30 minutes for a foursome of bogey golfers (90 shots).
The total time listed here adds up to as much as 2 hours and 14 minutes or more. Surely, you can figure out how to eliminate an hour off your game using these tips. Golf is nothing if not honorable. Part of that honor is respecting the time of those playing behind you and doing everything you can to not make them wait. If you are waiting on the group in front of you, that is no excuse to slack off, because they will not speed up unless they see you waiting on them. If they aren't being pushed, they won't speed up, so if you are waiting every hole, don't slow down! On the contrary, don't waste any time and make sure the group in front knows you are waiting. Failure to do this creates a cascade effect in which each successive group gets a few minutes slower.
Good luck on your next round, and make it snappy!