Pace of Play at GLGC is an issue that frustrates many members. As a club, we have been trying to educate members on being aware of their pace of play and making easy adjustments when groups get behind. We all have bad holes, but when a group is 2 holes behind at the 13th something is wrong. Examples from R&A of easy adjustments are included at the bottom of this message. Whilst our Guidance Statement indicates that a round time of 4 hours 20 minutes is acceptable, our primary pace of play measure is keeping up with the group in front, and if losing ground, applying techniques to catch up. We are better than we were a couple of years ago, but there is still some room to improve before we consider a punishment approach like ‘take a wipe and walk a hole.’
So as a measure to assist members in monitoring their pace of play, GLGC have introduced an “add-on” to the MiScore app called “Round Timer”. For this to be of any use, it is imperative that groups tee off at their allotted tee time. Do not tee off early. There are specific rules of golf (Rule 5.3a) that relate to this.
Round Time, top left-hand corner, uses the average number of minutes to play the hole. Eg; Hole 1 takes on average 14 minutes to play. On entering the hole score and swiping to the next hole, the time will update to the expected time to complete the next hole.
The MiScore App displays expected time to complete each hole accumulating to display a deficit(-) for behind time or positive(+) for ahead of time.
On round completion(submit scores), MiScore will display total time for the round, so submit your scores immediately after finishing your last hole.
Techniques/Options if your group gets a bit behind
- When the first two players have putted out – walk directly to the next tee and tee off,
- Play ready golf, don’t wait for the golfer 5m behind you to arrive, decide, set up and hit just ‘cos they were further away. If you are ready to go then hit,
- On the green, putt out whenever possible,
- We do not want all four players to immediately look for a wayward ball. Play your shot then go over to assist.
- When reasonable, the short hitter should tee off first, they can then be ready to move off first ‘cos they will likely be hitting first,
- Start thinking about your next shot before you get to your ball.
Generally speaking – if you get half a hole behind and make it up over the next 2 holes, everyone will be happy.