For many, slow play is the worst part of golf. That is saying a lot in a game that can make you crazy in so many ways, which is part of its peculiar charm.
Waiting in the fairway watching the group ahead putt — and putt … and putt — might be the most painful part of slow play. There are ways to go much faster on the green that are too practical to ignore, particularly when people are playing for fun.
In a game that is losing players, pace of play has become a huge priority. All you have to do is take a peek at the new rules the USGA is rolling out next year, in large part to attract new people with so many new demands on their time.
Wes Wailehua watches over Hawaii’s professional golfers as executive director of the Aloha Section PGA. He knows all about rules that govern the game and “legacy nuances” that make up its “honor” system.
Things like leaders go out last and the player with the best score on the last hole tees off first. Those farthest from the hole putt first. Don’t walk or stand on someone’s line on the green, or move in their line of sight while they are hitting.
The list goes on forever and he believes pace of play should have a bigger role in the honor system.
“I think our national body should help encourage players to pick up the pace a little more,” Wailehua says. “At the end of the day, if a player is conscious of pace of play they are also honoring others on the course.”
On the green, there are many ways to move faster, and in turn “honor” others:
>> Mark your ball and clean it when you get to the green.
>> Line up your putt while others are putting, without disturbing them.
>> Leave your clubs on the side of the green closest to the next tee and/or your cart.
>> Get off the green fast and plug in your scores while others are teeing off on the next hole.
Golf Digest added a few “nuances” in a story about speeding up the game in 2016:
>> “Playing ready golf is essential for a casual round. But you’ll play even faster if you keep putting until your ball is conceded or holed” (if you are not standing on someone’s line).
>> “Only mark a short putt to clean it.”
>> “A little radical for some, but leaving the flag stick in the hole saves a lot of time” — and is one of the most dynamic alterations in the 2019 Rules. The magazine added that for those who refuse to leave the pin in, “First to putt out grabs the flag stick and waits to put it back. Always.”
Many golfers do most of these, along with conceding short putts (scores that include “gimmes” can be posted for handicap purposes, as can conceded putts in match play). Some do them all.
The others make us crazy, marking six-inch putts, leaving stuff all over the green, filling out scorecards at the green and lining up putts as if from scratch after everyone else is done.
“You can learn a lot about the speed of the greens by watching them,” says Gary Haynie, rules chair for the Hawaii State Golf Association. “Ninety percent-plus of all three-putts are caused by speed issues, not by misreading the line of the putt.”
In Hawaii State Junior Golf Association tournaments, players can’t afford to fool around. It shows at their state championships, where the youngest kids always finish inside four hours and, not coincidentally, often putt out.
The juniors are on a strict “check point pace of play system” at tournaments. They are required to stay close to the group ahead and meet time limits at four points around the course, including the 18th. If they don’t, they can be penalized.
“I feel that this instills a regular habit for faster play,” HSJGA Executive Director Matt Rollins says, “and holds the golfers accountable.”
Haynie says the USGA’s 2019 Rules “place a heavy emphasis on pace of play and the HSGA will mirror that emphasis in all our events.” Rules seminars start before the end of the year.
Wailehua has been encouraged by his board recently to play more golf. He was starting to forget how much fun it can be.
“Too many of us maybe take some of the rules and legacy nuances of the game a little too seriously,” he says. “I’m a proponent of playing under more relaxed rules.
“It’s fun to play without any expectations and just enjoy the day with other people. Promoting it more as a game with friends is the way I see it going in the future.”
He also sees it, ideally, as going faster.
