Is It Time To Pick Up The Pace?

Pace of play is a difficult issue at most golf courses. Groups are either being pushed through too fast or frustrated because play is too slow. Whichever group you fall into, the enjoyment of the game can quickly dwindle if you are standing around waiting to tee off or if you have no time to read your putt. The problem is really hurting the game and hurting the pockets of golf courses owners alike.

As tee times are inventory for golf courses, it is necessary to sell them and sell as many as possible. This is why online tee time websites provide such a great service to courses. These sites utilize the internet to help courses sell online reservations. A golfer can quite simply sit in front of his or her computer and select the preferred day and time they want to play, and often at rates that are priced depending on demand. But how much inventory does the average course offer?

It is fairly common for courses to set tee times roughly eight minutes apart, on average. Obviously, the closer the tee times the more challenging it becomes for players and for courses to monitor pace of play. However, the farther apart the tee time generally means less tee times sold for the day. So the question remains, how does a course attempt to accommodate everyone and speed up play on the course?

In 1993, the United States Golf Association developed a formula, the USG/Rating that can help players complete a round of golf at an optimum pace:

STEP ONE:
Obtain an official USGA Pace Rating from your Regional Golf Association. This custom rating establishes a target completion time (<169>time par<170>) for each hole on your course.

• The USGA Pace Rating calculates a target time par for each hole on your course, taking into account the length and difficulty of the hole and other attributes of play. Time pars allow players to keep track of when they are expected to arrive at each tee.

STEP TWO:
Purchase and distribute communication materials that give your golfers practical tips for speeding up play on tee, fairway, and green, whether walking or riding.

• Did you know the average player takes roughly 35 seconds to address and hit a golf ball? With an average score of 100, that’s 3,500 seconds = 58 minutes.

STEP THREE:
Implement course management techniques that contribute to the optimum pace of play. These include appropriate start time intervals.

• Get players to the first tee efficiently and on-time. And, make sure the ranger has all the tools needed to monitor play effectively.

STEP FOUR:
Consider follow-up efforts to reward golfers who meet pace of play standards and remedial help with fast play tips for those who do not.

Here are some interesting facts relative to pace of play:

• Courses with several water hazards or other severe difficulties such as tight fairways, thick rough, deep bunkers, or fast undulating greens can increase the playing time by up to 30 minutes.

• In the same GolfDigest.com survey, 57.8 percent of golfers say their own pace of play is fast while only 4.8 percent call their pace as slow; and 56.2 percent of golfers call other golfers slow and only 2 percent fast. (So whose fault is it?).

• In 18 holes of golf, it takes only about an hour to "play." The other 2 ½ to 4 ½ hours is “logical positioning” - getting to the next shots or crossing terrain with the right equipment.

• Slow play has become such a problem that the PGA tour has invoked a 1-stroke penalty for offenders.

• Cart policies can hinder the speed of play. When a course restricts carts to cart paths, it increases the time of a round by an average of 12 percent, or 30 minutes.

Bottom line, faster play means more rounds and more profit for course owners. It might be time to evaluate how fast your course is. Think about how much more annual revenue your course may bring in if it sold even a couple more tee times a day?