Getting Tournament Ready!

[ATL96Steeler]

I'm officially 3 weeks out from my second entry into a 3 round tournament. Last yr I came in 2nd in my flight (sorry winners only)...in a total field of 26 players.

This yr there are 28 players and the defending champion in my flight is back.

Aside from taking a swipe at his kneecap, I'm trying to get myself tournament ready.

By that...obviously I need to play/practice but one of the major things I need to do is handle slower play better. I don't think we're speed demons week in week out, but 4 to 4.25 hrs on a Saturday is about our normal pace...these tourney rounds take closer to 5 hrs (in spite of +3 pick up, and inside the leather putts are automatic good)

That's a lot of standing around waiting. Especially in the "flight" round (we play 1 round to flight and the other 2 are the tourney rounds. In the flight round you could be paired with a 30 hdcp.

How would you get ready for this?

 

[Hang_On_Sloopy08]

If you learn how please let me know. I play in about as an efficient amount as time as possible. I’m a very fast player and when it gets to the point of standing around and waiting I’m done. My round will blow up.

 

[fknhippie]

If you learn how please let me know. I play in about as an efficient amount as time as possible. I’m a very fast player and when it gets to the point of standing around and waiting I’m done. My round will blow up.

Yep. My wife and I...if my leg is ok...can walk 18 holes easily in under three hours. Want to fuck me up, slow down play.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

If you learn how please let me know. I play in about as an efficient amount as time as possible. I’m a very fast player and when it gets to the point of standing around and waiting I’m done. My round will blow up.

The guy that won my flight last year is not a slow player himself, but clearly he handled the slow play better than I did and he beat me by 2 shots. As my mom would say...he has the patience of Job, the biblical figure. He waits for the away play to hit even if the player has already flubbed a couple of shots.

On the green he routinely marks 2-3 footers whereas I continuous putt. Especially if people are waiting on us in the fairway. This yr I said I wasn't going to rush any shots...I know I won't hold to that, but I'm going in with that mindset.

 

[Hang_On_Sloopy08]

The guy that won my flight last year is not a slow player himself, but clearly he handled the slow play better than I did and he beat me by 2 shots. As my mom would say...he has the patience of Job, the biblical figure. He waits for the away play to hit even if the player has already flubbed a couple of shots.

On the green he routinely marks 2-3 footers whereas I continuous putt. Especially if people are waiting on us in the fairway. This yr I said I wasn't going to rush any shots...I know I won't hold to that, but I'm going in with that mindset.

That's funny, you're a lot like me. For some reason, even though if I've been waiting on the group ahead slowing us down, and then it's my turn to putt once we finally get to the green and there's a group behind us, I feel compelled to putt out rather than mark my ball from 2-3 feet and go through my routine (which is still very short). I'm such a rhythm player, I can really get going when in rhythm and play good golf. But once I hit a bad shot, and then I have to wait around, I internally start feeling very impatient and become a mental midget inside.

My suggestion is don't look back at who's behind you. Go through a pre-shot routine for every shot, and make good conversation with your group. I find if I have somebody in the group I can talk with, it helps the waiting game. But if I get paired with a couple of introverts, I'm screwed.

 

[NEhomer]

I've got a question for you guys who boast about playing quickly.

Why do you suppose that there has been never in the history of the game, a professional player who walks right up to the ball and hits it?

Not one.

I don't play slowly but when it's my turn to play, I'm not focused on getting out of anyone's way.

 

[fknhippie]

I've got a question for you guys who boast about playing quickly.

Why do you suppose that there has been never in the history of the game, a professional player who walks right up to the ball and hits it?

Not one.

I don't play slowly but when it's my turn to play, I'm not focused on getting out of anyone's way.

Because they're at work when on the golf course, so they're not incentivized to play quickly. If they could they'd be posting on the Hoop while on the course.

 

[fknhippie]

I've got a question for you guys who boast about playing quickly.

Why do you suppose that there has been never in the history of the game, a professional player who walks right up to the ball and hits it?

Not one.

I don't play slowly but when it's my turn to play, I'm not focused on getting out of anyone's way.

I wouldn't call playing fast boasting.

If I'm in a cart It doesn't bother me. Most of the time i walk, if i have to stand still the sciatica starts kicking in and numbness in the leg sets in, glute pain, and after about 14 holes the back starts getting stiff, etc. If i can play at a decent pace and keep moving I feel much better and score...lets not go there.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I've got a question for you guys who boast about playing quickly.

Why do you suppose that there has been never in the history of the game, a professional player who walks right up to the ball and hits it?

Not one.

I don't play slowly but when it's my turn to play, I'm not focused on getting out of anyone's way.

There's a huge difference in playing slow and walking up to the ball and hitting w/o a practice swing or a routine.

A lot of slow play is in the details of how you prepare for your shot before it's your turn to it. Ex. on the green...we had a player last week that looked at every putt from both sides of the hole. That alone is not a problem, I do the same thing, but normally I've already looked at the opposite side while others are putting...whereas this guy would do nothing while others are putting, and start his routine when he's away.

Another player I play with every week...he has this habit of waiting until he's literally ready to hit a shot to put his glove on...not a big deal right? Well it takes him about a minute to get his glove out of his pocket and put it on...over the course of 18 holes...imo he adds at least 10-15 mins to the round with his pre-shot routine.

One area I agree with you and need to be more like you is getting out of the way of the following group when they are waiting. I'm guilty of wasting stokes doing that....most of the time, we're not really slow, but I feel like I'm part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

 

[NEhomer]

Because they're at work when on the golf course, so they're not incentivized to play quickly. If they could they'd be posting on the Hoop while on the course.

Sure, our golf isn't life and death but that doesn't mean we don't care about our scoring. Esp in a club championship where our score will get posted up on a public board.

There's a huge difference in playing slow and walking up to the ball and hitting w/o a practice swing or a routine.

A lot of slow play is in the details of how you prepare for your shot before it's your turn to it. Ex. on the green...we had a player last week that looked at every putt from both sides of the hole. That alone is not a problem, I do the same thing, but normally I've already looked at the opposite side while others are putting...whereas this guy would do nothing while others are putting, and start his routine when he's away.

Another player I play with every week...he has this habit of waiting until he's literally ready to hit a shot to put his glove on...not a big deal right? Well it takes him about a minute to get his glove out of his pocket and put it on...over the course of 18 holes...imo he adds at least 10-15 mins to the round with his pre-shot routine.

One area I agree with you and need to be more like you is getting out of the way of the following group when they are waiting. I'm guilty of wasting stokes doing that....most of the time, we're not really slow, but I feel like I'm part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

I wasn't referring to playing ready golf. I always do that but I try to get Phil to slow down just a tad as he's a step-up-and-hit-it player. I just note that not one single pro I've ever seen has done that. I've never heard a complaint about my pace of play but when it's my time to hit, I'm not trying to get out of anyone's way.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Sure, our golf isn't life and death but that doesn't mean we don't care about our scoring. Esp in a club championship where our score will get posted up on a public board.



I wasn't referring to playing ready golf. I always do that but I try to get Phil to slow down just a tad as he's a step-up-and-hit-it player. I just note that not one single pro I've ever seen has done that. I've never heard a complaint about my pace of play but when it's my time to hit, I'm not trying to get out of anyone's way.

My father-in-law did something similar...no practice swing.. but not really walk up and hit it. He would check on the wind (throw some grass in the air), look at the pin sheet, grab a club then fire away.. good player...3 hrs was an avg round for their 4 some, but they played the same course every week, 3 to 4 times a week so they knew every little nook and cranny on the greens.