What is wrong with the 5 hour round?

[Eric Smith]

FYI...JC when we play next week, there better not be any of this 5 hour crap going on!!!  

It better be 8 or 9!

[Mike McGuire]

You can't measure a good time, so who cares if it takes 3, 4 or 5 hours?

The people playing behind the 5 hour group might care.

[Keith Buntrock]

Golf is an all day event for some people.

My first collegiate tournament was at Greywalls a couple Septembers ago. It took 5:45 to play in carts. After getting done with hole 1, there would be 2 groups waiting on hole 2's tee. Otherwise 4:45 - 5:00 is pretty standard in groups of 3 from my experience.

I don't play much leisure golf at public courses unless its really early or really late just for the reason of pace of play. If there's one slow group on an entire course, that group is usually right in front of me.

[Anthony Gray]

FYI...JC when we play next week, there better not be any of this 5 hour crap going on!!!  

It better be 8 or 9!

  Just make sure you hug on the 18th green,

  Anthony

[Steve Lang]

   JC,

Yes I believe we played in under 4 hours.. with some waiting on the back as i remember.. but time was suspended as often happens along the 45th parallel in summertime.. playing twilight golf with gca'ers in the upper lower peninsula..

since we have no real external responsibilities, and enjoy our perpetual match play, 5 hours sometimes happens (but not by our causing it), though we've walked-played all of our WCC courses in 3 hours..  we just do it or walk off.. life at the club

how about not having a place to rest if you're wallking..  3-4 hours is a breeze, 4.5 seems a stretch, longer seems a death march..

when on vacation, riding, its just a matter of bugs.. the two ball option breaks the mental issues

[JC Jones]

Pat,

Point to where I took a position.  And don't do your typical Pat Mucci thing where you pass your inferences off as implications.

[Jud_T]

Anything over 4:30 is just too long.  There's no way you can keep any rhythm at 5 hours.  If 5 is fine, why not 6 or 7? 

[JC Jones]

Anything over 4:30 is just too long.  There's no way you can keep any rhythm at 5 hours.  If 5 is fine, why not 6 or 7? 

Good question, why not?

[Anthony Gray]

Anything over 4:30 is just too long.  There's no way you can keep any rhythm at 5 hours.  If 5 is fine, why not 6 or 7? 

  Jud,

  5 hours is a good work week in West Virginia.....And by the way.....We don't want our coaches back.

  Anthony

[Keith Buntrock]

Anything over 4:30 is just too long.  There's no way you can keep any rhythm at 5 hours.  If 5 is fine, why not 6 or 7? 

Good question, why not?

I've done 6:10 once on a treeless course and 90 degree day. It's beyond not fun. That is why it's not fine. It just isn't fun.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Pat,

Point to where I took a position.  And don't do your typical Pat Mucci thing where you pass your inferences off as implications.


I don't need to.

The individual and collective sum of your posts make your position quite clear.

You'd have to be on pretty heavy substances in order to deny them.

[Rob Rigg]

Back to Brent's point - if you can play 18 in a foursome in 3:30 to 4 hours comfortably, taking 5 is just a waste of more golf (I realize that you may not be able to walk back up to the tee on some courses).

There are certain courses where it would probably take a foursome longer than 4 hours or even 4:30 to walk.

I think the average round at Chambers Bay is around 4:30ish, and when the course is busy it might push 5 - this is due to some longish green to tee transfers and elevation changes.

When the rounds at Ghost Creek look like they might get into the 5 hour range I'll either play the front nine twice (if there is no one on the tee) or I'll think about walking off after 9 holes. Standing around waiting to hit every shot is miserable - there is zero rhythm to the game - I'd rather be hitting balls on the range.

[JC Jones]

Pat,

Point to where I took a position.  And don't do your typical Pat Mucci thing where you pass your inferences off as implications.


I don't need to.

Predictable.

The individual and collective sum of your posts make your position quite clear.

So then, what is my position?

You'd have to be on pretty heavy substances in order to deny them.

Ever heard of the fallacy of presumption or the No True Scotsman fallacy?

[Patrick_Mucci]

Jason,

Your question/s to me lead to but one conclusion.  You're obtuse and/or can't remember what you typed.

With respect to time at a golf course, I'd rather play in 3:00 to 3:30 and spend the other 2:00 to 1:30 practicing.

That would be a great day of golf.

[JC Jones]

Jason,

Your question/s to me lead to but one conclusion.  You're obtuse and/or can't remember what you typed.

With respect to time at a golf course, I'd rather play in 3:00 to 3:30 and spend the other 2:00 to 1:30 practicing.

That would be a great day of golf.

Fail.  Answer the question.

[Patrick Hodgdon]

Do you have somewhere better to be than at the golf course?  If so, why not just go there and not to the course?

I'll try to answer your 3 questions Jason.

1) During MOST rounds on MOST courses 4 hours is sufficient to play an enjoyable round of golf and 5 is unnecessary. MOST 5 hour rounds involve a lot of waiting and standing around either for the group ahead or a slow player in your group. The waiting which as some have pointed out takes away from the rhythm of the game and takes your mind more and more off your next shot and the round itself. During more competitive rounds however much of the extra time is spent making extra considerations for the next shot especially lining up and reading putts on the green. In cases of 5 hour competitive rounds the extra time is not AS bad (meaning I'd still prefer quicker) as a casual round with friends (game or not)

I will say a 5 hour round also doesn't bother me as much when I am riding a cart because I usually am already distracted by other things like where to drive the cart to next, how many beers are left and tweeting that I won the last hole on Jones.

However when walking during a casual round on MOST courses 4 hours is plenty of time to play in and at a nice pace in rhythm with yout game. The extra hour could be used better elsewhere in my life and that is what is wrong with a 5 hour round in my opinion.

2) Than on the course for that extra hour or so? Yes I'd rather be in the clubhouse sitting down enjoying a cold one while reminiscing about the round I just played in 4 hours or less.

3) 5 hour rounds or doing something else with my life aren't the only two options. If you are trying to make us pick between only 5 hour golf rounds and other things in our life I would suspect that golf would lose more play.

[Charlie Goerges]

This thread has taught me two things:

1. Playing 18 holes in over 5 hours is intolerable.

2. Playing 18 holes in under 4 hours is no fun.

[Mike Cirba]

JC,

It's two hours too long.

Hit the ball, find it, hit it again.

If it gets ugly, pick up, keep up, move on

Slow play is rude at best, narcissistic at worst.

[mike_beene]

How did that work out for Otis Redding?

[Tom_Doak]

What's wrong with the five hour round is that it sets the standard for everyone behind.  I wouldn't mind a bit people taking five or six hours to play, as long as they stood aside every couple of holes to let others play through them.

I do find as I get a bit older that we don't play as fast as we used to ... sometimes it takes 3 1/2 hours, and sometimes 4 1/2.  And I don't enjoy it a lot less when it's 4 1/2 hours, as long as I haven't been waiting on anybody, or holding anybody up.

P.S. to JC - I guess our bet is off, because there's no way I'm treating you to a five hour round at Crystal Downs.

[Scott Warren]

Quite often I can't think of any better place to be than playing golf. Unfortunately, in a 5-hour round that equates to about three hours of playing golf and two hours standing around doing absolutely nothing. And yes, I typically have many better things to do than standing around doing absolutely nothing, even if it's in a nice setting. One of the things better I have to do is...you guessed it...play golf.

I love spending five hours at the golf course. I just need to play 27 holes while I'm there.

The real question is whether or not the bozos up ahead holding us up can't find something better to do than drive around in aimless circles in a golf cart, chat up the beverage girl, throw blades of grass in the air, fidget around with their cheater line and just generally do everything in the worlds except play golf. You'd think any rational person would look at a beautiful golf course in front of them, look at the expensive golf clubs in their bag and get the idea that playing golf might be a fun thing to do right about then. But no, apparently cigars and shaggy dog stories and clowning around and standing with your thumb up your ass while you ponder the vaguaries of being a hacker are much more fun than golf itself. Go figure.

Playing golf for me has two main components: walking and hitting golf shots. That takes somewhere in the neighborhood of an hour to an hour and a half per nine holes. It's the other junk I have no time for.

Post of the year.

Maybe the UK guys can be a bit unfair, because most of my 3hr rounds over here have been in two- or three-balls. But that said, anything over 4hrs to 4h15 even as a fourball means you're either waiting a fair bit for people in front or you have a time-waster or two in the group. Neither is fun.

[Emil Weber]

Do you have somewhere better to be than at the golf course?  If so, why not just go there and not to the course?

JC, I've had that thought before, too. I think it depends on where you are and why  you are there. On a relaxed holiday, on a beautiful course, I don't mind 5 hour rounds. Yet when I'm playing a quick 9 holes on my home course before the sun goes down and I have to wait, I'll go crazy.

[Mark Chaplin]

Emil - The 4 hour holiday round teeing off at 9am means you are sitting showered on the terrace with your family enjoying a couple of cold ones and a light lunch at 1.30pm and ready for an afternoon activity. The 5 hour round means they've lunched and you're half way to teatime.

[Karl Bernetich]

At one course it's means a letter from the board as a warning.
The second time it's a letter informing you, you have resigned your membership.

Pace of Play Guidelines are provided and read in part ...

... Playing at a reasonable pace is consistent with the traditions of the game, the traditions of (the club) and demonstrates the proper respect for the others on the course.

All groups playing are expected to meet our Pace of Play standard of:
     *   4 hours or less for a foursome
     *   3 hours 15 minuted or less for a twosome

[Brent Hutto]

What happens when you are playing "in rhythm," in a good game with your friends, focused on nothing but golf (no peeking at the ocean at Seminole) and the round takes longer than 4 hours?  

In a fourball? I've had many enjoyable 4-hour rounds. Never an enjoyable 5-hour round and probably not even any 4-1/2's unless it were some place with spectacular scenery. But while a 3 to 3-1/2 pace is most comfortable for me, I'm not particularly bothered by taking a little longer. Just nowhere remotely like five hours, that's b.s. no matter who I'm playing with or where.

And for a twoball I would have to be severely slowed down from a comfortable pace to take even 4 hours.

P.S. I should probably point out that my own perspective on the game is different than some. I had never set foot on a golf course until I was 33 years old. I sought it out specifically as a way to get some physical activity and relaxation that was interesting and enjoyable enough to make a life-long activity. Now I've gotten as addicted as the next guy to hitting shots and all that but at root the game is still a way to walk several miles and engage in some big-muscle free movements, just for the joy of swinging a stick at a ball. Perhaps that explains why all the other dinking around is unacceptable to me. I'm not out there to socialize or impress anyone or escape from the wife and kids or get drunk or do business deals. I'm there for exercise and enjoyment of the physical aspects of the game and it is virtually my only opportunity to do any of that.