In line with Paul's story, Lynn Shackelford and I visited Denham GC on our last day in London following the 2011 Buda. It was to be a leisurely round, capping a busy week of golf, getting around in trains and taxis before heading to the U.S. next morning. We had a grey day, with very light rain, around 60°; the course mostly to ourselves.
As we we're teeing off at noon, two elderly couples towing trollies and two dogs approached the first tee. Knowing the fast play culture in the UK, I half-asked Lynn if we can stay well in front of them, and, I as recall, he replied in the affirmative. We did fine for the first two or three holes, but soon they were dogging us (not in an aggressive way, but club ready in hand, balls in the air as soon as we we're off). We left them through, and after a couple of holes, never saw them again until we got to the clubhouse where they seemed to be having a fine time over drinks.
BTW, Lynn and I walked the shortish but unfamiliar Denham in 3:20, probably having slowed our pace a bit after the couples went through. The old folks played a game with which I am not familiar (it was actually a two-ball, one couple against the other, players of the subsequent shots moving forward to the landing areas before balls were in the air).
BTW2, we heard that the members of Liphook were furious because of our slow play. Both rounds of our 4-ball (one best ball, the other singles) finished in four hours. In the U.S., club matches often take five, six hours.
Colonial CC in Fort Worth has a good fast pace culture. Busy as it is, it seldom takes four hours to play there. It is mostly a function of WILL and setting the expectation that PROPER golf is played with purpose and alacrity.