This Goes out to Everyone who's contributed since my post led to Eric Strulowitz (i totally just butchered the spelling of your last name, i apologize):
First, I absolutely adore this topic, it is wonderful to discuss and here the differing opinions/takes on. One thing I think we've lost sight of is that the point that I was making, and then Eric echoed on, was about slow play at courses accessible to the public. Slow play at a private club should NEVER be a problem, and if a few foursomes/players are notoriously slow, elevate it to the clubs governing board / pro shop. At the same time, at a private club, if said slow players are also excellent self gardeners of the course (divots and ballmark repairs) then they should deserve a pass.
And while I love this concept of dynamic pricing / 3somes vs 4 somes / diff time of day, the optimist in me thinks that we need to convert golf into a 3-4 hour 18 hole activity at ANY time of the day, beginners/ladies/seniors/scratches/drunk players be damned. People just do not know, or learn how to play ready golf any more. They take far too long to execute a shot. They don't read putts from the other side while their playing partners are putting out. It's absolutely a domino effect, as someone mentioned, it only takes 1 or 2 groups to slow down an entire course. That is why I am a strong believer in my idea of a pace of play security deposit. To reiterate or expand, When municipal national takes its $60 dollar greens fees in either cash or credit, it takes an additional fully refundable $30 pace of play deposit from you too (i like the idea of a deposit being 50% of the greens fee). As soon as a group begins to fall behind its pace of play, which to me should be 3:45 but i could live w/ 4:15, a ranger is sent out to warn them and let them know hey you're on the verge of pissing away another $30 bucks, pick it up. If they don't pick it up and lose theyre deposit, well then theres nothing you can do. The key is though you only penalize the FIRST group to fall behind, b/c it's not fair to penalize groups behind them for keeping up with the group in front of them. Point being, i can't imagine many people out there willing to pay $90 for a $60 course. Of course, this takes some organization and effort from the pro shop, not to mention the employment of a couple rangers, but it also means you could improve the pace of play and enjoyment of your patrons.
As it was echoed earlier, waiting sucks and at least IMO, it can throw off your game, at least it does to mine. I become irritable, impatient and nearly pissed off when I have to wait all the time, ESPECIALLY if i'm not expecting it. When i play bethpage black, i know its going to be a 5 hour ordeal, but i also know that i'm walking a 4+ mile course that's brutal tee to green and is a special place.
its nearly all other munis, espeically those w/ carts that we have a problem. golf cannot continue to be an activity where a guy in his late 20s to early 40s who's engaged/married/married w/ kids has to disappear for 6+ hours on a weekend in order to get a round in. We need to shorten the time that has to be spent on a course, or we'll continue to lose players.
@John I saw your post regarding letting the group in front of you reach the green on the 1st tee. I tend to agree, but it depends on the course. At a public course where multiple groups congregate around the 1st tee (as in groups in the hole or even 3rd up), it creates a bad look to see a guy wait until a group is 350 yards out and then hit it a drive no better than 225. At private clubs, i've stupidly seen pros/assistant pros encourage you to hit as soon as the group in front is out of range, even if the group in front contains a notoriously slow guy. But yes regarding the 1st hole / letting people reach the green, at private clubs, this should become rule/doctrine and not preference. i 100% agree with you there.
@Andrew - that's interesting, I'm just curious where you get its 5.5 miles? that comes out to 9680 yards, seems like a lot to say youre walking nearly 150% more yards than the average course.
@Jason, i love the humor, and agree to an extent. if you want to play in 2.5 hours on a sat/sun morning, tee off before 7:30 am. then it's appropriate. having said that, i think we need to encourage EVERYONE to play as fast as possible, as i said above.