Speeding up the pace of play.....

[Forrest Richardson]

Yes, Headpro, I have a few without even having to think too much:

-- Follow the USGA pace-of-play guidelines to rate your course so you know how to manage it better, even slighgtly

-- Consult with your golf course architect on tee markers + pin position combinations, signage, etc.

-- On busy days require match play formats and educate golfers on how to close holes quickly dueing match play formats

-- Send golfers out so the pace does not seem slow (i.e., at regular intervals with realistic gaps)

-- Don;t let golfers hit on #1 tee until their time, regardless of whether golfers are clear

-- Mow roughs to avoid hunting parties

-- Create fun days where the course is set to executive-length and reduce rounds by 20% or more

Not all these will work all times at all locales. In fact, none will work if there is no buy-in by those in charge. But, ther are all ideas, and ideas are hard to kill.

[SPNC_Chris]

I find it interesting that nobody has mentioned "ready golf" in this thread.

Unless the whole course is jammed, I usually find that if I'm always waiting for the group in front of me, it's because they're hung up on "who's away." It's usually especially bad on the greens where short 2nd puts are always marked and people don't study their lines while others are doing their thing. Nothing is more infuriating than watching a guy with a 3 foot putt wait on another who just chipped on to walk all the way to the cart and back to get his putter for his 15 foot putt. Well, perhaps worse than that is a fourseome who all hit their first putts close to the hole, mark each ball, then have a discussion as to who is away.

Ready golf really doesn't take anything away from the game. If busy courses did a better job of encouraging and educating people on ready golf, more people would be comfortable playing that way.