As many know, Bill Yates was a good friend and taught me a lot about pace...flow.
The three questions he always asked were:
1. How long SHOULD the course take to play...pace rating, which he helped develop
2. How long DOES it take to play a course...studying tee sheets and staff "lore"
3. How long WOULD YOU LIKE it to take?
His soap box was CONSISTENCY and MINIMIZING WAITS. People endure ACTUAL time and PERCEIVED time. The two are distinct. Actual time is that Pebble Beach may take 5 hours to play. Perceived time would be the time a golfer felt they were held up, waiting, etc. It might have seemed a lot longer. Bill's famous change at Pebble was to SLOW play at Nos. 4, 5 and 6, thus avoiding the awful situation where the group leaving No. 6 is headed to the No. 7 tee before those players take their photos after the group on No. 7 green has putted and left the camera frame. He accomplished that by recommending using the back tees at No. 6 and certain cup locations. Golfers rarely complain as long as they are PLAYING...hitting, putting, walking ahead, etc.
To get to HOW LONG WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO TAKE, Bill always suggested bringing in the golf architect to help "even out" the time pars and make the course play more fluid. He often said, "It's the golf architect who sets the stage for how long a course should play...and also where the hiccups may be...and, it's the same group who can change the course for the better..."