Greetings Golfers,

In the early 90’s … Deer Run was cursed with slow play. So, we came up with Fast Play Friday, which put us on the map and changed our culture. We became know as a course that you could play in around 4 hours every day of the week.

The challenge is to maintain that pace when the golf course is continually full from sunrise to sunset. Yesterday, we did just that. We were stuffed all day and it never got over the 4 hour mark for a round of golf.

I don’t say that to be smug or self-congratulatory … I say that to emphasize that it is a result of a culture that has developed and been continued for 20 years.

However, not everyone is acquainted with the nuances of playing golf at a reasonable pace.

So, hopefully without sounding tiresome, here are some tips to keep your round moving at a nice pace:

*    Play from the right set of tees.
*    If walking, don’t travel as a member of a pack all going to each others’ ball – go to your own ball.
*    If riding in a cart, go to the first ball and drop off the first player with a few clubs … then the other player goes to their ball.
*    Begin reading the green and lining up your putt as you walk to the green.
*    Get off the green after you putt … and write down the scores at the next tee box.
*    Keep your putter in your hand when you get to the cart and put it in your bag at the next tee box when you take out your club to use on the next hole’s tee box. Same thing with your driver – don’t put it in your bag until you’ve driven to your next shot.
*    Be considerate about lost balls. If it’s obviously way in the jungle, don’t waste your time. And don’t ask your playing partners to waste their time looking for your lost ball – they should be going to their next shot.
*    Don’t hunt for golf balls when playing golf.
*    Save your funny stories for waiting situations such as second shots on par 5s.
*    Don’t use a long set-up routine … it doesn’t help your game and is just annoying.

I hope those help. Golf should be fun and relaxing – not a race track. But, slow play is not fun and relaxing – it’s frustrating for your playing partners and the people behind you.

A 4 hour round is not “fast”. It’s equivalent to driving 60 mph on the freeway.

Cheers,

Tom Abts
GM and Head Golf Professional
tabts@deerrungolf.com