In discussions on pace of play several issues come up including:
- Members Age (we are “seniors” after all)
- Course Difficulty (Rating and Slope)
- Course Crowding – Number of players
- Course Conditions (Path Only, Rain, et al)
- Players’ Skill as measured by Handicap Index
The Pace of Play Logs are giving us lots of data on Pace Time. Flights, scores, handicaps, tees played, and course rating and slope by tee are in OurGolfStats. Plus we have players’ age data in our membership database.
Combining this data gives us lots of opportunity for analysis.
I wanted to better understand why Division 1 had 10 to 15 minutes slower pace the Division 2-5. I have summarized the Division and Event data for the first 11 weeks (through 6/22/17). This is 53 rounds representing over 4300 individual rounds of golf.
Summary Data By Division
| Average | Avg Gross | Avg HCP | Avg Pace | |||
| Division | Events | Count | Age | Score | Guide | Avg |
| 1 | 10 | 686 | 71.8 | 98.8 | 25.2 | 04:41 |
| 2 | 10 | 781 | 69.5 | 92.4 | 20.9 | 04:26 |
| 3 | 11 | 1015 | 71.5 | 93.6 | 22.1 | 04:25 |
| 4 | 11 | 899 | 72.9 | 94.4 | 22.7 | 04:30 |
| 5 | 11 | 974 | 68.6 | 95.1 | 23.5 | 04:31 |
Observations
Average Player’s Age
There is no clear relationship between pace and average age of players either by Division or by individual events. We range in average age of actual players from 68.6 to almost 73. Division 5 is our newest and youngest. But, Division 4, our oldest, plays at the same pace.
Course Difficulty
There was no relationship in course difficulty (Rating, or Slope or even a combination or Rating and Slope). Why – with many of our members playing forward tees, the average slope and rating for most courses get reduced. By averaging the actual rating and slope of tees played, the Divisions’ ratings were essentially 66+ Rating and 112+ Slope. Even looking at events’ averages, the data was very scattered. Other factors were far more important.
Course Crowding
There was no clear evidence of course crowding on average pace. Most events ranged from 75 to 100 players. At this level number of players is not a major factor on slow play. This is why Division 5 was formed – to keep average players around 100 at most. One event with 132 players (tee start) did slow play, but the average for that event was still better that 4:30.
Course Conditions
Although we had a lot of rain and wet conditions at the start of the season, there is simply not enough data to show any clear directions. On many of the rain or path only events, we had fewer players. That may have compensated for slower Path Only conditions.
Player Skill (Handicap Guide and Gross Scores)
Player Skill as measured by Handicap Guide or Gross Scores is by far the strongest factor for Division and Event Pace of Play. There is almost perfect correlation by Division and very strong correlation by Event.
Every 3 strokes added to the Average Gross Score for all players adds 7 minutes to the average Pace of Play.
Now more questions
Why is Div 1 Handicap Guide so high?
Why is Div 2 Handicap Guide so low?
Are more Div 1 players playing back? Fewer low handicap players?
Thanks for the comments Ralph. We have been really fortunate that all our Division VPs have embraced the Pace of Play initiative, Each Division was represented in the Pace of Play Committee and these guys went back and made contributions to encourage pace improvements. Every division has improved significantly from last year that is why I was surprised to see the difference for Division 1 develop.
Now the data clearly the issue of SKILL as measured by gross score and handicaps is the issue. Skill also includes judgement – selection of tees, when to take a penalty or try hitting out of heavy rough or the woods, and when to pickup and score 9. We (Div 1) may simply have more higher handicap players than other divisions (or significantly fewer low handicappers). As you point out, this could mean more ball searches, probably more penalties, and simply more strokes.
One added point, very limited data from last year showed that if a foursome total score was over 440 (110 + by all players) that group was unusually slow. Friends want to play together and we appreciate that. This is where asking them to be more aware, stay up with the group ahead, and use the max 9 rule will help. We are seeing this in all divisions.
Unfortunately, we still have some instances where individual scores of 120 to 140 are showing up. A player taking 20 to 40 strokes more than our 95 to 98 average is going to be slower. But 20 strokes at 30 seconds each is still only 10 minutes. Committed practice of Ready Golf can overcome most of this.
Skill level might be indicated by the handicap guides that make up the flights in each Division (lowest 25% in A flight, next lowest 25% in B flight, etc.). A review of the report on OurGolfStats.com, which goes back to the beginning of 2015, shows that Division 1 has a higher handicap guide at the high end of flights A, B, and C, than the other Divisions – and it has been this way for some time. The report can be found at http://ourgolfstats.com/ms_flight_history_by_date.php There may be other ways to use this report to test differences in the other Divisions.
This is really terrific analysis, Dave – very meaningful with actual, objective data.