Pace of Play

USGA has new rules specifically focused on improving pace of play. MSLSGA as the “Committee” has over several years adopted local rules for pace. These are now virtually identical to the several of the new USGA rules.

USGA encourages setting expectations for both beginners and experienced players on what types of behavior are considered prompt play, including the maximum amount of time it should normally take to make a stroke.

New USGA Rules encourage prompt pace of play by recommending that:

• Players should recognize that their pace of play affects others and they should play promptly throughout the round (such as by preparing in advance for each stroke and moving promptly between strokes and in going to the next tee),
• A player should make a stroke in no more than 40 seconds (and usually in less time) after the player is able to play without interference or distraction
• Committees should adopt a Pace of Play Policy.
• In addition, Rule 6.4 expressly allows playing out of turn for stroke play, affirmatively allows and encourages players to play out of turn in a safe and responsible way to save time or for convenience (also known as “ready golf”).

EXPECTATIONS METRO SENIORS

• Members are Expected to:
  • Play to best competitive effort, with courtesy and respect for others
  • Follow all rules – no gimme putts, QUAD BOGEY max, leave flagstick in, ……
  • Manage their group to “Meet Pace” and “Keep Up” with group ahead
  • Play READY GOLF – Play “out of turn” in a safe, responsible manner – No HONORS!
  • Play quickly – USGA suggests 40 SECONDS for a stroke
• Pace of Play Targets
  • 4 to 4 1/2 hours Tee Starts
  • 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours Shotgun Starts
  • Course, conditions, organization, member capability

Maximum of Quad Bogey on any hole

All players are required to take no more than a Quad Bogey on any hole.  This will prevent a “blow-up” hole from slowing a group and all behind them.  It will reduce only about 15 to 30 strokes per round but these are concentrated in our slowest players and groups. Pace for our slowest players (and those following) should improve by several minutes per round.

The Quad Bogey rule will not make any differences in handicaps, in flight prize money, in flight standings, or in qualifications for the league championship.

Everyone who has a bad hole is required to take advantage of the Quad Bogey rule.

The 2017 season is finished.  The Pace of Play data is analyzed.

2017 RESULTS
Overall Pace of Play (POP) for 2017 was GREAT! And a huge IMPROVEMENT. Our gross averages for all tee groups across all Divisions and courses was under 4:30, a 15 to 20 minute improvement as compared to 2016.

Although there were several complaints when we started, during the year we have received many positive comments about members appreciating the faster play. In discussions with courses for 2018 schedules, many acknowledged that they saw improvements.

The detailed data now shows that an overwhelming majority of our members can and do play at pace between 4 and 4:30. All ages and physical and golf abilities have been playing quickly. This reinforces that being ready to play and staying aware are far more important than skill, age or physical capabilities in pace of play.

2018 and Beyond

Focus on pace will continue.  We can still improve.  Every year new members will need to understand and practice.

Reverse Shotgun starts were clearly identified as a problem for pace.  No Reverse Shotgun starts are on the 2018 schedule (and probably not into the future).

Split Tee starts are the fastest.  We have more Split Tee starts for 2018.

Improved pace can also be a source of new membership as our reputation for fair, competitive, and speedy play grows.

We are not seniors who play golf.

We are good golfers who happen to be seniors. 

For 2017 details – see below.

Download (PDF, 145KB)

Thank You!

You have made some significant improvements to Pace of Play during 2017.

So far with 113 rounds in the books, (only 2 weeks and 10 more rounds remaining).

• 4 hour 30 minutes average tee group play time, about 19 minutes faster than 2016
• Only 19 of 113 rounds averaged more than 4 hour 45 minutes
• NO ROUNDS AVERAGED MORE THAN 5 hours.

We have a lot of quick players.

• Fastest groups average just over 4 hours almost thirty minutes faster than the field.
• These are usually the first starters in Tee Starts or with holes open in ahead on Shotgun starts.

We still have a very few players and tee groups that frequently slower than average or are the slowest group on the course.  Several of these have improved after seeing the data or with some encouragement.  When these groups start early in tee starts, they slow 4 to 6 groups behind by 20 to 30 minutes.

Start types are significant for pace.

• Tee Starts – 4 hours 26 minutes (84 players – 64 rounds)
• Regular Shotgun Starts – 4 hours 35 minutes (87 players – 33 rounds)
  • Average 3 to 4 tee groups – slow average by 10 to 15 minutes vs Tee Start
• Reverse Shotgun Starts – 4 hours 47 minutes (84 players – 15 rounds)
  • 4 to 6 more B Tee Groups – slow field by 15 to 30 minutes vs Tee Start

Courses are significant (difficulty and start type).

• 19 Rounds on 9 courses with average times over 4:45
• 3 Courses represent are 11 of the 19 high average rounds
  • Bear Creek – Reverse Shotgun
  • Far Oaks – 2 Tee / 2 Reverse Shotgun
  • Stonewolf – 1 Tee / 2 Reverse Shotgun

We know that weather and course conditions are significant.  However, with rain, few members play and times are fast.  Also with Path Only conditions, we had relatively few rounds played so data is not definitive

We can still improve.  Encouraging our slower players to simply keep up.  Our slowest groups finished with at least one hole open ahead.  They start 10 minutes later and lose an added 10 to 20 minutes.  Staying aware of groups ahead and behind is the most important part.

The Pace of Play Logs have given us a wealth of data.  As Tournament Committee schedules courses for 2018, we will use this along with your Survey input to help in course selection for 2018.

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

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.

Download (PDF, 12KB)

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?