Weekend golf in Singapore

it's been a while since I played on a saturday morning in Singapore, even though I am a member of Warren G&CC. Today i remembered why it is totally unadvisable...

We were late teeing off because being way down the order, this is normal for a saturday morning, since once the backlog starts it just escalates so any flights after 8am are inevitably late getting started. It is hard enough to get a weekend flight anyway, because i have a job so cannot unfortunately be at the club in person at 4.30pm the previous Thursday to line up and book a flight, anyway that's another story!

So, we finally get underway but from the very first hole the flight in front of us decide that not only are the playing for the combined four majors of golf (thereby putting everything, even what appear to be 12" gimmes...) but they are also damned gonna take their time and take as many practice swings as they like. One guy, let's call him the cowboy, is the worst offender i have ever seen on a golf course, this guy needs about a dozen swings before he steps up and hits the ball, which he usually does pretty badly. He made Kevin Na look like a speed golfer. Of course the flight in front is also playing off of the blue tees which is WAY beyond their ability, meaning their drives are short and any chance of hitting greens in reg are simply not gonna happen. However, they are determined to go for every single green (even though after three holes it is clear that reaching the very light green dancefloor is as likely as any of these guys turning pro) and we are therefore forced to wait for them on every hole as they have a total misalignment between ambition and ability and are somehow convinced that they can play attacking golf.

Fast forward 4hrs and 50mins later and the group had finished well over a hole behind the flight in front, had been warned twice by the marshals to speed up during play and finally accompanied own the entire last hole to get them off the course, yet these guys had the skins of rhinoceros' - nothing was going to deter them from playing it their way, who gives a crap about anyone else on the golf course, eh?

The flight behind us gave up after 16 holes and as they drove past us they were laughing because of course, being an entire hole behind, they were waiting on every tee box we were as the cowboy and his kakis attempted to ruin as many peoples day as possible.

Anyone that is familiar with the rules of golf, which in my opinion should be all of us, since it is the fascinating rules of this game that make it so spellbinding and addictive, will know that on the first page of the rule book the words "consideration for other players" appear. A little further down that page is the passage on pace of play, it says -

"It is a group's responsibility to keep up with the group in front. if it loses a clear hole and it is delaying the group behind, it should invite the group behind to play through, irrespective of the number of players in that group."

Remember, this is on the first page of the rules of golf. I can honestly say that in 14 years of playing golf here I have been let through by the group in front once. As a side-note, there is a very interesting movement in the US called "tee it forward"...

Mate, yr displeased was noted here.
Bt actually it shld be the marshal duty to read the situation and apply the necessary measure as to ensure a smooth flow of play.
ie: after final warning, penalized them and skip a hole (par 5 prefered) and proceed to the next hole n so on. This will help ease the situation better.

hkhamateur wrote:

Mate, yr displeased was noted here.
Bt actually it shld be the marshal duty to read the situation and apply the necessary measure as to ensure a smooth flow of play.
ie: after final warning, penalized them and skip a hole (par 5 prefered) and proceed to the next hole n so on. This will help ease the situation better.

thanks for positive reply (yes, i was feeling pretty frustrated when venting off earlier!) but i really believe the marshals at most clubs are generally a bit timid in solving the situations like this because they get a huge mouthful from the offending golfers, which of course is totally wrong

Basically it's a marshal's job to get these people moving. The ones at MBGC are really on the ball. They even remind you to keep pace even there's no flight behind.

There's once I was playing a charity event at Sentosa's Tanjong Course when the marshal actually told the flight in front of me to skip the 9th hole cause they were holding up others behind n despite being a charity tournament.

If we can find a stop to slow play

I think the world will be free of violence liao

However I think its fair for u to just walk up to them and inform them that they are slow...after the game

Duval_S wrote:

If we can find a stop to slow play

I think the world will be free of violence liao

However I think its fair for u to just walk up to them and inform them that they are slow...after the game

Bro Duval, better leave it to the Marshal on duty or worse the club management as to avoid argument between frt or behind flights thus tat ll jammed up the course.
U may nt stop violence in this manner too.
I strongly believe everyone here or outside GR just wanna enjoy our game, companionship n our weekend right!
Cheers!

To JimB976, since you'e the member of WGC, you should and able to file a complaint to the commitees, they should take action against this group of snail golfers!! More over they been warning twice??

I have asked for permission to overtake before and have also asked people go overtake my flight. some are nice. some are not. but golfers in. General zhould be able to play faster.

simoner wrote:

Basically it's a marshal's job to get these people moving. The ones at MBGC are really on the ball. They even remind you to keep pace even there's no flight behind.

There's once I was playing a charity event at Sentosa's Tanjong Course when the marshal actually told the flight in front of me to skip the 9th hole cause they were holding up others behind n despite being a charity tournament.

Let me start by saying I'm all for Marshalls taking initiative to push slower flights who are holding up other flights. Nobody likes to play a round of golf over 5 hours long. This morning I played 9 holes (nsrcc navy changi) with my wife and we completed in under 2 hours.

As for marshalls in mbgc, they have a 'special' place in my heart because they apply the other extreme, i.e. to the book without the need to apply common sense. When I play mbgc, I feel that We are not allowed to play a hole badly. If We do, the Marshall will hound us and remind us to speed up even on a day where there is NO flight behind. Their presence, of course compound the problem more as some golfers play worse with them lurking around.

To the thread starter, I empathize with your experience. Hopefully it is a exception rather than the norm in your club. Please keep the faith, don't lose heart.

hkhamateur wrote:

Mate, yr displeased was noted here.
Bt actually it shld be the marshal duty to read the situation and apply the necessary measure as to ensure a smooth flow of play.
ie: after final warning, penalized them and skip a hole (par 5 prefered) and proceed to the next hole n so on. This will help ease the situation better.

Normally in my club is the par 3 that get choked up.