slow play killing golf!!!

blee wrote:

Agreed.  I use the voice caddy (mine is I am caddy) together with the range finder too..
 
The points that you have mentioned are similar to what i do on the course - Preparation for the next shot.  Also when driving up to the green, I try to see how the terrain is like and the general break.
 
 I think i am slightly faster than you... I take one practice swing... 

I forgot to say, up to 2 practice swings, sometimes I don't take, but old habits die hard.  

Sometimes I wonder if we're really just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Life in Singapore is very stressful and we zoom and rush around to save precious seconds in our day. If it's not to beat the f'g ERP gantry timing, it's to get the better parking lots in the office. As it stands, we're already taking crazy steps to adjust to the pace of life whether it be having lunch at 11:30am, leaving for the office at the crack of dawn or rushing to the Expo ahead of everyone else to save $50 on a LCD TV.

Have we lost it? Have we really forgotten what it's like to give our brethren an extra couple of minutes out of our day? Does it really make a difference to our lives if we saved 50 cents on the ERP at the expense of cursing every car which is going less than the max speed limit and giving our blood pressure a run for its money?

So, perhaps it's time to just unwind and take things easy. Perhaps we should just let the flight in front have more breathing space. There are days when we play horrible golf and we are embarrassed by it. It's not because we're bad golfers - just golfers with bad luck. It doesn't help that the flight behind us is breathing down our necks to save a precious few minutes. We all end up back in the clubhouse drinking beer till 2+pm anyway so what's the extra 15-20 minutes going to get us?

Food for thought or just a mindless rant? Go figure.

I think, techno, you are just itching to go to the Den and try out some of the new offerings there and get yr itchy backside scratched. Go figure....

asahi wrote:

I think, techno, you are just itching to go to the Den and try out some of the new offerings there and get yr itchy backside scratched. Go figure....

Why you say that?
Who asked you to say that?
When can I go to the Den?
What can I see?

All I do is WWWWWonder

I think I can be considered a fast player, at one stage it was so extreme ... no practice swing ... no rangefinder ... no preshot routine ... no lining up putt ... take excessive number of clubs to the ball so I would not need to walk back to the buggy ... and then spend a lot of time in the buggy smoking while waiting for the flight in front

Probably not the best approach for consistency

Recently, in an attempt to improve my focus and committment, with the overall aim of improving my consistency, I have decided to work on my pre-shot routine and committment at the range and on the course.  So last friday, I went down to KGPA and played as a 1 ball (friend had a last minute meeting).  It was the nine holes normally reserved for walking for members but I played with a cart.  I played 2 balls at each hole, tee to green to hole out.  Each shot I committed to a full pre-shot routine (admittedly, my routine is quite short and consists mainly of a couple of partial practice swings at half speed until I am comfortable with the shot).  Sometimes, if I felt uneasy, I stepped back and went through the whole process again.

At most greens, it was empty, so I did some chipping/bunker and putting practice.  Stopped for 5 mins to have a smoke and a chat with another golfer.

Ball striking was pretty good, Driver was acceptable, likewise with chipping.  Putting was poor (distance control - greens much slower on the 9 I played and a lot of slopes) so I spent a lot of time putting from 1 end of the green to another or retrying putts to learn the break.  However, I made sure that I had finished out the hole with both balls before practicing anything.

Played Srixon Z-Star vs Bridgestone B-330-RX (close fight until the B330 decided to disappear into thick rough on hole 7) so the Z-Star won by 3 strokes.

At most shots, I would use the rangefinder.  And being buggy on track, if I hit one ball left and one ball right, I would have to lug a bunch of different clubs and shoot distances for both before going in seperate pre-shot routines for each shot.

Sounds like a long game?  When I finished the 9 holes (x 2 balls each hole), it was barely 2 hours.  I was shocked, it felt more like 3 hours as I felt like I had spent a lot of extra time getting ready for shots and also practicing short game and putting at each green.  Perhaps I was spending more time waiting for the flight in front than I realised on normal days

Guess what I am trying to say is that as long as you know how to be efficient in moving around the course AND you are decisive about the shot you want to play, there is more than enough time to use the rangefinder, go through routine etc etc and still keep up with place of play.

p.s.  I normally do not search more than 60s for a ball (unless waiting for the flight in front), if I can't find it by that time, will just drop a ball and play from there and put the max score allowable for that hole based on my handicap.

Derek wrote:

I think I can be considered a fast player, at one stage it was so extreme ... no practice swing ... no rangefinder ... no preshot routine ... no lining up putt ... take excessive number of clubs to the ball so I would not need to walk back to the buggy ... and then spend a lot of time in the buggy smoking while waiting for the flight in front

Probably not the best approach for consistency

Recently, in an attempt to improve my focus and committment, with the overall aim of improving my consistency, I have decided to work on my pre-shot routine and committment at the range and on the course.  So last friday, I went down to KGPA and played as a 1 ball (friend had a last minute meeting).  It was the nine holes normally reserved for walking for members but I played with a cart.  I played 2 balls at each hole, tee to green to hole out.  Each shot I committed to a full pre-shot routine (admittedly, my routine is quite short and consists mainly of a couple of partial practice swings at half speed until I am comfortable with the shot).  Sometimes, if I felt uneasy, I stepped back and went through the whole process again.

At most greens, it was empty, so I did some chipping/bunker and putting practice.  Stopped for 5 mins to have a smoke and a chat with another golfer.

Ball striking was pretty good, Driver was acceptable, likewise with chipping.  Putting was poor (distance control - greens much slower on the 9 I played and a lot of slopes) so I spent a lot of time putting from 1 end of the green to another or retrying putts to learn the break.  However, I made sure that I had finished out the hole with both balls before practicing anything.

Played Srixon Z-Star vs Bridgestone B-330-RX (close fight until the B330 decided to disappear into thick rough on hole 7) so the Z-Star won by 3 strokes.

At most shots, I would use the rangefinder.  And being buggy on track, if I hit one ball left and one ball right, I would have to lug a bunch of different clubs and shoot distances for both before going in seperate pre-shot routines for each shot.

Sounds like a long game?  When I finished the 9 holes (x 2 balls each hole), it was barely 2 hours.  I was shocked, it felt more like 3 hours as I felt like I had spent a lot of extra time getting ready for shots and also practicing short game and putting at each green.  Perhaps I was spending more time waiting for the flight in front than I realised on normal days

Guess what I am trying to say is that as long as you know how to be efficient in moving around the course AND you are decisive about the shot you want to play, there is more than enough time to use the rangefinder, go through routine etc etc and still keep up with place of play.

p.s.  I normally do not search more than 60s for a ball (unless waiting for the flight in front), if I can't find it by that time, will just drop a ball and play from there and put the max score allowable for that hole based on my handicap.

i still like the old you...

drink n golf...

His PRE shot routine used to be open can of beer, drink, then drink again, walk to ball, hit, then go back to buggy and drive off. 

Technospaz wrote:

Sometimes I wonder if we're really just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Life in Singapore is very stressful and we zoom and rush around to save precious seconds in our day. If it's not to beat the f'g ERP gantry timing, it's to get the better parking lots in the office. As it stands, we're already taking crazy steps to adjust to the pace of life whether it be having lunch at 11:30am, leaving for the office at the crack of dawn or rushing to the Expo ahead of everyone else to save $50 on a LCD TV.

Have we lost it? Have we really forgotten what it's like to give our brethren an extra couple of minutes out of our day? Does it really make a difference to our lives if we saved 50 cents on the ERP at the expense of cursing every car which is going less than the max speed limit and giving our blood pressure a run for its money?

So, perhaps it's time to just unwind and take things easy. Perhaps we should just let the flight in front have more breathing space. There are days when we play horrible golf and we are embarrassed by it. It's not because we're bad golfers - just golfers with bad luck. It doesn't help that the flight behind us is breathing down our necks to save a precious few minutes. We all end up back in the clubhouse drinking beer till 2+pm anyway so what's the extra 15-20 minutes going to get us?

Food for thought or just a mindless rant? Go figure.

Good food for thought,  I am a born-again newbie so most probably I can be consider slow.

Years ago,  saw 2 groups almost came to blows over incidents on the course at the clubhouse.  They had to be separated.  At that time was thinking that golf was to relax but maybe I was wrong...

blee wrote:

His PRE shot routine used to be open can of beer, drink, then drink again, walk to ball, hit, then go back to buggy and drive off. 

Wrong lah! Where got hit ball one?!

Golf is to relax, but relax doesn't mean to take our own sweet time with no regard for others in the same flight or for those playing behind.

Conversely, it would be good too if faster and more impatient golfers remember that they too once had to crawl before they learned how to run, figuratively speaking of course.

In the end, if both faster and slower golfers show due consideration for each other, then we would all have a more enjoyable time on the course.

Sometimes all it takes is a few polite words to pass the flight in front, it may not always work, but we would never know if we don't try.

And let's not forget to thank the front flight for letting us through.

asahi wrote:

blee wrote:

His PRE shot routine used to be open can of beer, drink, then drink again, walk to ball, hit, then go back to buggy and drive off. 

Wrong lah! Where got hit ball one?!

You mean he hit wrong ball ah?

Birdman wrote:

Sometimes all it takes is a few polite words to pass the flight in front, it may not always work, but we would never know if we don't try.

And let's not forget to thank the front flight for letting us through.

Birdy, I wish I can agree with you on this. 

But happened to me a few times, asked nicely but kena rejected.
Jokers continue to maximize value of their green fees few holes down.

  

Pray, hw to be patient?!
But I do try lah......

Bro, you so tall and hamsome, got people reject you meh?  

I admit it doesn't work all the time, but more often than not it did. I realised if I throw in a bit of a wayang story, it works better. I learnt that a straight off "Hi, do you mind if we pass?" usually will get the terse response of "No!".

Having said that, there are those that don't even bother to ask and just drive by the slow flight and hop over to the next hole. That works too. Not that I condone it.

Techno and I once played golf together.....we came to a point where we were whistling 'always look at the bright side of life....whistle whistle'.

I cant stand golfers who spend incredible time looking for their balls.

I cant stand golfers who insist on sticking to the rule and going back to the tee to tee off again, when we are not even betting

I cant stand golfers who take too many practise swing

I cant stand golfers who spent more time .... standing on the green chatting and explaining to me, why he played double par.....I don care!!!!

I cant stand golfers who hasnt put on gloove when its his term to tee off.

I cant stand golfers who walk all over the green just to putt when its his turn...do it when we are all searching for the right line

sorry..fingers too tired, cant go on.

Technospaz wrote:

Sometimes I wonder if we're really just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Life in Singapore is very stressful and we zoom and rush around to save precious seconds in our day. If it's not to beat the f'g ERP gantry timing, it's to get the better parking lots in the office. As it stands, we're already taking crazy steps to adjust to the pace of life whether it be having lunch at 11:30am, leaving for the office at the crack of dawn or rushing to the Expo ahead of everyone else to save $50 on a LCD TV.

Have we lost it? Have we really forgotten what it's like to give our brethren an extra couple of minutes out of our day? Does it really make a difference to our lives if we saved 50 cents on the ERP at the expense of cursing every car which is going less than the max speed limit and giving our blood pressure a run for its money?

So, perhaps it's time to just unwind and take things easy. Perhaps we should just let the flight in front have more breathing space. There are days when we play horrible golf and we are embarrassed by it. It's not because we're bad golfers - just golfers with bad luck. It doesn't help that the flight behind us is breathing down our necks to save a precious few minutes. We all end up back in the clubhouse drinking beer till 2+pm anyway so what's the extra 15-20 minutes going to get us?

Food for thought or just a mindless rant? Go figure.

well said technospaz!! When I play and the flight in front is slow, i will just tcss with my flight mates, that's golf! Enjoy it!