slow play killing golf!!!

snagy23 wrote:

beehome wrote:

Firing warning shots. These are players with totally no brains. I wouldn't even call them golfers as they do not understand the basic golf ethics.

I stop playing golf in JB on public holidays. This is because of an encounter few years ago during the CNY period. Played in Pulai Springs with 2 japanese friends (Members of Pulai). 
As it was CNY, the course was quite crowded. We played from white. The flight behind were members of Pulai and played there regularly. We can see that they were very familiar with the course. We found out about this after the game when my Jap fren lodged a complaint.

They hit warning shots at everyone hole at us. Not only that, they used some kind of instrument (sound a bit like a vuvuzela) to blare at us to hurry us up. What a bunch of assholes!
It was 1 of the worst game I ever had.

My Jap fren actually wanted to pick a fight with them on the course. Now he hardly plays there even though he is still a member.

Firing warning shots is DEFINITELY a no,no. It is just too dangerous.

Humm.. ok disclaimer, anyone ever think of hitting the warning shot golf ball back at them? just a thought but of course no point an eye for an eye, and that make  both golfer blind and cant play golf! hahaha..

We did talk about it but then at the end of the day, 2 wrongs don't make one right...

One of my former bosses did mentioned that in Europe, if such things happen, they will put the ball on top of a tee so show them that they are getting to close... Don't think it will work here though..

I Used leaves and grass to cover the ball should this happens to me.

Why give them a free tee?

I will drive my buggy over the ball to make sure it is deeply embedded. If the ground is hard, i will kick it into the nearest rough or hazards.

Fire warning shots is totally wrong, but some players just think they are so right which I think these players should not be playing golf at all.

asahi wrote:

I Used leaves and grass to cover the ball should this happens to me.

Why give them a free tee?

Thats why i carry broken tees in my pocket.... 

TDO wrote:

Maybe I should consider keeping the ball if it ever roll past me and take Golf God give it to me as a token of appreciation for not retaliating. And if the golfer dare approach me for the ball the answer will be "I thought it's a gift from Golf God. It couldn't be from you, right, because the ball could have seriously injured us".

You can say that you are keeping the ball as evidence too....

blee wrote:

TDO wrote:

Maybe I should consider keeping the ball if it ever roll past me and take Golf God give it to me as a token of appreciation for not retaliating. And if the golfer dare approach me for the ball the answer will be "I thought it's a gift from Golf God. It couldn't be from you, right, because the ball could have seriously injured us".

You can say that you are keeping the ball as evidence too....

Not another ball from god sent by god for you to play again   

enwee wrote:

blee wrote:

TDO wrote:

Maybe I should consider keeping the ball if it ever roll past me and take Golf God give it to me as a token of appreciation for not retaliating. And if the golfer dare approach me for the ball the answer will be "I thought it's a gift from Golf God. It couldn't be from you, right, because the ball could have seriously injured us".

You can say that you are keeping the ball as evidence too....

Not another ball from god sent by god for you to play again   

in case you complain to club ah.....

'Seeeeeeee, this is the ball they used to hit at us.... '

Speaking of slow play, I think this also contribute to slow play by some players, I'm sure many of us here encounter before, every shot, take out the range finder and shoot, 500m shoot to 10m........faint.

enwee wrote:

Speaking of slow play, I think this also contribute to slow play by some players, I'm sure many of us here encounter before, every shot, take out the range finder and shoot, 500m shoot to 10m........faint.

Theres more to it than meets the eye. Some golfers have the innate ability to guess distance with naked eyes. Some like me are lousy at it and having a range finder make my decision making faster, not slower. When im far from green, i may use finder to know distance to reachable hazards. 

The other thing is you do all these while other players are hitting their turns. We shud not wait until its our turn to hit then start our routine.

Technospaz wrote:

The problem which bugs me the most is the flight of newbie'ish golfers who play off blue. It's frustrating when the course is packed and frankly, I'm sure it disrupts their game too (not that frequently sending the ball into the jungle/water or duffing every other shot doesn't). Yet, they remain thick-skinned about it all and continue to hack away while flights behind pile up.

Ahhh... the irony of life. B'tch about it and get it in your face soon after. The game on Saturday was slow and painful thanks to a 3 ball flight in front of us (yes, you read it right... "THREE BALL") who decided that golf was best enjoyed by taking the most difficult approaches and playing like every shot would be retold by Amanda Balionis.

Of the many things which irked me with this flight, one of the golfers was exceptionally good at doing this...

1. Stand over ball.
2. Take practice swing #1
3. Take practice swing #2 (sometimes, there'd be #3 as well)
4. Walk to sand container
5. Repair divot with sand (What?)
6. Proceed to take actual swing
7. Repair divot with sand (again!)

Don't ask me why he couldn't repair the divot once and for all after the actual shot.

Oh... he took practice swings in the bunker too.

*groan*

This concludes my Tuesday morning rant. Ok, my pre-8am rant.

Did he repair the divots many times?   All I saw was him sitting on the ground most of the time...

pushslice wrote:

enwee wrote:

Speaking of slow play, I think this also contribute to slow play by some players, I'm sure many of us here encounter before, every shot, take out the range finder and shoot, 500m shoot to 10m........faint.

Theres more to it than meets the eye. Some golfers have the innate ability to guess distance with naked eyes. Some like me are lousy at it and having a range finder make my decision making faster, not slower. When im far from green, i may use finder to know distance to reachable hazards. 

The other thing is you do all these while other players are hitting their turns. We shud not wait until its our turn to hit then start our routine.

I do understand that sometimes u'll be in doubt of the distance and need to know distance to maybe hazards. But some is even 10 -20m they also used it to shoot. Some people lagi best, the ground indicate 152m they shoot liao can tell u, oh it's 154m, felt like telling him even if it's 153m can anyone be that accurate? Don't forget there's also a factor of nature to consider. I'm not sure abt you, but unless it's a course I'm not familiar with, normally courses I played often I would used the ground indicator I don't even turn on my mobile tour caddie. I think this water polo weather is getting to me.

enwee wrote:

pushslice wrote:

enwee wrote:

Speaking of slow play, I think this also contribute to slow play by some players, I'm sure many of us here encounter before, every shot, take out the range finder and shoot, 500m shoot to 10m........faint.

Theres more to it than meets the eye. Some golfers have the innate ability to guess distance with naked eyes. Some like me are lousy at it and having a range finder make my decision making faster, not slower. When im far from green, i may use finder to know distance to reachable hazards. 

The other thing is you do all these while other players are hitting their turns. We shud not wait until its our turn to hit then start our routine.

I do understand that sometimes u'll be in doubt of the distance and need to know distance to maybe hazards. But some is even 10 -20m they also used it to shoot. Some people lagi best, the ground indicate 152m they shoot liao can tell u, oh it's 154m, felt like telling him even if it's 153m can anyone be that accurate? Don't forget there's also a factor of nature to consider. I'm not sure abt you, but unless it's a course I'm not familiar with, normally courses I played often I would used the ground indicator I don't even turn on my mobile tour caddie. I think this water polo weather is getting to me.

I too like Pushslice use a rangefinder, and yes... it can slow down the flight if as Enwee says, I take my time to range every hazard and any distance down to 10m. But as Pushslice says too, we who have rangefinders should do it way before it's our turn to hit. And if I happen to be the first on a par three, I announce the distance loud enough for the rest of my flight to hear as I feel it helps them to speed up their decision making process as well.

Regarding distance estimation under a hundred metres, I fail to understand how many find it difficult to work out the distance visually. Granted, there have been times when I have lasered out the shot distance when I needed confirmation that it was in between wedge distances, and only on a day when my wedges were accurate enough to get me close to the hole. Other than that, it's not rocket science to visually sub-divide 100m into 50m and then again into 25m. And with a little estimation get every other distance in between. I use the guess-timation method inside of a hundred metres so I don't lose my feel for yardages and become overly reliant on my rangefinder, and of course to speed up play.

I have played with birdman before and I can say that generally, he is a fast player even when using the range finder.  I guess it boils down to the individuals and like what PS and BM says, you need to prepare for your shots before your turn to hit.

P.S. - Birdy, the use of the voice caddy helps in gauging the distance even below 100m.  It helps me as you know i am distance blind....

Distance blind never mind so long not birdie blind.

Heard you damn sharp with hunting those birds.

asahi wrote:

Distance blind never mind so long not birdie blind.

Heard you damn sharp with hunting those birds.

Ya, the flying kind.. nearly killed a few...

btw, when are we having our game ah?  long time liao....

blee wrote:

asahi wrote:

Distance blind never mind so long not birdie blind.

Heard you damn sharp with hunting those birds.

Ya, the flying kind.. nearly killed a few...

btw, when are we having our game ah?  long time liao....

You too good...he runaway....

More like he too good for me...

blee wrote:

I have played with birdman before and I can say that generally, he is a fast player even when using the range finder.  I guess it boils down to the individuals and like what PS and BM says, you need to prepare for your shots before your turn to hit.

P.S. - Birdy, the use of the voice caddy helps in gauging the distance even below 100m.  It helps me as you know i am distance blind....

Ya.. I think the voice caddie is a boon for golfers who need distance confirmation, but I'm sure you know it's only to the centre of the green. I also have one, use it in tandem with my rangefinder, and to measure my shot distances so I know whether I'm playing my clubs short or just right for that day.

I do have a confession to make though... I too was once a slow deliberate golfer, taking many practice swings (5 was average) before taking more time to wiggle my body until I felt I found the right setup. Over the years and much advice to hurry up, I finally realised that being slow actually made my game worse. I was always scurrying to catch up with the rest of my flight, since they would eventually get fed up of waiting for me, I would be left to tee off last. And I would arrive at my next shot out of breath and not in a state of mind to make my club selection or play my next shot. It was a vicious cycle from shot to shot.

Eventually, through advice and observation, I learnt the value of ready golf. The game was more fun and I ended up with more time to chat with my mates and to play my next shot.

To me, being ready to hit when it's my turn involves the following process which starts right after taking my previous shot:

1. Knowing exactly where my ball has landed (not "roughly around here"), be it in the fairway, rough, or hazard.

2. Observing the green, the route through the air and also hazards which affect my next shot while on the way to my ball in the buggy.

3. Partially arrive at a conclusion on how I want to play my next shot and narrow down my club selection just before the buggy arrives at my ball.

4. Range the distance when it's not my turn and conclude what shot to play with what club.

5. Take 2 practice swings and hit the ball.

6. Around the green, I scan the general terrain and slope of the green my putt has to take before it's my turn to putt. If I need a little more time reading the putt, I tell the next ready person to putt first. (And why do people take so long to place the ball's line so precisely when they are not precise in their setup and aim when putting anyway?)  

Additionally, if two golfers are on opposite sides of the fairway, one left and one right, and we have all agreed to play ready golf, then I take my shot at the same time as the other guy on the opposite side. Speeds up play and I don't think we're near enough to distract each other, unless of course one golfer is Captain Caveman who shouts and curses after every shot.

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... 

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... 

Voice and i am caddy i think it's the same manufacturer???? my uncle buy liao tell me no good....batt life not so long also.

enwee wrote:

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... 

Voice and i am caddy i think it's the same manufacturer???? my uncle buy liao tell me no good....batt life not so long also.

My friend, there is a time call recharing the battery...  
 
Joke aside, the battery life are only good for about two 18 hours... so you need to recharge.  Also you need to know that like what BM says, the distance is to the centre of the green and also there are some shortcoming in that if your ball lands on the adjcant fairway, it might take a wrong reading.
 
Voice Caddy and I am caddy I think is different though both appears to coming from Korea (correct me if I am wrong)

Ok my turn to rant...  

It puzzles me how golfers have no clue when it comes to locating their ball, especially in the rough or hazard. I've lost count of the number of time I've heard the phrase "It landed around here..." which to me translates to "I have no idea where the ball landed exactly". To me, ball searching is the biggest time waster in golf. One 5 minute search every shot for one golfer over 18 holes, go multiply that. And we all know that a ball search is waaaay longer than 5 minutes.

Instead of ranting or turning away in disgust after a wayward shot, isn't it more important to track the path of the ball and note where it landed with pinpoint precision using landmarks like an unusual bush/tree or right next to a certain hazard stake? I learnt the value of mentally marking with precision when I played with a pro once where the rough was two to inches high around a par three. I was in the left rough and I thought I had marked it quite well, yet I couldn't find my ball, the rough had completely swallowed it up. The pro walked right up to it though. I asked him how he did it, and that's when he explained to me that for a pro in tournament play, lost balls meant lost money. He then taught me how to precisely mark the landing spot using landmarks. "One metre to the right of the stake next to the brown patch of ground" he said.

And I have to say, its surprising how many more seasoned players than beginners are guilty of not marking the ball position. Beginners I can forgive, because they haven't learnt the art of ball marking and finding yet.

To make matters worse, "I hit another one" is announced, doesn't matter if the flight is behind in time or if there is another flight behind. Same shot as the first is executed wayward, now we are searching for two balls instead of one, both of which "landed around here".

Double whammy!

Hello 6 hour round!