There isn’t a person involved in the golf industry in any capacity who hasn’t heard about the doom and gloom regarding the future of the game. Among the complaints are: it takes too long to play, it costs too much, there are too many courses, it’s too expensive, and it’s too difficult. All of these observations have one thing in common: they are not insurmountable!
Regardless of how often they are repeated, not one of them is the sole reason for the negative thoughts about the future. It might be that it takes five+ hours to play, golf balls cost $5.00 each, and the average player still can’t break 90, even though they have just purchased the latest custom fitted driver for $800.00.
However, not every course is struggling, not every retail outlet is bankrupt and not every golfer is unhappy. Some courses are extremely busy, and while there might not be lengthy waiting lists, some courses are very healthy financially. The immediate question is why? Why the negativity and how do we address the complaints?
Where would a club’s management start if they could do anything to guarantee an improved bottom line?
Slow play is the one big problem. Strangely, the answer is not “play faster”. It’s not a race! It is a wonderful, outdoor experience that is to be savoured and enjoyed, each moment being absorbed into a golfer’s memory of pleasant experiences. It is not a time for excessive deliberation, disorganization and delay.
So how do you enjoy yourself in an acceptable time frame and not feel like you are being hurried?
Change requires desire, effort and information. Effort flows from management to staff and to individual players. Management has to create an atmosphere by providing methods of teaching staff what to tell players and how to behave on the course in certain situations, all oriented toward a reduction in time to play. Once this is coordinated, staff can begin delivering the message to the players. In turn, the players have to ‘buy-in’. Some will understand that if they play more efficiently, they will shoot a lower score. Some will appreciate having more time to discuss business after the round, or time to simply enjoy socializing, and some will recognize playing in an abbreviated time means walking at a slightly brisker pace, which in itself provides health benefits.
If the answer is not ‘play faster’, what is it?
In my opinion, the amount of time consumed to play 18 holes is directly related to two things: the misuse of power cars and green speeds. Before the advent of cars, 50 years ago, an 18 hole round could be played in four hours or less. With the average person walking at a rate of about four mph and a cart running at seven mph, why does it take longer to play? The answer is because people don’t know how to use them!
Rule #1: When there are two riders, there shouldn’t be a designated driver; each should drive the cart. The player who hits the longer drive (Player #2) should drive to the shorter tee shot and drop off the Player #1 with enough clubs to play, the driver then goes to his/her ball and prepares to play when it is his/her turn. After Player #1 has ‘hit’, he/she WALKS to the cart as player #2 hits and they repeat the process until the green is reached.
Rule #2: When arriving near the front of the green drop-off, the passenger/rider with the clubs required to pitch AND PUTT, continues on driving the cart to the back of the green for easy exit and prepares to putt. A lot of time is saved by sharing the driving responsibilities.
At the same time golf cars became popular, so did the competition to produce green speeds stimping above 12.
Rule #3: Course owners MUST reduce them from +12 to between 10 and 10.5. The average player is not skilled enough to putt on excessively fast greens and therefore takes longer with each putt and
takes more putts in total.
Most people understand there is a need for cooperation from everyone, but they haven’t bought into being part of the solution, mostly because they don’t know what to do. If each player reduced their playing time by one second per shot, that would equate to one and a half minutes per player, or about 100 minutes per day – easily giving us the much-desired four-hour round.
What better marketing plan could a course owner offer than faster play and lower scores?
Michael Schurman is a Life Member with the PGA of Canada. In 1988, he became the youngest person to attain the category of Master Professional and served on national and regional PGA boards; is a Past President of the PGA of Ontario and recipient of the Club Professional of the Year Award.
Michael played on a variety of tours and tournaments during his career and held the Head Golf Professional position at a variety of golf clubs. Michael has been involved in golf at every level and just about every capacity for over 50 years.
