Seems like you told him, so if it continues, don't invite him anymore... Or, have others in group tell him as well.

It is an awkward situation to tell someone that you do not want to play with them. I've run into this a few times and was hard for me to have to resolve the problem but because they were driving me nuts and upsetting my golf play I had to do something. I just told them that there were plenty of other people to play with because our group is having a conflict of getting together at certain times and that the person should find another group. They moved on and I still run in to them from time to time with no hard feelings eventually.

I would make the group play ready golf. That's how we play on the weekends. Usually speeds up the slower players.

The staff at your club and the marshalls should tell him
As it's a fact, there's no need for him to get rude

Hey Curtis,

This is a good read and will help the way you approach slow players in future!

www.golfmadesimple.com/.../secret-playing-slow-golfers

If you enjoy playing with that person I would take them aside at a private moment and let them know that they need to pick up the pace.

If you are paired with someone that you barely know except that they are a slow player, and you are not holding up the group behind you, then that is a tough situation!

This is an interesting topic to me, everyone says they want to stop slow play in golf yet we sit there and watch Jordan Spieth and Jason Day take hours to hit the ball week in an week out and that trickles all the way down to our weekend rounds. I totally understand that theres a huge difference between the guys on tour and a sunday morning 18, but my point is we all want to stop it, yet we don't really have a plan to do so.

My buddy an I grew up playing the game together, and we usually walk. When we play together its a thing of beauty. He will get to his ball on the left side and mines over on the right, I just head to my ball. One of hits the shot and the next shot is in the air within 40 seconds of the previous shot! no time wasting, ready golf!

I think the best way to go about it is to demand that ready golf be played, and continue to tell your partner when he isn't playing ready golf. No one likes to be rushed, but there does need to be some adjustments made by slower players.

Very touchy situation unless you are just a brutally honest person (like myself) and your friends know you as such. Most times people play slow because they don't start the process until it's their turn to play or sit in the cart while their playing hits their shot then they go to their ball. The gentleman I play with the most is very methodical ;) so I just would have him drop me off at my ball, and have him go to his. That helps speed things up.

If I'm paired with a players that are deliberately slow I do not have an issue telling them we are out of position or holding up the next group. Playing fast ready golf usually sends the message. Once the the last shot leaves the tee head to your ball and hit it...I don't have a problem with 2 balls in the air at the same time.

Ready Golf Baby!!!
Dr. K

I've tried not to single out a particular person in the group that is slowing us down. On the tee, or when we've all holed out at the green, I announce that we're getting behind and we need to catch up with the group in front of us. Or mention that we've got people waiting behind us. Hopefully the group will allow some mutual peer pressure to work.

Enjoy!

Paul

Let the Marshall know up front and let him deal with it. If you tell him/her they will keep an eye out for them. Let them be the "bad guy".

Sometimes this non-verbal motion works... On the tee, if your group plays ready golf, just get on the tee and play- and if he's last to tee off, just walk up you don't have to wait. If he's not ready on the approaches, go ahead and play and proceed to the green walking along side the fairway. On the greens, have someone or initiate a verbal order of play if it helps the slower player to get ready.

It's not rude to let someone know they need to pick up in golf, however, it is rude to take all of the time that everyone are allowed just so you don't fall out of place on the course.

A witty personality to address the situation can make it easy on everyone. LOL
But anyway, sometimes, a non-verbal motion/action works if everyone moves at a certain pace. On the tee, if your group plays ready golf- almost as if everyone wants to be first, just get on the tee and play- and if he's last to tee off, that's okay, just walk up you don't have to wait after he hits. If he's not ready on the approaches, go ahead and play and proceed to the green walking along side the fairway. On the greens, have someone or initiate a verbal order of play if it helps the slower player to get ready.

It's not rude to let someone know they need to pick up their pace in golf, however, it is unethical to take all of the time that everyone are allowed just so you don't fall out of place on the course. It's either they make an effort to keep up or they can chose to take a later tee time.

I usually will take the approach that "we all need to pick up the pace a bit to catch up with the group in front" or something similar when faced with these situations. When you include yourself in the group it seems to come off much better. The other side of the count is that if you don't like the speed of play with a certain individual, you can always find others to play with. We are all out on the golf course to have fun and for an everyday game, encouraging your entire group to keep the pace of play really makes the game more enjoyable for everybody. Good luck!

Our scorecard now has suggested time of play on it and I've found this useful for keeping visitors on track. My course is very historic and scenic, so it's easy for visitors to get distracted so I make sure I explain our approach to slow play and keep a focus on the holes times.

I agree with the comments about ready golf. I remember a game recently where 3 of us were at the green looking back to the slow guy halfway down the fairway hole after hole...he got the message after about 7 holes

I think it first depends how slow they are. I play with someone every Sunday who is pretty slow. I don't mind a 30 second setup, but after he does his routine he sometimes doesn't "feel" right and will back off the ball and start over again.

We are all past the point of being polite, and just tell him to hit the ball and we don't have all day.

I think the best thing to do is, if he will be a regular, is to get over the politeness and simply tell him to hit the ball and stop the pageantry. If he takes offense, just say we all can't spend all day watching you warm up before every shot!

30 seconds times lets say 80 for score = 2400 seconds = 40 minutes of setting up shots...seems excessive to me?

The topic of slow play seems to keep coming up. I have played at courses that I'll never play again because of very slow play, and others where the beauty of the course just took my mind off of anything other than enjoying the game. So far, I have only mentioned to another play that we needed to pick up the pace a few times. These were mostly in tournaments where there were penalty strokes added if your group did not finish in the allotted time.

I have played almost 200 courses, both public and private. In my humblest of opinions, the speed of play is best managed by the course management team. Starters and Rangers. If the starters get people off promptly at the players tee time, and the rangers keep the players moving on schedule, all is well. Rangers need to be polite but assertive to keep the play moving.

The most memorable round of golf I have played was at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. Walking only, with a caddy. The Caddy was on the clock and kept our foursome moving. He knew pretty close where every ball landed, had good yardages to the pin, and had a read for every green. At the end of the first 9 he had to clock in with a digital gizmo and then again at the end of the round. He was graded on keeping his players on time. I liked that, bring back caddy's.

Sadly, there will always be slow players. Players who do not know golf etiquette, don't care, or who are not capable physically of playing at a good pace. I accept what I get, slow play I'm still usually happy, brisk play I'm a whole lot happier. Some courses provide a great pace of play, some do not, some players are ready golfers, some are not.