Play Through Etiquette

[Englishvb]

Played golf at a semi private club while on vacation.  We were a twosome and a foursome had teed off before us.  We caught up to them by the 3rd hole.  We had to wait on every shot!!!!!  They never once offered to let us play through, even when we accidentally hit into them on one hole.  I believe 2 were members and they appeared to be playing for $.  How would you have handled that?

Edited July 4 by Englishvb
Typo

[cnosil]

If there is a marshall they could have told the group to either speed up or let you play through.  I have played semi-private courses where I was told they don't say anything to members.   If they don't let you play through basically your only options; other than staying where you are,  is to skip a hole and jump ahead of them if the holes in front are open or try to pass them if they stop at the turn.   

[Hacker60521]

I often play as a single. And usually if I catch the group ahead of me at the tee, they’ll oftentimes offer to let me play through. Sometimes I accept and sometimes I don’t.

I did get stuck once behind five “finance bros” who were playing from the tips. Caught up to them on the second tee (par 5). They didn’t even acknowledge I was there. So after they muddled their way down the fairway I placed my drive and second shot right in the fairway. As they walked off the green and heading towards their carts I had an approach shot that landed nicely on the green (I was super lucky). Caught them again on the third tee. This time I simply asked if I could play through. Of course they said yes. 
 

The other trick I’ll use is to jump ahead when folks stop at the halfway house. Then it’s just one of those “you guys don’t mind if I play through right.” as they are eating hotdogs and drinking beer. Haha 

[NM01]

If im on vacation and playing a round of golf i would just wait on every shot and enjoy the day on the course. Then go back to wherever i was staying and relax and enjoy the vacation and thought nothing of the group in front of me during the round.

If I had somewhere to be later that day and time was of a possible concern I would have skipped a hole and kept in about my day then go back to wherever and enjoy my vacation 

[Middler]

It's rare that I/we ever get waved through, and most of my regular foursomes will easily play in under 3.5 hours if we're not held up. Some courses I play have rangers, some do not.

While we have been stuck behind a slow foursome with open holes ahead of them, more often than not the holdup is 2 or more groups ahead - so asking the group ahead to let us through doesn't help, they're waiting too. The OP didn't make that clear that I could tell - two different circumstance.

Etiquette? Hitting into people is no bueno no matter what, we always go look or wait if we're not sure. Being on an unfamiliar course would make me more cautious.

Edited July 4 by Middler

[DaveP043]

2 hours ago, Englishvb said:

 How would you have handled that?

I would be impatient, but I'd accept it.  Yes, they SHOULD invite you to play through.  Yes, a marshal should instruct them to invite you through.  But neither happened, so what choices do you have.  You can't insist on playing through, and its absolutely wrong to intentionally hit into them (I know you didn't do that).  So like many frustrating situations in life, you simply have to make the best of it.  Enjoy the day out with your friend, don't let their lack of manners ruin your day..

[bens197]

31 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I would be impatient, but I'd accept it.  Yes, they SHOULD invite you to play through.  Yes, a marshal should instruct them to invite you through.  But neither happened, so what choices do you have.  You can't insist on playing through, and it’s absolutely wrong to intentionally hit into them (I know you didn't do that).  So like many frustrating situations in life, you simply have to make the best of it.  Enjoy the day out with your friend, don't let their lack of manners ruin your day..

Co-signing Dave’s comments.

Don’t expect that everyone understands proper etiquette. 

[cksurfdude]

2 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

If im on vacation and playing a round of golf i would just wait on every shot and enjoy the day on the course.

I prefer to play at a steady pace, but "second" this comment when on vacation. Relax, tell yourself 'it is what it is', and enjoy the time at the vacay spot!

[Englishvb]

2 hours ago, Middler said:

It's rare that I/we ever get waved through, and most of my regular foursomes will easily play in under 3.5 hours if we're not held up. Some courses I play have rangers, some do not.

While we have been stuck behind a slow foursome with open holes ahead of them, more often than not the holdup is 2 or more groups ahead - so asking the group ahead to let us through doesn't help, they're waiting too. The OP didn't make that clear that I could tell - two different circumstance.

Etiquette? Hitting into people is no bueno no matter what, we always go look or wait if we're not sure. Being on an unfamiliar course would make me more cautious.

Agreed, never hit into the group in front.  We were in NC, the hole was 420 yards.  But downhill…we thought we were safe to hit my son in law doesn’t hit it 300, but he hit the shot of the round with some wind

[Englishvb]

Agreed, never hit into the group in front.  We were in NC, the hole was 420 yards.  But downhill…we thought we were safe to hit my son in law doesn’t hit it 300, but he hit the shot of the round with some wind

[NM01]

45 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

I prefer to play at a steady pace, but "second" this comment when on vacation. Relax, tell yourself 'it is what it is', and enjoy the time at the vacay spot!

Yep c no need to stress out or whatever while on vacation. 

[DaveP043]

19 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Yep c no need to stress out or whatever while on vacation. 

Or ever, really.  I think most of us play golf to have fun.  I do my best to try to have fun no matter what annoyances I face, from poor course conditions to inconsiderate players ahead of me to bad weather to my own shake performance.  We all face enough "problems" in real life, when I'm on the golf course I try to let nothing spoil my enjoyment of the time away from those problems.

Edit to add, I've played zero golf since June to, due to an eruption of sciatica.  I'd LOVE to be on the course playing right now, waiting for those guys.

Edited July 4 by DaveP043

[Middler]

40 minutes ago, Englishvb said:

Agreed, never hit into the group in front.  We were in NC, the hole was 420 yards.  But downhill…we thought we were safe to hit my son in law doesn’t hit it 300, but he hit the shot of the round with some wind

I interpreted “hit into them” as landing a ball or first bounce that could have hit a player ahead on the fly. I had a wildly errant drive hit me in the back of the head after one bounce a couple a couple months ago. On the fly could have been dangerous. I was on #8 tee, the ball came from #5 tee! 

While it’s still hitting into them, a ball that lands well short and rolls up near them isn’t quite the same to me. A couple years ago I pulled a six iron (intended as a layup) that hit the cart path and rolled up greenside 200 yds total (40 yds longer than my normal). I was embarrassed, thought they didn’t see my ball until they left the green and were then not amused, but it didn’t endanger anyone.

Edited July 4 by Middler

[Firmadge]

I play at mostly municipal (public) courses, so I encounter plenty of groups that will take longer to complete the round. I try to be patient as we are all on different skill levels and I once held people up probably too. I was lucky that the older guys who introduced me to playing taught me a rule early on. That rule was that you can play badly but cannot play slow. So when someone was having a bad day it was agreed that you picked up and moved on to either the green or the next hole with the rest of the group. My last round I was a single (only playing 9) and on hole three I caught a group who were only playing their first round of the season. They waved me up and I played on without ever seeing them again. I have been in places where the group ahead refused to acknowledge their slow play or offer the option to play through. In a couple of cases, If I could tell it was clear ahead and depending on the layout, I have been able to move up without disturbing them. I remember once when I was younger I was in a foursome with some folks who were long hitters and there was a group ahead of us that quite literally stood and examined every shot before anyone pulled the trigger. After the 4th or 5th hole when we stood on the tee and watched them standing in the fairway discussing their shots again with two carts parked behind them and no interest in speeding up for us, one of my foursome had seen enough and without warning fired one that cleared their group by 30 yards and kept running down the fairway. I don't condone or suggest that but it had the effect of changing their perspective as I don't think I have ever seen 4 guys hit their shots so quickly and move on. We never saw them again after that hole so I think they skipped one and kept moving. Again I don't recommend that but if there is a marshall, as others have said, it might be worth getting them to speak a word to the slow players. Otherwise keep your cool and hope they have the decency to wave you by.

[PrayingForPar]

I walk by myself regularly at municipal courses and am often stuck behind people who either don't understand the concept of letting someone play through, or have the "I paid just as much as you did" mentality and think I should have to wait for their foursome...

If no one is behind me, once I finish the hole I take a few minutes to putt from different parts of the green while I wait.

With that, Golf for me is an outlet from a stressful and demanding job, so those moments of waiting are time for me to remember why I am out there; to unplug, clear my head, and get home to my wife in a good mood.

[Rob Person]

On 7/4/2024 at 8:43 AM, Englishvb said:

Played golf at a semi private club while on vacation.  We were a twosome and a foursome had teed off before us.  We caught up to them by the 3rd hole.  We had to wait on every shot!!!!!  They never once offered to let us play through, even when we accidentally hit into them on one hole.  I believe 2 were members and they appeared to be playing for $.  How would you have handled that?

Semi private to me, infers they are membership driven course that allows some public tee times. They should have had a Marshall around somewhere.

However, I will usually approach one of the group at the tee box and ask if they mind if I hit so that they aren't feeling rushed or annoyed by me catching up to them frequently.  90% of the time they will let me hit, even if one or two have already teed off.

Edited September 12 by Rob Person

[Middler]

How often are you waiting only due to the group in front of you, IOW there's an opening in front of them? It happens but...

...IME when we are waiting, the slow play group is several groups in front of us more often than not. So we are all waiting, and we often can't even see the 'offending group.' IMO there is no point in playing through unless there's an obvious opening in front of the group immediately ahead of us.

 

Edited September 17 by Middler

[JAYER38]

On 7/4/2024 at 9:57 AM, cnosil said:

If there is a marshall they could have told the group to either speed up or let you play through.  I have played semi-private courses where I was told they don't say anything to members.   If they don't let you play through basically your only options; other than staying where you are,  is to skip a hole and jump ahead of them if the holes in front are open or try to pass them if they stop at the turn.   

This has been my experience also. But even at a public or private course if I/we are not invited to play thru/join after 2 holes of consistent pressure I will skip ahead.

I do make an effort to be social with the slower group ahead as we pass by from green to tee box just to take some of the awkward feeling out of it that I know some people can get during these situations

[Stuka44]

20 hours ago, JAYER38 said:

This has been my experience also. But even at a public or private course if I/we are not invited to play thru/join after 2 holes of consistent pressure I will skip ahead.

Just adding my 2 cents.  A couple of things.  Not blaming the OP(wondering as to time frame), but this is something even at our local courses, we keep in mind.  We book ahead and book the earliest possible tee time, just in case people cancel, and we end up with only 2.  My brother and I also did this before we had a steady 3 or 4 players for our Saturday Round.  We quickly learned that taking a tee time 1.5+ hours into the day, rendered you mostly surrounded by 4-somes.  Honestly with 3-4 groups of 3-4 people in front, there is nowhere to go.  Now being mostly the first group out if someone catches us, we pause and let them play on through.  

My brother and I went on a 2some trip to NC in February.  As a 2 in case we didn't get paired up with anyone, we got the first tee time of the day, and we have learned that playing courses that don't return to the clubhouse after 9 avoids being held up by split tee times still going off the back up until 1000 AM. 

[RetiredBoomer]

On 7/4/2024 at 9:43 AM, Englishvb said:

Played golf at a semi private club while on vacation.  We were a twosome and a foursome had teed off before us.  We caught up to them by the 3rd hole.  We had to wait on every shot!!!!!  They never once offered to let us play through, even when we accidentally hit into them on one hole.  I believe 2 were members and they appeared to be playing for $.  How would you have handled that?

I don't care, one way or another, because if I'm playing golf, I'm not in a hurry.

Still, we play a lot of scrambles, and scrambles are slow.
If we're clogging things up, an infrequent occurrence on weekdays,
we always offer to let people behind us play through.

It just happens a lot less often than you might imagine.

[Warrior42111]

It all depends on the who flow on the course. Was this a singular foursome holding things up? or was the course just backed up? I'm the first shame on them, best you can do is just skip ahead when possible, or just slow down and play a couple balls.

If the latter, well it sucks for you my friend. A single or twosome isn't going to have 10 groups all stacked up let them play through.