What Your Playing Partners Actually Think About Your Pace of Play

A 2019 survey conducted by the Golf Channel found that slow pace of play was the single biggest frustration among recreational golfers — ranking above bad weather, expensive green fees, and poor course conditions. Most slow players, when surveyed, didn't believe they were slow. This gap between self-perception and the experience of others is one of the more uncomfortable realities in recreational golf, and it's worth examining honestly.

What Slow Play Actually Feels Like from the Outside

Three minutes standing over a putt that doesn't need three minutes. Walking to the cart after every shot instead of planning the next club while walking. Taking five practice swings on every tee. Spending three minutes looking for a ball in rough that almost certainly isn't worth finding. Filling out the scorecard on the green after holing out instead of at the next tee. Each of these individually costs 30 to 60 seconds. Across 18 holes, they add up to 20 to 45 extra minutes — a nearly five-hour round instead of a four-hour round. For your playing partners, every one of those minutes is spent waiting.

Ready Golf: What It Actually Means

Ready golf is the practice of hitting when you're ready rather than strictly adhering to 'farthest from the hole hits first.' It's sanctioned by the Rules of Golf for recreational play and actively encouraged at most public courses. In practice, it means: if the person farthest from the hole is still walking to their ball, the person who is ready can go ahead and hit. If you've already reached your ball and are ready before the person who hit from closer to the tee, go ahead. Ready golf can save 20 to 30 minutes per round in a four-person group without affecting the quality of anyone's shot.

The Habits That Add the Most Time

In order of time cost: searching for lost balls beyond two minutes (the new rules allow three, but two is the practical point of diminishing returns), excessive practice swings before every shot, reading putts from four angles when one or two angles gives you the same information, club selection indecision on the tee (pick the club while walking or riding to the tee, not when you arrive), and marking the scorecard on the green rather than at the next tee. Fixing just two of these consistently shaves 10 to 15 minutes off your round.

Faster Play Without Rushing Your Shots

There's an important distinction between playing quickly and rushing. You don't need to rush to play faster. A pre-shot routine done efficiently takes 15 to 20 seconds, not two minutes. A putting read done once with purpose takes 30 seconds, not three minutes. Playing faster is mostly about using the time between shots more efficiently — thinking about your next club while the previous shot is in the air, being at your ball and ready before it's your turn, making decisions before you're standing over the ball rather than while standing over it.

When to Have the Conversation

If you're paired with someone who is consistently slowing the group, the conversation is one most golfers avoid but a few handle well. The key is to frame it positively and practically: 'Hey, we're about a hole behind — should we try ready golf from here to keep things moving?' Most golfers respond well to this framing because it doesn't accuse them of being slow — it presents a shared solution to a shared problem. What doesn't work: sighing, checking your watch visibly, or making a comment after the round. If it's going to be said, say it early and keep it constructive.

The Long-Term Reputation

Reputation in golf gets established quickly in any regular group or club. The players who are genuinely fun to play with — who are prepared when it's their turn, who move efficiently without rushing, who treat the round as a shared experience rather than their personal performance space — get invited back. The slow player who is otherwise likeable gradually finds fewer invitations and more awkward silence. It's not worth being that person when the fixes are this accessible.