Pace Of Play

[Minpin]

http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/apr/21/slow-play-angel-park-express-lane/?Travel

[Thailand]

As the starters and marshals wield zero power/respect from the locals that will NEVER happen here.

I was told by the caddies at Hang Dong that last week there was a Thai 5 that took 7.5 hours to play 18!

I have played at Mission Hills in Shenzhen China where the "express" golf applied not by consent but by the marshals enforcing the rules by moving slow players along or in one case off the course.

Slow play and lack of consideration for others is the curse of golf here in Thailand in particular.

[murrinman]

slow play its a curly one the bane on everybody except the slow group-s and hassling them to get through or waiting behind them can and usually ends up in an average or below round for myself and its not only here its happens back in perth plenty just another thing to test us

[GBHK]

Slow play is a curse everywhere and if the course doesn't have good marshalls(a frequent problem) then you get 5 hour+ rounds all the time. It's by no means a thai problem, in many western countries, you get the yahoos drinking, hacking and looking for their balls taking forever. In Thailand, you have fivesomes(a sin) and caddies that mark every ball on the green after every putt which really slows the pace down.

It comes down to education and training for both staff and golfers and a little bit of enforcement from the clubs. The better ones like Blue Canyon, Black Mountain and Banyan in Hua Hin rarely have significant problems but that comes at a premium price... Macau golf and country club also has outstanding marshalling and I've almost never played a slow round there...

It wouldn't be a bad idea to share the better and worse courses in Thailand and simply avoid the worse culprits... Loch Palm in Phuket often allows fivesome and doesn't manage the course very well though it's a great layout...

[rafish]

Slow play is a curse everywhere and if the course doesn't have good marshalls(a frequent problem) then you get 5 hour+ rounds all the time. It's by no means a thai problem, in many western countries, you get the yahoos drinking, hacking and looking for their balls taking forever. In Thailand, you have fivesomes(a sin) and caddies that mark every ball on the green after every putt which really slows the pace down.

It comes down to education and training for both staff and golfers and a little bit of enforcement from the clubs. The better ones like Blue Canyon, Black Mountain and Banyan in Hua Hin rarely have significant problems but that comes at a premium price... Macau golf and country club also has outstanding marshalling and I've almost never played a slow round there...

It wouldn't be a bad idea to share the better and worse courses in Thailand and simply avoid the worse culprits... Loch Palm in Phuket often allows fivesome and doesn't manage the course very well though it's a great layout...

Having played in Phuket over 15 years I finally have had enough. The tempo of play is astronomically slow, by both foreigners and locals. I finally called it quits. I no longer come home pissed off and have an urge to machine gun every golf course manager that I run across. Over priced, over rated under managed and forever lacking in courtesy. No more golf in Phuket. If you continue to allow them to steal the game away from you, then you deserve the poor play in front of you, IMO. Marshall's are only eye candy, the cause of the slow and discourteous play is the golf club management or lack thereof. On one occasion a friend challenged those five-some we all dread only to have the player and his body guard threaten to beat him to a pulp with his driver. It turns out the five-some was made up of MP's from Bangkok and they didn't take kindly to criticism. Take a stand, don't play where your not wanted or appreciated. Leave the course to idiots. That's the way Thailand wants it. Money is the only reason for their existence so don't go trying to play real golf in under 4 hours. The time can be cut in half if they eliminate the bag draggers as well. Can you imagine taking seriously any guidenance from someone who has never played a round of golf? I witnessed this incarnation many times to my disgust. Know your game, pick a club, hit the ball, and then move on. Its golf, not rocket science. Sorry folks just had to rant. I don't miss the long waits on tee or laying down for a snooze in the fairway waiting for the green to clear in front of me. I love tennis now. No waiting. Your serve!!!