I take an excessive amount of shit from league players who hate slow play. It’s not that the guys in league don’t care. It’s not that the golf course does nothing to help the situation. The case I’m about to lay out is inarguable fact.
Every course has their upsides and downsides. Our downside is the distance from green to the next tee. Take a cart, this downside is eliminated. Choose to walk, and this downside will add time. League has a large contingent of people who walk. Sitting at desks, on the road in cars, these guys get here at 5:00 and want to exercise. I respect the hell out of that. They don’t realize it, but they get more exercise here than they would somewhere else.
Let’s compare RSPGL front 9 to a nice walkable front 9 at Reid golf course in Appleton. From green to the next tee, RSPGL adds 1404 yards to the front 9 course yardage. Reid adds 513 yards to their front 9 course yardage by adding all the walks from green to the next tee (Google Earth is a wonderful thing). That means you walk an extra 891 yards at RSPGL. Or the length of a 500 yard hole + a 400 yard hole. It takes 15 minutes to play a hole, and although you don’t play these holes, you still must walk them, and walking takes time. My front 9 is basically 11 holes compared to Reid. Now imagine 4 people all walking at different rates to the next tee. With good etiquette (that I don’t encourage in this case), they wait for the last guy walking over to tee off first. Add in bum knee, beverage cart stop, filling in scorecard, losing your headcover, forgetting your wedge…it all adds time between holes. Is there anyone who would like to argue that a 9 hole walking foursome at every course is always magically 2 hours? It’s mathmatically impossible.
I get what you are saying but price has a lot to do with it in my mind. Yes, RSP is a much nicer course, and it makes sense it is a bit more to golf there. I think you would have more riding if it didn’t cost almost $50 for nine holes riding (for league)
9 holes walking at RSP = 9 Holes riding anywhere else.
Just another perspective – not saying one way is wrong over the other (and I agree play needs to be faster – but there are more factors involved than just carts)
In my opinion, you took that article to be about money and wanting people to ride. I don’t say that, or even infer it. I was simply laying out why league “seems” to take longer. We have lots of people walking… and the walk is longer. I proved the walk is longer.
But since you want to talk about money, I think it would have been fair if you added that players get 36% off the normal cart fee when they ride in league. Your $50 is actually $41. Just want the record straight and the acknowledgemnt that I am helping the cause.
Just noting that may be why some may walk. There are many other factors of why rounds take longer too but that is can of worms 😉 Thanks Nick for the additional info!