Played 18 in 2 hours, 2 mins today...with a pair of 75 year olds
And I shot a net 68.
They play at 7:04 pretty much every morning (1 of them played almost 300 rounds last year). Most amazing was that it was never rushed and lots of conversation throughout. Just shows that golf does not need to take 5 hours to play, play ready - golf and quit spending 5 mins lining up shots you're gonna mis-hit anyway. (it's OK to suck, it's not OK to take forever to do it).
48 Replies
3y
We'd start at 5:30 and be done right around dusk about 3 hours later.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
brutal! but last Friday night got in a quick 9 - 1 hour 15 min! I guess it helps that we played at 7pm!
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
Frankly 4 hr 15 min is the limit.
Anything more than that and you are having to wait too long.
(In response to this post by LRC-Hokie01)
2
2hhoop3
3y
tournament many, many moons ago at Reston National. First tee time on first day and four of us(all walking) played in three hours. The real kicker was only 2 of the 4 had ever played the course before that day. The other 2(including me) had walked the course the previous day.
(In response to this post by LRC-Hokie01)
B
BRVT
3y
(In response to this post by LRC-Hokie01)
3y
Used to play Reston National, Centennial, Falls Road, Red Gate, etc. quite often until it just became a 5-6 hour ordeal and no reason for it. Absolutely ridiculous.
(In response to this post by LRC-Hokie01)
3y
2-2.5 hours an round, back home before the wife was awake. Only way to play.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
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2hhoop3
3y
when teaching us the game was if you cannot be good at least be fast. My regular group in younger days generally played 18 in 2:45-3 with everyone walking. With Vienna in your username I am guessing NOVA. Have never played a fast round in NOVA or Tidewater but, a few in Richmond and other Virginia locales.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
One of the reasons I gave up the game was searching for my ball wasn't any fun, and I was spending an awful lot of time doing that.
Once I found the ball, I rarely dithered. I don't think I ever spent more than 1-2 minutes figuring out distance, picking a club, tacking a practice swing or two, and then hitting the ball. But that "once I found the ball" part was rarely as simple as it sounds.
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
3y
Sayonara cash suck ...
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
3y
and if I ever chunked a swing (which wasn't uncommon), I'd be in pain for days. So I quit more for medical reasons than anything.
But hunting for my ball was the part of my game I hated the most, and it sure felt like it's what I spent the majority of my time doing.
I wasn't truly horrible at the game...I tended to shot in low 90's and maybe upper 80's on a good day. But I could slice a tee shot with the best of them. And that usually meant a 15 minute delay as we sent out the search party for my ball.
(In response to this post by PhotoHokieNC)
3y
sent my youngest off to college and moved to a golf community and it seemed stupid not to join the club because of the price for residents. And if I'm gonna pay a monthly fee, I might as well get value for it, and the more I played the more people I met and the more people I met, the more I played...Doesn't hurt that my club has been described on Yelp as a golf course attached to a Frat House....even in college I never drank as much before 9am as I do on weekends now.
Last Apr I joined our men's league, started playing a lot (3-4 rounds a week), got my handicap down to 14, got fitted for new clubs to replace the 30 year old Tommy Armor knockoffs I had and spent the winter trying to relearn the game with clubs that worked. Then of course, warm weather came and what I thought I had figured out...NOPE. Good news, handicap up, weekly pots are always handicap based and I'm up about $100 this year already. Clubs are getting dialed in....
Got a new job where a lot of my team is on the west coast, so getting out in the morning with guys that play in a couple hours is doable. For someone that's not retired, I got it pretty good. I'm pretty much addicted at this point.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
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2hhoop3
3y
provides all sorts of possibilities for the whole family, some good, some not so good. Also, a potentially useful skill for both personal and business in later life but, can be very humbling when they begin to beat you with regularity. ;-)
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
Son knows the rules, knows how to get around the course, just can't hit the ball. Can hit an 85mph breaking ball 350 ft, but can't hit a golfball sitting still...SMH
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
2
2hhoop3
3y
dad's first rule. When he started to teach my brother and I he told us golf had a thick rulebook we should read and understand. He then told us there were a number of unwritten rules we would learn as we played the game more. Then he said, I am going to give you the two rules you should never forget. Be fast was the first and the second was no matter how bad you may play things usually work out if you always play 9 and 18 well. Both the 2 rules have proved their worth many times over the years. ;-)
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
balls in the rough simply because I couldn't landmark accurately. My dad, with his experience, was really good at picking out landmarks and pinpointing where the balls were...
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
3y
camouflages itself against a cloud in the background and I utterly lose sight of it in the air. There was an awful lot of blind guessing where the ball might be. If I knew where it was within maybe 10 yards square, it was never a problem. But I was frequently searching over an area that was about an acre (of woods/rough no less) where it might be.
Golf is very difficult to enjoy when you are bad at it, and very difficult to get good at it when you don't enjoy it.
(In response to this post by BG Hokie)
3y
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
3y
If you could get GPS enabled golf balls (or bluetooth, or even some kind of RFID transmitter) and an app that would locate the ball within maybe 3 square yards, that would be a godsend for hackers everywhere.
(In response to this post by MP4VT2004)
3y
short is a marsh, left is marsh, long is marsh...right is another tee and some marsh....
Hit a ball, looks perfect but nope, no clue. RFID or a camera overlooking the green would be so nice to know wtf happened
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
3y
Should be 45 seconds or less.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
2
2hhoop3
3y
but, most golfers, at least in my experience, allow for difference in playing ability level and are not impatient. What frustrates is the guy that plays like Jack the Ripper that thinks he is Jack Nicklaus. Looking for balls is not an issue, IMO, as long as time is adhered to and you are in the generally correct area. Nothing is more frustrating than a guy who does not properly spot his shot or disputes his playing group who did properly spot it.
(In response to this post by Tafkam Hokie)
3y
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
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2hhoop3
3y
However, I will admit even a good pair of eyes and landmarks skills is no match for the falling leaf cover, why I hated to and only rarely played in the fall. Really Memorial Day to Labor Day but, that also had to do with the sting to the hands of a poorly struck shot in cooler weather. Kids that have never played with blades will not have as great an appreciation of that. ;-)
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
and why I walk the pond behind my house each Sunday and keep a big bin of balls in the garage. Once the leaves and cold weather hit, I stop using good balls and don't spend more than 30 secs looking for a ball into the leaves. Drop and go.
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
3y
club championship, 45 mins between a group and the group behind them. One of the guys in the slow group spends 7 mins setting up his approach shot on 18, hits it to within about 15 feet (guy shot a 98 and that was the norm for the round).
George calls over to him, "Good shot, not 15 mins good, but good".
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
3y
** Edited by HokieDan95 at 5/12/2023, 1:46:52 PM
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
He is over the ball almost 30 seconds even after a painful pre shot routine.
One guy he was partners with recently asked him “name something you don’t think about before you hit the ball. “
Once someone told him “my sex takes less time than your golf shots”.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
2
2hhoop3
3y
is clearly a case of poor training. If he's the guy riding a cart he is probably also the guy who walks back and forth across the fairway (when cart paths only) trying to decide on a club to hit.
A guy like that just needs tough love from his golfing friends. My regular group was 4/5/sometimes 6 or more but, even with 6 walking we were always around 3 hours tops. When we got a new person who joined they got a break in period to adjust their speed of play, if they didn't they got some "good natured tips", if it still persisted they were "encouraged" to maybe find a different group. That did not happen very long or often as the fast play rep was known in the club.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
when I lived in NoVA, no, playing a fast round was rare. Weekends are bad here, but I play in the club men's group and we have the first tee times every Sat and Sun reserved, so a normal weekend round for us is around 3 (unless you're playing with a couple of guys, who we always make play in our last group).
(In response to this post by 2hhoop3)
Cool...I live nearby and am playing in a tourney there on next Friday
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
(In response to this post by DoYouLiftHokies)
Everything I own is VT logo'd...say hi.
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
Kinda like hooking up with a 5 at the bar...but telling your buddies the next day she was a net 9 (beer goggle adjusted scoring). ;-)
** Edited by vthokieq at 5/12/2023, 12:22:12 PM
(In response to this post by HokieJay)
3y
which means tomorrow I'll probably be a 16 (handicap is based on your best 8 scores out of the last 20, so a 93 is going to get replaced with an 85).
(In response to this post by vthokieq)
2
2hhoop3
3y
although if that is his handicap and gross score, the 2 hour 2 minute round time is even more impressive.
(In response to this post by vthokieq)
E
EDGEMAN
3y
Does that mean you shot a 86, but deducted one stroke per hole for the heat?
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
just for laughs
Link:
during their swing
(In response to this post by Vienna_Hokie)
3y
Dan Jenkins fans may remember this, as linked below. My favorite "in swing" words of all time. If you've never read Jenkins before, this is your chance. Then go out and buy the best golf novel ever written, "Dead Solid Perfect". You can thank me when you see me.
(In response to this post by chumley)
2
2hhoop3
3y
never gets old even going on 60 and "Dead Solid Perfect" is a good read as well. Golf is a game with plenty of stories, some even true.
(In response to this post by HokieJay)