Pace of play: why rounds get slow and what staff can do

Slow play is usually first noticed in the clubhouse, when someone comes in after the round and complains. By then it is too late to do anything about that round. But a queue has almost always started much earlier, at a place that can be found.

A queue spreads backwards

When a group loses pace, the group behind catches up and has to wait on the tee. Then the next one waits, and the next. Groups further back feel the delay without seeing where it started, and what was a few minutes at one hole becomes a long afternoon for those who tee off later.

Where it tends to start

• Short par 3s, where groups catch up with each other.
• Holes with a blind tee shot or a difficult green, where finding the ball and holing out take time.
• After a break, for example at the clubhouse after nine holes.
• Early in the day, when tee times are close together and a single delay moves through the whole field.

What staff can do

What helps most is acting early and at the right hole. A marshal who arrives while the queue is short can ask a group to let others through or to keep up, and it is usually a friendly conversation. Giving the same message at the first tee, about the expected length of the round and how to let others through, also makes a difference.

What data can add

TeeGuard shows how many minutes each group is behind schedule, hole by hole, and tells you when a group loses pace or a queue grows. The alert says where and since when, and suggests what to do, so staff can act while there is still time. Between sensors the pace is an estimate, and the view says so.

Data does not replace the marshal. It gets the marshal to the right hole in time.