A round of golf dragging past the five-hour mark is a frustration many players know all too well. It’s a common complaint that can turn an enjoyable walk into a long, slow grind. This article will break down exactly where that time disappears and give you simple, actionable advice to speed up your game, without rushing your swing or sacrificing performance. We will look at your pre-shot routine, how you move around the course, and what happens on the green to help you play faster and have more fun.
There's a common misconception that slow play comes from making a lot of swings. While hitting extra shots doesn't help, the real time-suck isn't the swing itself - it's everything that happens in between. The typical pace of play benchmark for a foursome is around four hours and fifteen minutes. Rounds that stretch to five hours or more aren't usually caused by a few big delays, they're the result of a thousand tiny ones. A few extra seconds here, a minute there… it all adds up.
Think about it like traffic. A single driver tapping their brakes can cause a ripple effect that slows down cars for miles behind them. In golf, a player taking an extra 30 seconds on every shot in a foursome can add a full hour to the round. The good news is that by focusing on a few key areas, you can become the solution instead of the problem and inject some much-needed pace back into your game.
A huge chunk of playing time is wasted before the club even starts moving back. This is where you can make up the most time without ever feeling rushed. It’s about being efficient, not about hurrying.
You’ve seen it: the player who takes five, six, or seven identical practice swings before finally addressing the ball. Often, this isn't helping, it’s just building tension and slowing everyone down. A practice swing should have a purpose - to feel a certain tempo, rehearse a specific move, or see how the club interacts with the turf. It’s not meant to be a full-scale dress rehearsal performed multiple times.
Actionable Advice: Limit yourself to one or two purposeful practice swings. Your first can be to feel the tempo of the swing you want to make, and the second can be a more targeted rehearsal. Then, step up and trust it. Any more than that and you're just getting in your own way.
Standing over the ball, cycling through three different clubs, pacing off the yardage again, and checking the wind for the fourth time is a classic time-waster. While gathering information is part of the game, much of this can and should be done before it’s your turn to hit.
Actionable Advice: Prepare while you walk. As you approach your ball, assess the lie, check your yardage with a rangefinder, and get a feel for the wind. By the time you reach your ball, you should have narrowed your club choice down to one or two options. This way, when it's your turn to play, you're making a final decision, not starting the process from scratch.
Simple things like not having your glove on, fumbling for a tee, or not having your club selected when it's your time to hit are infuriatingly common delays. These are small habits that signal to everyone that you aren't paying attention.
Actionable Advice: Think ahead. The moment the player before you hits, that’s your cue. Put your glove on. Grab your selected club from the bag. Get your ball and tee ready. When it's finally your turn, all you need to do is step in, take your practice swing, and go. Being mentally and physically ready to hit is a hallmark of a good, quick player.
How you and your group travel between shots is just as important as the pre-shot routine. Wasted steps and inefficient positioning of carts and bags are silent and sneaky time vampires.
The "one ball at a time" approach for golf carts is a major pace-killer. This happens when both players drive to the first ball, wait for that player to hit, then both drive over to the second ball, and wait again. It's incredibly inefficient.
Actionable Advice: Play "cart golf" like a team. Drive to the first player's ball, drop them off with their rangefinder and a few likely club choices. While they prepare for their shot, the other player should drive to their ball and get ready. After the first player hits, they can begin walking toward their partner or the green, and the cart can pick them up after the second shot is played. It's a simple shuttle system that can easily save 30-45 seconds per Foursome hole.
Nothing slows a round down faster than a search party for an errant golf ball. While everyone hits a crooked one now and then, how you handle it makes all the difference.
Actionable Advice:
The putting green should be a place of focus, but it often becomes a stage for slow, theatrical performances. You can maintain your normal putting stroke and still cut a lot of wasted time here with a few adjustments.
There's a point of diminishing returns when it comes to reading a putt. Walking around it from five different angles and plumb-bobbing for an eternity rarely adds useful information. Most of what you need to know can be gathered quickly.
Actionable Advice: Start reading the green as you walk up to it. Notice the overall slope of the green and the area around the hole. Once at your ball, a good read from behind the ball and a quick look from behind the hole is usually sufficient. Trust your initial read and commit to it.
After your first putt, if you are not in someone's line, go ahead and complete your putting. Waiting for everyone else who is further away to play before you tap in your short putt can add unnecessary delays.
Actionable Advice: If you're left with a "tap-in," go ahead and finish it out, provided you aren't stepping in someone's through-line. Once everyone is holed out, grab your clubs and walk off the green immediately. Do not stand on the green to write down scores or update your GPS app. The place to do that is on the next tee box while others are preparing to hit.
Sometimes, slow play isn’t about technique or routine, it’s about a player’s mindset or the overall group culture. Addressing these can be the most impactful change of all.
Playing from yardages that are too long for your swing speed is a surefire recipe for slow play. It leads to longer clubs on approach shots, more missed greens, more difficult chip shots, and ultimately, more strokes and more time. This is not about ego, it is purely about maximizing fun and improving pace of play. Everyone has more fun playing from a course length that is more suitable for your individual game
Actionable Advice: Leave your ego at home and "Tee It Forward." Choose a set of tees that match your actual driver distance, not the one you hit once on a hard fairway with a 20 mph wind behind you. Playing a shorter course means hitting shorter irons into greens, leading to more birdie putts and pars and, yes, a much faster round.
The traditional "farthest from the hole plays first" is great for match play, but in a casual round, it’s often an unnecessary formality. “Ready Golf” is the preferred method for casual play to maintain a good pace.
Actionable Advice: Simply put, if you’re ready to hit and it’s safe to do so, go ahead. Don’t wait for someone who’s fumbling with their bag or still deciding on a club. The person who is ready first plays first. As long as you aren’t jumping ahead of a player who is clearly ready to play, "Ready Golf" is the most efficient and accepted way to play, and it will keep your whole group moving.
Slow play is rarely the result of one single problem but rather a collection of small, time-wasting habits. By simplifying your pre-shot routine, moving with purpose on the course, being efficient on the greens, and embracing Ready Golf, you can slash significant time from your round without ever feeling like you're rushing.
We know that a huge part of playing faster is playing with more confidence and less indecision. To help you commit to your shots and streamline your thinking, we built Caddie AI. It acts as your personal on-demand advisor, making sense of a tricky situation. If you’re stuck between clubs or unsure of the right strategy on a hole, getting a quick, smart recommendation will help you step up, swing with conviction, and keep your focus on enjoying the game.
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