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What really drives the Pace-of-Play? 
by Scott Grundberg, On-Course Technologies, Inc.

There is nothing that can ruin the golfing experience like a 5-hour plus “death march” around the golf course. Slow play is turning golfers away from the game and significantly contributing to the stagnation in the growth of rounds played. This is especially true of the primary spending group (30 – 50 year olds) who are deciding that the prospect of an infinitely long round of golf is not worth risking quality time with the family. So what can we do about it? Well, we can do as the Brits do and throw you off the course if you even think about taking too long. However, America has never been much in agreement with how things work across the pond. While we definitely need to “toughen up” our policies, we need to back it up with the information and tools necessary to make a policy, or pace-of-play goal attainable, objective, and finally enforceable.

There are a number of factors that contribute to slow play. Two primary factors are 1) course design and difficulty, and 2) a poor or unenforceable pace policy. Changing course design and difficulty, as a means to better your pace is a risky proposition that can impact the value of the entire course and lessen the expected experience. With that in mind, let’s focus on the easier and already proven technique of an effective, enforceable pace-of-play policy. In order to create an enforceable pace policy, the following pieces of information should be available to your golfers.
  1. Elapsed time and expected location at all times
  2. Distance/yardage information of some kind
  3. Course layout information 
  4. A defined pace policy and etiquette on pace-of-play

In fact, a well-rounded and effective pace-of-play policy provides all of the above information in some form. In other words, as long as golfers...

  1. are constantly provided their elapsed time and expected location, 
  2. stand a good chance of quickly determining their approximate distance to the center of the green, and any pertinent carry distances off the tee,
  3. have a general idea of the hole’s layout, 
  4. understand there are repercussions if they don’t stay on pace (etiquette) and ideally rewards if they do,

they will have all the tools necessary to maintain the courses pace-of-play goals. Let’s break these down a little further.

In addition to providing golfers with information that will allow them to meet the pace goal, a coordinated effort on the part of the staff is critical to insure that golfers are aware of all the tools that provide this information. 

Elapsed Time and Expected Location – should be considered the cornerstone of any effective pace-of-play policy. It is the only truly objective piece of information you can provide your golfers in order to raise their awareness to the pace-of-play and their expected location on the course. 

A lack of awareness has been determined to be “a leading cause of slow play” (USGA Pace-of-Play Research Report, October 1992). It is unreasonable to send golfers off the first tee and tell them they need to be done in 4 hours without providing them a tool that lets them know if they are on schedule to meet that pace.

A significant operational benefit to readily available elapsed time and expected course location information is that the course marshal’s job is infinitely easier and more effective. With this completely objective information, if the group is on pace...everyone knows it and the marshal can focus on enhancing the experience by imposing course layout and shot-making wisdom on the golfers. If the group is behind the marshal can immediately reiterate course policy and focus on pace solutions. The marshal can then proceed to the groups following and explain the situation and how it has been handled, taking the mystery out of the situation.

The new Personal Ranger system is the only system available today that successfully provides this information clearly and concisely anywhere on the course. 

Distance/Yardage Information - While this information is fairly standard on most golf courses, there are differing degrees of effectiveness with the different options. Having a good chance of quickly determining distance to the center of the green may well be as simple as an easily visible 100, 150, and 200-yard marker down the center of the fairway. Sure, esthetics plays a part in this decision. A two-foot high flag in the center of the fairway may be the most effective means of showing the 150-yard marker but it is clearly not for everyone. Alternatives include consistently placed in-the-ground marker systems, ideally placed on both sides of the fairway which are OK looking but very effective due to their consistency, and sprinkler head markings; the most elegant but slightly less efficient due to their random placements.

Course Layout Information – This is most important on the more difficult courses where distances are deceptive and sight lines are interfered with. If the course is wide open, you may only need to provide the total distance from tee to the center of green (especially important on Par 3’s), and some key distance to hazards or carries on longer holes.

The idea is to avoid a great deal of “I think it doglegs right...or I think the carry is at least 220”. With proper signage at the tee, on the cart, or on the scorecard you can relieve a great deal of the stress (and more importantly time) related to club selection. 

The Policy and Pace-of-Play Etiquette – Once you have effectively supplied all the necessary tools as detailed above, along with some simple tips on managing your time around the course, you need define and be firm with your policy. A firm policy is only a problem if it is presented incorrectly at the first tee. It also becomes hollow if it is presented without the aforementioned tools. Yes, this puts some added pressure on the starter but the potential gains should outweigh this by a mile. Remember, the golfers want to complete their round in a decent amount of time. As long as you establish a realistic pace goal for all your golfers throughout the day, you should have little or no complaints about your policy. If you are unwilling to act swiftly and decisively with a group who still can’t keep the pace, let’s say for fear of losing a customer, remember they may not be the customers you want anyway. 

One of the keys discussed here is the reasonableness of your pace goal. Similar to setting a realistic pace goal, the most effective pace policy will not work if you attempt to put groups off in 4 or 5-minute intervals. It is important to find a starting interval that meets the needs of your facility. That said, a change from an 8 or 9 to a 10-minute interval does not necessarily make a better pace. For example, there is a championship quality courses with 8 minute starting intervals that lowered their average pace-of-play from 4:45 to 4:13 simply by adding the missing link, elapsed time and hole location to their pace policy via the Personal Ranger. In fact, with all the proper tools in place to manage the pace, you can experience a significant financial gain by lowering your interval from 10 to 9 or even 8 minutes.

If you are confident that your golfers are all provided with the policy at the first tee and that they have all the means necessary to meet your pace goal, you stand to build significant brand loyalty among the customers you really want. The needs of the many must outweigh the needs of the few and by not actively supporting your policy, you risk injuring the experience of the many golfers that follow the slow group. Finally, providing the tools as described above will, over time reduce the need for taking action by simply reducing the number of pace offenders at your course.