The Pellucid Perspective - June 2019 - 2

INDUSTRY
ISSUES

Golf 's Pace of Play Challenge:
Cause or Effect?
By Jim Koppenhaver

ace of play is one of those perennial topics/issues in the
golf industry that get debated regarding whether it's a
"bug" or a "feature." Those on the "bug" side say that
our sport is out of sync with the Gen-Next mindset that prefers more bite-sized recreational activities which the 6-7 hour
(door-to-door) round of golf doesn't fit. On the "feature" side
are those who think Gen-Next would benefit
from 4-5 hours of relaxed, outdoor activity
that involves some level of physical exertion beyond 10 fingers on a controller.
Not wanting to tackle that larger
issue in 1,500 words or less, I want
to focus on how and if we can
improve the time spent on the
course for those who are open to
the fact that a 4-hour recreation
investment can provide benefits
and be consistently enjoyable for
everyone sharing that particular
space during a round of golf. I've
invited Tom Abts, GM and owner
of Deer Run GC in Victoria, Minnesota (outside Minneapolis) to share this
space and conversation and we're going to
play beliefs and ideas off each other. He's the
"practitioner" who has observed pace of play and
evolved how they monitor and encourage it from the
front lines while I'll take the analyst's and theoretical
perspective to the challenge and potential solutions. I
also represent the "average golfer" as a consumer over
35 yrs playing a mix of muni and daily fee golf
courses and generally shooting in the mid90s over much of my golf career (flashes of
brilliance interspersed with random acts
of error).
A recent article by John Barba in
MyGolfSpy titled "The Pace of Play
Conundrum" brought me back
to this topic and the continuing
evolution of my thinking. If you
have the time and inclination, I'd
recommend the read of John's
article, including the Comments
which are often as (if not more)
insightful than the articles from
which they emanate.
The two fundamental questions I've
wrestled with over the years are: 1) Can

2 The Pellucid PersPecTive

an average or high-handicap player reasonably play a 4-hour
round? and 2) If so, what can courses do to educate and enforce
all players to know and practice "ready golf " toward that uniform and pervasive end? My wife has occasionally accused me
of being a "golf snob" for believing and insisting that everyone
can play at a reasonable and enjoyable pace for all, regardless
of ability. Part of that view has been shaped by my first
encounter with golf, as the Athletic Director for the Marine Corps Air Station,
Kaneohe Bay HI. As my last job in the
Marine Corps before the resignation
of my commission, I managed all the
base recreational facilities including
the Kaneohe Clipper GC. That
was also when I took up golf (i.e.
how can you manage a golf course
when you don't play or understand
the game?) and two things shaped
my current worldview on pace-ofplay. First was the veteran civil service
worker, Jerry (the Snake) Price, who, as
assistant athletic director, took me under
his wing and ingrained "ready golf " into
me from the first to the last round we played
together on various courses on Oahu. Second
was driving around the course for the weekly ladies league and watching them play in about 4 hours,
shoot 100-115 on average and walk off the course with
the experience seeming to be the highlight of their
week.
In more recent years however, several things
have shaken my confidence in the 4-hour
round and I'm more inclined at times to
think that on an unfamiliar course, walking and playing erratically (i.e. one shot
left, next one right, next left etc.), 4.5
hours may be a more realistic objective (Tom's going to try and talk me
out of that by the end of the article).
What I've determined are the four
things that cost me time as an average golfer:
*
Locating the ball after
tee shots (both "truly lost" balls i.e.
lateral hazards, water entry etc. and
locating those off the fairway or 1st cut)
*
Traversing the fairway on 2nd shots
June 2019

https://www.mygolfspy.com/the-pace-of-play-conundrum-does-golf-really-want-to-fix-it/ https://www.mygolfspy.com/the-pace-of-play-conundrum-does-golf-really-want-to-fix-it/

The Pellucid Perspective - June 2019

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