Every golfer has been affected by slow play and I’d suggest the vast majority have been in a position where they’ve been held up by a group or groups playing in a medal or stableford competition.
This is a frustrating situation to find yourself in. Etiquette dictates everyone should be shown the same respect on the golf course (avoid these etiquette mistakes) and the game’s overarching principles of honesty, integrity and consideration should always be in effect, but the aforementioned scenario is often confusingly immune to such ideals.
If you’re waiting on every shot, you should be called through. It’s as simple as that. For me, the only caveat is when the course ahead is so rammed full that it’s pointless.
But for some reason, when there’s a competition ahead, different rules seem to apply and general etiquette sometimes (not always) goes out the window. It’s like an impenetrable force field you can’t break through.
It’s almost as if golfers taking part in these competitions or matches believe the world will implode if the competition convoy is broken up. Who really cares if a couple of groups of casual golfers work their way into the competition groups and finish before some of them?
Will it alter the outcome of the competition? No. Is it outside of conventional golfing norms? No. Does it unfairly affect anyone on the golf course? No. It’s just common courtesy, which should take precedence over everything else.
No special status
Clearly, the club has a big role to play in terms of scheduling and tee-time management. But if a two-ball that started half an hour before the final group in a competition catches up and is consistently held up, they should absolutely expect to play through.
I do think two-balls that go out at obviously busy times when the course is full of four-balls shouldn’t expect to play through if there’s no room ahead, but competitions and matches shouldn’t enjoy special status.
Often, they’re scheduled during coveted times of the day anyway and take premium tee-times over the course of a couple of hours. Even at private and members’ clubs, plenty of golfers don’t want to participate in a competition on any given day.
The times they can play are already restricted and they shouldn’t have to tip-toe in servile fashion around those participating in competitions on top. Golf courses have to cater for everyone and all golfers are equal.
We’ve also all had an interaction with someone in the group behind where they’ve said, ‘Just so you know, there’s a competition following on from us’. Okay, that’s fine, but it’s not going to alter my behaviour at all. If you’re playing at an appropriate speed and conducting yourself in the right way, why should that change anything?
This comes even more into focus at clubs where visitor numbers are high or the percentage of members is low relative to the number of total golfers.
Quiz: 10 questions every golfer should know the answer to
My own experiences
As I’ve written about before, visitors should never leave with a negative impression, whether that’s to do with how they're welcomed by staff and members, being held up unnecessarily, being told they can’t play off the white tees or anything else for that matter.
I’ve experienced this plenty of times and had competition-related issues as a visitor on multiple occasions. The two that come straight to mind occurred at clubs with hybrid member/visitor models.
At one course that shall remain nameless, I was playing in a three-ball with a couple of friends who I don’t think would mind me calling them pretty average golfers. We weren’t moving especially quickly and we were pausing often to look for balls.
Still, we caught up to the group in front somewhere around the turn and waited on every shot for a few holes. For context, this was a golf club where I’d estimate around 50% of the players were visitors. I don’t have any way to corroborate this, but I’ve played there multiple times and that’s my reading of the situation.
At one point – a par-3 tee near the green of the preceding hole – one of the group in front turned around and hissed at me, completely unprovoked, that he was playing in a competition.
I was fairly measured in my response given his tone. I said that fact wasn’t overly relevant to three paying visitors and asked if it was possible to play through. His subsequent glare didn’t need any accompanying words – there was absolutely no chance of that happening.
Another time, I was playing a course with three nine-hole loops. My group and another group finished our respective front nines at the same time and met on the tee of the third loop at the same time.
They announced they were going ahead because they were in a competition and the starter nodded his head in agreement, even though, as far as I saw it, both groups had an equal right to go first.
I’m not saying it should have been our group, but there should have been a fair and impartial way of deciding. Why should they go first just because they’re in a competition? Is their time more valuable than mine?
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t matter. But I found it curious and the time and I still don’t understand why competition and match players are seemingly on some sort of pedestal.
What do you think?
I was intrigued to see how other golfers felt about this issue, so I posted a poll on X with the following question: ‘Should golfers playing in a match or a competition get priority over others on the course who are just playing a casual round?’
I was surprised that 55% of respondents selected ‘yes’, while only 45% replied ‘no’. Two comments resonated with me. One, from @AlecFrost, read: ‘Do they pay more for their round? If not, then why would they over another paying customer?’
The other, from @RichRance, said: ‘If one group is holding the other up, with space in front, they should let that group play through regardless of who is or isn’t playing in a competition’.
I completely agree. Surprisingly, other commenters felt the competition or match players should be let through at the earliest opportunity.
I respect other people’s opinions, but I don’t understand the logic there. Surely etiquette dictates how we should behave and overrides some bizarre notion about those in competitions or playing matches having higher status?
Golf is a singular and individual game, but we must always be aware of others around us and understand their motivations may differ. No one is more important than anyone else on the golf course, regardless of whether they’re the captain, a member of 50 years or playing in a competition.
