If you’ve ever played golf, you know how relaxing and enjoyable it can be to spend an afternoon outside with some friends over drinks. With life sometimes constraining just how much time we get to do these kinds of things, you need to know how to get your fairway time into a slightly more compact window. Keep reading to find out how to increase your pace of play in golf.
Be Early
You wouldn’t think the mere act of a few players showing up a few minutes late would significantly affect the overall play on the course, but it does. Even if you aren’t concerned about making putts on the practice green before starting your round, it’s important to get to the tee at least half an hour prior to your tee time. Allow yourself enough time to check in, grab drinks, and get to the first tee before teeing off with some time to converse on the course. It is both courteous and proper etiquette to arrive at the tee box on time, and it also helps you sustain a pace of play all day.
Play Ready Golf
To boost play speed, have players play “ready golf” rather than waiting to shoot according to who is furthest away. Especially when you’re playing with close friends, it’s a breeze to do. Although you still need to give the players ample room, in order to be fair to everyone involved, when the distance between players is even, the best golfer should swing first. Everyone has the opportunity to take care of their business on their own while also avoiding interfering with everyone else. Another good rule is to consider all OBs to be potential hazards. Instead of a loss of a ball, you must treat the ball going out of bounds as a water hazard. You drop and penalize yourself one stroke at the spot it crossed the line. It will make you faster on the green and boost your self-confidence.
Restrict Pre-Shot Process
This can help everyone, regardless of skill level, to think more critically about their shots. This doesn’t mean you should be careless; going over occasionally is fine, but regularly thinking about how long you’ll be over the ball for—say, 40 seconds—will ensure you’re moving and will add continuity to your golf outing. Remember that you may have a hard time making this change, so don’t force it. Always look to save a couple of seconds here and there where it makes sense to, as you improve your pre-shot process.
Use a Cart
When it comes to speeding up your golf game, maybe the most obvious answer is to speed up how quickly you can move around. Golf carts are able to transport you great distances in a much shorter time than you would walking. If you’re playing on a large course, you may often find yourself spending more time walking than playing. And if just using a golf cart isn’t enough for you, you can modify your golf cart to go even faster! That makes this the best way to increase your pace of play in golf.