Inside Golf, Australia. July 2014 | Page 37

slow play “INSIDE” – TIPS FOR THE CLUB/COURSE Mike Orloff  Communicate constantly with golf staff throughout the day to help identify trouble spots quickly and to make sure groups are properly paired. [email protected] We continue to read and hear the endless stories of players complaining about “slow play” at our facilities. “We did not see a Marshall” is a common complaint, along with “we called the pro shop to tell them about the slow group ahead of us, but they never came out to help”, or “the group ahead of us were beginners and were really slow,” etc. Manage the expectation  Educate players - Set the time expectation for players before they tee off and inform players of any unusual course conditions. If you are tracking a 5-hour round for that particular day, let them know before they start. If their expectation is changed before they tee off, you could circumvent any potential blow-ups.  Player perception - many players don’t know exactly what time they teed off. In many cases they went off later than the tee time booked, which may result in them thinking it took longer than it actually did. Write the start time on a card and give it to each group. So who is to blame, the golfer or the facility? In most cases, this is a management issue more than a player issue. At the end of the day it is up to management to ensure that everyone has a respectable pace during their golf round. The strategy lies in three key areas: education of golfers and staff, management of golfers, and general course set-up. The two concepts that you must also fully understand to properly manage this issue are Pace and Flow. Pace basically is the measurement of time it takes you to play your round. I.e. “it took you four hours to play”. Pace issues are primarily caused due to lack of player education and improper course setup. Flow has to do with the consistency of the time it took to play. I.e. it took you four hours to play, but with delays due to a group ahead of you. Flow issues are primarily caused by improper course setup and overall lack of management of the process. It’s critical to proactively manage a large number of players, most importantly starting with the first groups out each morning. Envisage the 18-hole round like two spinning wheels, with each nine being a separate wheel. Try to get the early groups to get the front wheel spinning at a great pace, which ultimately will get the second wheel spinning at a greater pace. One group can slow the pace of either wheel, so the quicker you identify this group, the better you will keep the wheels spinning. Here are some stra ѕ