Since I started my 7-part series outlining my ideas on improving pace of play, the USGA has actually released five videos featuring some of the biggest names in golf. The initiative is called “While We’re Young” and the commercials are what you would expect from the USGA.
Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Annika Sorenstam, Clint Eastwood and Paula Creamer all star in separate commercials and all five are decent attempts to try and prove a point, but that’s about it. Tiger is featured in one that has four kids on a putt putt course and it’s probably the funniest of all five. You can actually check them all out here on the USGA YouTube page.
But let’s get back to the series I started back on Tuesday. For a quick recap, the first day I laid out how knowing your golf ability and playing within your means is a great way to start helping speed up play. Yesterday, I outlined the easiest of all the ways to improve pace of play, which is play ready golf.
Today I am going to highlight one way that my dad and I use to help us play quickly.
Let the longer hitter of the group be the driver.
If you play with the same golf buddies each weekend, you know who is the long hitters of the group. Let the long hitters drive the golf cart. This way, after the tee shots, you can drop off the playing partner who is the shorter, give him a quick yardage and let him grab his clubs and then proceed to your ball to start your pre-shot routine.
By the time you arrive at your golf ball and get your yardage and grab the right club, your playing partner you dropped off should have already hit his shot and be making his way to where you are with the golf cart. Of course you should watch out behind you so you don’t get a golf ball in the back of the head, but you can also get prepared to hit your next shot.
Once you are done hitting your shot, your playing partner should already be sitting in the cart waiting to proceed towards the green. There is no need to stay at your playing partners golf ball and wait for him to hit and then proceed to your golf ball. There is so much wasted time in between each shot that you could have been using to get ready to play.
It may seem silly and such a simple idea, but next time pay attention to your other playing partners and watch how much time is spent on waiting for your playing partner to hit while you could have been getting ready yourself.
What do you think? Let me know on Twitter @Front9Back9 or leave a comment below.
[…] Thursday – Let the Long Hitter Drive the Cart […]