That sounds like my worst nightmare as historically I'm a bump and run merchant. Right now I'm trying to get the hang of chipping for just that kind of scenario.

you would hate one of the par threes on my home course

its 210 yards, the predominant wind is usually against you, and its all carry over a little cliff face with the drop off area covered in knee high rough

cant think of the best way to describe it but it is kinda like hitting over the corner of a quarry

There's another beauty at Silverstone that is a pain. It's only a 130 yd par 3 but it's very downhill (the green is two or three metres below) and the prevailing wind is from behind. Club selection is a horror. I've had an SW blown past the green and out of bounds (the white arc at the back is a ditch so you don't usually lose the ball). I've had a 9i land in the furthest pond.

To cap it all because of the tee box off to the right you often have to wait before you can tee off. It just adds to the tension

that kinda reminded me of a silly story about a guy that used to play in the sunday morning sweep that we had

he was obsessed about yardages and would pace out distances to the green in proper competitions. one hole at the course had a loch behind the green, and i was partnering him on a really windy day. he hit his second shot and it cleared the green, the trees and landed quite a distance into the loch. he came over to me after saying he couldn't understand it, he was excactly 132 yards from the green and hit a full 9 iron and that should have been the perfect club for that distance. i just gave him a look and threw some grass into the air to show how strong the wind was blowing and shook my head.

It's official - it's now too late in the year for me to play nine holes after work! We had to pick up on the ninth as visibility was too poor.

I was on 49 after eight and the last is a par 5, so realistically would have hit 55/56. It felt like i'd gone backwards a little as I was very consistent off the tees but my pitching had completely fallen apart. After a month of being deadly from 100 yards I suddenly couldn't hit a proper pitch to save my life. I managed to lose a ball on one hole when I hit my SW from 110 yards and it sailed over the back of the hole.

I do hate my local course though. Most of the fairways were dead and there were large patches on the green as well. It's such a shame that they don't maintain the course better because it's so convenient for me. I suppose if they did though it become a bit more popular and I wouldn't be able to rock up at 8:30 on a Sunday morning without a tee booking and expect to play within 15 mins!

When did you start? I started at 1720 and managed 18 with half an hour of light left. Mind you I was on my own and the course was fairly empty.

I think I managed to annoy one golfer actually. On the par 3 14th he must've have hit his tee shot passed the green (easy to do in summer if you're not careful as they run for a long way. I didn't see his tee shot but when I got to the tee he was behind and to the right of the green looking. He saw me standing at the tee but did nothing. So after a minute I teed off anyway knowing full well my ball would barely reach the green if I was lucky because I play the hole short to try and avoid two nasty bunkers.

As it happens my ball just managed to run into one of the bunkers anyway. When I got there he was still looking for his ball and the conversation went something like this (as I continued to finish-off and he continued to look for his ball):

Him: You're playing through are you?
Me: Yes. Pity about your ball I'm always careful here when it's dry as it's so easy to overrun.
Him (sounding a tad petulant): It's nice to be waved through though.
Me: Oh?
Him: I've been slowed up by the two ball who aren't letting me through.
(at this point said two ball are walking up the next fairway and probably about to stop and make their second shot (par 5)).
Me: That's unusual. Oh well, I'm done now. Hope you find your ball.

By then the two ball were over the horizon. I played after them and as expected I putted out as the first of them was teeing off on the next hole. So I arrived at the tee box and waited for the second. After he went he said "you'd better tee off with us then carry on. Don't want to hold you up".

So I did. As I was finishing off the 18th the irritated chap was standing on the 17th tee waiting for the two ballers who at that point were over 300 yards away on their approach (17th is a par 5).

I wouldn't normally barge through but when you're on the 14th tee with not much more than an hour's daylight left I don't think I should wait for fifteen minutes for someone to look for their ball then chip on and putt out.

In my opinion he just didn't know how to make progress round the course. There was no reason he should still have been waiting for the two ball by the time I was finishing the 18th.
Rye Hill's greens are a bit like that. At my course there are some areas of the fairway and rough that have turned yellow which is to be expected but the greens are completely green and narry a patch in sight. I have been told that it has the reputation for the best greens in the area.

There's three of us and we're not able to tee off until 6:30. Both of my playing partners are beginners who lose a lot of balls so we're usually over 2 hours to do 9. We got to the 9th tee at 8:30 yesterday and the light was bad enough that we all lost our balls off the tee.

I will play on my own if the course is really quiet but I just struggle to maintain focus by myself. I'm not strong willed enough to score properly or not retake duffs. And then I just get frustrated if I get held up by people, to the extent that there's no point me being on the course.

For example - I had the day off on monday so I went to play a nearby 9 hole course at about 2pm (thinking it would be quiet). I immediately got held up by two very slow players in front of me who wouldn't let me though., Then (typically) I had three people behind me who seemed to be professional standard of something as they were whizzing round and looking very unhappy at having to wait for me. I considered walking off after the 4th hole but stuck it out and probably hit in the high 60s (if i'd been scoring properly). It's just not enjoyable.

Clearly I don't either then as I thought the etiquette was that you can only play through if the people in front of you signal you to. If anyone behind plays a ball into me without we waving them through they can expect some very harsh words.

Meh. I'd hope that in that situation you wouldn't look at someone on the tee (I saw him lean back and look at me) then ignore them and continue looking for your lost ball. Earlier in the round I was let through by a three ball and fluffed an approach so I just gave up on the hole and moved on rather than delay them.

If he'd been on the green I would have waited (and it would have been dangerous) but he was well off it to the side and behind. I don't know when he finally finished that hole but he wasn't on the tee box when I took my second shot on the next hole so likely he was faffing around for fifteen minutes. If I'd waited for that I'd have struggled to finish my round.

I say that good golf etiquette includes doing what we can to help others enjoy the rapidly shortening evenings.

playing through can be quite a contentious thing

the question of etiquette is its the responsibility of the group holding people up to be courteous so the person being held up doesn't have to resort to "forcing" their hand

i got banned once at my club when i was a junior member but because i was good enough had been permitted to play in full club competitions over an argument about playing through.

me and a friend were playing in a midweek medal, there was a fourball in front of us who were just playing a friendly game and not in the competition. normal etiquette would be that you would always let someone playing in a competition play through but because they knew we were juniors they refused, even though it was clear we were playing off the medal tees. i got a bit peeved that they refused to let us through and lost my temper, they reported me to the committee and i got my rights to play in all competitions removed for a month.

Definitely. There were no angry words last night and I may even be wrong to assume he was peeved. Since he seemed incapable of passing the two ball himself he may just have been warning me about them. He was far enough away behind the green that at that time of night I couldn't really see his expression and he was only just audible.

If he'd been putting and I'd teed off that would absolutely be out of order. And dangerous. But there was little to no danger (a mis-strike wouldn't even get halfway to the green as the first hundred-odd yards is light rough) and my shot wouldn't have. It barely trickled into the green-side bunker as it was.

So, sorry, Blueisthecolour, but I think I made good use of precious daylight and at most it's half of one and six a dozen of the other. He should have waved me up and maybe I should have accepted I wasn't going to finish my round and should've stood there in the gathering twilight admiring the sunset while he spent three hundred seconds looking for his ball before dropping another one and chipping onto the green.

i think some golfers see it as a sign of weakness or something if they have to let a group behind them play through rather than just accept that them waiting just a couple of minutes for the faster group to get clear can save alot of aggro and friction

It seems to me that this does come down to a 'beginners' vs 'experienced' players situation.

I personally always try to let people go through me if they're quicker and don't like putting pressure on those in front of me. It just seems reasonable to me. But I do feel really sorry for my playing partners whenever someone comes up behind us because they both hate the pressure of feeling as though they have to play as fast as possible. Their games immediately goes to pot - my friend last week went from hitting 6s on most holes to hitting maximums on the last two because he saw that someone else was catching up and started rushing.

It's easy to say that you should just let them through, but when the course is busy it just means that another group will be on your tails by the next hole and if there's people in front you have to wait for them to get through those as well.

As far as I'm concerned if you've paid your green fee then you have a right to spend at least 10 minutes playing each hole uninterrupted and whether you wave people through is up to you. No one has a right to play their own 18 hole game in 2.5 hours if the course is busy. Personally I would never waste people's time by spending 5 minutes looking for a ball - my policy has always been that if the course is busy then 1 minute is enough - but 5 minutes is the rule. If there was three of us playing a par three and we all missed the green and then someone came up and tee'd off then their ball would be heading straight back at them!

if the course is busy and you are keeping pace with the group in front of you then there is no obligation to let anyone through as they have nowhere to go anyway

its if you are losing ground to the group ahead it becomes an issue

as you say its not an easy situation and most times just exercising a little common sense from all parties would solve it but it can become a bit confrontational at times

I agree with that. If there's space in front then obviously let them through.

On a related topic - has anyone else noticed that specific breed of golfer who appears to think that the object of the game is to get round the course as quickly as possible regardless of the score?

I've seen four balls absolutely storming round, with people not taking a single practice swing, barely aiming, running up to the ball, getting the club out and just hitting and moving. I wonder why they bother even playing!

I've seen that once or twice but not often. I don't always take a practice swing but I do always take time to aim and will align the ball on the green and pace off the distance. But I'm also a fast walker (over 4mph) so that cuts down a lot of time on my own. But I also start planning my exit from the hole as I approach the green so that I can stop my trolley in the most efficient place. I also start planning club selection while I'm walking and if things have gone to plan will often have the right club already in my hand while walking to the ball.

I am a bit of a 'time and motion' enthusiast (possibly because of my programming background) and I hate seeing inefficiency.

I joined my junior section when I started playing at around 14, by the time I was 16 I was cat 1 and the rest of the juniors were all off 24+ so they let me do the same as they did with you and join the adult section even though the age of entry was 18.

I wasn't too clued up on etiquette at 16 and in one of the first medals I played in the adult section I was out with a couple of high handicappers. We were at a hole with a 280 yard par 4 and I was last to tee off, the other two teed off just as the group in front reached the green, obviosly knowing they wouldn't reach. I knew I could reach but being an impatient teenager and not thinking anything of it I hit anyway, a couple of bounces and it whacked an old guy on the leg who was on the green. Apparently the ball was going through the green but his leg stopped it and left me with a makeable eagle putt. I wish I could remember if I holed it or not but I don't.

Not long after I received a 'nice' letter from the committee and the guy I hit's son had a friendly chat with me. My etiquette on the course improved a lot after that.

I still remember the guy I hit, he is about 90 now. I still see him around town occasionally and walks with a bad limp. Absolutely nothing to do with me though.

Last Saturday in a medal (stroke play) we got to the tee at our allotted slot to find the group booked 10 minutes prior only just leaving the tee.
They apologised telling us that one of the group in front of them ran back from half way down the first fairway after failing to find his ball.
That automatically put pressure on, and frustrated, every group behind.
In a medal if there's the slightest doubt about any wayward shot you drop a provisional or risk an N/R for the comp.
In a stableford, if you can't find your ball with a group behind you, tough luck, no points, move on.

When tees are fully booked in comps dawdling and calling through often causes further congestion. It's important to be mindful and keep up with those ahead. We've often been on a green with a group wait for us because they can see the flow of play ahead of us and know we can't go anywhere.

Played against someone off 2 this evening in our counties scratch league and for once took the chances I set up for myself. I was 5 up after 7 but lost the next two with a couple of bogies. Steadied after that and won the match with a birdie at the 16th.

The guy I played is a very good up and coming player so probably the last time I'll beat him.

An amusing episode from Sunday's game with my buddy:

2nd hole. Par 3 built into the side of a hill so if you fade you'll miss the green and end up three or four metres below it. Best strategy in summer is to aim left of green and hope to bounce onto the bank above the hole and roll along it then back down onto the green.

I went first. Was using an old driver as an experiment (it's 10.5 degrees not the 12.5 I normally use). I topped it and it only went 100 yards. Typical humorous comment from buddy. He tees off and manages to fade it into the dip. We set off and stop at my ball. "At least mine could have reached the green" he laughs.

So from 93 yards I take a swing. Ball bounces of bank, rolls down and disappears into the hole for a birdie. *silence from my buddy*.

He heads down to get his ball. Swings, hits it crazy high - comes down just short of green and bounces back down, past him and nearly out of bounds.

My comment: "Could that one of have reached the green"?

^^ Ouch! ^^^ Good birdie though.

I'm off on a golf trip in a few weeks so am trying to keep the practice up. It's been at least a month now since i've hit anything worse than triple boggy on a hole - if I can just keep that up i'll be happy.

thats the secret of golf , avoid the scorecard wreckers

old saying, you dont win things hitting good shots, you lose them hitting bad ones

So I bit the bullet and bought some clubs from various sources on the net as American Golf wouldn't price match against all I found.

Now I need to get them fitted. Can anyone suggest a place in or near Nottingham that provides this service

can i ask a stupid question, i haven't been able to play for a couple of years because of a dodgy knee, but i played off a single figure handicap for close to 30 years and never had clubs "fitted"

is it that much of an issue, especially if you are not going to be playing seriously ?

Possibly not if you're average height buying off-the-shelf clubs. It's not as essential, for instance, as buying golf shoes that are the correct size. I'd say that as long as the clubs feel okay and touch the ground at more or less the right angle (sole pretty much flat to the ground) they should be fine.

One exception might be the driver. There's been a trend over recent years of longer shafts being sold. I've seen several websites implying that this making drivers unnecessarily difficult for amateurs to use.