How to Maintain Pace of Play on Busy Days

By How to Play Golf in Rain Without Losing Grip
Comments 35
10 Jul 2026

How to Maintain Pace of Play on Busy Days

Why Pace of Play Matters on a Kent Course

A summer Saturday in Kent is one of the great pleasures of club golf. The fairways at a downland course are running, the links breezes are doing their thing, and the tee sheet is full from dawn until late afternoon. That fullness is a good problem to have — until a round that should take four hours stretches past five and the whole field starts to concertina.

Here is the reassuring truth: slow play is almost never caused by one villain. It is caused by a dozen small delays repeated by everyone in the field. Which means it can be fixed the same way, shot by shot, by ordinary golfers who simply decide to be ready. Nobody is asking you to rush your golf. Being quick between shots and unhurried over them is the whole trick.

Be Ready Before It Is Your Turn

The single biggest time-saver in golf is thinking ahead. While your playing partner is over the ball, you should already be doing something useful: checking the yardage, choosing your club, taking your glove out of the bag, working out your line from behind the ball.

Pull your club as you walk to the ball, not after you arrive at it. A trip back to the trolley costs half a minute, and half a minute per shot adds up alarmingly across eighteen holes.
Read your putt while others are putting, from a spot that does not stand in anyone's eyeline.
If you are furthest from the hole, play. Ready golf is standard practice at nearly every club now, so there is no need to stand on ceremony.
If there is any doubt about a ball being lost or out of bounds, hit a provisional. Walking back to the tee is the most expensive mistake in the game, time-wise.

Walk With Purpose Between Shots

Brisk walking is the easiest gain available and it costs you nothing. You do not need to stride like a competitor in a race — you simply need to avoid the slow amble, the long chat in the middle of the fairway, and the habit of standing still while the group ahead disappears over the horizon.

Position your trolley or bag on the side of the green nearest the next tee, so you are walking forwards the moment you hole out. Leave the green promptly, mark cards on the next tee rather than beside the hole, and let the group behind see you moving. It is remarkable how much goodwill a visible bit of purpose generates.

Trim the Practice Swings and the Palaver

One rehearsal swing is plenty for most shots; two is generous. Some of the slowest players on any course are not slow walkers at all — they are the ones who take four practice swings, then stand over the ball for another fifteen seconds while the group behind watches from the fairway.

Count yourself in. Pick a target, commit to the shot, and hit it. Similarly, keep the pre-shot conversation short. If you are discussing the state of the cricket or the price of a pint, do it on the walk between shots rather than in your stance.

Keep an Eye on the Group Ahead

This is the discipline that holds a busy course together. As a general guide, you should be able to see the group in front of you on the tee or in the fairway. If you cannot see them at all, and you can see the group behind waiting on every tee, then you are the hold-up — not through malice, just through drift.

If a two-ball behind you has been waiting for a few holes, wave them through at the next par three or a long par five. It costs you two minutes and buys you a great deal of goodwill. Equally, if the group in front invites you through, accept gracefully and play the next hole promptly so you do not simply pass the problem along.

Small Habits That Add Up

Pace of play is not about hurrying. It is about removing dead time — the pauses where nothing at all is happening for anybody.

Leave your bag at the entry point to the green, not in front of it.
Order your halfway refreshments before you finish the ninth, or send one player ahead to collect them.
Play a lost ball for three minutes, not five. If it is gone, it is gone.
Tee off as soon as the group ahead is clear, without waiting for elaborate introductions.
If you are the first group out, keep the field moving. If you are the last, keep up with the group in front rather than watching the clock.

Do these things and you will finish in a shade over four hours on the busiest day of the year, still fresh enough to enjoy the nineteenth hole. Your fellow members will notice, the committee will be grateful, and the quiet satisfaction of a well-paced round is one of the truest pleasures club golf in Kent has to offer.

Etiquette

The Benefits of Walking the Course Regularly

Weigh up comfort, course terrain, storage and budget to decide which option best suits your regular round in Kent.

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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