Etiquette question about teeing off

[Noles]

Had a bit of an argument with a group on Sunday based on the following scenario:

 

Pace of play is ok but most shots you need to wait a short time for the group in front to clear. Group 1 is in the fairway now hitting their second shots to a par 4 after having waited a few minutes for the group in front to clear. Group 2 is on the tee of the the same par 4 but cannot reach group 1 with their drives. Should group 2 go ahead and start teeing off or should group 2 wait and allow group 1 to hit their second shots and drive away?

[jaredt22]

Personally, I feel as though Group 2 (on the tee) should wait for the players in the fairway (Group 1) to complete their 2nd shots, and start moving forward. All it would do is make the next wait, on the 2nd shot, longer, for Group 2, anyways. I hate it when people I play with/around are in a hurry to wait. It makes no sense to try and push a group, when they are also waiting on the group in front of them.

[Nessism]

If the group ahead is safely clear I'd hit up. I'm an advocate of "pressing forward" to advance the pace of play. Way too many players/groups "relax backwards" and don't push forward and the result is mass insanity where the pace of play slows down.

[TheyCallMeVinnie]

I wait until the group in from of me is in the cart or starts walking away after their second shot. My luck, I pull an incredible drive out of nowhere and hit them

[Orlandogolfguru]

Agree, should wait. It's just good form even if you cannot reach them, No one likes to be hitting a second shot into the green and hear a ball land behind them - which you can still hear drop even if 50-100 yards back. At least let them get in the cart or start walking.

[North Butte]

Then there's my personal favorite scenario. Two guys in a cart just barely out of my tee shot range. So I wait while one of them goes through his endless pre-shot ritual. They finally get in the cart and angle over toward the right rough. So once they're rolling I step up to my ball.

 

Then I take one last look before swinging and there they are driving backwards, slowly, for 40-50 yards until they get to the second guy's ball in the rough about 170 off the tee.

[George1174]

At my home course with 10min Intervals we usually wait to tee off on the first (Par 4) until the group in front of us has reached the green. Usually a fourball walking takes 4-4.5hrs. But I have seen three groups on the first hole during a tournament, 1 on the green, 1 on the fairway and 1 on the tee. So I don't play in tournaments anymore.

[szaino]

If the group in front is out of range, I don't understand why this is even a question?

 

Also perfectly OK to let a shorter hitter in your group hit first if the group in front is out of that particular players range. It's all part of playing ready golf.

[flog2]

If the group in front is out of range, I don't understand why this is even a question?

 

Also perfectly OK to let a shorter hitter in your group hit first if the group in front is out of that particular players range. It's all part of playing ready golf.

and there lies the problem!

 

just wait, its only a few more seconds and the group in front doesnt get flustered by balls landing near them, it does put you off I assure you, you then wait to see the next guy drive in case he reaches you etc etc

 

 

so just wait and not only will you enjoy your round but so will others

[HatsForBats]

If pace of play is OK I would prefer they wait. When you hit those extra slow spots I get it. Nothing worse than having to wait a long time between full shots.

[PostandGhost]

If the group ahead is safely clear I'd hit up. I'm an advocate of "pressing forward" to advance the pace of play. Way too many players/groups "relax backwards" and don't push forward and the result is mass insanity where the pace of play slows down.

 

I'm with you here. I like the term "pressing forward" as long as it's safe. Ness, not sure what you think a safe distance is. I'd say as long as you can't land it within 30-40 yards of the group in front.

[Nessism]

If the group in front is out of range, I don't understand why this is even a question?

 

Also perfectly OK to let a shorter hitter in your group hit first if the group in front is out of that particular players range. It's all part of playing ready golf.

and there lies the problem!

 

just wait, its only a few more seconds and the group in front doesnt get flustered by balls landing near them, it does put you off I assure you, you then wait to see the next guy drive in case he reaches you etc etc

 

 

so just wait and not only will you enjoy your round but so will others

 

You just described why pace of play is so slow these days.

[raynorfan1]

It depends on how far "out of range" they are.

 

If the four guys ahead of you bombed their drives 290, and are waiting for the green to clear for their <50 yard pitch shots, and your group is going to max out at 230, hit the ball already.

 

If the four guys ahead of you are 250 out, and you normally hit 230+...wait.

 

But if they are absolutely, positively, unreachable...hit.

[disk]

If your waiting on a tee box for the group ahead to clear the fairway, your going to be waiting in the fairway for the group ahead to clear the green... why not wait until they finish their approach shots?

[chippa13]

"Pressing forward" will lead to the inevitable logjam once Group 1 has even a slight hiccup.

[LeoLeo99]

"Pressing forward" will lead to the inevitable logjam once Group 1 has even a slight hiccup.

 

But it banks some time savings in case group 2 has a hiccup before group 1.

[Matt J]

"Pressing forward" will lead to the inevitable logjam once Group 1 has even a slight hiccup.

 

Not necessarily true.

 

The thing most guys can't seem to figure out is that pace isn't an issue when everyone is hitting fairways and greens. But, if one of these guys sprays his tee shot, he may need that 5 minutes he was going to spend with his hands on his hips.

[chippa13]

Here's the thing, once Group 2 starts "pressing forward" then it starts pulling Group 3/4/5 etc along and before long you've got 3-4 groups on a single hole and the course comes to a grinding halt.

[kgeisler13]

If the group in front of you is 300 yards away and you hit it 250 yard ball as means hit up. you don't have to speed up to your ball in the fairway but god forbid someone tops, hooks, or slices one of the tee you have to spend time looking for it but you waited for the group in front of you to hit their second shots, so now the group behind you is waiting on you. Also it depends how busy it is, if they're is no one behind you, you don't to hit your drives right away.

[gretch]

Yeah, I don't agree with pressing forward. Very, very rarely is pressing forward going to actually accomplish anything unless the pressing forward is an attempt to get through one slow group.

 

If it's slow, it is slow and when this happens I slow everything down to match the pace of play for the day and enjoy the round. AS long as you are keeping up with the group in front of you, which shots exacty the group behind you is waiting on is irrelevant. They are going to be waiting the same amount of time regardless.

[North Butte]

But we're talking about keeping up. Standing around waiting to tee off when the group ahead of you is 50+ yards beyond your driving distance is NOT keeping up. It is falling behind.

 

Now maybe you're doing that to fall behind on purpose in the expectation that sometime later you'll catch up again. But as several have pointed out, waiting a few extra minutes then having three of your foursome hit their tee shots into trouble means you're going to just fall behind even farther.

 

The 50th group of the day on a crowded course may be doomed to a 5-hour round. But they aren't going to make it any better by hanging back a few extra minutes on every tee.

[chippa13]

Getting into the fairway earlier just to wait there longer for the green to clear won't help anyone. A group isn't behind if they are hitting as soon as the fairway clears on a par 4. And if the entire group gets the shanks on that tee then they better hustle in order to catch back up after tromping around in the woods.

[North Butte]

Well don't get me wrong. If I know for a fact my round is going to take, let's say, 4-1/2 hours no matter what I do then I'd just as soon do as much of my waiting as possible standing under a shade tree near the tee box rather than in the fairway. It's much more relaxing to at least play each individual hole with a steady rhythm, then wait again before starting the next hole.

 

But if everyone waits on the tee until the next group is on the green that lost time will propagate backwards and it won't be 4-1/2 hours. It will 4-1/2 for my group out early, 5 hours for the groups mid-day and 5-1/2 for those in the afternoon. Any time you stand on the tee with empty space ahead of you then YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. Even if it feels more comfortable at the moment for you.

[MrJones]

I look at it like this:

Par 4

 

Group A is waiting for green to clear.

 

Group B tees off knowing they can't get to group A.

 

Group A finally gets to play to green and Group B is already heading out to fairway.

 

Group A finishes hitting approach shots. Group B has arrived to hit second shots.

 

At this point Group B has to wait while Group A rides up, possibly chips/bunker shots/pitches onto green. Gets on green and putts.

 

How much time did group B actually save? Did they unnecessarily rush Group A? And most importantly did they stand in the fairway the entire time, hands on hips, wondering what in the world is taking so long?

 

 

As for pressing forward I know guys that will play slower on purpose if they think they're being pushed. That type of scenario tends to escalate into something ugly and unfavorable most of the time.

[2bGood]

As soon as the group in front is out of range you hit. Simple as that. Why wait? By hitting as soonas you can, you have bought yourself a little time for things like lost balls, or having to re-tee.

[North Butte]

I look at it like this:

Par 4

 

Group A is waiting for green to clear.

 

Group B tees off knowing they can't get to group A.

 

Group A finally gets to play to green and Group B is already heading out to fairway.

 

Group A finishes hitting approach shots. Group B has arrived to hit second shots.

 

At this point Group B has to wait while Group A rides up, possibly chips/bunker shots/pitches onto green. Gets on green and putts.

 

How much time did group B actually save? Did they unnecessarily rush Group A? And most importantly did they stand in the fairway the entire time, hands on hips, wondering what in the world is taking so long?

 

 

As for pressing forward I know guys that will play slower on purpose if they think they're being pushed. That type of scenario tends to escalate into something ugly and unfavorable most of the time.

 

Now insert three of the four guys in Group B hitting their balls out of play, one in the left woods, one in the right woods and one that they were sure they'd find in the rough but they never did.

[Dpavs]

As long as you know with 100% certainty they are out of range then there is no reason not to hit.... if there is any doubt at all then wait.

[Hot Rod 71]

I don't want to hear balls dropping behind me while I'm standing over my approach shot, even if it is 50-100 yards back.

 

Just wait. If group 1 in the fairway is waiting for group 2 on the green to clear, then obviously group 1 is not the issue. Why hit up on them? It will not speed up play.

[MrJones]

I look at it like this:

Par 4

 

Group A is waiting for green to clear.

 

Group B tees off knowing they can't get to group A.

 

Group A finally gets to play to green and Group B is already heading out to fairway.

 

Group A finishes hitting approach shots. Group B has arrived to hit second shots.

 

At this point Group B has to wait while Group A rides up, possibly chips/bunker shots/pitches onto green. Gets on green and putts.

 

How much time did group B actually save? Did they unnecessarily rush Group A? And most importantly did they stand in the fairway the entire time, hands on hips, wondering what in the world is taking so long?

 

 

As for pressing forward I know guys that will play slower on purpose if they think they're being pushed. That type of scenario tends to escalate into something ugly and unfavorable most of the time.

 

Now insert three of the four guys in Group B hitting their balls out of play, one in the left woods, one in the right woods and one that they were sure they'd find in the rough but they never did.

 

Just how bad is group B? They're already 40 yards shorter off the tee than the guys in front of them and now they can't even keep it in play? I'll bet they are playing the wrong tees too! :)

 

I guess I feel bad for Group C behind them because if they're shorter and out of the fairway group C probably has a long wait on the tee followed by and even longer wait to hit approach shots.

[chippa13]

I look at it like this:

Par 4

 

Group A is waiting for green to clear.

 

Group B tees off knowing they can't get to group A.

 

Group A finally gets to play to green and Group B is already heading out to fairway.

 

Group A finishes hitting approach shots. Group B has arrived to hit second shots.

 

At this point Group B has to wait while Group A rides up, possibly chips/bunker shots/pitches onto green. Gets on green and putts.

 

How much time did group B actually save? Did they unnecessarily rush Group A? And most importantly did they stand in the fairway the entire time, hands on hips, wondering what in the world is taking so long?

 

 

As for pressing forward I know guys that will play slower on purpose if they think they're being pushed. That type of scenario tends to escalate into something ugly and unfavorable most of the time.

 

Now insert three of the four guys in Group B hitting their balls out of play, one in the left woods, one in the right woods and one that they were sure they'd find in the rough but they never did.

 

One can suck at golf and not be slow about it. Trust me, I've been there.