Nobody likes a slow player in golf. Just take PGA star Brooks Koepka comments regarding long rounds when he stated, “Five and half hours to play golf is a long time. Everybody’s going to get bored.” Anybody who has been stuck in a 5-plus hour round before can agree with Koepka’s stance on slow play. So what are some strategies that you can implement to help ensure your next round is completed within four hours? Below are ideas that you can immediately implement to speed up your pace of play and help avoid those dreaded long rounds.

 

Play First Thing In The Morning

 

The easiest and most effective way of ensuring that you will complete your round in under four hours is to secure an early morning tee time. If you can get the first tee time of the day, that is even better. The reasoning behind this strategy is that when you are the first group of the day, there will be nobody ahead of you that you are forced to wait on. So by being the first tee time of the day, you control your destiny as far as the timing of your round.

 

Develop a Quick Pre-Shot Routine 

 

One of the most common habits of slow golfers is their lack of a consistent pre-shot routine. If you want to speed up your round a bit, developing a pre-shot routine that takes about 25-30 seconds from the moment you’ve selected what club you’re going to hit, to stepping up to the ball, getting lined up, and then ultimately completing your swing. If you can keep this pre-shot routine to under 30 seconds and remain consistent with it each time, it will not only speed up your round, but it will also help keep you in a good rhythm. 

 

Allow No More Than Five Minutes Looking For A Lost Ball

 

A real round momentum killer is when a member of the group hits a ball near out of bounds or into an area of thick rough/desert (depending on the type of course). If you hit a ball that appears unfindable, don’t be that player that looks around for their ball for 10-plus minutes. If your ball is lost, give yourself a maximum of five minutes to look for it before moving on to dropping another ball and continuing your round. On that note, it’s always important to hit a provisional shot if you fear that your ball may be lost or hit out-of-bounds. 

 

Be More Generous With The “Gimme Putts”

 

The final tip that can quickly speed up a round is to be more generous with giving “gimme putts” to your playing partners. Unless you’re betting big time money or have a lot of skins riding on that 3-foot putt, don’t be super stingy with providing gimme putts. Allowing gimme putts helps speed up a round more than you would think. Don’t believe me? Give it a try in your next round and find out. 

 

Play Ready Golf

 

This final tip is one of the most classic expeditious golf rules and is one every player should know. Playing “ready golf” is simple. If you’re ready to play, go ahead and hit instead of waiting to follow the proper/professional rules of who hits next.

 

While there are endless ways that you can speed up your round and ensure a four hour or less round, the tips listed above are some of the easiest and most effective tips that you can implement in your next round. Enjoy!

 

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