How To Deal With The Snails

Much has been written about the curse of slow play, but very little has been done to improve the situation. So congratulations to the Antequera Golf Club, who actually monitor slow players at an early stage in their round. If it is clear that they are beginners with no official handicap, they are asked to leave the course. While the presence of non-golfers on golf courses is not rare, Antequera’s way of dealing with the situation is. But it’s not always that easy. Corporate golf days are a popular way for companies to reward clients and staff. But if your best client is a non-golfer, but wants to join in anyway, do you say no? Of course not. So why not take a late start time, so regular players do not find themselves trailing along behind the snails, with no chance of completing 18 holes before darkness falls.

Most clubs insist that handicap certificates must be shown to caddymasters, but very few actually implement this policy. Most golf tour operators do advise their clients that they should bring evidence of handicap with them when embarking on a golf holiday, but for some reason, very few do. Fortunately, thanks largely to their regular golf competitions, Golf Leisure Breaks have clients’ handicaps on record. Furthermore, those taking part in the stableford competitions are asked to pick up their ball when they cannot achieve a stableford point and to play at a reasonable pace.

However, no-one can play quickly if they are playing behind a slow group. While I would not recommend draconian measures to ban potentially slow players, monitoring the early morning starters would solve many problems. If the first group of the day is likely to take more than 5 hours, the knock-on effect will spoil the day for everyone else on the golf course.

Tags: 18 holes, Antequera Golf, tour operators