Okay, we've all seen it happen. One group has nothing but open space ahead of them while a backlog of other groups piles up behind them. It doesn't matter who it is because it happens with a variety of golfers. Whether it's the Rec guys on a tight course hitting every tree in sight or the prima-donna card on a short open course taking 18 minutes per putt per player.

Sometimes one group really chugs along compared to the rest of the flow.

So what are you supposed to do as a TD? And when are you supposed to do it?

Are two open holes ahead too soon to take action? Are six open holes too late?

And what is it, exactly, you are supposed to do? I guess you could issue the whole card a slow-play warning and then assign a hard-to-come-by official to follow them around and assess strokes at the 31st second of every throw, but that doesn't really seem that do-able.

I have done the following when TDing a PDGA sanctioned event: one card had 5 open holes ahead of them on an 18 hole course. An entire division was on the single card, so I had them skip two holes and implored them to play faster. It worked. For the second round I asked them to try to play speedier, and if they found themselves with three open holes ahead of them again to skip one. They ended up skipping two holes again. I noted in the TD report that they played a different layout than the other divisions, and everyone finished the tourney happy.

But if you aren't so lucky as to have an entire division on one card, what can you do? If you are going to suggest alternate tee-pads for the slower divisions to speed them up.....this group was already playing the shorter pads. :)

I remember the flame wars that incident led to! :D

I had a tournament once where one card was playing super slow and we had an issue with insufficient daylight to go on with that. They got five minutes for lunch. At that course in subsequent tournaments I've rushed through calculating payouts and doing the financials so I can go out and look for the slow groups and try to prod them along.

At a DGLO once there was an issue with slow play from one group of players and they sent me out to be the slow play marshal. The problem with that group was that they all seemed to need to do a lot of things at every tee before teeing off. You know that player who has to clean off the clean disc and retie his tied shoes and review every hole score on the scorecard and sequentially select three of four different discs before deciding on one? They were all doing that. And also they all couldn't get any of that done until it was their turn to throw. I found that by spotting for them and waiving them on to throw it kind of broke through that some.

I've found that the main thing I can do about that is start the tournament a little earlier and plan an appropriate amount of disc golf for the daylight available and in doubles, if there is an odd team, they are not in the tournament unless I also have a marshal to go with them.

Here's what the American Challenge Golf Tour (an intermediate pro tour) does about slow play: Pace of Play (http://www.acgtour.com/policies.asp#XVII).

Of course this is for tee-time tournament format, but it might lead to some sort of a solution for shotgun starts.

I kind of like that "players must finish within 15 minutes (one hole) of the group ahead of them".

Not much you can do unless the slowness is due to clock violations and the TD wants to follow them around the course as a "time marshal".

If the tournament's not full, put those people on an incomplete card.

If there's a hole or two that chronically back up anyway, start them on that hole so at least they clear it quickly.

Put me in the group just ahead of them, so I play as long as possible before encountering the logjam. (Won't help the TD, but will make me happy).

Set up a concession and sell refreshments to the backed-up groups and try to squeeze a little profit out of the situation.

If it's pouring rain and under 40 degrees, give the group behind them a 007 "license to kill".

you can always swap 2 of them with 2 from an adjacent group (behind, obviously) have them transcribe their scores and mention to all of them that their slow play has resulted in them being split apart. Is there any rule against that?

Rhett,

Here's what I've instructed marshals to do, and it seems to work pretty well.

Follow the slow group, and start timing everyone in that group (30 seconds). Penalize (or warn) anyone that is slow according to the rules. Tell them, "I'm not trying to rush you, but you're several holes behind the group in front of you. Be aware of your time. I'm going to start putting everyone in the group on the clock".

This may not be practical for every TD, but if you have a volunteer official or assistant TD that can do this, it works pretty well. In the instances where I have used it, it speeds up the the group, and especially, speeds up the lone slow player in the group who is normally causing the problem, without bringing undue attention or embarassment to that player. Best yet, it's within the rules. If this doesn't seem to improve the backlog, there's not much you can do, because the slow group would be playing within the rules since you're watching them closely.

Chap

The behaviorist in me mulled this over and figured out what OUR problem is: we're relying on punishment and negative reinforcement to change a behavior here. Behavioral science shows that positive reinforcement is much more effective for behavioral change. Punishment is just cheaper, usually "free.".

When our junior girls club was mostly 12 year olds, I'd give them stuff if they got their scorecard in before at least some of the field. The only way for them to do this was to stay caught up. I'd say, "We'll do putt-of-the-day prizes if you guys play right along and stay caught up with the group ahead of you." Putt-of-the-day prizes were nice inexpensive garage sale items that girls would like.

If you know who the slow play group is in advance, get a few nice cheap things they might appreciate and offer it to them as a fast play bonus.

it can be a real problem, but sometimes it is understandable. i remember one final 27 at TxStates that began with me in the box in a downpour. i kept the box for virtually my entire six or seven holes. the rain meant i couldnt deal with scores until getting to the the next hole, and then no one could throw until i was finished with scores and then got ready. as luck would have it, when cards changed, so did the box - to thesecond guy! by the time we got halfway through theround we were probably 30-45 minutes behind the course. but no one exceed 30 seconds. the weather made things slower, and that was compounded with the guy in the box dealing with the card so much of the time.

Bruce I really like that idea. And as stated before unless they are taking more tham 30sec there is not a lot that can be done.

Where it gets tricky for me is when you have those who want to have a conversation between shots. How to we define "what is enough time to approach your disc"?

Here is a tricky question that might deserve its own thread. What if the slow play is not a result of being slow, but because of lack of Skill? Do we at some point restict higher tier tournaments to a certain player rateing and above?( I am not in favor of this by the way except in "pro only" tournaments)