GolfTag

2 years of GolfTag data at The Vines. See how (graphs below) the slowest round has reduced by 22% and the average round time for club competitions has reduced by 19%. No longer do we have 5 hrs rounds. And we know precisely which groups and players are responsible for slow play. Then we work with those players in a polite and friendly way to improve their Pace of Play.

This continuous improvement comes after a step change improvement when the GolfTag system was first introduced!

Many players may not be aware that slow play is a breach of the rules of golf.

Here is the R&A Golf Rule 6-7 Undue Delay; Slow Play;
The player must play without undue delay and in accordance with any pace of play guidelines that the Committee may establish. Between completion of a hole and playing from the next teeing ground, the player must not unduly delay play.

PENALTY FOR BREACH OF RULE 6-7:

Match play – Loss of hole;
Stroke play – Two strokes.
Bogey and par competitions – See Note 2 to Rule 32-1a.
Stableford competitions – See Note 2 to Rule 32-1b.
For subsequent offence – Disqualification.

Note 1: If the player unduly delays play between holes, he is delaying the play of the next hole and, except for bogey, par and Stableford competitions (see Rule 32), the penalty applies to that hole.

Note 2: For the purpose of preventing slow play, the Committee may, in the conditions of a competition (Rule 33-1), establish pace of play guidelines including maximum periods of time allowed to complete a stipulated round, a hole or a stroke.

In match play, the Committee may, in such a condition, modify the penalty for a breach of this Rule as follows:
First offence – Loss of hole;
Second offence – Loss of hole;
For subsequent offence – Disqualification.

In stroke play, the Committee may, in such a condition, modify the penalty for a breach of this Rule as follows:
First offence – One stroke;
Second offence – Two strokes;
For subsequent offence – Disqualification.

The first club to purchase a GolfTag system is Redcliffe GC in Queensland. After 6 weeks of use in their competitions, here is what the Club Captain Glen Smith had to say:

REDCLIFFE GC GOLFTAG TESTIMONIAL

The Match Committee of Redcliffe Golf Club purchased GolfTag as the primary Pace of Play monitoring device for the club. This was to address the problem of rounds regularly in excess of 5hrs. Everything we had tried previously had not worked. Course Marshalling was very expensive and proved ineffective. This GolfTag system costs less than 1yrs Marshaling.

We implemented GolfTag and our Ready Golf play policy on July 14th, 2018 and we have seen a marked improvement in Pace of Play. In only one month of using this system we have seen our competition rounds come back to a more respectable last group time of 4:25hrs on Stableford days and 4:40hrs for Medal days. Previously this was 4:45 and 5hrs.

We believe that there is more room for improvement with early groups being expected to play in less than 4hrs. This is with large sized fields of between 210 to 230. We operate with 6 minute start time intervals and a one tee start.

We are now looking to open more tee times at the end of the field as this will generate extra revenue for the Club and guarantee players that they will finish with plenty of daylight.

The feedback from Members has been very supportive and positive. We are also hoping that we may pick up extra new Members as it is much more enjoyable to play a nice quick game around the 4hr mark.

It has been a pleasure to walk into the Clubhouse this last month after a round and not get bombarded with the “What are you going to do about Slow Play” question that I think every Captain of every Golf Club gets asked on a regular basis. Every group has a Tag and is monitored by the Pro-Shop staff. We have now put that “What are you going to do about Slow Play” question back onto Members as they are responsible for Pace of Play for their group.

I would highly recommend any Golf Club having problems with slow play to give it a go and stick to it as it does work. If anyone wants to see it in action or doesn’t believe this can change Members attitudes, come to the Redcliffe Golf Club to see for yourself.

Glen Smith
Captain of the Redcliffe Golf Club

A Pace of Play survey conducted by Golf Digest asked the following questions:

Q1– How would you rate your own pace of play?

57.8% said they were fast
37.4% said they were average, and
4.8% agreed they were slow!

Q2 – How would you rate most golfers’ pace of play?

56.2% of golfers said that other golfers were slow, whilst 41.8% were average and only
2% were rated Fast!

This shows that 95% of players believe they are average to fast golfers and 98% believe that other golfers are average to slow.

What do you think?

SLOW PLAY would have to be one of the most talked about topics in any Golf Club not just in Australia but Worldwide. Unfortunately, as most things in our hectic lives have sped up - Competition rounds of Golf have gone backwards to the point where 5+ hour rounds are more common than not.

At the Vines we have addressed this problem with GolfTag and completely eliminated 5 hr rounds. GolfTag identifies the slow playing groups that cause slow play.

Great to watch the European tour "shot clock masters" tournament. Adopting this format has resulted in the average tour round reducing from 4:47 to 4:13. Great that the pro's have embraced this and it should filter down to have an influence on club competition rounds?
Also demonstrates how much the golfing authorities view the importance of addressing the slow play problem that plagues the game!
GolfTag can help you manage your Pace of Play at your club, by identifying the slow playing groups.

GolfTag is a great system for measuring and managing the performance of Pace of Play. “What gets measured gets managed!”

After almost 12 months of collecting data twice a week, it is apparent that 95% of the field complete their rounds in good time averaging less than 4:20 and keep up with the group in front.

However it is the small number of groups/players who don’t keep up with the group in front that cause the groups behind them to be delayed. You can’t go faster than the group in front! Unless they let you through, of course, but that rarely happens.

At the end of each competition, the GolfTag results are reviewed and a bar chart report produced. (see previous post)

The groups who breach the slow play rules are sent a polite and friendly e mail, bringing to their attention to the times recorded for their group. They are politely asked to avoid playing slowly and to keep up with the group in front where practicable. (eg its not practicable if you have a 2 ball out first in the AM and you are following them in a 4 ball group and walking)

The rules at The Vines are: that if you “lose 10 mins on group in front and exceed 4:20” and/or you “lose 5 minutes on the group in front and exceed 4:30” (these rules will be different for every club)

GolfTag is a system that is a long term permanent fix for slow play. It does take time for members to get used to the idea that their Pace of Play is being time measured.

When member’s slow times are brought to their attention, it sometimes comes as a surprise to them. The majority of members respond and keep up with the group in front and don’t appear on the “slow play list” again.

However, there are some members who repeatedly appear on the “slow play list” and it may take them longer to adjust their game, so they avoid breaching the rules.

4:20 doesn’t require members to play quickly, but it does mean not playing slowly!

Think about the enjoyment of all the players in the field, and make sure that you are not playing in a slow group that is holding others up!

Enjoy your golf in good time!

Avoid slow play with some easy to do tips;

Apply "ready golf" standards at all times.
Play your shot as soon as you are ready, provided it is safe to do so.

Prepare your putt while others are putting, so you put your ball down and putt immediately it is your turn.

Play your shot before looking for your playing partners lost ball. Chances are they will find it by the time you have played your shot!

If you fall behind the group in front then agree with your playing partners that everyone makes the effort to try and catch up.

Exit the green quickly after putting out. The 1st 2 players to putt out can move to the next tee whilst the last 2 players putt out.

Complete your scorecard whilst others are playing their shots.

Golf membership numbers in Australia are in decline, and slow play is one of the primary reasons for people not taking up the game. Help the game to grow by avoiding slow play. 😀

Here is a great example of how GolfTag identifies a slow playing group;

Groups Joe through to Giovanni all tee off the 1st teebox and complete their rounds in between 4:13 and 4:28.

Groups Paul through to Victor tee off the 10th teebox and groups Paul to Wynton complete their rounds in between 4:14 and 4:28.

But then Colin's group takes 4:45 mins, and causes the 5 groups following behind them to be delayed.

Now up to the Match Committee to deal with Colin and his group.

If Colin's group had played earlier in the field then even more groups would have been affected by their slow play!

Check out the article in the April edition of Inside Golf about GolfTag.

Perth club winning slow play battle

SLOW play is the bane of golfers and golf clubs the world over, but a Perth club has taken on the challenge and is winning the battle.
The Vine Resort Country Club has managed to reduce the time it takes to play an 18-hole competition round by 45 minutes to an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes – virtually eliminated slow play at the popular 36-hole facility.
“We were frequently getting in excess of five-hour competition rounds so we introduced a pace-of-play policy, which proved to be reasonably successful in raising members’ awareness,” said Mike Saunders, the club’s director of finance.
“Then, 12 months ago, we came up with the idea to issue playing groups with a Radio Frequency Identification Tag (RFID) that has to be swiped at four stations around the course – the first hole, ninth green, 10th green and 18th green.”
At each station the player’s time is uploaded to a website instantaneously allowing club officials to monitor the progress of players in the field – around 200 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Groups hit off in eight-minute intervals.
“This has been highly successful as it has allowed us to clearly identify the slow playing groups,” Saunders said.
“We then work with those players to improve their pace of play.”
The club’s aim is to ensure all players complete their round in less than four hours and 30 minutes (4:30).
Players who take more than 4:30 to complete their round receive a “polite and friendly” email from the club asking them to explain why they exceeded the time and are reminded to be conscious of the club’s pace-of-play policy.
“By issuing everybody with a tag they feel involved and engaged and connected to the pace of play,” Saunders added.
Well, it seems the tag system has positively changed the behaviour of the members.
“It is a good topic of humour in the club because after the round everybody is asking each other how long it took them to finish their round,” he said.
“And from a match committee’s point of view we are able to look at the results and identify the slow playing groups causing the problem.”
“We know that Pace of Play is a difficult task to take on because members don’t like being told they play slowly,” he added.
“We are not trying to get people to play faster. What we are trying to do is stop people from playing slowly.”
Competition golf is about keeping up with the group ahead, not in front of the group behind.
With that in mind, the Vines encourages its members to play ready-golf where possible rather than wait for their playing partners who may not be in position to play their next shot.
“These things take time for people to adjust to, but 90 per cent of players are happy to comply with ready-golf,” Saunders said. “The rest of the players are in transition mode.”
Saunders said the tag system has eliminated five-hour competition rounds.
“This is a great example of taking on an initiative,” he said.
“It is a credit to the club members who have got involved and support the initiative which has led to a successful outcome.”
Perhaps this is something other golf clubs concerned with slow play should consider introducing.
The system, according to Saunders, is very simple to use, and is a low cost solution..
In 2015, the R&A introduced a pace-of-play manual and identified slow play as the primary reason why people were not taking up the game of golf.
Meanwhile, the Director of Golf Development at St Andrews, has shown interest in the Vines’ tag system.
“He is very interested in the system and the progress we are making and has asked me to keep him appraised of progress,” Saunders said.