Do what some of us do. Politely ask them to play thru. Tell them you do not want them to feel like you all are pushing them and want them to have a good time. Did they play under four hours and fifteen minutes and was there a group in front of them? I do not let this bother me, because it is common of public courses. I will call the pro shop and complain if they are really slow, that is if each hole is taking around 15 minutes and there is not a group in front of them. Fifteen minutes would put them on a 4.5 hour round which is not bad on some public courses. We play at a municipal course in a senior league and we do under four hours in foursomes and fivesomes, mixed walkers and riders. I am not bashful about being polite and asking to play thru, after all, golf is a gentleman's/ladies game. With respect. Been there done that. Cheers.

Slow play is annoying. But if there’s anyone ahead who maybe seems like they don’t know what they’re doing it doesn’t hurt to ask if you can play ahead. My club is also cool with just skipping a hole or two to get ahead of slow play and you can go back to play those holes. It’s our responsibility as golf nuts to educate those new to the game who may not know course etiquette.

Alex,

First of all I hate slow play. You didn't say what the course was like in front of the turtles in front of you. As one who plays a lot of rounds alone, I have come across many slow players. What I usually do is to sit in the middle of the fairway so they can see me and if that doesn't work, I just drive around them and go to the next hole, and give myself a par. Some people just don't have a clue sometimes. Good luck.

Mark F

Oh I am sorry. Two of my other friends were ahead of the four ball and they were like 3 or 4 holes ahead.

Just so frustrating

Slow play drives me crazy and yes it does affect my game.

If they were as bad as you say, perhaps they are clueless about that etiquette. To your larger point, slow play can be extremely detrimental to a round. It makes it so difficult to stay focused and engaged or get into any kind of rhythm. Unfortunately, the average weekend rounds in the summer are about 4:30. Its extremely frustrating that people can be so clueless and/or selfish. Ironically, if they played at a better pace they would probably score better.

If I'm behind a slow group I'll either ask if I can play through or just skip ahead to the next hole to get ahead of them.

I don't know if it's a SoCal issue, just my local course, or a growing trend everywhere but I always offered to let fast players, or less people in a group, jump ahead if we had a gap between us and someone else (which rarely happened) and people used to offer to let me play through. Now days I can't get them to even budge and they seem annoyed to see me waiting behind them. I usually just skip in front of them. Not sure golf etiquette is being taught anywhere. Might be a good topic for the golf magazines.

Its a bummer man, The let people play through battle has been a part of golf for many generations. Some people dont know they are supposed to. I mean no one really reads that stuff on the score card. Maybe no one ver taught them. The people who do know, they are the absolute worst. I dont know the answer because this has been a problem at golf courses across the world for generations... All we can do is try to teach ppl we know that you should try to play a little swifter and if you can't, to let people through!

I agree with that if slower players are new they may do not know about letting faster players play through..I am always aware of my pace of play if there is someone behind me I have no problem waving them through when I do they always ask are you sure and thank you..it makes me feel good even if your not on top of your game that day...

Simply skip a hole, especially if its a par-3, which are notorious for backups! You could call the pro shop and ask for the marshall to nudge them along.

I hate slow play, and if I am in a group that is moving slower than the group behind us, I will always let them play through.

Alex,
Still on 2's at my club until next week, but I still managed to get behind a pair that seemed blissfully unaware that there was any restriction on the length of time allowed for ball searches... and they seemed to lose quite a few.
I found several Pinnacles, if anyone wants them????
JT

Slow play is definitely a joy killer.
If my group is playing slow I always wave the next group off to play it thru, so we are not holding them up.
If I am stuck behind a slow group, I politely ask to play thru, we are lucky that even on these times the marshal is always driving the course and it is making sure that the pace of play is acceptable.

All this stuff is what drove me to joining a club. Here at PGA GC, we're on 9 minute tee times which means that you have 9 minutes from tee to green. Then when all players are on the green, the next group tees off. We have rangers with copies of the tee sheet and all groups are monitored. The rangers WILL let you know if your group is lagging behind. Novices are asked to play in the afternoon when there is less play. Ready golf is strongly encouraged as is playing from the tees that you're capable from regardless of where others in your group my be playing ( If you are consistently way short of the green in regulation, it's time to move up a set of tees ).

Remember the days of when arriving at a backed-up par 3, the group on the green would invite you to hit onto the green before they putted out? A lot of good ideas in this thread, especially those encouraging the course managers to monitor and send out Ambassadors/Marshalls to help keep pace. I think it does come down to more awareness and education to those who have joined the game regarding time-saving tee-to-green strategies.

Slow play is the worst and yes it tends to affect my game but I am getting better at accepting it as I usually play on public courses. The causes are many and I am not sure there is a cure. Beginners are slow and probably don't know the etiquette, experienced players can be bad as well as some of them think they are pros and their lives depend on sinking that 4 footer to win the $5 Nassau. Perhaps some ads on tournament golf by the USGA explaining some of this.