Ready Golf? We’ve been doing it for years…
Is the only surprise about Ready Golf that it has taken an R&A proclamation to implement it?
In the club game, this rather easy way to tackle slow play has been the norm for some time. If you’re ready, and it’s strokeplay, play first – regardless of who is the ‘furthest from the hole’.
Golf’s a game of rhythm and if you are always having to wait – while someone fiddles about in their pocket for a tee, or insists on spending a full five minutes looking for a ball that’s been carved into the middle of a forest – it can easily put you out of kilter.
That’s where frustration can set in.
I once competed with a player who insisted on performing an intricate breakdown of his swing, followed by as many as a dozen practice swishes, before he would hit any shot.
By the time we reached the 11th, I was in open revolt. He would still be going through his motions and I’d be 150 yards down the fairway wearing a furious glare.
It was annoying for me, and it can’t have been too much fun for him witnessing my ever growing anger.
But times have changed.
Outside of the odd idiot who insists his four nett three on the last means he is required to hit the first shot, my general experience these days is that whoever’s got a club out and a tee in place plays away.
Same on the fairway.
Outside of elite competitions, which is now covered by Ready Golf, does anyone still go searching for a playing partner’s ball without having already advanced their own first?
Don’t think I’m in any way criticising the efforts of the governing body.
This shows their efforts to improve the speed of the game – outlined in their Pace of Play manual – are not just empty words.
While we hope this may make a difference to how long it takes elite player to play their rounds – although that doesn’t seem to be the case – at the grassroots, if you are playing your monthly medal this weekend you shouldn’t really see any difference.
Because if you are not already playing Ready Golf, why on earth aren’t you?
The Rules: How England Golf are tackling slow play
What would you do to end slow play?
R&A announce results of pace of play survey
Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
