Have you ever been annoyed by a round of golf which seem to take forever to complete? Most players, at one time or another, have had to face this common problem of almost all of the golf courses in the world. A slow game annoys, frustrates, gets you out of sync, lessens concentration and, as a result, clouds the memory of even the most successful game on a fantastic golf course in wonderful weather.

That being said, slow play is a state which golfers get used to and can also be the result of players of the sport not studying golf etiquette. From this it follows that the disease called “slow game” is usually treatable. Of course, the player himself should understand this and, to a large extent, his partners in the game should help him.

When watching other players on the golf course we plainly see their actions which slow down the game. Remember the group in front of Tiger Woods during the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open? For Woods, it was a round which seemed to go on forever! This type of behavior should never happen in professional golf but, during our own amateur rounds, do we always pace ourselves?

Analyzing our own actions, we often find out that we act in the same way that irritates us!

Before you read our recommendations on how to best expedite the pace of your game, it is important to note that these proposals have nothing to do with our attempts to hurry you along: these suggestions should set you up for constant readiness to play golf using common sense and take into account rules of golf etiquette.

The conclusion that must be made after reading this is that, as soon as it is your time to play, you should be ready to address the golf ball and take your shot.

Here are a few recommendations on how to speed up pace of your game:

• Choose a tee box which corresponds to your level. If your handicap is a thirty, then a game from the tournament tee box will only add strokes…and frustration to your round.

• Your foursome shouldn’t walk to the farthest ball then to the second, etc. Each player should go directly to his ball and wait for the farthest from the hole to take the shot.

• Same goes for two players using one golf-car: farthest from the hole plays first dropped off with all the necessary golf clubs. After the first player has hit a shot, he should walk towards the car while the second player is busy setting up his shot.

• When on the way to your golf ball, use this time to think over your upcoming shot, determing distance and club selection. You can always save time by using Mobitee and its features of club advice, rangefinder and calculating distances.

• If there is a chance of a lost or out of bounds golf ball, play a provisional ball immediately so you don’t take more time returning to the position of the previous ball. If you are just playing with friends and not competitively, or if you are a beginner, just drop the ball not far from the place where the first ball was lost.

• Start reading the green and indicating the putting line in advance of your putt.

• Don’t chat with your partners when it is your turn to take a shot. Break away from the conversation, take your shot and then continue talking – with a round taking approximately four hours to complete, you can get plenty of conversation in when it is not your turn to play.

• In case you drive a golf cart and it is impossible to approach the ball, walk to the ball taking several clubs with you. To find out that you don’t have a proper club when you are at the ball means you will have to walk back to the cart which is unreasonable and tiring during a round.

• When finished putting out, don’t stay on the green chatting with your friends or rolling putts. Leave the green immediately for the group behind you to be able to continue their game. When there is nobody behind you, a couple of putts are possible.

• Having left the green, don’t stop in front of your cart and dig around your bag : quickly get into the cart and drive to the next tee and reposition, etc, at the next tee box.

• The same goes for marking your scorecard; don’t calculate your score on the green or close to it. The Mobitee scorecard will be of great use here because you don’t have to count your strokes; Mobitee will do it for you!

• Don’t give advice to the partners in the group during the round; put it on hold until you are on the driving range.

• Although you officially have five minutes to look for a lost ball, if it’s for competition or there’s money (or pride) on the line and you’re going to spend some time looking for your ball, give way to the group behind you. If you play a friendly round in which you don’t exactly keep to the rules of golf, just forget about the lost ball after a minute and use a new one.

• When on the tee box, keep track of your partners’ drives. If they lose their ball, you’ll be able to note wehre the ball landed thus avoiding long searches.

• When you are on the tee waiting for the group in front to clear the fairway, you don’t have to keep to the rules of priority. Forward tee players who are short hitters can go first, providing there is no chance of hitting the group in front of you.

• Work out a brief structure of how you’re going to set up to the shot. If you spend a lot of time on preparation, think how you can reduce it by, perhaps, taking one training swing instead of two or more.

• Carry enough extra tees, markers and balls in your pockets so not to waste time on searching for them in your bag.

Hope these recommendations will help you to make your pace of play shorter and your time on the course more enjoyable.

Follow @Mobitee on Twitter and “LIKE” us on Facebook! .

Photo credit: www.golfbizwiki.com