After 4.5 hours, the I Don’t Give A Fck anchovies start to school. Seriously, once I hit the 4:15 mark, I really don’t give a shit.
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For me, it’s once I’ve watched the group ahead of me read the same putt twice and still miss it…
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Oh you mean the big money match guys. The ones that watch TV and watch the pros read every minor nuance. I would bet a paycheck, that guys that do this on the muni, couldn’t even tell you what type of grass they are putting on, let alone reading: grain, tilt, stimp, moisture, shall we go on…but read on they do… 
I used to play in a league that went out after a league that sent out TWO fivesomes. And they would grind hard over every freakin putt. I watched a guy back off a 6 inch putt twice and nearly lost my mind. 9 hole rounds would routinely take 2:45 or longer
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Fivesomes should not be allowed
Old guys love the fivesome… and they love to grind over the 6 ft double bogey putt
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I’d bet the foursomes in the league don’t keep up with the fivesomes, do they?
League play at the old public course I used to play would take 2:45-3:15 for nine holes for this reason. The course would jam foursomes in every 7 min for an hour before league would tee off. 3-4 groups on every hole. Absolutely brutal golf.
When I approached the course about it they said, “Well how do you expect us to pay for this new clubhouse?”
Wouldn’t know wasn’t my league. All I know is they always held up mine
Ugh. I figured the league guys were the ones grinding over every putt, waiting for the green to clear from 250, etc. We’re pretty fortunate in that our clientele understand our no-fivesomes policy. Doesn’t mean we never see it, alas…
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Ha, it’s simple, they understand the policy when they are waiting on the 5-some ahead of them… they don’t understand the policy when 3 players drop out and they don’t want to go out as a 3 some and a 2 some.
Honestly, 5 people is basically the worst grouping you can have… 5 some is way to slow, and a 3 some and a 2 some isn’t great for the players.
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God designed golf to be played as 4 man best ball matches for the majority of casual golf in my humble opinion 
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I hear you. IMO the 4 person scramble is the perfect round of golf. I love stroke play, but nothing more fun than a laid back round with three buddies swinging out of your shoes off the tee all day.
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We played as a five-some yesterday in just under 4 hours. It would have been quicker but we waited on every tee. The 4-some behind us didn’t quite keep pace with us. I don’t like doing it, but one of our 4-some overslept and we had a pair in front and after waiting together on the first 4 tee boxes we just stayed together. We got some stares on the 9th green, but we had to wait to tee off 10 and the group behind us was lagging…my buddies playing a money/grudge match.
Rounds have gotten longer at my course. We used to always finish in 3:30 to 3:45, but it’s 4 to 4:30 now. Lots of new members since Covid started as everyone is “working from home” and we never stopped golfing here. Tee times are crammed together and we don’t have rangers, but I don’t really blame the club as they needed to make up the $$$ lost from the restaurant/bar.
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Week day rounds are definitely far slower at my course… just a ton more people out.
The thing that is hard for me on golf and pace of play is one slow group slows down the entire course…
I don’t want people to let me play through, I want them to play faster… 4 hour rounds should be the maximum.
Part of me thinks that any place with a consistent membership and a full tee sheet should prioritize getting faster players on the course out earlier… you want to play a 5 hour round? Fine, tee off at 2pm on the weekends.
Yeah I mainly joined this club because it’s affordable being semi-private and the mornings are blocked off for members so the rounds were always relatively quick. A lot of new members have come in and they’ve squeezed tee times from 10 to 7 minutes and I see guys taking forever to putt. I think the course could play faster in general though too. There are zero shortcuts for walkers and it’s not as walking friendly as some courses. A walker just can’t keep up with a cart on this course unless he’s scratch and also a great runner. We have too much OB I think too so there can be a LOT of re-teeing and provisionals hit. You can tell our course has gotten crowded with new members because you hear golf balls hitting trees constantly now lol.
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Here is the scenario from this past Saturday. I had an 1150 teetime for our second time around for 9 holes. We usually play 3, but one guy dropped as it was kinda cold. So out in a deuce and we teed off @ 1145. 4some in front of us was coming off #2 green. By the time we get to #3 green we are waiting already. We fooled around a bit on #3 green while the 4some was approaching the #4 par 3 green. We teed off on #4 and the group is still on #5 tee. So, I guess this the new thing, beers are flowing & music is blaring from their cart…and they are having a good time teeing off into places where you would not find a ball. By now there was 3 holes of daylight in front of them. I asked them flat out if they could pick up the pace of play and you would have thought I said “there is no God”! Started cursing at me, we’re a 4 some, you’re only a 2some, so I asked well could you let us play thru, which was followed by more cursing. we played on to #5 where in we both dropped wedges right in front of them to inside 20ft, Then on #6 I dropped a SW to 3ft with a little 4ft draw back. That they sat and watched. They waved us thru on #7 and still was dropping Fbombs on me because I wouldn’t converse…They said play thru and I just said TY and moved on. We finished the round @ 2:15pm. We finished the 9th hole and they were just getting to the teebox at #8. When they came off 9, I was on the practice green for 30 minutes before I booked for home. That’s when you lose interest, plus it’s like you want to cry when these players take divots with no repairs or pitch marks with no repair…it is upsetting to me. Maybe like everyone says to me on here, I’m too much of a Traditionalist.
First thing my FIL says whenever he leaves the course is how fast they played. If all you want to do is play fast what is the point. To me there is an enjoyment factor in just being on the course. I can play 18 in under 2 hours no problem. My Saturday group plays between 3:30-4 hours every week and it is perfect.
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At 4 hours the angry texts from my spouse begin
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3:30-4 is the sweet spot I think, could balance of pace without rushing. It’s when you get into the 5+ hour slogs that I have issues
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I think it depends on the situation… A 4 hour round on a Saturday is fine… but I think the 3:30 round should be the “expectation” with 4 hours round being an acceptable amount of dispersion…
It’s the 4:30 rounds that kill me, because it means you are slowing down the entire course behind you for 30+ minutes…