Let’s talk about speed of play…
The sub-four-hour round is the gold standard of recreational fourball golf. It is the perfect sweet spot where you have enough time to breathe, line up your putts, and enjoy a post-hole chat, without feeling like you are trapped in a slow-motion traffic jam.
Yet, weekend rounds stretching past the four hours and 30 minutes mark are becoming all too common. Slow play does more than just ruin your rhythm; it kills the joy of the game for everyone behind you.
If you are playing in a fourball (a group of four players), keeping your round under 4 hours is entirely doable. It doesn't require rushing your swings or sprinting between holes—it just requires playing smart.
4 Ways to Keep the Pace Under 4 Hours
1. Adopt "Ready Golf"
Forget the traditional etiquette of waiting for the person furthest from the hole to hit first. If you are at your ball and ready to swing, and the person further away is still calculating their yardage or looking through their bag, go ahead and hit (as long as it is safe to do so). On the tee box, if the player with the "honor" is still writing down their score from the last hole, someone else should step up and tee off.
2. Prepare While Others Are Hitting
The biggest time-waster on the course is the "sequential routine"—where Player A walks to their ball, selects a club, takes three practice swings, hits, and only then does Player B begin the exact same process. Instead, use the time spent walking to your ball to gauge the wind and distance. While your playing partners are hitting, get your club out, pull your glove on, and read your line so you can step up and swing when it is your turn.
3. Limit the Search Party
The rules of golf allow for 3 minutes to look for a lost ball. Stick to it. Furthermore, the entire fourball shouldn't stop to look for one ball unless the other three players have already hit their shots. If your ball is tracking toward the deep rough, hit a provisional ball immediately. It takes 30 seconds to hit a provisional, but it saves 10 minutes of walking back to the tee if your original ball is truly lost.
4. Manage the Green and Trolley/Buggy Smartly
When you arrive at the green, drop your bag or park your golf trolley or buggy on the side of the green closest to the next tee box. Never leave it in front of the green, forcing you to walk backward to retrieve it after putting out. Additionally, leave your scorecard in your pocket until you get to the next tee; counting up strokes while standing on the green blocks the group behind you from hitting their approach shots.
The Golden Rule of Pace: Don't worry about how close you are to the group in front of you—focus on staying ahead of the group behind you. If you lose sight of the group ahead and are holding up the group behind, wave them through. It relieves the pressure on you and keeps the course moving.