Slow players get blamed for holding up a course. Fast players causing just as much disruption almost never get mentioned — and staying in sync matters both with the group ahead of you and within your own group.
Most golfers instinctively judge their pace against the group behind them — are they waiting on us, are we holding them up. That’s actually the wrong measure. Pace of play is properly judged against the group in front of you: if there’s an open hole ahead, a clear, growing gap between you and the group playing in front- that’s the real sign your group has lost sync, regardless of how patient or impatient anyone behind you is being.
Fast golfers disrupt play just as much as slow ones
It’s an easy assumption that pace problems come from weaker players, but skill level and pace aren’t actually linked. There are plenty of good golfers who play slowly, and plenty of high handicappers who move at a good pace.
A fast group that catches up to the group ahead creates its own kind of disruption. Standing around waiting to play into an occupied green, growing impatient, and often putting pressure on the group ahead without meaning to. Racing to close a gap doesn’t fix pace of play it just moves the bottleneck to a different pair of players.
It matters just as much within your own group
Most mixed-ability groups have a natural spread of pace, and it’s worth both doing something about it. If you’re the faster player, that means consciously easing off rather than visibly waiting, sighing, or hovering while a slower partner finishes up.
The aim is to blend into the group’s pace, not to make someone feel rushed every time they’re over the ball. If you’re the slower player, it means being mindful in return: using the time while others play to get yourself properly ready, rather than only starting to think about your shot once it’s your turn.
Good pace within a group isn’t about the fastest player setting the standard everyone else has to hit. It’s each player doing their own small part so nobody’s actively waiting on anyone else.
What to do about it
If you genuinely can’t keep up and a gap has opened in front of you, standard etiquette is to invite the group behind to play through, whatever its size . That’s the accepted solution, not apologising and pushing on regardless. If you’re the faster group and you’re closing the gap on the group ahead, the answer isn’t to hurry them or hover impatiently , it’s to ease your own pace back rather than transferring the pressure onto players who aren’t the problem.
Where ready golf actually fits into this
Ready golf -playing when you’re ready rather than waiting for strict “honour” order- is one of the main tools for keeping a mixed-speed group playing well together.
It removes the artificial waiting that builds resentment on both sides: faster players aren’t stuck idling for a formal turn order, and slower players aren’t made to feel like they’re the reason for every minute lost.
It works best when a group agrees to it upfront, so nobody’s caught off guard mid-round. On the green specifically: mark, lift and clean your ball as soon as you arrive so you’re ready when it’s your turn; line up your putt while others are putting; and keep your pre-shot routine short once it genuinely is your turn aiming for roughly 20 seconds is the commonly cited target.
The real test of a good pace isn’t how fast any one player moves, it’s whether your group is in sync internally, and whether that synced group is keeping pace with the one in front of it, all the way round.
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