NORMAL TIME TO GOLF 18 HOLES PRO

Quick stops at the turn - After nine holes, it's fine to make a stop at the clubhouse or pro shop for a snack or a drink.That way there's little waiting time between shots and Ready Golf can continue. Drive up to a rider's golf ball, drop them off and then go to the other rider's ball. Good cart golf - If you're choosing or forced into riding a golf cart, make sure you operate it efficiently.That will save up to 30 minutes per round. Ready golf - Ready golf is the idea that players need not go by the traditional order of play that's based on the player farthest from the hole and instead playing as soon as you're ready to go (within reason).Gimmes - By not asking players in your group to putt everything out, you'll save up to 2 minutes on each hole.There are also things you can do to speed up the pace of play on the golf course and keep things moving for everyone while enjoying a quicker round of golf. In a state such as Florida, playing in the heat of the summer usually means courses are fairly devoid of golfers, which means faster rounds, but in the winter, with residents sharing courses with seasonal visitors, a round will take longer.If you're playing in a tournament with a shotgun start or a special format, you can expect your nine-hole portion of the round to take two-and-a-half or three hours. For example, it's not uncommon for five-hour rounds in Northern states in metropolitan areas during the summer because of the demand for tee times. Also, the time of year and where you play can influence the time it takes to play a round of golf.

If there's inclement weather that forces you to take shelter or the members of your foursome are overly conversational, your round won't be quick. If one or more slow groups are playing ahead of you, you'll be forced to wait at each tee box, which results in a longer round. Often, the speed with which you complete your round of golf depends on a number of factors beyond just your ability. Even the top pro tour players end up with balls in hazards, holes and heavy brush from time to time, but if your party has a player with a propensity for losing balls or hitting the hazards, an 18-hole round can stretch out to four and a half hours to even five hours or more. It is going to take longer for a foursome to play a round of golf than it normally will for a single player or a pair to play the same course. Scratch players are going to move through a course faster than players with 20 handicaps. Of course, playing nine holes is going to take less time than 18 holes any time, any place, and a capable golfer playing solo likely could play a brisk nine holes in about 90 minutes. There are also par-3 golf courses, where all holes are par-3, and 'executive' courses, with par-3 and par-4 holes only, and these courses will play faster on average than a course that also has par-5 holes. If you are playing a course that is rated as difficult, and you are not a scratch golfer, it's reasonable to expect a somewhat longer playing time than on a course that is not as challenging. The USGA assigns slope ratings to golf courses that are an indication of the difficulty of a course. Course VarietyĪll golf courses are not created equal. To complete a round in four and a half hours, the average time per hole increases to 15 minutes. This amount would include the time walking or riding from hole to hole. To finish a round in four hours, you'd need to spend an average of a little over 13 minutes on each hole. For example, the Hammock Creek golf club in Florida tracked average playing times by month for nearly two years, and the average worked out to four hours and eleven seconds. Average TimeĬonventional wisdom holds that the average time to play a round of 18 holes of golf is approximately four hours. The difficulty of the course, the number of players in a group, the skill of the players, the number of holes played, and the pace of other parties of players on the course can all affect the total time of play, but some general observations made over centuries of golfing can at least lead to a fair estimate.

Golf isn't a timed game, like football or basketball, and there are many variables that can affect the amount of time a round can take.

Normal time to golf 18 holes