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I played at Pebble Beach last week and would like to ask a question of our American cousins. It cost $450 for a round and by the 6th hole we had to wait at the tee for the group in front to tee off , thereafter we waited a lot. Now I was playing with three nice American chaps I had not met before and asked then why they were prepared to tolerate this having paid $450 since it was clearly caused by too many groups being allowed on the course with an insufficient gap on the first tee . They just shrugged and seemed prepared to accept this , I have played most of the great championship courses in the UK and have never seen this situation , I did explain this to the proshop afterwards but they seemed to think it was strange that I should object , what are your thougts on this please.

Incidentally whilst I thought pebble was spectacular in its vistas I much preferred Spyglass. I also played the olympic in San fran which was great and I joined the saturday morning roll up at the Monteray Peninsular Country Club and had a fantastic time with a terriffic group of guys on an outstanding golf course.

Can I be the first to say how incredibly green I am at the moment!?!?! What a trip!!!

BTW, the $450 at Pebble pays for the right to play Pebble, the waiting is free!

I guess it all comes down to money - over booking the course to squeeze as much play out of it as possible. Even if I could convince myself that it was worth the $ to play Pebble Beach, I'm not sure I'd "pull the trigger." As much as I love golf, and could afford it, $450 for a round of golf is a bit much.

I hope you had a great time playing the remarkable courses you described.

For $450, people can play at whatever pace they need to. Just because people have money, does not mean that they play swiftly or even well. I experienced a somewhat slow round there, but I would not trade it for the world.

I loved Ireland and Scotland courses and their pace of play, but Pebble is just a very special place.

i wouldnt mind waiting on an awesoem course like that but if its more than 5 mins i would say something i hate slow players is the worse thing about golf btw im so jelouse u got ot play awesome courses can u pay for me pwes ;) lol

I understand your irritation - I can only slow my golf so far, I need my rhythm and, if I stand about on tee boxes or fairways, I will lose it. When that happens I'll find myself battling my own game and much of the enjoyment of the course is lost. If I knew a round would take longer than 4 hours, I would immediately be thinking whether to bother, if it was more than 4 and a half, I would immediately decide against playing.

It's PBGL, it's outrageous, and they can get away with it.

As for the patrons, for many (most?) it's a once in a lifetime day, and no matter how many marshalls are out there shooing them along, they are going to take a ton of pictures, especially on the front 9 and #18.

Your complaint is one that is often heard from folks who play there, and it has been that way for several decades. I imagine it's not going to change anytime soon.

The last time I played Pebble the marshals were on us the entire round. Now maybe it was because we were walking but I have never been a slow player and I would NEVER ride at Pebble. It wasn't until the 7th hole that I became irritated. Not because we were waiting, No, It was the opposite. The closest group behind us was 2 holes back and there was a nice cushion between us and the group in front yet the Marshall was telling us to hurry it up!

They have 4:30 painted on everything there these days. The idea is to magically get people to move along faster.

I think your point is that with $1800 a Foursome they should be spacing out the groups so that no one is waiting. I agree but the course is always booked full so there must be some sort of balance between getting the most number of players on the course and keeping play moving.

As a previous poster said: It will always be slow, its a legendary course and to many its a one time - once in a lifetime - round of golf and they will take their time.

You are a lucky man to get on at MPCC - that is a gorgeous set of courses. And yes the Olympic and Spyglass are outstanding and TOUGH!

Believe it or not we did not see a marshall once ! but it was a trip full of surprises I also played Red Sky Ranch in colorado which had the most sophisticated gps buggy system I have ever seen so much so that my partner summoned the para medic with defibrillator by accident ! on course para medic now thats not something you see at ballybunnion!

For me, there is no course in the world worth $450 to play a single round. And then to have to put up with the same sort of slow play as a weekend round at the local muni is, IMO unconscionable. But, that just my

I'm with Four Putt no Course is woth that kind of money. But to top it off they get greedy and overbook. I guess I will continue to play that course like I have over the years many times on my computer or game system.

I would expect it to be slow, but I have never played a championship caliber course. Coming from your background of already playing nice courses with no issues I can see how it took you by surprise and was irritating. One of these days I will play it, and one of these days I will expect to pay $450+, I will expect to wait in between holes, and you can expect that I will play slow, take pictures, and enjoy the money I spent at a magnificent course.

I am lucky enough to play Royal Dornoch and Royal Portrush quite a lot and have only ever had a nightmare waiting round - I had to walk off Royal Portrush at the 10th having been on the course for just shy of 4, yes FOUR hours!

That time was caused by the caddies - There were 2 groups of 4 infront of us and both groups when a couple of balls was lost all the group would go left to find, then once found they would all go right to look for the other ball. The caddies should have let us play through.

Don't care what anybody says - A round of golf cannot be enjoyed standing for 5 mins above your ball waiting for your shot to be played.

Which one do you play? I'm still playing in the past with Links 2003. The updated version we have of Pebble Beach is as close to being there as I'll ever be, And it is VERY well done... and FREE

I have played Pebble Beach 7 times and waiting is just a fact of life there. As far as the
$450 green fee there are other courses that compare in cost and waiting time.
Just got back from a trip to Ireland and many of those courses cost in the $450 range
when converting the dollar to the euro. Old Head,Doonbeg and Royal County
Down was close to that. Where as the starting intervals are not every 10 minutes,
you still can catch the group in front of you and there is no chance of playing thru.
Most or our games were in the 5 hour range. We also walked with caddies. Normally at
home at our country club, 3 1/2 to 4 hours is normal.