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How about a shorter shot timer?

• JoelWhite 101 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 11:44 AM

  I believe we now have 1.5 minutes to complete a shot. If the player doesn't execute his shot within that time period, he receives a warning and a new time allotment. To speed things up a bit, why not a 30 second shot timer, with 20 second timer after the warning? Recently, I played with a foursome....it took us 30 minutes to play four holes. I left after the fourth hole, after explaining to the others why I was leaving. This might help with some of the quitting we see and hear about.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 7:16 PM

  Nope, forcing your own preferences on everyone else is not the solution.  

  The way to do this is like TWO did it: the multi-player game host over there is given 4 timer options when starting the game: 30 seconds / 60 seconds / 90 seconds / no timer (!) at all. WGT should afford us the same freedom of choice. Let me tell you, when the 30-second option is selected, there is hardly any time to chat with others; you just barely have the time to hit shots properly. This may suit some players, but not others. And, I may be in the mood to chat on one day, and in a different mood on another day. Therefore, the best solution is to give us the freedom to set the timer for ourselves, depending on circumstances.

  Another option to speed up play is to allow simultaneous multi-player in addition to turn-based one. That way, a foursome takes as much time as a single-player game, 45 to 60 minutes per 18 holes, or so, instead of the intimidating 3.5 to 4 hours. Again, the social function will be negatively affected by that, but we should nevertheless be given the freedom to decide whether we wish to play a particular round in the "simultaneous play", or in the "turn-based play" multi-player format.

• JoelWhite 101 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 8:33 PM

  Faterson sez.... "Nope, forcing your own preferences on everyone else is not the solution."

  I'm not trying to force anything...it's merely a suggestion for speeding up play. I don't care how the matter is resolved, but I think you'll admit 30 minutes to play 4 holes is excessive. During the match I was referring to, there was very little chatting, other than a "good shot", or an "oh, damn!". An adjustable timer, set by the match originator, might work..... at least other players would know, going in, that 9 hole game (with 4 players) could take an hour and fifteen minutes to complete.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 8:51 PM

  Joel, you're extremely optimistic there with your estimate of "75 minutes for a 9-hole 4-some". Such a match is a lot more likely to take 1 hour and 45 minutes, or even 2 hours. If you just play 9 holes with a single opponent, you need to count with up to 60 minutes for such a match.

  I agree with you it's time-consuming. But if you're not pressed for time, why not play such matches, too? WGT should give us the options of both simultaneous play and turn-based play, and variable shot timers to be selected by the game host, so that everyone can select whatever mode suits him/her best on a given day/time.

• JoelWhite 101 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 9:45 PM

  Faterson, I play 9 holes of real golf in two hours....with a foursome.... on a regular basis. When a player (here) stands over a putt of 2 feet for 35 seconds, I'm wondering if he's making a sandwich or walking the dog. This ain't real golf, my friend....it's fun, it's challenging, it's very realistic, but if someone takes more than two hours on 9 holes, the marshall is showing up on my regular course. Why this game, per your perspective, should take up to two hours to play nine holes is baffling to me. And possible others, too...maybe that's why there is so much quitting, which was my original premise for this thread.

• Faterson 2,902 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 10:01 PM

  Joel, you can be baffled all you want, I'm talking based on my experience of playing this game for half a year now, that a 9-hole 4-some can take anywhere between 90 and 120 minutes. The Ladders site has its own version of the Ryder Cup contest, where teams of 4 players play 18 holes together, and it's been confirmed many times that a match like this takes between 3.25 to 4 hours, without anyone unduly delaying their shots. It's just the way it is.

  PS: Again, if you find that too time-consuming, all that WGT needs to do is to employ, optionally, simultaneous play for multi-player games, so that if you're in a hurry, you can play a 4-some in 45 to 60 minutes, roughly the same time it would take you to play a single-player round. That's the way things are over at TWO. (But TWO has no turn-based multi-players.)

• JoelWhite 101 Posts

  Wed, Nov 25 2009 10:06 PM

  At this point,  the honorable thing would be to agree to disagree. Let me be the first :)

• WGTadmin2 1,152 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 9:44 AM

  that was very mature of you Joel, well done, you both are just coming from different perspectives.

• resozv 895 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 11:15 AM

  I have those chatty/non chatty days too. Also do chores while playing. I often warn players on 1st tee ... I'm playing slow, bad, well etc., etc. today.

  Now back to the question @ hand. WGT how can we reduce play times?

   Please look @ an option that can be set by host of a game to set shot timer.

  Also set up multi player games for simultaneous play.

• YankeeJim 25,827 Posts

  Thu, Nov 26 2009 4:05 PM

  What takes 90 seconds to figure out in this game? If you really need 90 seconds to aim or use your virtual calculator and use it up then maybe you should  only have an additional 30 seconds to shoot. 

  Adding a host's option to set the timer would be frivolous time spent on WGT's part when just changing the 90 to 60 would be effective. Simultaneous play would make a lot of woes go away.

   

  YJ