“Un”official Poll: Tee Times vs Shotgun for 2022

[Keith Stephens]

It seems that this is a hot topic. Maybe by starting a dedicated thread the WA “powers that be” (that’s you, Scott T.) will listen, take note, and get a consensus from the peanut gallery of golfers. For me, I enjoy the shotgun starts. I understand the change last year due to Covid concerns, but I would really like to see it return to a 9:00 shotgun start. Yes, the driving range can be a little tricky to find a spot….especially if you have a few golfers that go through their entire bag while on the range. We’ve all seen “that” guy. He’s also the same guy that spends 3 minutes reading a 4 foot putt for triple bogey. If each golfer would show a little common courtesy for the 50 other golfers waiting for a spot on the range, it wouldn’t be that bad. Remember, “there is a difference between warming up and wearing out.” Hit enough balls to get loose, then vacate your spot for the next guy. I also miss the camaraderie and seeing all players in my flight before each round. So, my vote…….Shotgun Start for 2022. What say you?

[John Decatur]

Amen to that. Thank you Keith.

[Raymond Blank]

I like the tee times myself. It went well last year and I thought this year too!

[Ed Guertin]

I LOVE the tee times and pray they never go back to shotguns!!!

[Mark Hancock]

Tee Times. Going back to a 6 hour round with the shotgun starts would be cruel & unusual punishment.

[charlie colman]

I’m a tee times fan. had to wait for my buddy in the same flight for 45 minutes but it wasn’t bad.

[Thomas Meadows]

Tee Times for me because i always had to start on a par 3 that was 200 yards over water or something like that when it was shotgun start.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Thomas Meadows.

[Jeffrey Topp]

If there was an awards ceremony and a lunch they wanted everyone to attend then I can understand shotgun. Otherwise there is no point.

[Rick Kimbrell]

Tee times in flight 50 and 51 was a joke at best.
Shotgun start should be brought back
I am not the only one who thinks so
http://forum.myrtlebeachworldamateur.com/forums/topic/who-really-likes-shotgun-start-for-this-event/

Only plus for tee times I can come up with is uncrowded driving range.
Congregating was just as bad.
Different rules being given on #1 vs #10
If your riding partner is not present, can’t get a cart and riding partner almost misses tee time so you are standing on #1 with no clubs and no cart….bring back shotgun start

No…I DO NOT LIKE TEE TIMES and the 12 people I played with didn’t like it either.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Rick Kimbrell.

[Bernie Loehr]

Prefer shotgun

[Scott Greenwell]

I agree with Keith. The tee times did not seem to speed up the rounds this year and it takes away from the comradery of having the entire flight together at the start and end of the round. That was a big appeal for me the first several years at the World Am. The past few years have not been the same…

[Tom Doughan]

Tee times is my vote.

Reading through the comments, I would ask that let’s not be too eager to throw the baby out with the bath water.

The last time I was able to play in the tourney was 2017 so this year was my first experience with tee time. I hope we never go back to 4 rounds of shotgun starts. I hated getting stuck on that long par 3 or 4 for an opening hole. I understand the positive points made by proponents of the shotgun format and they are good ones (sort of) but in my opinion those are outweighed by ones favoring tee times.

Social time – I didn’t have any trouble socializing with the players grouped up waiting for their start time or after the round for those that stuck around. This is the same for both formats but granted it’s in greater numbers with shotgun.

It’s absurd trying to put 110+ golfers on a driving range and practice green designed for 10 – 15 each along with the obligatory pre-round bathroom stop that can hold no more than a very small number of users.

A few talked about pace of play. Tee times aren’t supposed to speed up play…golfers themselves are. Can any of you honestly say that a normal round of golf at your home course (or any other track for that matter) using tee times is going to take you 5 – 6 hours?

Here is my pace of play for my tourney courses both in practice and during the tourney (courtesy of Golfpad GPS tracking app). I set up my practice tee times so they were similar to those I had in the tourney:

Willbrook 3:37/ 4:53
Hackler at CCU 3:11/ 4:43
Barefoot – Love 3:51/ 5:01
Diamondback 4:01/ 5:05

Clearly tee times didn’t cause the slowdowns

There was a very good hybrid idea put forth just before tourney…tee times for 3 rounds then shotgun for round 4 to group the leaders.

Logistically, I believe that this would be relatively easy for the Committee to do since notice of this format and start time (possibly 9:00am for all flights) would be in the registration packet. It would not be necessary to pre-make individual cards for the 4th round but if the tourney decided to do it all that would need to be on them is: player name, course played, handicap and leave the rest empty. That could be done before the tourney even starts. On the eve or morning of Round 4 only e-mail a master sheet to each course detailing actual start holes and the players can learn that info upon arrival at the bag drop or cart staging area.

Just a few thoughts to add to the discussion…

[Bob Newman]

I will always go for tee times. First and foremost it makes it feel like a tournament and not an outing. Even if the host course does not treat it as a tournament(it has just become a money maker for them.) I was disappointed with 2 of my courses this year and the way they treated us. Had no idea of how to correct run a tournament, not did they deserve to host one. I do think that the staff need to put stopwatches in the gift bag as no one understands how fast 3 minutes goes by looking for a ball. My group waited at least 7 minutes on the group in front of us on the 18th hole at Meadowlands. I have enjoyed this tournament since 2005, but this may be my last.

[Ken Delaney]

Tee times did NOT help pace of play in Flight 6.

Shotgun start is always best for comradery. If they reduce the amount of people on the course, the slower rounds will be sped up. And yeah, pace of play monitoring by the courses will be extremely helpful.

[Tony McAlistet]

I think everyone has forgotten why the tee times were put in play in the first place. And last I checked, the problem still exists….for your safety, tee times are best!!!

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