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Lunch Buffet Motivation for Pace of Play Improvements

A new course Get Crackin' Pace of Play record was set last week at Red Tail Golf Club in Avon, Ohio, when the first group of the day completed 18 holes of golf in an astounding two hours and 50 minutes at the SAP Junior Open. Joshua Koch of Medina, Ohio, and Pat Pelland of Columbus, Ohio had some strong motivation in setting this record - the tournament lunch buffet.

As Koch was enjoying a delectable chicken taco, he shared some tips for others who want to speed up their game and avoid those pesky red cards.

AJGA: What steps did your group take to cut down on your pace of play

Koch: We were always aware of reading our putts while the other was putting. We checked yardages while the other player was getting ready to hit the ball and were always ready when it was our time to hit.

AJGA: There are a lot of out-of-bounds markings on this course that contributed to a slow pace of play in the past couple of rounds. How did you and your partner handle any out-of-bounds situations?

Koch: Yeah, this course can play pretty narrow. Every time we had a questionable ball, we played a second ball under Rule 3-3.

AJGA: When did you realize you were so far under time par?

Koch: After we got to No. 4. We beat the timing station volunteers to the pace of play holes and caught up to the maintenance crews who were working on the fairway.

AJGA: How long did it take you to play the front nine?

Koch: We finished the first half of the round in one hour and 30 minutes.

AJGA: After you finished the round, how long did you have to wait for lunch to be served?

Koch: I actually had to wait on lunch for about 40 minutes after I left the scoring tent.

AJGA: AJGA staff watched you and your partner jog off the first tee. Did you keep that up through the entire round?

Koch: No! That was more of a joke than anything. We moved quickly between shots, but mostly we were just ready to play as soon as the other was finished. We knew we had a chance to be remembered for our pace of play and made that our goal for the day. I did get some good cardio in though!

And for anyone who might be reading this and thinking about playing the SAP Junior Open in 2009, Koch recommends the chicken taco and says it was well worth the wait.

(As reported by AJGA Communications Intern Ashley O'Dell)