To some golfers, the fivesome is the biggest evil in the game.
To others, it’s a great way to have more fun on the golf course, whether that’s in casual competition or just to add another personality to a shared group bonding experience.
Whatever side you take in this argument, it will be controversial. The dirty little secret most golf courses don’t want you to know is they allow fivesomes, whether that’s at off-peak times or for VIP groups like members or regulars who promise to get around quick. Sometimes, fivesomes just form organically mid-round and yet marshals do nothing about it.
Within the last couple weeks, not only did I play in a fivesome at an elite private club, but a very good public course in Mississippi took to Instagram to “clarify” its fivesome policy, admitting they are allowed as long as they are cleared by the pro shop staff.
The Refuge – a public course adjacent to a nice resort-style hotel that I played last year in Flowood, Miss., outside of Jackson, noted in the Instagram post that it gets a lot of requests for fivesomes, but it didn’t have enough carts to accommodate. Future requests could be granted in certain cases. Would you raise a stink if your home course openly allowed fivesomes?
Fivesomes are not a muni problem or a more prominent issue at lower-tier public golf courses. Fivesomes are a part of the fabric of golf at every level, whether you like it or not. Recent GolfPass reviews include fivesome-related complaints at prominent courses like Florida’s Slammer & Squire, Shingle Creek, Kelly Plantation, Juliette Falls and Winter Park; Desert Island Country Club in California; Man O’ War in South Carolina; BlackHorse Golf Club in Texas and Washington County in Wisconsin.
Should public golf courses allow fivesomes?
GolfPass reviews complaining about fivesomes are a regular occurrence. GolfPass reviewr ‘MattKav’ gave The Golf Club Star Ranch in Hutto, Texas, outside Austin a solid four-star review, but it could have been better if not for the pace of play issues caused by a fivesome. His story is a common one.
“Loved everything about the course in terms of layout, visual appeal, conditions and variety of holes,” he wrote. “However, the pace of play was excruciating. We were behind a FIVESOME who had no clue about golf etiquette. We waited on EVERY HOLE for them to finish putting. The marshal never said anything to them. I got the impression the group were regulars as they were chummy with the staff.
“4 1/2 hours for a mid-week round of golf is too long, especially when at least 30 minutes were spent on the fairway watching these guys putt. Thankfully, the twosome paired with us were a lot of fun to play with. I meet a friend periodically in Austin for golf and we chose Star Ranch this trip. We won’t be picking Star Ranch again. Golf is hard enough when you can maintain a rhythm…it’s darn near impossible when you have to constantly wait on a group who is holding up the entire course and there were several holes open ahead of them. What are marshals for if not to remedy that?”
I think the key to allowing fivesomes is aggressive marshaling or making sure said fivesome is keeping up with the group in front or open to golfers playing through on a regular basis. Despite an encounter with a fivesome, GolfPass reviewer ”rbrockman14″ had a positive experience at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand, Fla., an hour north of Orlando.
“This was a really fun track,” he wrote. “We were stuck behind a very slow group who was also stuck behind a fivesome, which should not happen. But we got past them on the back nine and moved great.”
My fivesome experience at a private club
I recently played in a fivesome as part of a men’s league competition at a private club, and it felt awkward. I always felt rushed, especially when someone was out of position (sometimes me, sometimes others). I loved the game I was introduced to, though – a Cha Cha Cha – where three of the five best scores in each group counted on the first three holes, the four best (out of five) on the next three holes and all five on the final three holes. That helped pace of play because if you were out of the running in the first six holes you could simply pick up. We finished in roughly four hours, so this type of fivesome made perfect sense.
Private clubs make their own rules and are generally more wide open than public courses, so fivesomes fit better within the day’s tee time structure.
A fivesome of PGA Tour pros locked in a sudden-death playoff at the 2005 BellSouth Classic walks down the 18th fairway of TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga. Hunter Martin/Getty Images
Fivesomes are also common place in pro-ams, scrambles and charity tournaments and on the rare occassion, a five-man playoff on the PGA Tour. Perhaps the most famous fivesome ever was part of the 1995 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Former Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush were paired with Bob Hope, defending champion Scott Hoch and the president at the time, Bill Clinton (the first sitting president to play a PGA Tour event), at Indian Wells Country Club.
Maybe the fivesome is why I’m not a big fan of scrambles and charity events. They take too long because of the format and the people who don’t play much golf show to support the cause. I like the general flow of a twosome or threesome on an empty course or a foursome on a busy course to keep things moving at a pace that’s comfortable. I’m not psycho-obsessed with pace of play like a few of my friends are. Nobody likes to wait on every shot but 4 1/2 hours are perfectly acceptable to enjoy the outdoors and your friends on a course, in my view.
Over the years, I’ve found I actually play my best golf when I’m first off in the morning, playing solo. There are no distractions with conversations, slow play or finding someone else’s ball. My only goal is to get the ball in the hole as fast as possible and get back to my day.
You might hate me for this, but I’m actually okay with fivesomes on any course as long as they keep up with the group in front. But it’s a privilege, not a right. Fivesomes on a busy day where everybody is waiting – even the fivesome – isn’t a big deal. The tricky part is when too many fivesomes create the slow pace or when a fivesome is holding up groups with open holes in front.
Should fivesomes be allowed – or banned – in golf? Give your take in the comments below.