The Ranger serves a very important purpose throughout your round of golf, even though it may not always seem so. To that end, I would like to give you an explanation of their duties, discuss Pace of Play, and provide a little insight into why they do what they do.

The pace a round of golf at Spring Run Golf Club has been established at Four Hours and Seventeen minutes (4:17) by the Florida State Golf Association rating team.  The Florida State Golf Association rates the difficulty of the hole, the driving distance from the green to the next tee, and time it takes to make the turn, eat some food, and use the facilities.  Each hole has an established time for a foursome to complete the hole.  For instance, on hole #4: when the flagstick is located on the back left, it will take longer to play than if the flagstick is located on the front right.  That is why you may see more than two groups on that hole: it is due to the tough pin position.

Back in 2014, the average round of golf was four hours and forty-five minutes (4:45). The average round this year so far has been (4:17).

Duties

When the Ranger arrives at the club in the morning, their first duty is to get their cart out of the cart barn, pick up the tee sheet, and see if any cart restrictions are in place.  Each Ranger cart is supplied with extra tees, pencils, scorecards, towels, green repair tools, and a first aid kit.  Every Ranger has been certified in CPR as well.

They proceed out on the course to make sure the restrooms on the course are well supplied and clean. If trash is overflowing, they will empty it. They provide a light cleaning until our Day Porter, Josefina, makes it out to the comfort stations for a more thorough cleaning.

Once they have completed their rounds, it is time to monitor the Golf Course.  The Ranger’s cart has the GPS screen that shows the location and pace of each group.  If a group starts to slow 5 minutes behind schedule, they will immediately go to that group and ask the group to speed up and get back on schedule.  Just this year alone, Rangers have moved over 15 groups to get in position.  They have full authority to move groups on non-league days, though only Scott or myself will move groups on league days due to the penalty shots.  We will not move a group until after the groups receives the first warning; however, if they are still behind after the warning, we will move the group where they should be located on the course.

What are they doing there?

Normally when you see the Ranger sitting in his cart between the fifth and seventh hole, they are monitoring groups that have been behind pace, and informing the members behind the slow foursome that the pace will be improving.  From this location, they can monitor the three holes around them.

Where are they?

Some complain that pace is slow because they haven’t seen a Ranger all day.  With the GPS monitor, they can see your group. If your group is on pace, they will go to other parts of the course where they are needed to speed up play.  The Golf Shop is monitoring three GPS screens as well, observing pace of play. They will inform a Ranger where to go to expedite play.

The Rangers are often bringing members out on the course who were late, or bringing members off the course if they are not feeling well. Sometimes there is an emergency at home.  They are locating lost clubs and bringing them to the player who lost it.  They also direct play on shotguns as to how get to a certain hole on the course.

I will be having training sessions with the Rangers on how to talk to the members on the course. We want to be better able to communicate to you so that all our members can enjoy their round. If you read my monthly article in the News on the Run, you may recall I always sign with “Play Well and Play Fast.”

Certainly, you will experience slow days out on the course, but just remember that we are constantly striving to help improve the pace of play, communicate more effectively, and ensure that you enjoy your round.

Play Well and Play Fast

Jeff