Play speed golf at Las Vegas’ Angel Park Golf Club

by Emily Kay on Apr 21, 2011 7:30 PM EDT

You know how you want to launch warning shots over the heads of the creepy crawlers in front of your Saturday morning foursome? Well, Angel Park Golf Club in Las Vegas has a cure for the slow-play blues: Express Lane golf for players who want to make their way around 18 holes in fewer than four hours.

But be forewarned: golfers who wish to enlist for speed golf at the Arnold Palmer-designed 36-hole facility have to promise to play in no more than three hours, 45 minutes, said general manager David Bogue. In fact, if you don’t keep up your end of the bargain and keep it moving, course "hosts" will prompt you to pick up the pace or move to the back of the line.

"If golfers are falling behind on the [speed-of-play] schedule, they have to agree to skip a hole or move forward to get back in position," Bogue told us Thursday in a phone interview. "If that’s not possible, they would agree to being removed."

The popular approach, instituted several weeks ago on the Mountain Course, has been a boon to the OB Sports Golf Management-operated facility. It was the brainchild of OB Sports chief operating officer and frequent traveler Phil Green, who decided to apply the concept of airlines’ express lines to golf.

The question was how to transfer the notion to the golf course. That’s when Bogue and his compatriots came up with the idea of having golfers sign a rules sheet that spelled out the policies.

What started as three groups at the program’s inception has been so successful that Angel Park may extend it to additional days and OB Sports may put it into practice at its other sites in Nevada and out of state. For now, Angel Park allots six of Saturday’s earliest tee times to chop-chop players, while sister course Legacy Golf Course in Henderson, Nev., plans to launch a similar weekday arrangement, according to Bogue.

"There’s great demand for it and we’re getting calls from other golf courses in the area wanting to know how it works," said Bogue. "It’s something that’s going to catch fire."

Here’s hoping that courses around the country opt to adopt similar schemes for their golfers who enjoy quick rounds and want to get home before they turn on the street lights.

Angel Park, by the way, also offers tee times for what it calls "more casual" rounds of golf on its Palm course.

Tweet Comment 2 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Vellly Interesting

Eh, Emily K…..As Arte Johnson’s Laugh-In icon might chine as he peeked over the shrubs. The concept has merit. Definitely not the norm. For those who complain about four hour plus rounds this format suits their style. You might not even need another 18. Say on Sat/Sun morning have the first two hour tee times designated “fast track”. Only those who abide by the rules, 3 hrs. 45 min., regardless of h’cap play at this time. “Hosts”/Marshall’s/Player Assistants can easily monitor and enforce the rule as everyone in “fast track” understands the rules. One of the worst scenarios on a Sat/Sun morning is to have the rabbits play snail golf. Two or three snails, especially back to back, right out of the box can gum up the days pace of play.

by 1KRats on Apr 24, 2011 11:36 AM EDT reply actions