Pace of play software
Pace of play software that finds the group to talk to
Every group's time on every hole, against a target your club sets for that hole. When a round starts to drag, the board shows which group has an open hole in front of it — so the ranger visits the group causing the delay, not the groups stuck behind it.
The pace board
What pace of play software should tell a golf club
Members complain about slow rounds every Saturday, and the shop usually has nothing but hearsay to act on. The board replaces the hearsay with a number for every group on every hole — and a clear answer to the only question that matters on the course: who is out of position?
Every hole, every group
Minutes on each hole for every group on the course, in one grid the shop and the starter can read from across the room.
A target for each hole
Thirteen minutes on the short par 3, seventeen on the long par 5 with the walk to the next tee. The club sets the number hole by hole, not one round time for the whole course.
Flagged on position
The board flags a group when there is an open hole in front of it. The groups waiting behind are marked held up, so nobody gets rushed for someone else's round.
Timed from the real tee-off
The clock starts when the starter sends the group off, not at the booked time. A group that went off twelve minutes late isn't charged with twelve slow minutes.
Nobody presses start
The club draws its holes once on the course map. After that each group is timed as it plays — no buttons for players, no clipboard for the ranger.
A season of history
Average time on every hole, by day and by tee time, so the shop can see where the target is wrong and where the real bottleneck is.
The ranger view
Which group should the ranger visit?
At 11:20 the 9:20 group has the ugliest hole times on the board. They aren't the problem. They have waited on nearly every tee, because the 9:10 group in front of them has fallen a full hole behind the group ahead of it.
Raw minutes would send the ranger to the wrong foursome. Bubs flags position instead: the group with an open hole in front of it is out of position, and the groups directly behind it are marked held up. The ranger has one group to see, and the members being held up are left alone.
- Out of position: an open hole between a group and the group ahead
- Held up: waiting behind a group that is out of position
- One group to visit, not a list of everyone running long
Targets and history
Targets that fit your course, not a round-time slogan
A 4:30 round is an average, and no hole plays at the average. A par 3 with a tee right behind the green takes less time than a par 5 with a long cart ride to the next tee, so the club sets a target for each hole. The board compares every group with that hole's number.
Over a season the history shows where the target is wrong and where the real bottleneck is. Often the backup isn't the 6th hole at all — it's the walk from the 5th green to the 6th tee. That is a fix a club can make with a sign or a cart path, not a lecture on the first tee.
- Average minutes per hole, by day of the week and by tee time
- Where the field backs up, hole by hole
- How much of a long day came from late tee-offs rather than slow play
Fair to members
Measured without anyone pressing a button
The club draws its holes on the course map once. From then on each group is timed as it plays, starting from the moment the starter sends it off the first tee.
Because the clock starts at the real tee-off rather than the booked time, a group that went off twelve minutes late because the first tee was backed up isn't charged with twelve slow minutes. The starter's view shows how far behind the first tee is running, so a slow start and a slow round are never confused.
Pace data is about groups on a hole, not members on a leaderboard. The club decides who sees it — usually the shop, the starter and the rangers — and how long it is kept. For policy ideas that work at member clubs, read our guide to pace of play at private clubs.
One system
Pace is part of the tee sheet, not another app
The pace board reads the same tee sheet the shop books from. Tee intervals are set in bands across the day on that sheet, so the interval and the pace targets are tuned together — and the groups on the board are the members, guests and event fields already on the sheet.
FAQ
Pace of play questions
What is pace of play software?
Pace of play software measures how long each group takes on each hole and compares it with a target the club sets. Good pace software also tells staff which group is actually causing a delay, because the slowest times on the board usually belong to the groups waiting behind the one that fell out of position.
How does Bubs decide which group is slow?
By position, not by minutes alone. If there is an open hole between a group and the group in front of it, that group is flagged. Groups directly behind it are marked held up, since their slow hole times are the result of waiting on every tee.
Do players have to do anything?
No. The club draws its holes on the course map once, and groups are timed as they play. Players never press start or stop, and the ranger doesn't carry a clipboard.
Can we set a different target for each hole?
Yes. Each hole has its own target in minutes, so a long par 5 or a hole with a long walk to the next tee isn't held to the same number as a short par 3. History shows where a target is too tight or too loose.
Who can see pace data?
The club decides who sees pace data and how long it is kept. Typically the golf shop, the starter and the rangers see the live board, and the head professional sees the history.
Does a late tee-off count against the group?
No. The clock starts at the time the starter sends the group off. The starter's view also shows how far behind the first tee is running, so a slow start and a slow round are never confused.
Related
- Tee sheetBooking windows, lotteries, waitlists and a sheet that fills itself.
- Pace of Play at Private Clubs: Measure, Then Fix ItHow private clubs improve pace of play: setting hole-by-hole targets, measuring where time is lost, common causes of slow rounds and interventions that work.
- Pace of playHow long a group takes to play its round, measured against the target the club sets for each hole and the full round, and managed from the first tee.
See your club on Bubs
Thirty minutes, your club's brand on the screen, and the parts of the day you care about most.