Luke is an avid weekend-warrior golfer from the East Coast who plays golf more than he cares to admit.
Playing an 18 hole round of golf is a great experience, regardless of whether you’re new to the sport or a seasoned pro.
But you might be worried about how long you’re taking on the course. After all, you shouldn’t be there all day. But luckily, we here at OurGolfClubs have got you covered.
We would say that you’re looking at roughly 4 and 4.5 hours, depending on your playing. Of course, there are several other factors that you need to consider too.
When we say four hours, we’re assuming that you’ll be playing with a group of four others and that you won’t be pro players.
So what other variables might be at play here for an average 18 hole round of golf?
How Long It Takes To Play Each Hole
Before we begin, let’s consider how long it should take you to play each hole. There are different types, such as par-3, par-4, and par-5.
Say you want to complete an 18 hold round in around 4 hours.
You might want to manage how long you’re spending on each hole. If there’s a par-3 hole, you should ideally spend about 10 minutes on each one.
Then you should spend 13 minutes on a par-4 hole. When you go to a par-5 hole, we’ve calculated that you should spend 16 minutes on each one.
Suppose you have four par-3 holes. You would spend 40 minutes in this section.
If you have ten par-4s, you spend 2 hours and 10 minutes. Then for four par-5s, you spend 1 hour and 4 minutes on them.
Number Of Players In A Group
When you play an 18 hole round of golf, you need to consider how many people are in your group as you play. 4.5 hours is a reasonable expectation for how long you’d spend with a group of four players.
You can expect an even quicker round if you have fewer players than this.
If you’re playing as a pair or trio, you can spend between 3 and 4 hours playing, but other variables are to consider.
We can also say the same for a single player, who could finish the course in two hours if they wished.
Number Of Other Players On The Course
Say you’re on a golf course on a busy day. You’ll find that you might have to wait 5 minutes at each tee box before you start. Now, let’s consider how long a standard golf hole would take.
On average, four people could expect to spend 15 minutes on a single hole.
Adding another 5 minutes, we’d say your group would spend about 20 minutes at a hole instead.
So, if you’re on a larger course, we’d say you would spend roughly 6 hours instead of 4. But if you want to avoid this, we have a few suggestions.
The Day Of The Week You’re Playing
Before you book in to play golf with your friends or on your own, you might want to think about what day you’re playing.
We know for a fact that most golfers love to play at the weekend, so there’s no doubt that you’ll be in for a busy day.
If you’re playing on your own, you might be able to be more flexible with your schedule so you can play during the week. If you’re with a group, see if you can get a weekday when you’re all free.
The Time Of Day You’re Playing
We have some great news if you can’t do anything about the day you play. Most golf courses are busiest in the morning until mid-afternoon.
When we say morning, though, we’re thinking 7 AM.
Earlybirds may benefit from grabbing their tee time before everyone else arrives and enjoy some smooth sailing through the course.
If the idea of waking up that early is unthinkable to you, head over for your tee time later in the afternoon. You’ll enjoy a more casual play than if you ran there earlier.
Tee Time Intervals
When you book your tee time, you should find out what the intervals are. You’ll be stuck waiting for a while if it’s between 7 and 8 minutes with a full tee sheet.
But say there’s a tee time between 10 and 12 minutes, and we believe you’ll have a more relaxed round. If you’re not sure where to go to find out, then check at the pro shop.
When booking online, you can see how much time you have available by checking your tee time choices.
The Skill Level You’re Playing At
Are you thinking of playing with beginners or more experienced players? We find that depending on the skill level, you may be playing longer.
That’s because players with a lower handicap won’t spend as much time at a hole as players with a high handicap.
If your friends struggle to hit straight, you might have to spend more time searching for where their ball landed. If that’s the case, you will be in for a longer round.
Riding Or Walking Through the Course
You might be mistaken if you think riding a golf course will make the time go faster.
Theoretically, it should be. But we know that you might be in trouble if the course has a specific cart path route.
Especially if you’ve hit your ball into the rough only to walk over, check the condition and then head back to select your club.
We know how easy it is to forget it when you’re walking through the course, so you might want to get into the habit of bringing all your clubs with you.
Final Thoughts
We at OurGolfClubs have agreed that it should only take around 4 hours to complete a full 18 hole round of golf.
So long as you have the best variables in play and organize your time well, you won’t have any issue finishing at this time.
