How Long Does 18 Holes of Golf Take?

Next to cost, time is the biggest consideration for people interested in taking up the game of golf. And they’ve got questions.

How long does golf take?

How long does it take to play 18 holes of golf with two people?

What about, how long do golf games last playing golf by yourself?

Or how long does it take to play 18 holes of golf with a cart? Or walking?

In whatever iteration, the how long do golf games last question is a common one. For many prospective golfers, if the cost doesn’t get ‘em, the time commitment does.

But does golf really take that long?

Well, like with almost everything associated with this crazy game, the answer is the dreaded, it depends.

But determining at least a somewhat specific estimate is important. After all, people have lives off the course. The spouse wants to know when you’ll be home. The kids need to be picked up after practice. The dog needs to be walked. And the lawn needs to be mowed while there’s still daylight.

All these common everyday life variables and many others mean that you need to know how long you can expect to be at the golf course.

And while it’s impossible to come up with a one-size-fits-all answer for every individual and every scenario, we can identify some rules of thumb that should give you a solid estimate for how much time you’ll need to set aside to enjoy (or at least play) a round of golf.

How Long Does It Take To Play 18 Holes of Golf?

For starters, here’s how the United States Golf Association (USGA) sees it:

• The average weekday 18-hole round takes four hours.
• The average weekend 18-hole round takes four hours and 30 minutes.

That’s a good baseline to build off of. As we’ll discuss, there are many variables that will either shorten or lengthen those expected times. But, generally speaking, you should budget four-and-a-half-hours for a weekend round and four hours if you’re playing on the less-crowded weekdays.

Naturally, the fewer the number of golfers in your group, the quicker you can expect to play. The USGA expects that each player will hit their shot in about 20 seconds from the time they select their club. So, more golfers mean more shots, which means a greater cumulative amount of time. That means that the answer to how long does it take to play 18 holes of golf with 2 players is likely different from the answer to how long does it take to play 18 holes of golf with 4 players.

And, of course, the skill of each golfer will impact the pace of play. Higher scores, of course, mean more shots, which, of course, means more time.

When you combine the number of players with the collective skill of a group, you can see why it’s not possible to assign the same expected amount of time to every round of golf. While a foursome of total beginners may exceed the four-and-a-half-hour mark, a solo skilled player may get around in two-and-a-half-hours or less. 

We’ll cover a number of ways to speed things up regardless of skill level and number of players. And we’ll also discuss the pace-of-play factors you may encounter that you simply can’t control. Patience, as you’ll learn, is a big part of golf.

How Long Does 9 Holes of Golf Take?

The easy answer, of course, is that it takes half as long to play 9 holes as it does to play 18.

And while that’s generally true, it’s not always perfectly accurate.

When playing 18 holes, golfers often take a short break at the end of 9 holes to do things like:

• Hit the bathroom
• Head to the bar
• Grab a snack
• Reapply sunscreen

Any experienced golfer should be conscious of the extra time this adds and should work to minimize it. But whenever you stop at the turn, you’re going to add at least some amount of time.

Then there are the other factors that can sometimes lead to time increases when playing 18. Fatigue may set in, leading to bad shots and more of them. Some golfers lose focus and likewise start playing worse. And just in general, 18 holes introduces twice as many time-adding possibilities as 9 holes do.

For those reasons, playing 9 holes can often be more than twice as fast as playing 18 holes. A regular golfer playing as a single or with just one other likewise experienced partner can likely expect to complete a 9-hole round in one-and-a-half hours or less.

And somewhat recently, the USGA started to accept 9-hole scores as counting for handicap calculation, meaning that you can still get in an official round even if you only have time for 9.

Ways to Speed Up Play

As society gets more fast paced and as more things are competing for all of our time and attention, the game of golf has had to adapt to stay relevant. Pace of play is one of the biggest issues. Many modern golfers don’t want to spend their entire day at the course.

Four-and-a-half hours for an average weekend 18-hole round is really pushing it for a lot of people. And if that turns into five or more hours, being a regular golfer just becomes unrealistic for many.

Thankfully, there are several things that everyone can do to make the rounds move faster. Just like etiquette, honesty, and knowing the rules of golf are responsibilities each golfer should learn to take seriously, adhering to best practices to improve pace of play is a charge every golfer should own.

Here are some keys to doing your part:

Play Ready Golf

Look, you and your buddies aren’t on the PGA Tour. If you were, sure, there are certain rules and traditions you’d abide by. The person with the lowest score on the previous hole would have honors and would tee off first on the next hole. And once the hole began, the golfer furthest from the hole would always play first.

The problem with that is that it often unnecessarily adds time. A better way to keep things moving is use some common sense and play when it seems appropriate.

Say your friend has the honors, but he’s busy filling up his water bottle. Why not tee off yourself?

Or if your playing partner is further out than you but is mulling over which club to hit, go ahead and hit your own shot if you’re already locked and loaded.

Even if you are adhering to the traditions of things like tee box honors and furthest away playing first, you can still be ready to go when your turn comes.

The last thing you want to do is wait until you’re the one expected to hit to start getting all of your pre-shot work done. You can be studying your yardage, making your club selection, and even beginning your pre-shot routine while your playing partners are hitting their shots. Then, when it’s go-time for you, you’re ready to step into the shot and fire away in just a few seconds.

Choose the Right Tee Box

Nothing adds time more than golfers playing from distances they can’t handle. If you play from a tee box that’s too challenging, you’re going to spend all day looking for lost balls and just generally taking more shots. All of that poor scoring leads to a lot more time.

As a starting point guideline, consider that the USGA recommends a Par 72 length of 6,100 yards for the average male golfer and 4,437 yards for the average female golfer. So, are you average, above average, or below average? Choose your tee box accordingly. It will be faster (and more fun) for everybody.

Keep an Eye on Your Playing Partners’ Shots

Whenever possible, try to watch the golf ball of everyone in your group. Sometimes the person hitting the shot can’t see where it ended up.

If you can follow the ball through the air and watch it on the ground until it stops, you’ll be able to help your playing partner find their ball faster.

Don’t Take Too Long Looking for Lost Golf Balls

The rules of golf allow you three minutes to search for a lost ball. Go ahead and take that full amount of time if you think there’s a chance of finding it. But once the time is up, move on. Don’t waste a lot of extra time on a wild goose chase. At that point, you’re breaking the rules and slowing up the golf course.

Use the Golf Cart Buddy System

Believe it or not, riding in a cart is not necessarily a faster way to play golf than walking. Of course the cart can move faster, but the problem is that golfers often waste a lot of time in carts.

Let’s say you’re the passenger. If the driver goes to their ball, why not hop out, grab a couple of clubs, and then walk to your ball while your partner is hitting their shot. That way you’ll be ready much faster to hit your own shot.

Or, if you’re driving, let your partner off at their ball, drive over to your own ball, hit your shot, and then pick up your partner as they’re walking down the fairway.

Set Your Golf Bag or Park Your Cart Towards the Next Tee Box

When you arrive at the green, you should always put your golf bag or park your cart in the direction that’s towards the next tee box. That way, once you putt out, you can exit the green, get your bag or cart, and head towards the next hole without having to backtrack.

How Long Does Golf Take? Some Things You Can’t Control

All of the above tips and reminders about how to do your part to speed up play really can make a difference. If everyone adhered to them consistently, rounds would undoubtedly move faster overall.

But golf is a game unlike any other. There’s no clock or scoreboard. The out-of-bounds lines aren’t uniform. And the game is played outside in the elements.

In other words, golf is golf, and there’s a lot about it that’s completely out of your control. Sometimes rounds of golf are just going to take longer than other times.

Among the things that are just going to require patience (or sometimes rescheduling):

• The weather. Even if the course is open and playable, elements like rain are going to make for longer rounds. It just takes extra time to do things like zip and unzip a golf bag’s rain hood, or dry grips before and after shots, or fuss with an umbrella, or put on and remove extra clothing.
• Course difficulty. Harder golf courses will generally take longer to play simply because the golfers playing them are likely to take more shots.
• Green speeds. This goes hand-in-hand with course difficulty. If the greens are lightning fast, putting them is often more challenging. That can lead to a lot of extra time for each group at the end of each hole.
• A crowded golf course. The more people you put on a golf course, the more opportunities for slow play. Once a logjam occurs, even though slow players should be letting faster players through, the whole golf course can get backed up.
• Tee time intervals. A golf course is a business. And many operators want to get as many golfers (dollars) onto the course as possible in a given day. For that reason, sometimes tee times are booked too tight, which can lead to an overcrowded and slow golf course. Appropriate tee times are typically around 10 to 12 minutes between groups. Less than that and a bottleneck becomes likely.
• The groups in front of you. Sometimes you just get unlucky and are stuck behind one or more slow-playing groups. Remember, if you’re the slow group, golf etiquette dictates that you let the faster groups go past you.

So, How Long Do Golf Games Last?

As you should now understand, there’s no one answer to the question of how long does it take to do 18 holes of golf.

But you should at least have an overall idea of what you can expect.

Generally speaking, you should plan on four-and-a-half hours to play 18 on the weekend. And plan for four hours on a weekday, assuming the course is less crowded.

And remember, 9 holes is a great option if you’re tight on time. A regular golfer who’s playing ready golf can often complete a 9-hole round in one-and-half hours or so.

The more you and whoever you're playing with and around adhere to some good pace-of-play practices, the faster it will move for everybody.

Pay attention to things like being ready to hit, choosing the right tee box, keeping an eye on your playing partners’ shots, not taking too long to look for a lost ball, not wasting time in a golf cart, and positioning your bag or cart in the direction of the next hole. All of those things really add up as time savers.

Golf is definitely a game of leisure. And you shouldn’t feel rushed. But you should also be mindful of the busy lives those around you are probably leading. Golf isn’t viable in today’s fast-paced world if it takes an entire day to play a round. Do your part to help make the golf time commitment reasonable.

About PlayBetter Golf Reviewer Marc Sheforgen

Marc Sheforgen is a golf writer whose passion for the game far exceeds his ability to play it well. Marc covers all things golf, from product reviews and equipment recommendations to event coverage and tournament analysis. When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about golf, he enjoys traveling (often golf-related), youth sports coaching, volunteering, and record collecting.