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2 October 2026 · 10 min read

How long does a round of golf take? 9 and 18 holes, ready golf and the 40 seconds per stroke

The R&A works out 4 hours for 18 holes for four players, but calls it no recommended value. Target times, ready golf, the 40 seconds and an hour in the simulator.

How long does a round of golf take? 9 and 18 holes, ready golf and the 40 seconds per stroke — post image

In its manual the R&A works out 4 hours for 18 holes and 2 hours for 9 holes for a group of four, but it says outright that this is not a recommended time. To beginners it says 9 holes take around 90 minutes. For a single stroke the Rules of Golf name 40 seconds, and that is a recommendation. This post shows what the time is made of, what ready golf is, what applies in a competition and how long an hour in the simulator is. I read the sources on 2 October 2026.

9 and 18 holes: what the governing bodies work with

WhatTimeSource
9 holes on a short course, to start witharound 90 minutesR&A, Play Golf
9 holes, example course with par 36, four players2 hoursR&A Pace of Play Manual
18 holes, example course with par 72, four players4 hoursR&A Pace of Play Manual
18 holes in the simulator, a venue in Opfikon saysunder 1 hourINGOLF

The R&A's example course is no yardstick for your course. It writes itself that this is not a recommended time for a course with this par and these lengths, only a guide to what to think of when setting a target time. Take the 4 hours as an order of magnitude. Travel, warming up and a meal come on top.

How the R&A calculates time per hole

The R&A starts from what, after watching play on a course, is reasonable for a group of four: 10 minutes for an average-length par 3, 13 for a par 4 and 16 for a par 5. It builds the target time from that.

HoleTime for a group of four
Par 310 minutes
Par 413 minutes
Par 516 minutes

The example course has 4 par 3s, 10 par 4s and 4 par 5s. That is 4 times 10, 10 times 13 and 4 times 16, together 234 minutes or 3 hours 54 minutes. Six holes get one extra minute because they are long, play over water or have a long walk to the next tee. That makes 240 minutes, so 4 hours, 2 hours for each nine. The sum of 234 minutes is my own calculation from the R&A's values.

What makes a round longer or shorter

The first cause is group size. According to the R&A, a group of four in which everyone plays their own ball is more likely to take longer than a group of two or three. The second is crowding: too many groups on the course at once is, in its words, the most common cause of rounds that are too long and of waiting. So it recommends these gaps between start times:

GroupGap between start times
Group of twoat least 8 minutes
Group of threeat least 10 minutes
Group of four11 or even 12 minutes

The third cause is you. The main criticism of slow players in the R&A's survey was that they were not ready to play when it was their turn. A calculation shows the rest: if each person in a group of four saves 5 seconds per stroke, that is 26 minutes and 40 seconds less at 80 strokes each. A ball is lost if you have not found it after 3 minutes of searching (Rule 18.2). What happens next is in Ball lost, out of bounds, in a penalty area.

The choice of tees counts too. At Kingsbarns in Scotland the share of groups playing from the longest tees, 6,800 yards or about 6,200 metres, fell from 50 to 15 % after an extra option between 6,100 and 6,800 yards was added. The R&A writes that suitable tees may make the round more enjoyable and quicker. Which tee suits you is answered in Which tees should I play?.

Ready golf: whoever is ready plays

Ready golf means you do not play strictly in the order of who is farthest from the hole; whoever is ready and can do so safely plays. Rule 6.4b(2) (R&A) allows and encourages this in stroke play, as long as nobody is endangered, distracted or interfered with. There is no penalty for it. The exception: anyone who agrees with others to play out of turn to give one of them an advantage gets the general penalty of two penalty strokes.

SituationReady golf?
The player farther away is taking long over a difficult shotYes, you play if it is safe (R&A example)
A shorter hitter is ready while the longer hitters are still waitingYes (R&A example)
Your ball is very close to the holeYes, you may hole out
The player whose turn it is is ready and wants to go firstNo, wait until that player has played
Match playNo, the opponent may cancel the stroke, unless you agree to it to save time

How well it works, Golf Australia asked clubs, and the R&A quotes it in its manual: 94 % of clubs that had promoted ready golf to their members reported some success with pace, and 25 % spoke of satisfying success. That is a survey of clubs, not a measurement of round times.

The 40 seconds per stroke, and what applies in competitions

Rule 5.6b (R&A) recommends making a stroke in no more than 40 seconds once you can play without interference, and usually faster. That is a recommendation. Under Rule 5.6a a penalty only follows unreasonable delay: one penalty stroke for the first breach, the general penalty for the second, disqualification for the third. The 40 seconds are a ceiling, not an average: anyone who takes the full 40 seconds on every one of 80 strokes ends up at 3,200 seconds, so 53 minutes and 20 seconds of pure stroke time.

In competitions the Committee sets times. In the championships on the Swiss Golf calendar (Hard Card 2026) every group gets a target time for a number of holes and for the round. If a group is out of position and has been warned, missed time checkpoints can lead to this:

Missed time checkpointsPossible result
21 penalty stroke
32 additional penalty strokes
4Disqualification

At the R&A's amateur championships (player information) there is more: anyone who takes over 90 seconds for a stroke is told they have a bad time. Once official timing runs for the group, it is 40 seconds, and 50 for the player who is first to play, for example at the tee or on the green.

How long a whole competition lasts is in no rule, it depends on the field. A worked example with the R&A's values and a start from the 1st tee only: 80 players in groups of four are 20 groups. With an 11-minute gap the last group starts 19 times 11, so 209 minutes or 3 hours 29 minutes after the first. Add its round of 4 hours, and the competition is over after 7 hours 29 minutes. How to plan one is in Organising a golf tournament.

What this means for you

For a meet-up on the course, 9 holes are the honest choice: 90 minutes to 2 hours by the R&A's numbers, plus travel and warming up. What a first round looks like is in Your first round on the golf course, and whether the 9 holes count for the handicap in Does a 9-hole round count for the handicap?. The rest of etiquette belongs to pace, and Golf etiquette and dress code explains it. How it goes alone on the course is described in Playing golf alone, and how much exercise these hours are is worked out in How many calories does golf burn?.

A lunch break of 60 minutes is not enough for 9 holes on the course, but perhaps for the simulator. INGOLF in Opfikon says 18 holes can be played there in under an hour. A session lasts 55 minutes and costs CHF 79 per simulator for up to four players (as of 2 October 2026). The venue does not say for how many players its statement holds, so with several people in one bay expect more time. Other venues cut time differently: Golf Center Mendrisio offers sessions of 30, 60 or 120 minutes for practice and 9 or 18-hole rounds, ALBATROSS in Langenthal plays 3, 9 or 18-hole rounds (details from the entries in the directory). You can practise the 40 seconds in the bay, with a stopwatch from the moment you stand at the ball; a shot clock in indoor golf is described in TGL and the indoor golf boom.

Find an hour in the directory

Which venue is near you is shown by golf simulator near me, and the map sorts by canton. If you want to play at short notice, open now shows what is open right now. The hourly prices are in the price comparison: 80 of the 110 indoor venues state an hourly price, between CHF 25 and 99, with a median of CHF 50 per bay (as of 2 October 2026, own entries).

Frequently asked questions

How long does a round of 18 holes take?

In its manual the R&A works out 4 hours for a group of four on a par 72 course and says outright that this is not a recommended value. According to it a group of two or three tends to need less time than a group of four. The R&A suggests printing a course's target time on the scorecard, so ask there.

How long does a 9-hole round take?

On its page for beginners the R&A writes that 9 holes take around 90 minutes, on a short course. In its manual it works out 2 hours for a group of four on a par 36 course. Travel and warming up come on top.

How many seconds may a golf stroke take?

Rule 5.6b recommends making the stroke in no more than 40 seconds once you can play without interference, and usually faster. It is a recommendation. A penalty only follows unreasonable delay under Rule 5.6a, or when a competition sets a time rule.

What is ready golf, and is there a penalty for it?

Ready golf means that in stroke play whoever is ready plays, instead of strictly by distance from the hole. Rule 6.4b(2) allows and encourages it as long as nobody is endangered or distracted. There is no penalty for it. In match play the opponent may cancel a stroke played out of turn.

How long do 18 holes take in a golf simulator?

INGOLF in Opfikon says 18 holes can be played there in under an hour. A session lasts 55 minutes and costs CHF 79 per simulator for up to four players. The venue does not say for how many players the statement holds, so with several people expect more time.

Sources