Wk. 20: Speed up your round

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Slow play is probably the most prevalent culprit in robbing golfers of a good time. The average round of golf takes approximately 4 ½ hours to play, or 15 minutes per hole. It's not uncommon for some golfers to be trapped on courses for as much as 6 hours just to complete 18 holes. It's every golfer's responsibility to maintain a brisk pace on the course. Here are a few suggestions on how you can help play move more quickly on the course.

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Come prepared -- Make sure you have plenty of whatever you need on hand. This should include a dozen tees, and as many balls as you need to make it through the round.

Tee off first -- The logic for this is quite simple. If there isn't a foursome in front of you, there is no one to slow you down. You can play as quickly as you would like, and set the pace for the other golfers waiting at the first hole.

Practice efficiently -- You don't have to save all of your practice swings until it's your turn. While other players are getting ready to tee up, take a few swings off to the side to loosen up. When it's your turn to tee off, you will be ready.

Plan in the cart -- Don't wait until you get to the ball to start planning your next shot. Start thinking about it before you get to the ball, so you will be able to grab the right club and get ready to swing.

Hit and walk -- If you are the farthest away from the tee on the fairway, have another player drop you off with the cart, before they go to their ball. After you hit your shot, you can walk forward to the cart after hitting. This will keep your foursome moving closer to the hole at all times.

Let lost balls stay lost -- There is nothing worse that driving a ball into the woods during a good round. The temptation is to hunt that ball down and play it at any cost to save your scorecard. But unless there are millions of dollars of professional prize money at stake, let it go. It's a small sacrifice to make for the common good of every golfer. Establish the ground rules with your fellow players about playing a provisional ball before you start the round so that everyone is agreement.

Park at the next tee -- Rather than having everyone riding to the next tee, park the carts at the next tee and bring the clubs you need. Players can then start walking over and preparing for the next hole once they are finished, rather than waiting for everyone to complete the hole.

Speeding up play on the course makes an enjoyable day for every golfer. But knee pain can slow you down drastically. If chronic knee pain is hampering your golf game, you might be suffering from osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. Various treatments for OA do exist, such as ORTHOVISC®, which provides up to six months of knee pain relief. Made from ultra-pure natural hyaluronan, which is found in healthy joints, ORTHOVISC® is injected into the knee joint where it acts to replace your natural joint fluid, to help cushion, protect, and lubricate your knee.

ORTHOVISC® is a proud sponsor of PGATOUR.COM. Talk to your doctor to see if ORTHOVISC® is right for you. Or visit our Web site at www.orthovisc.com for more information on how to maintain your knee health to help you keep playing the game you love.

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-date information on maintaining joint health and the prevention/treatment of knee pain due to sports-related injuries or the early symptoms of osteoarthritis.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

ORTHOVISC® is indicated in the treatment of pain in osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in patients who have failed to respond adequately to conservative nonpharmacologic therapy and to simple analgesics, e.g., acetaminophen. In clinical studies, the most commonly reported adverse events were arthralgia, back pain and headache. Other side effects include local injection site adverse events.

ORTHOVISC® is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to hyaluronate formulation or known hypersensitivity (allergy) to gram positive bacterial proteins. ORTHOVISC should not be injected in patients with infections or skin diseases in the areas of the injection site or joint. Strict aseptic technique should be used. The effectiveness of more than 1 course has not been established.