Most foursomes need about 4 hours to play 18 holes on a course. On a simulator, it depends on how many people are in your bay with you, and the gap between playing solo and playing as a foursome is bigger than you might expect. Here’s how we break it down.
How long 18 holes takes on a golf course
If you’re wondering how long to block out, 18 holes of golf takes most foursomes about 4 to 4.5 hours on a public course. Smaller groups and early tee times finish sooner, and a crowded weekend can stretch a round further. The biggest swings come from your group size, whether you walk or ride, and how fast the group ahead of you moves.
Here’s our rough estimate for a steady round on a course, by group size. The table stops at 4 players, since many courses don’t let bigger groups tee off together. A bay at X-Golf Rockwall fits up to 6.
| Players | Rough estimate, 18 holes | Rough estimate, 9 holes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | about 150 to 175 min | about 75 to 90 min |
| 2 | about 170 to 195 min | about 85 to 100 min |
| 3 | about 190 to 215 min | about 95 to 110 min |
| 4 | about 210 to 235 min | about 105 to 120 min |
How long 18 holes takes on a simulator at X-Golf Rockwall
At X-Golf Rockwall, our rule of thumb is about 1 hour per player for 18 holes. It’s a starting point, and the table below fine-tunes it by group size.
By our rough estimate, a solo golfer needs about 65 to 100 minutes, so a quick player fits in an hour, and the 30-minute add-on gives a slower round room. Groups of 3 or more sometimes finish early, though not always. The more players you bring, the more time you’ll want, so use the table to size your booking.
Bays are booked by the hour, and each hourly tee time runs 55 minutes, because the first 5 minutes cover the changeover from the group before you. You can add 30 minutes when you book, and up to 6 people can share a bay. If you’ve never played on a simulator, start with how indoor golf works.
| Players | Rough play time, 18 holes | Suggested booking, 18 holes | Rough play time, 9 holes | Suggested booking, 9 holes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | about 65 to 100 min | 1 to 1.5 hours | about 35 to 50 min | 1 hour |
| 2 | about 110 to 140 min | 2.5 hours | about 55 to 70 min | 1.5 hours |
| 3 | about 150 to 180 min | 3.5 hours | about 75 to 90 min | 2 hours |
| 4 | about 190 to 220 min | 4 hours | about 95 to 110 min | 2 hours |
| 5 | about 230 to 260 min | 5 hours | about 115 to 130 min | 2.5 hours |
| 6 | about 270 to 300 min | 6 hours | about 135 to 150 min | 3 hours |
Play times are our rough estimates for typical play, not measured times.
We price by the simulator and not by the player, at $50 an hour Sunday to Thursday and $60 an hour Friday and Saturday, so a bigger group splits the same rate more ways.
Whichever you book, you can play any of more than 50 courses, including Pebble Beach and St. Andrews.
Why the indoor clock is easier to predict
On a simulator, your round’s length depends on how many people are in your bay, not on course traffic, weather or the group ahead. A solo golfer saves real time here, but for a full group the clock runs close to what it would outdoors, since everyone still takes their own turns. Either way, the time you book is close to the time you play, because 4 things that slow an outdoor round don’t happen here:
- You never walk between shots.
- Weather can’t cut your round short, whether it’s a rain delay or a July afternoon in Rockwall. (On a course, playing golf in the rain takes some planning.)
- Nobody is ahead of you on the tee or the green.
- You never hunt for a ball, because the auto-tee system returns it and tees up the next one.
Your crew can order food and drinks at the bay, so nobody has to stop at the turn.
By our estimate, a solo golfer saves the most time indoors, and a foursome saves the least.
How to fit a round into the time you have
If your group has less time than 18 holes needs, play 9, switch formats, or split up across 2 bays when they’re free. Here are 4 ways to make a round fit:
- On a course, book the first tee time of the day or a weekday round, when fewer groups are ahead of you.
- Play 9 holes, which takes roughly half the time of 18, indoors or out.
- Play a scramble, where everyone hits, the team picks the best shot, and you all play from there, which usually keeps the round moving. Here’s how a golf scramble works.
- Split across 2 bays when 2 are open. It takes a little more total bay time than one bay, but by our rough estimate each pair finishes in about 110 to 140 minutes instead of about 190 to 220 for the whole group.
Book your round at X-Golf Rockwall
A foursome needs about 4 hours for 18 holes on a course. At X-Golf Rockwall, our booking guideline is about 1 hour per player, and the time you book is close to the time you play. Pick the hours that fit your crew, and book your tee time at X-Golf Rockwall.
