very slow...read VERY SLOW playing partners...??

Get new playing partners.

Drive the cart yourself.

Suggest letting the group behind you play through. Then suggest letting the group behind THEM play through.

Tell them the house isn't bet on the game and they are NOT Tiger. Hurry the Hell up.

First and foremost mention it to them, although some people do not take kindly to this conversation. Preach 'ready golf', then follow your own advice and play that way. If riding, get out of the cart and walk to your ball when the other player stops. Ready golf can cut a lot of time off your group's play if everyone buys into it. If you do little things to speed up your own play you'll usually find your partners will have a tendency to also speed up a little.

"Be ready to hit and hit when you're ready."

If I am playing with people I don't know, or don't know very well, I will try to make them aware of our pace by casual comments. "Our pace seems pretty good today" or "We're falling behind, we should pick up our pace a bit". I have found that people respond pretty well to a non judgmental request to pick up the pace.
I also find that it helps to remember that on the hour, you should be on the 5th, at the turn, on the 14th, for a four hour round.
Some people believe that slow players should be hung. Not me, I believe they should be SHOT, then they should be hung!
Scotty

Yea i'm with the general consensus for this one. Bring it up in a non-confrontational way. Statements like "we're really falling behind the group in front of us", or even decline if you're not ready and you're honors "No go ahead if you're ready". It'll set the tone and get the pace moving.

Helping to look for balls is good as well.

If you're in a tournament or competition, you should mention it to them and you also have the option of calling someone to put them on the clock. It's very important in competition that if one player is bringing the whole group down, that you let it be known. Don't just speed up your game because all you're doing is hurting yourself by trying to compensate for their slow play and affording them more time to be slow.

I think it depends a little. When I play with my usual group of hackers (guys as good as me) we can play a round in just under 4 hours. When we add one of the guys sons (23 years old) our pace is more like 5.5 hours. When I play with my wife and son, the pace is 6-6.5 hours trending down as they get better. When I play alone, I play at my own pace which I don't feel is fast or slow. I usually finish a round by myself in 3.5 hours without rushing.

My point is, take the ability of the player into account. Having a hard and fast rule that "a round of golf is to be played in 4 hours or less" is assanine (sp). Forcing a 10 year old, or a 40 handicap, to play at that pace means they will either learn nothing, or learn to hate the game.

Now, if your playing with a seasoned player and they are that slow then some subtle hints about ready golf are appropriate. I expect to have a slow round when I play with folks that get out only a few time per year. You can't play a 4 hour round when you smack your tee shot OB, then hit your 2nd 5 feet.

Sorry md... I don't mean to be rude. And I try to keep in mind that I play in a crowded part of the country. But, unless you are playing on a very light day, keeping to a four hour round will have a positive impact on everyone. And, I realize that we have players of different abilities in every foursome, but think that teaching beginners to keep time is every bit as important as teaching them to tend flagsticks, not tread on the lines of other players putts and what order you should hit in on the fairway.
If you have a "less experienced" player in your foursome and it adds an hour or more to the round, you have added the same amount of time to everyone behind you. Better to advise them to pick up and drop at the 100 yard marker to make the approach and putt out. After all, if you are a beginner... aren't most of your rounds, practice rounds anyway. My $0.02... hope your next round is the best you've ever had.

Scotty

Scotty, not rude at all and I hope my comments were not taken that way either.

When I play with the wife, or other really slow players, I make sure I am watching behind to ensure that we are not holding anyone else up. It helps that I play on a lightly used course. A good 1/2-hour of the 6+ hour round is dedicated to letting other groups through. If there is one thing I hate it's being held up by slow play. The next would be getting pushed.

Until they are ready to play "at pace" I will not take these other slower players to the nice courses in my area. I can't imagine being on a course that had tee times booked all day and letting group after group go through. But then I suspect we would get kicked off the nicer course pretty quickly due to slow play.