Good grief!  What course?!

The good news is that the snowbirds should be heading home in another couple of weeks!

I've given up playing golf on weekends. 

Someone needs to invent some method of timing people, without penalizing people who are being held up by other people. 

Maybe some sort of GPS unit in each golf cart, with a transmitter and a receiver, and a central control station in the pro shop, so if a group falls far enough behind the group in front of them, they get an automatic credit card charge.   All you'd need is a central unit in the pro shop that automatically flags a group when it falls far enough behind the group in front of them, then flashes a warning in the golf cart, and if they don't catch up, an automatic assessment. 

Well, it's just an idea.  Maybe some inventor will get to work on this.   I know the technology already exists.  If we can have driverless cars, certainly we can have golf carts that force you to keep up with the group in front, or assess a monetary penalty.   I know the technology exists for the head pro or whoever to have a map of the course that shows where each group is.  Then have a receiver on the golf carts, and send the warning.  "Catch up or you will have the choice of a $25 credit card charge, or a refund of all your fees if you leave the course immediately." 

Marshals and course rangers don't like to confront people.  It's unpleasant.   Blame it on the computer.   "Hey, the computer says you're behind, it assesses you.  I can't do anything about it." 

Interesting.  Sunday we teed off at around 12:30.  Our group of 4 walked 18 in a decent time and never waited on anyone.  Of course, we were slowed up a bit when our balls would bury in a patch of remaining snow.  Hard to find those suckers even if orange or yellow.  WeatherUnderground says we got up to 39 degrees (f) but it felt a lot nicer.

6 hours in the sun & warmth doesn't sound too bad right now but a steady diet of that would turn me off.

Having grown up in Florida, a 5 hour public isnt too far fetched. 6 hours is miserable. My advice is to find a private or semi private club and while it costs a bit more, everything is included, especially the sub 4 hour rounds. If/when I move home, Ill give 4-5 public courses a chance and I can bet you Ill be joining a private club. It all depends on the location, quality of course, and the group of guys that are currently playing there. 

11 hours ago, David in FL said:

Good grief!  What course?!

The good news is that the snowbirds should be heading home in another couple of weeks!

It was Mayfair. Some guys I played with the weekend before suggested I try it out because of the greens. The greens were nice, but that was about it.

9 hours ago, kpaulhus said:

Having grown up in Florida, a 5 hour public isnt too far fetched. 6 hours is miserable. My advice is to find a private or semi private club and while it costs a bit more, everything is included, especially the sub 4 hour rounds. If/when I move home, Ill give 4-5 public courses a chance and I can bet you Ill be joining a private club. It all depends on the location, quality of course, and the group of guys that are currently playing there. 

That is my plan, but it probably won't be for another year or so. I want to be good and settled in first. Paying rent here and a mortgage in Ohio doesn't leave much room in the budget to join a private club. Once i 

@bkuehn1952 It was a gorgeous day indeed, but I don't play worth a crap when I have to wait 5 minutes or more to make a swing. Waiting on these people 

@Marty2019 if rangers aren't willing confront people, they shouldn't be a ranger. I'm not saying they have to be nasty or anything, but you may have to tell people to pick up the pace or let people through. It doesn't require technology to see that there were 2 empty holes in front of the group that was 4 spots ahead of us. It's amazing how much quicker the last 2 holes went once they got out of the way. 

That sucks @CarlSpackler. I don't think I could play the game if that's what I had to look forward to every time out. I'm fairly patient with others, but there's a threshold.

Do you have the opportunity to play at times and/or days of the week when it's not too crowded? 

Now this makes for much better reading that your typical weather-gloating. Imagine that. A place with even worse pace-of-play problems that good old Kittyhawk. 

Seriously, I'm sure you'll sort out where to go and where to avoid. 

11 minutes ago, JonMA1 said:

That sucks @CarlSpackler. I don't think I could play the game if that's what I had to look forward to every time out. I'm fairly patient with others, but there's a threshold.

Do you have the opportunity to play at times and/or days of the week when it's not too crowded? 

Nope. It's getting to be the time of year where I can get 9 in after work, but otherwise, I'm captive at my day job. My big project has kicked off which means long days, and my former employer has hired me as a consultant for some weekend work. I need the money, but weekends are going to be tough now too.

5 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

Now this makes for much better reading that your typical weather-gloating. Imagine that. A place with even worse pace-of-play problems that good old Kittyhawk. 

Seriously, I'm sure you'll sort out where to go and where to avoid. 

Yeah man. This was REALLY bad. No stones in the bunkers though. 

Mayfair?!

One of these days you're gonna learn to ask me before you try a course!  

10 hours ago, David in FL said:

Mayfair?!

One of these days you're gonna learn to ask me before you try a course!  

It was a local pro who recommended it, so I figured... Well, live and learn. On the plus side, I was paired up with a young lad who is down here playing on a mini-tour. He made it around with a few birdies and 1 bogey. Not a good day for him. The there was the old couple who I called the Havercamps. Every time the lady hit the ball, I was thinking, "That's a peach, hon."

On the weekends I try to be either the first one off or close to it or on Sunday I wait until about 2 or so (if possible) and play when it's thinned out a bit more. I prefer morning golf because although getting up early is not fun, being done with golf in 2+ hours is!

7 minutes ago, Gator Hazard said:

On the weekends I try to be either the first one off or close to it or on Sunday I wait until about 2 or so (if possible) and play when it's thinned out a bit more. I prefer morning golf because although getting up early is not fun, being done with golf in 2+ hours is!

I prefer to play in the afternoons myself. I don't have to deal with dew on the grass. In Ohio, courses were usually wide open Sunday afternoons. Apparently not here.

7 minutes ago, CarlSpackler said:

I prefer to play in the afternoons myself. I don't have to deal with dew on the grass. In Ohio, courses were usually wide open Sunday afternoons. Apparently not here.

Mine is not bad after about two or so on Sundays. Especially if the Bucs are playing. Unfortunately a few hours a way for you. I'm sure @David in FLhas a few for you check out. Good luck. 

Yes...when I occasionally get the clubs out in "snow bird" season...I get the earliest tee time possible. I can't believe that a 5 hour round of golf is "typical;". That is sad. As I have said in many other posts, an 18 hole round should take 3.5 hours. I played St. Andrews and it took 3:20. Now I go out after work (since the time change) and can get in 10-15 holes at 5:00.

On 3/20/2017 at 9:21 AM, Marty2019 said:

I've given up playing golf on weekends. 

Someone needs to invent some method of timing people, without penalizing people who are being held up by other people. 

Maybe some sort of GPS unit in each golf cart, with a transmitter and a receiver, and a central control station in the pro shop, so if a group falls far enough behind the group in front of them, they get an automatic credit card charge.   All you'd need is a central unit in the pro shop that automatically flags a group when it falls far enough behind the group in front of them, then flashes a warning in the golf cart, and if they don't catch up, an automatic assessment. 

Well, it's just an idea.  Maybe some inventor will get to work on this.   I know the technology already exists.  If we can have driverless cars, certainly we can have golf carts that force you to keep up with the group in front, or assess a monetary penalty.   I know the technology exists for the head pro or whoever to have a map of the course that shows where each group is.  Then have a receiver on the golf carts, and send the warning.  "Catch up or you will have the choice of a $25 credit card charge, or a refund of all your fees if you leave the course immediately." 

Marshals and course rangers don't like to confront people.  It's unpleasant.   Blame it on the computer.   "Hey, the computer says you're behind, it assesses you.  I can't do anything about it." 

 

This technology already exists. And yes, we've pretty much given up on weekend golf as well. Even in our area, which is "overbuilt" for golf, the weekends, especially the mornings, can just get stupid!

Back to the technology. There's a local course where the GPS system on the carts can track your every move! If you're out of position it will tell you. If it's cart path only that day and you stray off the path, it will tell you to get back on! The display shows you not only where your cart is on the hole, but where the the group in front of you is. It will remind you to order snacks ahead of time for when you make the turn. Menu available on the screen!

I played Moose Ridge here in Michigan yesterday and they have GPS on the carts.   The info center also has warnings about cart path only on some holes and warns if you deviate from the path.   We found out yesterday that they really do work.   On one hole we approached a swale and the alarm came on telling us it was a restricted area.   The cart slowed to a 1 mph crawl and beeped the entire distance until we were back to the cart path.   

On one hole we searched for 3 lost balls and it told us we were 3 minutes behind.   We did finish in 4 hours but for a few holes we were slow.  

Since I've retired, I try to avoid weekend golf because it is so slow.

12 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

This technology already exists. And yes, we've pretty much given up on weekend golf as well. Even in our area, which is "overbuilt" for golf, the weekends, especially the mornings, can just get stupid!

Back to the technology. There's a local course where the GPS system on the carts can track your every move! If you're out of position it will tell you. If it's cart path only that day and you stray off the path, it will tell you to get back on! The display shows you not only where your cart is on the hole, but where the the group in front of you is. It will remind you to order snacks ahead of time for when you make the turn. Menu available on the screen!

Since I posted that, I played a course that has a similar technology to the one you describe.   Not quite as extensive a system, but in addition to giving us the usual distances, it did other stuff-  for example there was a drive-able par 4 with a blind tee shot and the system in the cart warned us that the green was not clear yet.  Stuff like that.