Is Golf Available Where You Live? (COVID-19 Edition)

[Double Mocha Man]

Just now, phillyk said:

We got rid of golfnow because they simply didn’t drive the business they thought they could, especially at the price they were asking for. Eventually we talked to the people who bought those tee times and offered them the same price but buy through us not golfnow. If you don’t use the applications/programs golfnow gives in return and the people who use it don’t spend any extra money at the course, then it doesn’t do any good to have them. Their reps were persistent too to try to get us back. 

Precisely what I heard from Mel, Phil (at Shuksan), Nathan and Krulak.

[Mr22putt]

55 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

A few years ago we had GolfNow at about 7-8 of the courses in our county.  Turns out they were being used by regulars who were scamming the system over and over for cheap rounds when GolfNow had promised operators that it would drive new business to their courses.  The head pros got together to form a consortium (probably illegal) and booted GolfNow out of town.  There is only one GolfNow course left and they are in the next county south.

Most of the Golfnow courses here are goat tracks......not that many great deals...especially with the adm fee.

If operators really thought Golfnow would bring new business....then those operators were naive.

Years ago....a guy told me he could play a cow pasture here for $2 and I think played Semiahmoo for $10?????

The best way to save money is to play twilight which I do often...the courses here are all packed at twilight.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 minute ago, Mr22putt said:

The best way to save money is to play twilight which I do often...the courses here are all packed at twilight.

So all the frugal folks go out when it's getting dark???

[Mr22putt]

2 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

So all the frugal folks go out when it's getting dark???

Yup....all the CHEAP people play twilight here.....at one muni here on a nice summer day and even not so nice....it's packed at 7pm sunset.

2 Vancouver muni's opened up......the tee sheets are sold out until 7pm for several weeks.....on nice weather forecast days...most courses here are near sold out.

[klineka]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

A few years ago we had GolfNow at about 7-8 of the courses in our county.  Turns out they were being used by regulars who were scamming the system over and over for cheap rounds when GolfNow had promised operators that it would drive new business to their courses.  The head pros got together to form a consortium (probably illegal) and booted GolfNow out of town.  There is only one GolfNow course left and they are in the next county south.

How did they scam the system? I don't consider a regular who always books their tee time through GolfNow to be scamming the system.

I go to different courses almost every round so I'm not a "regular" anywhere, but at least 50%, if not closer to 75% of the rounds I book are through either teeoff or golfnow, and the majority of the time they are with coupon codes too, seems like teeoff offers one nearly every week for 10-25% off of select tee times.

[Double Mocha Man]

40 minutes ago, klineka said:

How did they scam the system? I don't consider a regular who always books their tee time through GolfNow to be scamming the system.

I go to different courses almost every round so I'm not a "regular" anywhere, but at least 50%, if not closer to 75% of the rounds I book are through either teeoff or golfnow, and the majority of the time they are with coupon codes too, seems like teeoff offers one nearly every week for 10-25% off of select tee times.

They were jumping in quickly and buying up all the "Hot Deals".  Totally legal, but defeated the purported purpose of GolfNow, as presented to the courses by that business.

[FlyingAce]

2 hours ago, Mr22putt said:

No money no honey no talk.😃

Ace:

Are these the same familiar faces who won't ask you to play golf?.....I guess social distancing isn't a problem playing as a single.....lol.

How has your game been after the layoff?.....my game continues to be a complete SHAM/FRUAD.....except for my driver...which has always been a strength.......I'm also being a mental midget too.

No not the same people. I played as a single yesterday and pace was very slow. The group behind me caught up and asked to join me. Funny thing was I asked one lady in that group earlier if she wanted to play and she said she got a group already (but did not invite me to join)...and ended up playing with me. I had fun but it’s difficult to remember about social distancing at the tee box or on the green. I still prefer to play alone.

I played 18 this morning with my husband. Course was full and saw multiple groups of 6/7 players! We breezed thru the front 9 in 1:15 with no one ahead, but back 9 we had to wait at every shot. And one guy behind us tee off at hole 14 and the ball landed at my feet and bounced another 10yds at my husband...not sure what his rush was!

I still have my game. Shot an 80 today. Maybe lost 10yds or so on my drive.  Irons are doing surprisingly well, gained distance and accuracy for some reason. Not sure how since I have not been practicing. But the extra distance threw me off and cost me a few extra strokes. There are no holes/flags yet so no way to aim other than center of the greens. They did paint red/white/blue circles on the greens but they all line up the same, just left/right of center instead of front/back of center. Whoever painted them must not be a golfer.

My club will officially open with tee times on Tuesday. Looking forward to it!

Are all the courses opened now in your area? I plan to play every day of next week to make up for lost time. 

[jmanbooyaa]

@cooke119 what the hell happened to West Saville. What a s@&thole. The fairway was essential the rough. The greens slowest ever. Terrible shape. Shame the course used to be really nice. 

[NM Golf]

My course opened today! I have a tee time tomorrow morning, there is a big group of us. Funny thing was I drove to Denver on Wednesday to play golf with my brother, and two days later they open the courses here. Still got in 54 holes in 3 days and got to see family. I also have a tee time on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday next week.

[Mr22putt]

6 hours ago, FlyingAce said:

No not the same people. I played as a single yesterday and pace was very slow. The group behind me caught up and asked to join me. Funny thing was I asked one lady in that group earlier if she wanted to play and she said she got a group already (but did not invite me to join)...and ended up playing with me. I had fun but it’s difficult to remember about social distancing at the tee box or on the green. I still prefer to play alone.

I played 18 this morning with my husband. Course was full and saw multiple groups of 6/7 players! We breezed thru the front 9 in 1:15 with no one ahead, but back 9 we had to wait at every shot. And one guy behind us tee off at hole 14 and the ball landed at my feet and bounced another 10yds at my husband...not sure what his rush was!

I still have my game. Shot an 80 today. Maybe lost 10yds or so on my drive.  Irons are doing surprisingly well, gained distance and accuracy for some reason. Not sure how since I have not been practicing. But the extra distance threw me off and cost me a few extra strokes. There are no holes/flags yet so no way to aim other than center of the greens. They did paint red/white/blue circles on the greens but they all line up the same, just left/right of center instead of front/back of center. Whoever painted them must not be a golfer.

My club will officially open with tee times on Tuesday. Looking forward to it!

Are all the courses opened now in your area? I plan to play every day of next week to make up for lost time. 

Hi Ace:

Glad to hear your game is good...you'll get those 10 yards back once you're able to pick up your M5.

SMH....still can't believe all the continuing bad etiquette and behavior at your club.

Yes.....just about all the courses here are open.....it was never mandated to close any courses here....though from about mid March to the 3rd week in April....many courses were closed......some of the courses have done a lot of physical changes to the infrastructure to restrict movement, etc when coming onto the property.

As you know...it can be very easy to physical distance while playing golf. I haven't been to Costco in 5 months....I went late this afternoon when there was no line up to get inside....it's normally a hour wait...but it was a gong show inside the store with so many shoppers and it was difficult to physical distance...and some people don't care neither...and some capable walkers parking in the handicap spots....it's was raining...still no excuse....so many idiots around.

I don't shop much when I go to Costco....but as normal with everyone else...came out spending too much money because it's hard to give up a deal because they have in store special to save $2 on some items that we really DON'T need.

Some people still hoarding TP...SMH...duh.

Don't think I'll be going to Costco anytime soon.....and only a few here have gas stations...though gas can't be bought cheap everywhere nowadays.

Glad you're gonna play each day....hit em well young lady!

[Cartboy]

17 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

A few years ago we had GolfNow at about 7-8 of the courses in our county.  Turns out they were being used by regulars who were scamming the system over and over for cheap rounds when GolfNow had promised operators that it would drive new business to their courses.  The head pros got together to form a consortium (probably illegal) and booted GolfNow out of town.  There is only one GolfNow course left and they are in the next county south.

Courses become disenchanted with Golfnow, and resort to their own booking system . . . then return to Golfnow.  For the revenue from two tee times a day, Golfnow provides POS, plus Internet exposure.  Even at $200 per tee time, that $10,000/month looks like a lot, so courses drop them.

I have been at two courses that had Golfnow, dropped them for their own app, and now have Golfnow again.

At my current course, where I'm not back yet because of COVID, the last couple of years we had our own app, and I had a tablet with me.  That was nice because I could look at the entire tee sheet, or a particular group, or look at future days.  I could advise groups on the course about replays (we had a play-all-day rate for early tee times), and book future tee times.

In the Winter, when I need golf in SW FL, I check Golfnow.

As far as opening the country/golf courses back up, it's confusing.  On March 16, the day restrictions started, there were 755 new cases in the US.  On April 30, the day before restrictions started easing in many areas, there were over 30,000 new cases in the US.  So, it's hard to understand why it is safer now.

For golf course workers, it's even more confusing.  We/they are "frontline," as it's become to be known.

Kind of ironic, the past few years the upscale course I've been at since 2009 has been cutting back on labor/customer service.  Greatly reduced bag drop service . . . bring the carts up the first hour, then let customers get their own and load their bags.  

Well, now they have that . . . no customer service, no Pro Shop, no Food & Beverage, no water stations, no raking bunkers, no touching flagsticks . . . 

 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Cartboy

[phan52]

We opened on Friday, the date Governor Wolf mandated. We usually don't have tee times but we now are using Foretees and we opened it on Wednesday for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. By Thursday afternoon the tee sheet was almost completely full from 7:00 AM to 4:00 all three days. No caddies, one person to a cart, unless you are with a spouse or someone you live with. Range and putting green are open, Range has been set up to accommodate social distancing guidelines and the putting green has pins but no cups. We have installed this ball retrieval system on all the holes. Works great.

This touchless ball retrieval solution is a Cool Golf Thing

---

It's a rare time where you'll want to hook it.

I was happy to be able to play but it was weird. I didn't show up until ten minutes before my tee time and went right to the tee, although people were very respectful of space and didn't congregate, at least while i was there. Once we were off the first tee, it was golf as usual. No bets, which is very unusual for my club and, when we were done, I doffed my cap, said my goodbyes and went right to my car. 

I was lucky that I switched out my caddie strap to my carry strap on my bag the night before or I would have missed my tee time. It took me multiple tries to get it right. I could play today but I don't like taking a cart and, at my age, I can't carry and walk 18 holes two days in a row. Plus, from now on when I play, it will be on days when the place isn't so packed. Could become a range rat, although range time is limited to a half hour for now.

[Sandy Divot]

Got an email this morning, and was told that a member at my club was showing symptoms. He went for a test, and will know in a few days. I've had a few serious health issues the last several years, so I'm going to stay home until the test results are known. If the test is positive, I'll be done for a bit.

[Cartboy]

It's strange how some courses/areas are so  busy that it's hard to get a tee times while other courses/areas don't hardly have any business at all.

 

[nevets88]

I'm assuming all the bathrooms are closed at courses that are open and the outdoors is just one giant porto-potty now right?

[dennyjones]

Two of the three that I've played this year have allowed access to the restrooms in the clubhouse.  

[Sandy Divot]

1 hour ago, nevets88 said:

I'm assuming all the bathrooms are closed at courses that are open and the outdoors is just one giant porto-potty now right?

Our grill is take out only, and the pro shop has installed a plexiglass shield on the counter, and placed marks on the floor to promote proper distancing. One rider per cart. Bathrooms in clubhouse and on course are open.

[Cartboy]

1 hour ago, nevets88 said:

I'm assuming all the bathrooms are closed at courses that are open and the outdoors is just one giant porto-potty now right?

Yeah . . . some things stay the same.