Courses that allow groups off the back nine.

[JerseyThursday]

I’m curious what the policy is at the course you play regarding letting off groups on the back nine. Maybe they are trying to maximize profits and it just makes good fiscal sense (for the course). But it is extremely annoying to be in the flow of things, playing the front nine at a good pace, and then whamo, things grind to halt on the back nine because they have let groups off with minimal respect to groups making the turn.
I guess that’s price for playing public courses.

[tonyy]

A couple courses in my area allow this. They only let oncoming groups play off the back 9 if there's no one on the 9th hole. That way there will be no holdup or traffic.

[meenman]

My home course (private) has double tee times until 9:30 on weekends so more members can get out in the morning.

The next tee time after that is 11:30 - everyone plays a 4 hour round. The faster you finish your 1st nine, the slower your back will be.

[DaveLeeNC]

A couple of the courses where I play do this regularly. They manage it pretty well with a large gap late morning (no tee times) for those making the turn. Then repeat again in the afternoon.

I understand that this (when there is enough daylight for "two shifts") gets slightly more players through the course. Some of the members like it because it generates more early morning tee times in hot weather.

I've never run into a wait time when making the turn (either 18 to 1 or 9 to 10).

dave

[PiKapp23]

My friends and I play this course sometimes that on Saturdays during summer only has 1 morning tee time: 8:00 shotgun start. They say they do it because most players want early morning tee time and they want to play fast. I was suprised how smoothly this works. The next tee time is at 12:15 and the times we've played we've been done by 12 with ease. The afternoon tee times go off only on #1.

[Fourputt]

I'm a starter at my course and I deal with this all the time. We have 9 hole reservations off the back for about the first 1:40 of the day, then after that the back side times are blocked. Whether we open them depends on where the groups making the turn are at. I can see the most of the 9th hole from my booth, so if I have someone wanting to play 9, I look for balls with my binoculars. If I don't see any ball or any golfers, I'll let a group out with the proviso that they have to keep up with the group that's ahead of them. Once the 18 hole players start to turn, then I shut it off completely. I've had lots of times when I had players begging me to get them off the back and all I could do was shake my head. If there's no room, then there's no room. And we are specifically NOT allowed to squeeze anyone in when there is just a half hole gap because a group is slow making the turn. Instead they are asked to pick up the pace and catch up.

The only time I can guarantee someone a back nine start later in the day is when the group coming up on the 9th is only playing 9 holes.

[Fourputt]

My friends and I play this course sometimes that on Saturdays during summer only has 1 morning tee time: 8:00 shotgun start. They say they do it because most players want early morning tee time and they want to play fast. I was suprised how smoothly this works. The next tee time is at 12:15 and the times we've played we've been done by 12 with ease. The afternoon tee times go off only on #1.

That would never work on our course. We have players showing up to play at sunrise. If we didn't open until 8:00, we'd lose 2-1/2 hours of starting times during midsummer.

[JerseyThursday]

I'm a starter at my course and I deal with this all the time. We have 9 hole reservations off the back for about the first 1:40 of the day, then after that the back side times are blocked. Whether we open them depends on where the groups making the turn are at. I can see the most of the 9th hole from my booth, so if I have someone wanting to play 9, I look for balls with my binoculars. If I don't see any ball or any golfers, I'll let a group out with the proviso that they have to keep up with the group that's ahead of them. Once the 18 hole players start to turn, then I shut it off completely. I've had lots of times when I had players begging me to get them off the back and all I could do was shake my head. If there's no room, then there's no room. And we are specifically NOT allowed to squeeze anyone in when there is just a half hole gap because a group is slow making the turn. Instead they are asked to pick up the pace and catch up.

This makes sense. I must admit most times when clowns cut in front of us on the turn the starter and club pro don’t realize it.

[Fourputt]

This makes sense. I must admit most times when clowns cut in front of us on the turn the starter and club pro don’t realize it.

I have a clear view of the both the 1st and 10th tees from my booth. There has been more than one time I had to send someone from the pro shop out to check a group that showed up on #10 tee without being sent there by me. We've even had people pay for the Executive 9 and then try to slip onto the Championship course (we have 3 courses... 18 hole par 72, 9 hole par 31 executive, and 9 hole par 3 course).

NOBODY tees off on our courses without going through the starter first.

[jonjones]

A few courses I play at allow it, but, for the early morning only. The problem comes when you are done with the back 9 and are going to start the front 9. One time we were asked to start on #10. It was fine till we were making our way to #1. There were 2 groups waiting to tee off when we got there. That was one long 9 holes.

[Monsieurgolf]

I have a clear view of the both the 1st and 10th tees from my booth. There has been more than one time I had to send someone from the pro shop out to check a group that showed up on #10 tee without being sent there by me. We've even had people pay for the Executive 9 and then try to slip onto the Championship course (we have 3 courses... 18 hole par 72, 9 hole par 31 executive, and 9 hole par 3 course).

I commend you and your course. It is a rare thing to find a starter that actually knows what is going on and can really maintain proper course management. Way to go.

[Fourputt]

A few courses I play at allow it, but, for the early morning only. The problem comes when you are done with the back 9 and are going to start the front 9. One time we were asked to start on #10. It was fine till we were making our way to #1. There were 2 groups waiting to tee off when we got there. That was one long 9 holes.

Our early morning back 9 starts are 9 holes ONLY. If they want to play on for 18 holes, they have to wait for an open time. Actually, if they wanted to play 18 on a normally busy day, then they shouldn't have reserved a 9 hole tee time.

Anyone starting on the back nine is told up front that getting on the front side later will just be a matter of luck.

[RemyM]

During the peak season we open at 6:30 during the week and 15 minutes after sunrise on weekends (to allow the crew a head start on mowing etc.) and sell 9 holes off the back 9 every morning for the first 90 minutes of play. Sometimes we get a very slow group that can cause problems but not always.

[Fourputt]

I commend you and your course. It is a rare thing to find a starter that actually knows what is going on and can really maintain proper course management. Way to go.

During the regular season (mid March until the end of October) we have a tee host who manages the groups on the 1st tee. I check them in and page them to the tee, then the host checks them in again, gets them on the correct course ( the 1st tee for both the 18 hole course and the Exec 9 are just a few yards apart), makes sure that everyone in a riding cart actually paid for it (you'd be surprised how many think that they can put that over on us), and gets them off the tee box on time. We have radio phones and we keep in touch with each other and with the on course ranger so that all of us know whats going on all the time.

For a course operated by a government entity* ( see footnote) we run pretty tight ship. * The Foothills Park and Recreation District is not directly affiliated with a city or county government. Neighborhoods in the covered region can vote themselves in or out regardless of political boundaries. If they opt in, they pay a small increase on their property taxes to support local parks, athletic fields, recreation centers and swimming pools, and the 4 golf courses (Two 18 hole courses, one 9 hole executive course and a 9 hole par 3 course. Both 18 hole courses have driving ranges and short game practice areas, and Foothills also has a separate practice tee area reserved for professional lessons). The golf courses are self supporting and actually return a profit to the district.