Post Holiday Rants....

[saltman]

I am guessing nearly everyone on this forum was able to play at least 1 round over the holiday. I played everyday and "interesting" things occurred each day.

Rant 1 - "Gimmick Holes" - Everyone likes a challenge, but do we really need a par 5 with OB running 10 yards off the fairway to the left and water running 1 yard off the fairway to the right and surrounding the green. Might I add the hole also is played as 3 islands. I can't really explain it, but its a joke of a hole.

Rant 2 - "Watch your $%^& ball!" - I got stuck playing with a guy this weekend that was just learning the game. I don't mind playing with these guys, but he rarely hit the ball more than 150 yards and if I wasn't there he would have lost 3 dozen balls. He was constantly searching 50 yards away from where he hit the ball until I would walk over a point out his ball within seconds. He kept saying "man you are ball hawk!", to which I would politely respond..."No I just try to watch the ball until I see it land".

Rant 3 - "Know at least something...." - same guy as Rant 2, I am playing in a local tourney next weekend and evidently this chap is playing in it as well. On the 1st tee, he tells me he just picked up the game but shot an 89 last week and then proceeds to wiff 5 times on the 1st tee. Later in the round he hit a ball in the water and dropped on the other side. I politely asked him if he knew the rules in regards to water hazards, OB, lost balls, etc. and he responds..."No". I quickly run through them, but he was too busy texting his buddies. How the $%^ is this guy going to play in a tournament? If I get stuck playing with him in the first round I may withdraw. Bottom line, he has no prayer of actually breaking 150 if played by USGA rules, not a chance!

Whew......those are long ones, but now I feel better! Anyone else?

[kfowler]

Rant 1 - I've realized that many of the holes I play in Michigan like to place the pin right on the edge of a false green. You know where the green slopes off hard at the edge. Place I played yesterday was ridiculous. I can see every now and then but on half your holes? It's like they do this to make up for small greens.

[saltman]

Rant 1 - I've realized that many of the holes I play in Michigan like to place the pin right on the edge of a false green. You know where the green slopes off hard at the edge. Place I played yesterday was ridiculous. I can see every now and then but on half your holes? It's like they do this to make up for small greens.

YES! Love the casual day "Sunday Pins"! Probably the worst weekend all summer to have them as well.

[David in FL]

We snuck out Friday......apparently so did everyone else in the free world.

Tee-time of 8:08. After hitting some balls and putting we pull up to the starter at 8:00 and are told that they're already running more than 30 minutes behind. If your starter can't put a group out every 8 minutes, either find someone who can or go to 10 minute intervals, but to lose 30 minutes after 90 minutes is unconscionable!

BTW.......we brow beat him into letting us go off the back and you can guess what happened. 1:35 for the first nine, and 3 hours for the second.

[kfowler]

YES! Love the casual day "Sunday Pins"! Probably the worst weekend all summer to have them as well.

Funny thing was the starter told me they moved up the blues tees to the greens on the weekend to speed up play. I was thinking how about not setting up your greens to look like a Mickey Mouse putt-putt course. I couldn't believe how many three putts there were in my group.

[CarlSpackler]

Friday was crazy crowded. Even the par 3 course was backed up. I went out early Saturday and left after 6 holes instead of waiting around on every tee box. I played a different course out of town yesterday afternoon and pace was good.

[flopdarock]

boy i think it was a conspiracy of evil greenskeepers for the holiday...
they all decided to text/email each other and place the pins on every course in retarded spots...
the course i played on fri... pins were on top of ridges... literally 2 paces from the edge with a trap right next to it... on the very edge of bowl sections... high side of the very back...
if your ball didnt land anywhere near the hole and you arent tiger woods... you were pretty much 3-4 putting...
add that to groups on the green/fw/teebox on every hole and you get an all day hack fest

[lumpuckeroo]

Rant 2 - "Watch your $%^& ball!" - I got stuck playing with a guy this weekend that was just learning the game. I don't mind playing with these guys, but he rarely hit the ball more than 150 yards and if I wasn't there he would have lost 3 dozen balls. He was constantly searching 50 yards away from where he hit the ball until I would walk over a point out his ball within seconds. He kept saying "man you are ball hawk!", to which I would politely respond..."No I just try to watch the ball until I see it land".

I can understand your rant on this one, I use to play with a guy that everytime he made a bad swing he would throw a tantrum. So of course he wouldn't be watching were his ball went and would require the rest of the group to help him find it. Didn't take much of that before we quit inviting him to play.

[umpiremark]

Rant 1 - I've realized that many of the holes I play in Michigan like to place the pin right on the edge of a false green. You know where the green slopes off hard at the edge. Place I played yesterday was ridiculous. I can see every now and then but on half your holes? It's like they do this to make up for small greens.

We talked about this on Friday, because although we played in Wisconsin, we must've had the same greenskeeper - he probably was making a sweep of the country putting pins in the most horrible places .... but I digress ...

We talked about the PGA having a "gentleman's rule" where there has to be a 3-foot circle of relatively flat green around the hole at PGA events. Anyone else ever hear this? On one hole Friday, I was 8-feet up hill of the hole (poor chip???) and touched the ball lightely only to end up 15-feet below the hole. 3-putts were quite common in our group that day, as well.

[kfowler]

We talked about this on Friday, because although we played in Wisconsin, we must've had the same greenskeeper - he probably was making a sweep of the country putting pins in the most horrible places .... but I digress ...

My noticeable comparison was playing at a Fred Couples course in Destin, FL called Kelly Plantation. Very nice course. Very challenging with large greens but I thought they were very fair. None of the holes or pin placements I felt were gimmicky. Compare that to many of the greens I see here in Michigan as being a "gimmick". Never heard for the gentlemen's PGA rule but I like it.

[Shindig]

We talked about the PGA having a "gentleman's rule" where there has to be a 3-foot circle of relatively flat green around the hole at PGA events.

I doubt this. There are some courses played by the PGA - and the PGA Tour - that wouldn't be able to have pin positions under this rule.

[zeg]

Rant 2 - "Watch your $%^& ball!" - I got stuck playing with a guy this weekend that was just learning the game. I don't mind playing with these guys, but he rarely hit the ball more than 150 yards and if I wasn't there he would have lost 3 dozen balls. He was constantly searching 50 yards away from where he hit the ball until I would walk over a point out his ball within seconds. He kept saying "man you are ball hawk!", to which I would politely respond..."No I just try to watch the ball until I see it land".

I understand your frustration, but... not everyone is equally skilled at actually doing this. I have generally good vision (20/20 or better last I checked) but find it extremely difficult to track the ball when it makes the transition between sky (light) and tree/ground (dark) background. As a result, it's hard to place even the distance, let alone the exact spot where it lands. I do my best to at least note a background object so I can walk out along the line, but I frequently have trouble finding the ball. Some people seem to be much better at this.

If they're losing them because they're not paying attention, rant away. If they're trying, as I do, then I hope you can have some sympathy.

[case31]

I got really lucky on Friday. I played one of the busiest courses in my area, teeing off just before 8AM, and finished in 3:45. I was playing with a friend who's not much of a golfer, and we spent quite a bit of time hunting for his ball. Not only that, but after a miserable front 9, I was able to put it together on the back 9 and shot 35.

[Prairie Golfer]

I teed off at 7:15 pm Friday night and got my 9 holes in. We don't have the evil greenskeeper at our course. The club pro wants the pins in the middle of the greens on the big 3 summer holidays. Even today the pins weren't too tricky.

[PhilsRHman]

I think we might be blaming greenskeepers when in fact some courses are sending a $7/hour maintenance guy who has either little or no idea about golf and hasn't been properly trained, especially at courses where there isn't much of a staffing budget.

Or you can use the tried and true: Greenskeeper was just really pissed to be working while everyone he knows was off at BBQs for the weekend and wanted to take it out on us!

[Slim 11]

I was able to go out Friday with a buddy, before I headed North with the family. To begin with, when we called early in the week we had the option of a 6:50 am tee time or 11:30. He chose 11:30 because it was a 45 minute ride to the course.

We arrived early (as you're supposed to) and were told they were about 20-30 minutes behind. Great! At least the range balls were free.

We were notified, some time later, that we would be follow the next group (a threesome) and that we were going to be paired with another twosome but they hadn't arrived yet. They pulled up a few minutes after that (older couple, very nice, not bad players).

I asked the ranger a bit about the course and which tees he recommended for my handicap. He let us know that the greens had been "double mowed" that morning. They were ridiculously fast. Why would you do that on a day when you can expect a lot of casual players?

Course was a links course. Had read some reviews that rated it very high. It got 4 1/2 stars from golf digest and made a list of the top 200 muni's in the country. I was not impressed but at least the fees were reasonable.

Slow, slow day. Even with the older couple teeing from the senior tees and front tees. We were waiting on every hole. I don't know if they were trying to cram them in for the holiday or what, but 30+ minutes late on our tee time and 10 minute waits at every hole convinced me that I won't be playing there again.

[kfowler]

I was able to go out Friday with a buddy, before I headed North with the family. To begin with, when we called early in the week we had the option of a 6:50 am tee time or 11:30. He chose 11:30 because it was a 45 minute ride to the course.

Hey Slim. What course in MI? I hit some balls at Hickory Creek near Canton on Saturday morning and it was dead out there. Even Sunday the pace was good. I think most people around here were up north.

[Slim 11]

Hey Slim. What course in MI? I hit some balls at Hickory Creek near Canton on Saturday morning and it was dead out there. Even Sunday the pace was good. I think most people around here were up north.

We played The Legacy in by Monroe. Not really worth the drive (I'm in Dearborn).

Hickory Creek is a nice course. i've played it a few times the last couple of years. I've found that there are some great deals and courses around Pickney and Brighton. Been playing out that way a lot.