I want my money back! Stupid Groundskeepers.

[Cussin hacker]

My guess is that you were dealing with contractors. Many times a course will hire out bigger jobs. Those guys could care less about your golf game. Grounds people would be fired if they acted like that and were reported more than once.

[Greg]

Ive played at some local courses when the groundskeepers were working but they are usually very friendly and considerate and allow you to play through and get out of the way. At one course i play at it seems they're always working on it, planting grass, etc but those areas are marked off and its a free drop if you hit in there.

[jcorfive]

My dad and I went out this past Tuesday.

Now the course is closed on Monday for mowing and maintenance but I suppose the groundsmen could not make it out that day. All day I was forced to listen to tractors and mowers. I had mowers going around the greens on the par 3s I was hitting to, mowers going around when I was making my approach shots a few times, a tractor going by a tee box and then they started to put some foamy stuff down across the fairways during the middle of everybody's round. I swear the groundsmen matched our pace of play.

I couldn't even hear the birds chirping 2/3 the time I was out there. Made it extremely difficult to concentrate. I enjoy being able to hear the sounds of nature on the course when I play. I like hearing the wind rustle through the trees and the flow of the streams. Its quite relaxing and helps me take my mind off trying too hard to make contact.

He must have ended up calling the club because I have a message from the golf pro on my answering machine asking why we didn't enjoy ourselves and to see how it could be made better. I thought this was pretty cool but will have to see where it goes from here.

[flopdarock]

the guys at my home course are pretty cool... they respect the guys out playing a round...
ive been to a course and will never go back even if they told me i could play for free...
their groundscrew could give a crap if you were playing and im not one to hit into ppl... plus with all the noise their equipment makes... it would be useless to yell fore... we literally had to wait till they finished mowing/watering etc or we would have definately hit someone... none of them pulled over or stepped aside even when they were driving the mower straight at us

[microcrayfish]

And golfers need to remember that groundskeepers are the reason they have a golf course to play on in the first place, I hope you never complain about course conditions.

[Saint]

well, i could really care less with the language you used. When you cuss, use your own name next time.

[lordhamster]

I think I may have you beat.

Last year I was playing a muni course around here. My foursome is approaching the 18th hole. We all take our approach shots and 3/4 of us are on the green. As we are walking to the green, a greenskeeper walks to the green and moves the hole!! Yes folks... he plugged the old hole and installed a new one.

We were all so shocked at the guy's disregard for us we just laughed.

[TheGeekGolfer]

A similar thing happened to me last week. I was playing a new course ( Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, WA). They were doing alot of work on some greens and also general maintenance (ie - mowing). Well, I'm teeing off on #12 and the mower is right in the landing area, going forward and back. I wait for him to go away from me and get ready to tee off. Well, he turns right around and comes right back into the landing area. I back off, and re-tee. He does the same thing, so I just hit anyway, but it's in my head a bit.

I get a bit pissed after my drive ends up in the waste area on the left hand side of the fairway. Well, I stop him in the fairway and vent (nicely) and let him know my feelings. We were paying $75 to play, they should at least get out of the way when players are coming through!

What happened next was the thing that turns bad into good. I've been using all of these things that happen on the course as 'learning tools' rather than 'woh is me' type things. This may be a bit 'new age', but I control the ball, but I can't control anything (or anybody) else. Someone's going to be stupid and bang their clubs, or say something or whatever. But, is your round going to be better if you let it eat at you? NO!

I calmly spoke to him and then hit a 7-iron from the waste area from 160yds out to 8ft from the hole and made a very nice PAR. Oh yeah, and there were guys working on the left side of the green, patching dry spots and I IGNORED them, too!

It's all how you handle the situations, instead of letting the situations handle you!

[Chas]

every once in a while I get waved to hit while a maintenance guy is watering the green right in front of us, or raking a bunker or mowing a fairway. If they do that, I don't care anymore if I hit them.

If they wave you through, it's their responsibility to avoid being hit of course. I was in a similar situation once on a par 3. The guy had really heavily watered the green before waving us through. For a change (as the real hacker I then was), I hit a decent shot that landed in the middle of the green and

just stayed in its own pitch mark !! The ball was about 1/3 buried because the ground was so soft. I think I gave myself a free lift so as not to further damage the green - how could one play such a ball? Should have taken a photo of that one, it'll prolly never happen again.

[Rob]

I work p/t at a local course{free carts}. The best time for normal course maintenence is from sun-up until about 8-8:30 am, before the course gets many players on it. When we areate the greens, we shut down for 2 days,so we can plug,sand,drag,and water. If the course you played was installing bunkers,it should have been closed for play, and if not,they should have told you what to expect and let you make the choice to go,or put up with the B.S. and play. I think I would have noticed tractors,back hoes,trucks,ect on the course before I teed off,and handled it then,rather than be pissed off.

[iacas]

I hit a decent shot that landed in the middle of the green and

You mark, you repair the ball mark, and you replace.

[ryohazuki222]

So guys... what do you think I should do?

I was visiting my brother in Houston a couple weeks back... we are both relatively new to the game, so we basically play alone when we are in our respective cities... and have tons of fun hitting together when we get the chance to get together. By this time, I was tired of playing courses with crappy greens (my course had aerated greens for a while... and the munis in the southeast don't have great greens on the cheaper courses). We ended up getting in on an email special for a nice course that normally charges around the $50-$70 per round price.

Long story short, we enjoyed it so much the first day, we came back the next morning. My brother was a little frustrated since we wasn't matching up to his play from the first time.... Anyway, we are the first twosome on the course. We get on the teebox at the 5 hole or so with drivers, tees, and ball in hand. My brother tees it up and this douchebag maintenance guy (who 110% works for the course and isn't even close to being a contractor) carts down the path... he turns and parks in the MIDDLE of the middle of the fairway (lengthwise and width wise). We can't even tell what he's doing... looking around.. standing around. We were annoyed, but whatever. After standing waiting for a few minutes he picks at something in the ground. Next thing we know HE TURNS THE FREAKIN SPRINKLERS ON! I'm the type that laughs it off, but it really did ruin my brothers round... There is no way that guy didn't see us. He drove down the path and no "im sorry" waive... or anything.

So what do you guys think... seems the general opinion on here is that shouldn't happen and the manager would WANT to know. Think it's worth an e-mail to the golf course even though it's a couple weeks after the fact? If I'd do it, it would be to let them know so that other peoples rounds aren't ruined. A possible free round would be an awesome bonus though.

[maraca2020]

where was this course op? I would never want to play there

[Chas]

You mark, you repair the ball mark, and you replace.

Of course you're right, I was forgetting that it was on a green, so strange was it that it that the ball was plugged there. I've had my share of plugged lies on the fairway in wet conditions, just never on the dance floor.

I assume that watering greens to this extent while golfers are playing is not generally considered acceptable pratice - is it? This was an executive course, not that that should matter.

[Adumb]

I've had this happen before. Luckily I have a summer pass there. It was a couple weeks ago. There were mowers everywhere on the back 9, which we had to play first. The cart path got repaved on the back 9 and there's dirt right and left of every cart path and ropes between the cart path and the fairway so you can only enter at certain places. Also there were groundsmen watering fairways. Me and my stepbrother had to yell in order to hear each other talk. I played exceptionally worse on the back 9 than I ever have. I was pissed.

[RC]

Grounds crew are always watering greens, especially in the summer. It is not unusual for sprinkers to be going off and on in fairways, teeboxes, and greens, but most ground crews are very respectful of golfers. Typically, they will turn water off and on so that it is a minimum issue for players. The guys that hand syringe the greens usually work backward through the field and, yes, you might have a short wait. The alternative would be for the greens to burn up.

Now I have been on courses in my youth where the spayers were on some kind of time clock or something. You might hear a little hiss, and then get blasted so you had to be quick, and know where the water sprays were aimed. Foolishly I laid my bag down right next to and facing a submerged watering head and sure enough, it turned on and filled my bag with water.