Harrassed by Driving Range Staff

[flopdarock]

Maybe . . . they just realize how annoying it is for the other patrons to hit next to a self-professed range pro.

this is an enormous pet peeve of mine... especially when they are loud and the guy teaching can barely get the ball in the air... its almost as bad as when they ask me for tips on the range

this was the local "muni" range...

wow... that must be some serious muni... torrey pines isnt even like that in the least... my brothers and i would "critique" each others swings everytime we hit the range there and one of the pros would even chime in with a tip every now and then... maybe they were cool cuz we were there almost daily...

but as other ppl have said... there was absolutely no need to be rude

[Stretch]

this is an enormous pet peeve of mine... especially when they are loud and the guy teaching can barely get the ball in the air... its almost as bad as when they ask me for tips on the range.

So with you there. If you want to hang out and bullshit please feel free to go down to the end of the range where no one else is hitting. Taking the two spots on either side of me and shouting back and forth really doesn't seem like an optimal solution for any of us.

[soloredd]

I go to a range where it is promoted pretty heavily who the pro there is and that a big focus is his golf academy. But I've been able to hold several general conversations with the guy, he operates the facility including running the register and picking up empty ball buckets, and he comes around on occasion and talks to folks who are hitting. Never taken lessons from him so he has no special bias. Seems to me this is a case-by-case basis. I've been to courses where the pro has been a douche, troubled to be arsed into having a simple morning hello. Whatever. Golf, I've come to realize, is full of both types of people. In this particular situation, I like to think I would have packed up my stuff and left. Even though it is a posted policy, for someone to discourage it is pretty hilarious.

[KD Epic]

Now - and again - if the pro was rude *at all* then shame on him, because he should have gently reminded you of the policy, perhaps been self-deprecating about it, and offered his services (perhaps even the 10-minute free lesson, since it's May).

I agree here -- He missed out on some potential lessons if, what the OP said about his friend wanting to play and see if he likes it before he pays for lessons is true. I mean, he could have handled it in a joking way once he realized you weren't a competing instructor. "I don't care man, no free lessons a guy's gotta eat (laughing) But seriously if you want a 10-minute lesson for free after you play your first round let me know, unless you want to keep putting out your friend here because you don't wanna pony up to dough for lessons!"

Anything like that would have worked and it would have reminded you that "Hey there's a rule here, and it's here so guys like me can make money" without ruining business and preventing guys like him... or well, just him.. from making money.

[Ash1974]

I think your best bet in this situation would be to let the pro know that your friend isn't a golfer and you were just taking him out to see if he liked it? I would think that if you explained that you were just introducing your friend to the game the guy would back off.

I agree but it is hard to be calm and think this way when the Pro was being aggressive and confronting, I would have just said that I finished school 20 years ago and if he wants to talk that way find some junior to condescend, if he wants to talk to an adult about something he thinks I am doing wrong (breaking range rules) then do it in a polite way as a you always should with a customer (which you are at the range) if he had been civil and you explained your mate was new to golf I doubt it would have been an issue, the pro caused the issue by being a dick so go elsewhere, simple.

As for rules, they have them for a reason, if that reason is valid then sign every range bay or put a big enough notice on the way to the bays. I have to say that I have not come across this in the UK.

[shades9323]

The most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I have never been to a range with a policy like this, but that is outrageous. I would have kept on teaching until he called the cops, and then they would have laughed at him....

How do you figure the cops would be laughing at him? They would be laughing at your dumbass for getting arrested for tresspassing on the golf range.

[ajschn06]

I paid my money to be there. I can see the conversation now, and you tell me who sounds like a dumbass.

Driving range guy "Yeah, police, I need some assistance at the driving range"
Police "What seems to be the problem"
DRG "This guy is at my driving range and he is teaching his friend how to grip a golf club!"
Police "Click...."

[shades9323]

I paid my money to be there. I can see the conversation now, and you tell me who sounds like a dumbass.

All he has to say is you are trespassing and you refused to leave when asked. You don't have a right to be on the property. It is a priviledge. They can kick you out for any reason. In this case you are not following the rules of the establishment. If you are asked to leave and refuse, you are then tresspassing, which is illegal.

[sean_miller]

One small part of this problem is the "customer is always right" mentality.

No, we aren't always right.

It sounds like an innocent misunderstanding to me. Regardless, having to follow a code of conduct the establishment posted on the wall does not make one a victim. This hardly sounds like "harassment".

[WUTiger]

This isn't just a problem at driving ranges.

At the Gold's Gym I go to, something similar happens several times a year. The shift manager will see someone who appears to be giving a fitness session, and investigate what they're doing. It gets testy if it's a former GG instructor who moved on, but appears to be coming back to give bootleg lessons.

For both gyms and driving ranges, the law of immediate family seems to be the unwritten rule. If you're coaching a child, or a wife or husband, probably not too much they can say. If it's a friend, you may be on shaky ground.

At many driving ranges, the teaching pros pay a monthly space rental. So, it's only fair the range management would be leery of freeloaders. Iceman , if you were the third phantom-pro teacher encountered that week, I can understand why the pro was a little steamed.

As iacas said, iceman , you have a 2.4 HDCP. So, you probably looked like a real teaching pro. Take it as a misunderstanding + backdoor compliment.

[injury]

Wow never heard of such a policy for a public range, I know having talked about lessons from several pro's they'll usually list several places where they instruct (mostly the same places). Even the country clubs around here are usually reciprocal (sp?) from what I understand. I don't really get the point from the range owners perspective, unless said exclusive pro owns the range. It makes sense for say country clubs and other private clubs that have limiting factors already in place on the type of clientele they bring in, but if I'm running a public business such as a stand alone range then I'll take waiting lists worth of customers thank you.

If I owned a public range I don't think a single pro could pay me enough to enact such a policy to where he'd still make money on the deal. I could see having special monthly fees for unlimited balls for instructors, or even no monthly but big breaks on buckets for bringing in X number of lessons a month. Every new golfer is a potential customer, every crappy hit is a potential extra bucket during the week, and 1 pro getting cushy on his butt staking out territory won't bring in as much business as any number over 1 that hustle in people. Even if not paying the special instructor rate, I'd still be selling buckets at full price so I don't see the range benefit other than slapping "instructor on site" on a sign which seems less appealing than when I go to one of my local ranges where they have 5 or so teachers business cards posted on the bulletin board.

[Shanks A Million]

Where I practice, we had a range pro with this same attitude. Needless to say, he isn't the range pro anymore. He gave a friend of mine crap for giving me some tips. I would never have taken lessons from someone so petty. He had almost no students. He thought he was defending his turf, but all he was doing was sending business elsewhere. He got fired (because he was a jerk off), and they hired a new guy who's a lot cooler. This guy actually seems to have many of the regulars, and even low handicappers engaged, and undoubtedly will see a lot more business. He's been there a few weeks and he's already managed to impress a few regulars with his lack of a know-it-all attitude (he doesn't know it, but some of those regulars are PGA pros).

Bottom line, rules may be rules, but judgment is far more imperative to success.

[Dartguy]

I've played for over 30 years, and never heard of such a rule. The "pro" was obviously a real jerk. He should have handled the situation a lot better. I can understand the rule to keep other people from charging for lessons there. But for friends to not be able to help each other, that is rediculous.

[Shanks A Million]

I've played for over 30 years, and never heard of such a rule. The "pro" was obviously a real jerk. He should have handled the situation a lot better. I can understand the rule to keep other people from charging for lessons there. But for friends to not be able to help each other, that is rediculous.

It's actually a common rule, and most ranges and courses have it. The thing is, it's specifically meant to be a rule against people (other pros, for example) giving lessons (for money) on that range. Most ranges forbid it. However, many range pros take it to mean that they are the rulers of their little domain, and go after people giving friendly advice, or helping a friend.

The real problem is, it's one of those rules that has a particular meaning, but such a strong wording that it can be interpreted loosely.

[ECT]

...but there were 2 guys sharing a stall behind me yesterday who were trading tips as they hit - explaining what they were working on. I wanted to say, "why don't you guys work on shutting the H up!!".

Oh man, I've wanted to say that very same thing so many times! lol!

ECT

[Phil McGleno]

It's actually a common rule, and most ranges and courses have it. The thing is, it's specifically meant to be a rule against people (other pros, for example) giving lessons (for money) on that range. Most ranges forbid it. However, many range pros take it to mean that they are the rulers of their little domain, and go after people giving friendly advice, or helping a friend.

Wrong.

Fellow pros wouldn't need a sign or a rule. They respect each other and don't horn in on someone else's turf. Even if they're just playing the course they typically stop in to say hi (if the local pro isn't in the middle of a lesson). The rule is to prevent anyone - but I would argue more specifically the average golfer - from giving a lesson. Consider the number of threads we have here where some annoying guy at the range is giving tips to people. Point to the sign and tell the guy to shut up next time. Immediate family are excused, and two guys casually taking a look at each other's swings is another thing - a full on "lesson" where you're working on stance, grip, posture, the takeaway, doing drills, etc. is forbidden, by ANYONE, particularly when the guy giving the lesson is a decent player. It confuses customers. Imagine some 9 handicapper hitting lousy shots and yet giving a lesson to a guy next to him who can't break 100, his friend. Everyone else on the range might very well assume that THAT is the local pro, and they'll be turned off to getting instruction there due to the misunderstanding. The sign's there for everyone. Most pros don't need the sign, so in that case it's there MORE for the average or non-pro golfer.

[ericstamper]

ooooooooo the life of a failing teacher......

[cougar978]

So last night I went out to the local driving range with a friend of mine, he'd never played golf before and asked me to help him learn how to hit balls before he decided if he liked golf and payed for lessons.

Tell Tin Cup to suck it and take your business elsewhere.