What is proper ediquette when play around the grounds keepers?

[wils5150]

And that's the way it should be Guiseppe. Kudos to you. I wish there were more people like you.

[Perfect Slicer]

I play early in the morning a lot, mostly alone. It's part of the deal to have the grounds crew mowing and watering. The first time they stop for me, I tell them to keep on and I'll hit when they're out of the way. Mower noise doesn't bother me. Most of the time I'm wearing ear buds and listening to music anyway. If it's guys I've talked to before, we just wave and move on. They're really good about moving out of the way and waving people on.

Funny story: I was hitting an approach to an elevated green that has a severe back to front slope. There's a plateau at the back, a steep slope, and a level spot at the bottom. If you do't get all the way back, the ball is coming to the front (unless you plug in the face of the slope, which I've done). The flag was back (blue flag) and I hit it short and ended up at the front. Walking up to the green you go down into a valley and back up and lose sight of the green. When I got there, my ball was 6 inches from the cup, and the pin had a red flag (front pin). I looked around and the greenskeeper was laughing his ass off as he walked away with the hole changing equipment.

I took the birdie.

[Nutter]

I try to remember they're out there doing a job they probably hate while being paid minimum wage and I'm playing golf.  Give them the benefit of the doubt.

[rehmwa]

I suspect what angered the greenskeeper was the fact that you were aiming pretty much at him.

I'd just let him know that, if I'm trying to hit him, that means he's in the absolute safest place on the course.

('ettiquette' - seems a bit formal and 'rulesy' to me.  common courtesy should just dictate that the crew should see you and watch for you to hit.  a confrontation like that should be quick, simply expression of the concerns, maybe clarity or an apology one way or the other.  If someone goes past that and continues to gripe and berate and not stop, then they have an anger issue and should have a complaint filed against them at the clubhouse,,,seriously.  Not for being upset or expressing it, that's natural, but for the going overboard with it - no excuse there for adults to let their adrenaline take over without reason).  (me, I'd have skipped the hole and come back after the next one if they didn't clear away/stand aside.)

my expectations -

in the fairway - stop, and watch you hit, just in case.  hopefully give a wave so know they are aware

on the green - step off the green so that message is clear

I've had both shown to me, I make sure to thank them if I can.  Strangely enough, some of my best shots in that scenario too....

[caniac6]

I wait until I am waved up, or until they are out of the way. I don't really understand golfers that hit when the greens staff is in the way. They would never hit if there were other golfers in range, but they feel as if it is ok to hit when a worker in within range.

[jetsknicks1]

This is an awfully old thread, but it's still worth noting......  I think there are far too many golfers who need to toughen up a little mentally and learn to play with some outside distractions.  I can't imagine being so bothered that I couldn't putt with someone syringing the green around me. As long as a maintenance crew isn't in physical danger of being hit by your ball, play on.

The safety of the guy working was a big part of the issue. I can't tee off if the guy is rolling up the fairway mowing and I can't hit my approach if the guy is working the bunker. I play a lot of early morning golf and understand that at times, I will come across somebody working and have never had a problem with it. My issue on this day was that there was litteraly somebody working on at least, 16 of the holes.

[Dave2512]

I booked an early time last month and there were mowers everywhere. Only once was it a problem and that guy waved for us to hit while he sat idle. Crazy thing was this kid I was playing with that didn't hit a decent drive all day smokes one right at the mower and hit the side of it. With that he heads up the fairway and the kid's partner tees off and sure enough blam right into the back of the mower. Dude was like a magnet. Anyway it doesn't bother me. If I am out early I can avoid the grounds crew easy enough. Most courses start them on the first hole working away from the tee long before the first time. The only time I ever encounter a bunch of them is if the starter sends me off 10.

[Strandly]

I think I only ran into someone mowing twice all summer but I never played before noon though so that's probably why.  Both times the mower pulled over and stopped so we knew we were clear to hit.

I don't know what the proper etiquette is but it seems to me mowing should be done before the course opens and after it closes only.  If for some reason someone is mowing beyond those times they should make every effort to get out of players' way.  Equipping a mower with a cage like the range truck would probably be a good idea too so at least they could mow and not be worried about getting killed.

[MS256]

I don't know what the proper etiquette is but it seems to me mowing should be done before the course opens and after it closes only.

Not a chance. It takes 18 hours to mow the rough alone, about 10 hours for the fairways, and 3 to 4 hours for around obstacles with the zero turn. Most of the time it's not dry enough until 8 or 9 o'clock to mow the Bermuda rough (unless you like windrows that look like a hayfield) so I tried to mow the native grass areas until it was dry enough to mow the Bermuda. Since the course opens at 8:00 and there are golfers on the course until close to dark there is no way to do the mowing in off hours.

We change the holes twice a week and it takes about 2 hours to change the holes and mow the greens for two of us so on those two days it's 8:30 to 9:00 before I start mowing at all.

[wils5150]

in the summer my guys are on the course working at 5 am first tee time is 6 am. my schedule is mow fairways 3 times a week sometimes twice a week. ( 2 mowers @ 5 hours each). mow greens everyday ( 3 mowers @ 3hours each) if I roll them add another machine. mow tees 3 days a week (2 mowers 4 hours each) , mow approaches 2 or 3 days a week ( 1 mower @ 6 hours). change pins everyday (1 guy 3 hours). Rough takes 2 full days to cut. As you can see thats a lot of work to get done lol. There is also a bunch of other stuff too.

[Strandly]

I've never worked on a course but I kinda figured that's how it went down with the long hours.  What you need is 6 or 8 guys mowing for 2 hours each instead of 2 guys mowing for 20 hours and getting in everyone's way.

[MS256]

I've never worked on a course but I kinda figured that's how it went down with the long hours.  What you need is 6 or 8 guys mowing for 2 hours each instead of 2 guys mowing for 20 hours and getting in everyone's way.

So who is supposed to buy and maintain 6 times the equipment when the profits are marginal as it is? What you are saying might be feasible on some courses in some areas but would never work for the small rural courses. They would be belly up in a year.

[wils5150]

lol I wish we could but the mowers are crazy $$$$. hand greens mower $10,000 and up, triplex $25,000 and up, rough mower  $35,000 and up and a fairway machine is around $35,000

[Strandly]

So who is supposed to buy and maintain 6 times the equipment when the profits are marginal as it is? What you are saying might be feasible on some courses in some areas but would never work for the small rural courses. They would be belly up in a year.

I wasn't being completely serious, relax.

I don't doubt the equipment is expensive, though if you took good care of it I would expect it to last quite a long time.  Ultimately I doubt the lack of mowers on the course during playing hours would generate extra traffic for you anyway so it's probably not worth it even if you could afford it.

[wils5150]

i knew you were joking. just figured i would post some prices. and the mowers dont last as long as you would think for the price.

[The Recreational Golfer]

If they're sweeping the dew off the greens, I let them finish and move on. They have a job to do, so it doesn't bother me to wait. Besides, the sooner they get that job done, the sooner I can play on dry greens.

I'll wait for the guys mowing fairways, too. Generally, once they see you're ready to hit, they'll stop to wait for you.

[Chuckles76]

At a municipal course, that I often play, the grounds keepers are all city employees. They will not move at any rate which is infuriating!

[teed off]

What is proper ediquette when play around the grounds keepers?

Don't hit them.