question for those who play public courses

[wils5150]

yes Dave is correct! my clubhouse grounds are very nice. but the labor to water all the mums is killing me. just some fyi My course has 36 acres of fairway,4 acres each of tees and greens and I do it with 10 guys.

[Jeremie Boop]

I don't care about landscaping and parking lots. I care about watering the greens, tees, and fairways.

[LSXG8GT]

I'd say a good appearance everywhere helps the success of the course.

[Ernest Jones]

I like a nice clubhouse so I can get a beer and a bite to eat after my round but not at the expense of the actual course itself. Flowers and landscaping make no real difference to me, I suppose all thing being equal I would prefer the beautified parking lot but rarely are "all things equal."

[Slice of Life]

I don't care if the clubhouse is a shack with dead flowers in the parking lot as long as the course is nice.

[boogielicious]

The course is most important to me.  As long as the club house and parking area are clean and well kept, I don't need flowers.

[rustyredcab]

yes Dave is correct! my clubhouse grounds are very nice. but the labor to water all the mums is killing me. just some fyi My course has 36 acres of fairway,4 acres each of tees and greens and I do it with 10 guys.

Nice matters to me. But flowers do not always equal nice. Clean, well groomed and friendly allow for entertaining better than a course with zero attention to anything but the course. First impressions matter. Staff often can be first impression. But, like it or not, the parking lot is often a first impression too.

That all said, two of my favorite courses to play on my own or with hard core golfers, have parking and range areas that make you think the course will not be good. One is no-frills but new with a gravel lot full of pickups with gun racks. The other is old and has rusty old club holders on the range and a very dated clubhouse. And then you get out on the course and they both are awesome and very well maintained.

[bkuehn1952]

My experience is that a clean, neat, well-maintained clubhouse and parking lot, even if the facility is old or small, is often associated with a decent course.  Run down clubhouses often have marginal courses.  There are always exceptions but a course owner that takes pride in his course usually is willing to spend some money on the rest of the facilities.  There are certainly high end clubhouses and parking facilities associated with mediocre golf courses but typically in those cases it is not a maintenance issue so much as a basically uninteresting layout.

[Jeremie Boop]

My experience is that a clean, neat, well-maintained clubhouse and parking lot, even if the facility is old or small, is often associated with a decent course.  Run down clubhouses often have marginal courses.  There are always exceptions but a course owner that takes pride in his course usually is willing to spend some money on the rest of the facilities.  There are certainly high end clubhouses and parking facilities associated with mediocre golf courses but typically in those cases it is not a maintenance issue so much as a basically uninteresting layout.

If times are hard I'd rather see them put the extra money into the course than updating the clubhouse and parking lot or landscaping.

[MULVn8tor]

To me it doesn't matter cause if their lot and house are ratty I would hope they are putting that money towards the course.

[jamo]

I'll echo what most people have said. Flowers and a nicely-maintained parking lot and clubhouse are nice, but it's the course that matters. I rarely spend much time in clubhouses, so I couldn't really care less.

[plum]

I'll echo what most people have said. Flowers and a nicely-maintained parking lot and clubhouse are nice, but it's the course that matters. I rarely spend much time in clubhouses, so I couldn't really care less.

what he said

[MS256]

yes Dave is correct! my clubhouse grounds are very nice. but the labor to water all the mums is killing me. just some fyi My course has 36 acres of fairway,4 acres each of tees and greens and I do it with 10 guys.

The small course where I work has 100 acres total that we mow. The owner mows the fairways and greens. I mow everything else, change the holes, take care of all brush, limb and tree clearing, and miscellaneous things like building new tee boxes and punching greens. His wife runs the clubhouse and keeps up the flower gardens around the clubhouse.

I do most of the equipment maintenance and he does the spaying. They live above the clubhouse and his wife averages working 12 hours a day, the owner averages 14 hours a day, and I work 30 hours a week. I never take a break on the job so 30 hours is 30 hours.

There are more things I could do if I had more time but the owner spends NO money that doesn't come through the cash register and that limits me to 30 hours.

A friend of ours owns a bigger course that requires more people but his biggest problem is finding good employees that have some initiative and don't need a babysitter to get the work done.

[ghalfaire]

I have to agree with almost all the above.  I play a lot of public golf courses ranging from the Munis to resorts.  I guess I do care about the club house and parking lot but certainly the golf course is first priority.  If the course isn't interesting and in good condition it really doesn't matter what the parking lot and clubhouse look like.  But I admit I like to have a place where I can eat and drink after the round that is appealing and a parking lot with spaces wide enough you don't get a bunch of dings and scratches on the vehicle.

[Lihu]

For weekend players, the flowers make a nice impression. Most weekend players don't add that many more strokes with poor maintenence. Nice greens and flowers will make a better impression for most players. Tough question, though.

[WUTiger]

I haven't seen a lot of public layouts where the course is well-maintained and the clubhouse/grounds are shabby.

Also, there's room for middle ground. A course can have a decent parking lot and service-area landscaping without being extravagant. If you have native shrubs and plants, often they thrive quite well with just a little water and minimal maintenance.

And, it depends on who runs the course. Just as some people are very involved in their home yards, some people want their business to have nice plantlife through and through. Just don't jack up my greens fees $10 to pay for it.

As for the public clubhouse, clean and sparse gets high marks from me: A clean snack bar, decent plumbing, and absence of moldy smell. Mold infestation can create major problems for otherwise nice older clubhouses.

[BuckeyeNut]

I refuse to play any golf course.........unless the parking lot is well manicured!

[HazardMagnet]

So I guess no one so far lives with a Certified New England  Flower Show Judge.

I do.

And since I play about 85% of my rounds with her, I can tell you it adds about  one half hour to my total "Golfing Experience" for the entire day, and it starts at the parking lot and Clubhouse. I don't really care that the ( Place any Latin Term you wish here ) plant needs more Nitrogen...

I guess I probably do also!

What does that have to do with why we're loading up  a golf Cart? Oh, Really they are infested with ( Place any Latin Term you wish here ) bugs? Who cares, they live out side. Yes dear, I won't get any one me...

Sweetest,  Yes, you've explained to me that Plant Selection, Orientation, Presentation and possibly Mitigation (?) are all very important, but what does that have to do with our club selection??? We're both in the Fairway.... way over there!

And then, when she goes on a business trip she'll remind me that if one particular house plant starts to wilt a little bit all the others need watering too.

I'm really wanting to ask if I can use boiling water. (Just kidding!)

Well it's time to go out and cut the grass. She's got plants out side that I need to be carefull of...

"To mow, or not to mow. That is the question"...