Is complaining about course conditions "conduct unbecoming a professional"?

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

You have made excellent points for your position. But, in the case of the PGA Tour, the player really doesn't have any viable options with which to advance his career. This is the pinnacle of his profession and he probably has expectations based on past experience. If the working conditions were like this on a consistent basis he probably would not have said anything. But I am fairly certain that players on that level hardly ever play in competition under such conditions, if ever. Aerated greens? "Really?"

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

Agreed.  At some point they cross a line from tough or unfortunate playing conditions to "come on, are you kidding me?"  I think aerated (and seemingly partially dead) greens is across that line.

On the other hand, I should recognize that we could be making a mountain out of a molehill here.  We really don't know.  This could be only one green, not all of them, and it could only a portion of one green too - notice how in the picture the cup is not visible.  So, devils advocate ... lets say the rest of that green looks like the bottom left corner of the picture (not bad), and all of the rest of the greens are in good condition as well.  Then, maybe, I'd say, they are just whining for the sake of whining.

If you look a little further into the twitter feed, another players mentions that the green in question was one of the "nicer" ones.

[Golfingdad]

If you look a little further into the twitter feed, another players mentions that the green in question was one of the "nicer" ones.

Ouch!  Then, yeah, they have a right to be bitching about this one, lol. :)

[Fourputt]

I'm noticing that a lot of the replies are confusing the idea of "acting in an unprofessional manner" with "having and voicing an opinion."  Those are two different things.  You can voice your opinion, even if it's a criticism, and still be professional about it.   For example:

Professional:

The course conditions weren't ideal today; I don't think they should aerate greens before a tournament.

Unprofessional:

What kind of a brain dead moron aerates greens before a tournament!?

I realize that no one actually said the latter (publicly, anyway); I was just using it as a clear-cut difference between the two.

Incidentally, the "professional" version fits in a single Twitter message...

Also makes a difference in where they aim their comments.  Go the tournament organizers, or contact the Tour, and register your concerns about holding a competition under such poor conditions.  If you do it that way you are more likely to be taken seriously, or at least sympathized with, than by bitching to the world about it on Twitter.

I don't tweet and I don't read them (in fact, I have never even been tempted to look to see what I'm missing), because I think that the less time and thought that is put into any communication, the less meaningful it is to the recipient.

[Wisguy]

Well said. I've never visited the Twitter website even once and have unsuccessfully attempted to remove the app from my last two Android phones to free up storage space.

[theworldengine]

I remember at shinecok when all the dudes were complaining about that infamous turtleback green. This kind of complaining was wtf imo because everyone is playing the same hole lol. And retief found a way to par that hole on his way to victory. Theres only a small band of complaints that are acceptable imo