Slobs on the Course

[ghalfaire]

  smittigirl said:

I'm looking for sympathy and maybe, some advice.  I'm a returning golfer - played in college, now retired.  Husband and I have a membership at a local 9-hole public course.  I learned the basics of the game in high school, and continued playing through college.  One of the basics of my golf education was golf etiquette.   So, now, when we are golfing at this course, when we get to the tee box, any tee box, we have to spend a couple of minutes cleaning up the broken tees, and the tees left in place, all over the place.  It drives us nuts.  Am I crazy, or is it sort of good manners to clean up after yourself after your drive off the tee?  Thanks for listening.

Well you're right that picking up broken tees and throwing them in the box next to the tee markers is good etiquette.  But I have to agree with some above that there are much more egregious transgression of good etiquette that I dislike a lot more than this one.  Ball marks on the green not repaired, divot holes not filled, and trash (especially burned cigarettes) left on the course are all more offensive to me personally.   I don't like duck/geese crap on the course either but not sure that is an etiquette problem.

[Pretzel]

I usually take my tee, if it breaks, and throw it into the rough since I know it can damage the mowers otherwise. I do, however, appreciate (rather than begrudge) those who leave broken tees on the par 3's! I can't stand using a full tee for those since I know it would just break, and I also use the broken tees for my 3-wood if the situation on a par 4 calls for it.

I do tend to brush them aside if they're near where I want to stand on the teebox just so that they're not a distraction, but that's something quickly accomplished while I tee my ball since the action of teeing it only requires one hand for me.

[ScouseJohnny]

Haven't really thought about this issue of broken tees in years. I don't know whether it was just an English fascination, but in the 1980s and 1990s cheap tees often seemed to be made from plastic. This was annoying for various reasons (notably because, well...try and push a plastic tee into hard earth - it just bends). The plastic ones snapped just as easily as wooden tees, and the assistant pro who was also the junior coach used to tell me to pick up the broken plastic tees as they damaged the lawnmowers. Then cheap wooden tees suddenly reappeared, and we were assured that these didn't do the damage of their plastic counterparts.

I am very cheap when it comes to tees. Are you familiar with the plain, wooden ones available in great big bags at Wallymart for not much money? If I look down and see the obvious parts of my broken tee then I'll pick them up and throw them off the tee-box. But I don't spend very much time looking for broken or lost tees. I assumed they just got ground up by the greenkeeper's lawnmower without doing any serious damage to the blades.

[Judah Ben-Hur]

Sometimes I get a little peeved with tees laying all over the place. I don' t use the broken ones on par 3's. I always carry a long and short tee in my pocket. I do a quick look for my tee after the drive or pull it out of the ground. Very rarely does the short tee move on the par 3's. I hate driving with too much debris close by. I do find way too many sunflower seeds, cigarette butts on the greens. Occasionally half a cigar somewhere close to the green or on a tee box marker. Freakin' hogs.

[vangator]

I throw my broken tees and any I pick up that I think are good, but are not, on the cart path or in the garbage. I think more courses should offer cheap biodegradable golf tees that break down with water. The Disney courses ask you to use the biodegradable tees that they supply free. Grab a handful.

[DrvFrShow]

I use the plastic ones. Haven't had a problem with them bending. Haven't played on courses where the tee box is hardpan and I can't push the tee in. I don't eat sunflower seeds on the course or pistachio nuts on the course. When I smoked I used my empty water bottles for my cigarette butts.

My biggest pet peeves are people who don't rake the bunkers after they leave, don't replace (or fill depending upon where you live) their divots, and drop litter like apple cores and banana peels in bunkers.

But if someone's ball rolls into my hot dog, you don't get to hit out of the hot dog wrapper. I'm sorry. I'm picking up and finishing my lunch while moving onto my next shot. Your ball will be on the ground.

[CraiginKSA]

I use Martini tees for driving.  They last until you lose one.  We have the little funnels on each tee box for broken tees.  Most at my club pick up thier own, but depending on how thier round is going they may get mad and leave a broken one.

I like a clean tee box so i police the area prior to hitting.  Don't need any more distractions.

[dfreuter415]

  smittigirl said:

I'm looking for sympathy and maybe, some advice. ...when we get to the tee box, any tee box, we have to spend a couple of minutes cleaning up the broken tees, and the tees left in place, all over the place.  It drives us nuts.  Am I crazy, or is it sort of good manners to clean up after yourself after your drive off the tee?  Thanks for listening.

I agree with you on broken tees. I've been golfing 50+ years and things are the same now as they were back in the 60's when I started playing.

The one thing that upsets me more than broken tees are the Neanderthals who pound their tee into the ground after a bad shot, only leaving the top of the tee exposed.

Advice as to fixing this problem? I have none, other than to keep doing what you are doing. I used to caddie for a retired Air Force officer. He was meticulous in his appearance and his need for neatness. On every hole that there was broken tees he would pick them up and put them in the trash. A real gentleman. I try to do the same when I am golfing. So hopefully by setting an example, others will emulate you by picking up tees.

[Pretzel]

  dfreuter415 said:

I agree with you on broken tees. I've been golfing 50+ years and things are the same now as they were back in the 60's when I started playing.

The one thing that upsets me more than broken tees are the Neanderthals who pound their tee into the ground after a bad shot, only leaving the top of the tee exposed.

Advice as to fixing this problem? I have none, other than to keep doing what you are doing. I used to caddie for a retired Air Force officer. He was meticulous in his appearance and his need for neatness. On every hole that there was broken tees he would pick them up and put them in the trash. A real gentleman. I try to do the same when I am golfing. So hopefully by setting an example, others will emulate you by picking up tees.

Here's my question to you: Why do you need the tees gone? What are the tees doing there to bother you? Most tees used nowadays don't damage mower blades significantly, which is why my home course actually removed their broken tee buckets (because they were just becoming more of a hassle than a benefit for those who had to mow pulling it out of the ground and moving it, potentially spilling it in the process).

I see no reason that broken tees should bother people that much, since it in no way affects the player, so I'm hoping you could enlighten me as to why it might bother you.

[smittigirl]

Pretzel - I suppose it has to do with my early golf training.  In So. Cal. where I was raised, golf was one of the sports that you could take as an elective class in H.S.  Before we ever picked up a club or went near a range or course, we had a week of classroom instruction - including etiquette.  I just remember it getting drilled into my head that after your drive - you pick up your tee or the broken parts of it, and move on.  It was a sort of "leave the course as if you were never there" mentality on the instructor's part.

[turtleback]

  Pretzel said:

Here's my question to you: Why do you need the tees gone? What are the tees doing there to bother you? Most tees used nowadays don't damage mower blades significantly, which is why my home course actually removed their broken tee buckets (because they were just becoming more of a hassle than a benefit for those who had to mow pulling it out of the ground and moving it, potentially spilling it in the process).

I see no reason that broken tees should bother people that much, since it in no way affects the player, so I'm hoping you could enlighten me as to why it might bother you.

That was my take as well.  In the whole panoply of less than ideal behavior on the golf course, leaving broken tees on the teeing ground is like problem number 19 in the list of top ten problems, IMO.

[mcanadiens]

If I'm in tee-smashing mode, the fractured remains probably will remain where they come to rest. Most of the time, I try to pick up the equivalent of one whole tee for every tee I leave. Sometimes when I have to wait on a tee box, I'll snatch up a handful and deposit them in the trash.

However, if you are literally spending minutes clearing tees off the box, you are doing something far worse than being sloppy. You are probably being slow.

[Fairway_CY]

Broken tees don't bother me as much as the tees that are just left in the ground... especially on par 3 tee boxes.  I can't stand bending down to put a tee in the ground and seeing 3 or 4 that someone either smashed down with their club or stomped on that I either have to pry out of the ground, ignore or find another area to tee up my ball.

What bothers me more than anything, though, is not repairing ball marks on greens.

To me, it's a badge of honor to walk up to the green and pull out my repair tool and fix a ball mark I made.  While I'm at it, I'll always try to fix at least one more.  But... like I said, it's kind of a reward for hitting a good shot.  If I'm repairing marks on 9 or more holes, it means I had a pretty good day striking the ball.  If I'm repairing less than that, it means I'm chipping way too often.

CY

[Avalanche]

I think most courteous golfers pick up their tees, divots, etc.  But, as with everything, you can count on a few slobs to leave their waste behind.  Cigarette butts and sunflower seeds are the worst.

OTOH, look at the upside.  If there is a broken tee already lying at the front of the tee box, it can actually be a bit useful for lining up a shot.

[imsys0042]

I actually use a plastic tee and I rarely break them so I don't have this problem. I like having a single tee and ball mark repair tool in my pocket only.

[dfreuter415]

  Pretzel said:

Here's my question to you: Why do you need the tees gone? I see no reason that broken tees should bother people that much, since it in no way affects the player, so I'm hoping you could enlighten me as to why it might bother you.

Aesthetics and course beautification. (I've been accused of being OC at times.)

[Patch]

  smittigirl said:

I'm looking for sympathy and maybe, some advice.  I'm a returning golfer - played in college, now retired.  Husband and I have a membership at a local 9-hole public course.  I learned the basics of the game in high school, and continued playing through college.  One of the basics of my golf education was golf etiquette.   So, now, when we are golfing at this course, when we get to the tee box, any tee box, we have to spend a couple of minutes cleaning up the broken tees, and the tees left in place, all over the place.  It drives us nuts.  Am I crazy, or is it sort of good manners to clean up after yourself after your drive off the tee?  Thanks for listening.

Good manners , and etiquette are a nice thing. I do the same as you when on a golf course. However, I don't think it's that bad of a deal for the simple reason of golf course revenue. If as golfers, were to 100% enforce golfing etiquette, we would lose quite a few golfers. By losing those golfers, we golfers, who practice golf etiquette would be paying higher green fees to golf. We'd have to make up for the lost revenue from the slobs we are cleaning up after. You as members of a course  should bring it up to whom ever is in charge of your course's membership. Every one who pays, and plays keeps the cost down for the rest of us, and keeps more golf courses open. It is what it is.

[dkolo]

If I see part of my tee around, I'll grab it and chuck it into the rough, unless there's a receptacle for it on the teeing ground. It's somewhat satisfying.