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13 problems only public golfers understand


bmartin461
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Another potential problem...

 

"No man goes round boasting of his vices,” he said, “except golfers." 

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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2 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

It's funny...I moved to Florida 20 years ago and I was so excited to be able to play golf year round. I have now come to the point where my "golf season" is the same as it was up north (about March until November). I understand that golf courses have to make their money when they can (in season) so the courses are going to be packed and the play will be very slow so I don't even bother playing when the snow birds are around. Not to mention that the course I play in the summer cost about half as much as they do right now. I used to work in the golf business and I can't tell you how many times someone in the shop would radio out and ask me If I could get a foursome out somewhere without a tee time when they could plainly see the tee sheet is completely booked. So I would cram them out and piss off all the groups behind them. I would go out to ranger and listen to them complain about how slow it was but there was literally no where to push the groups because there would be two to three groups on every hole. So I just gave up on winter golf in Florida. Hopefully with the weather being nice up north, I can get the clubs back out here in a couple of weeks!:hmm: 

I feel your pain!  From December-April, unless it's my weekly league, the only time I golf is if the weather is crappy that day, or I play hooky from work and go early on a Tues or Weds morning.  Even in the summer, so I can avoid the crowds, I prefer to golf at noon.  To me, a little sweat is worth not having to wait forever. 

DJ

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19 hours ago, bkuehn1952 said:

#7, 8, 9 are the most universally true statements for SE Michigan.  11 & 12 are fairly common, too but some public courses have pretty decent practice ranges.

Tell me about it. ;-)

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Having lived all over Florida, New Jersey, and now Arkansas, I don't see these issues as prominent as you'd think. There are some really, really nice Public/County Courses in NJ and Florida. Pace of play can be an issue no matter where you play, private or not. Just because someone can afford a $850 a month membership doesn't make them a good golfer, or even a fast crappy golfer. 

Course conditions usually go with the "you get what you pay for" kind of mentality. The top 3 public golf courses I have ever played were Bethpage State Park in NY, Neshanic Valley in NJ, and Orange County National in Orlando. I don't feel sorry for the guys who live in LA or Boston or any other super metropolis. Just like traffic on the highway there are going to be a lot of people everywhere, including the first tee at your local public course. 

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Kyle Paulhus

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18 hours ago, David in FL said:

Y'all need to move.

Other than ineffective rangers, which is just as troublesome at private courses, I can put you on a dozen quality courses with 45 minutes of me that have no more of the issues you list than most nice, private clubs.

+1.

I belong to a CC and play lot of public courses too. To me the biggest difference in course maintenance/conditions in general. But most public courses here are not bad at all. You get the occasional poorly run muni in perpetually poor condition but then you get what you pay for.

I guess people steal stuff like balls from fairways or lockers occasionally but this is not a flagrant issue. I assume most have good sense not leave valuables in lockers. I mean who steals somebody's sweaty pants or shoes?

Marshals are not bouncers. If a gentle or firm request to speed up doesn't work then the next level would have to be involved. If it is a regular thing than obviously mangers/pros don't care enough to support them. Why should marshals go out on a limb by themselves. This may be a true gripe.  

 

19 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Most of those are fairly accurate but I have one question:

What public courses is this guy playing that has all of the first 12 problems ..... and also has locker rooms???:-P

:-D

Vishal S.

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19 hours ago, Lihu said:

Just wait until American Golf takes over your course and "playership" increases exponentially. :-D

Pasadena, CA only has 140,000 people or so?

On the one hand, I like that there are so many new golfers, on the other hand waiting in line to go on the course or to use the range is kind of a pain. In all honesty, I like all the new people who are golfing there. . .none of these really bother me as I still get to play a lot anyway. I just play in random order and don't post because I don't have partners all the time.

I won't really have to worry about that any time soon, if ever, assuming I stay in the area I'm currently living.

Pasadena may only have a population of 140,000 but is next to a city of 4 million people and a greater area of like 15+ million.

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13 hours ago, MuniGrit said:

110 degrees does wonders for pace of play. 

Yes it does... best time of year is middle of day in the summer and dead of winter (50 degrees in NC scares a lot of people off). Those are my favorite times of year. 

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3 minutes ago, anker0071 said:

Yes it does... best time of year is middle of day in the summer and dead of winter (50 degrees in NC scares a lot of people off). Those are my favorite times of year. 

Yeah I can play the course right by me in 2.5 hours door to door.

Trollin' is the life

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21 hours ago, bmartin461 said:

From Golf Digest.  

Country club members don't know how sweet they have it. Here are 13 problems that only public golfers understand.

  1. More time is spent waiting at the driving range than actually hitting balls

  2. Ball marks are just as hazardous as water or out-of-bounds

  3. Knowing the 5th tee box could serve as your camp site

  4. Recognizing brakes on the golf cart are more for show than safety

  5. Smacking your drive onto another hole likely means your ball will be picked up. Actually, your ball’s not safe on your fairway, either

  6. Waking up at 6 AM on a Saturday to make a reservation for next weekend, only to find all the good tee times are already gone

  7. Marshals are as effective in speeding up play as cookies are in promoting weight loss

  8. Getting blindly paired with someone who could end up being A) your new best friend or B) a fugitive of the law

  9. That "after-work league" is synonymous with "good luck getting on today, pal"

  10. Hitting out of sand traps that are more dirt than sand

  11. The range balls are older than your grandma’s wallpaper...

  12. ...And that mats so worn down that you’re basically hitting off concrete

  13. There's a 50/50 chance your belongings in the locker room will be there after the round

 

What would you add?

LOL. My course in the UK is nothing like that. I am a member of a public course, and even in the middle of the summer I am never behind more than one group, and I don't have to book a tee time. As far as the range is concerned, ours is hardly used, and it is rare there are any more than 4 bays used at any one time. Ball marks are a problem, but to be honest they are a problem everywhere I have played. It drives me potty. 

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1 hour ago, kpaulhus said:

Having lived all over Florida, New Jersey, and now Arkansas, I don't see these issues as prominent as you'd think. There are some really, really nice Public/County Courses in NJ and Florida. Pace of play can be an issue no matter where you play, private or not. Just because someone can afford a $850 a month membership doesn't make them a good golfer, or even a fast crappy golfer. 

Course conditions usually go with the "you get what you pay for" kind of mentality. The top 3 public golf courses I have ever played were Bethpage State Park in NY, Neshanic Valley in NJ, and Orange County National in Orlando. I don't feel sorry for the guys who live in LA or Boston or any other super metropolis. Just like traffic on the highway there are going to be a lot of people everywhere, including the first tee at your local public course. 

Boston area isn't that bad where I play. I haven't played in the city courses, but friends have and they enjoyed it. The are a couple of courses in our rota that can be slow on weekends, but we try to play those during the week instead.

Scott

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My primary public course is a university course. It is generally well maintained, and fairly conducive to a decent pace of play. The marshals do a decent job. When the students are in town, it can get crowded, and there isn't not much to do but be patient.

The only item that really consistently applies is ball marks. There is a wide cross section of golf demographics that play, and not everyone fixes their marks, though a lot do.

Don

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A few of these are spot on...

5. This happens way too often.  I play a course where a lot of the holes are adjacent to others.  I can't tell you how many times I've hit a perfectly straight drive only to still find my ball missing from the fairway.

10. When I get to play at private courses for work functions, I'm always amazed at how easy it is to get out of bunkers.  The muni courses I play, I just try to pick the ball off the dirt most of the time to save my wrists from being crushed by the sand/mud traps.

I would also add one about cart girls.  If you're playing at public courses, the cart girls will come by 2-3 times on the first few holes then mysteriously disappear until no earlier than the 16th hole. 

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adding: 

- Tee boxes where you cannot find a level lie (i understand drainage issues, but come on: no need to bury a woolly mammoth there)

- the beverage cart that always seems to have "just run out" of the flavor of beer/gatorade i'm looking for

- missing yardages on sprinkler heads

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3 hours ago, Elrey Desol said:

adding: 

- Tee boxes where you cannot find a level lie (i understand drainage issues, but come on: no need to bury a woolly mammoth there)

- the beverage cart that always seems to have "just run out" of the flavor of beer/gatorade i'm looking for

- missing yardages on sprinkler heads

My biggest pet peave in the munis around here.  Nothing like teeing off from a turtle's back.

Also, no sand in the divot fillers is a classic around here along with old guys fishing balls out of ponds while they wait for the green to clear.

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