Damaging Greens

[Patch]

I saw something yesterday that was pretty annoying. Apparently a person was practicing their putting for an extended period of time. The green was still pretty damp from the previous day's rain. 

What they did was stand in the same spot, with their spikes on. They wore through he grass, and left a barren piece of dirt/mud where they were standing. 

The maintenance crew will fix it, but even the fix will take a little time to settle in. 

I posted this just as a reminder to be aware how one's actions can cause a negative effect on the golf course. 

[Buckeyebowman]

This makes me wonder how wet the course was that you were playing on. I will also say that I don't understand the "tin cuppers". Isn't the idea in this game, or any other, to do it right the first time?

[Fourputt]

12 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

This makes me wonder how wet the course was that you were playing on. I will also say that I don't understand the "tin cuppers". Isn't the idea in this game, or any other, to do it right the first time?

I don't understand your question.  The OP said the guy was practicing, and I'm assuming he was on the practice putting green.  In that case, he's certainly working on "getting it right", but it's practice - even if he gets it right once, that doesn't mean that he has to stop right there.

If he was doing this on the course, then I wonder about that.  I've never played a course where that would be allowed.  For one thing, if the course was so wet that such damage could occur, most courses would not allow play, or would restrict play in flooded areas.  My home course has even closed the practice putting green under conditions where damage might occur from normal use.  

[SmiterofPV1x]

Probably some WRX'er. Those guys practice 18 hours a day 8 days a week. They wear out the milling on their Circle T's in 6 weeks 🙂

You have to be aware of what you're doing. You may have to change up your routine if conditions dictate it. Not real bright to cause damage and if it was as bad as you said it was, at some point it was half as bad and he should have noticed at the point and moved on. You can't fix stupid, but you can point out the error of their ways. I'm not a real shy person so I'm pretty sure I'd have pointed it out to him in as reasonable of a way as possible, with the goal of pointing it out to him without it being confrontational. Maybe he was a brand new golfer and clueless? 

I once worked at a nice country club. We had a prominent very well to do member there get drunk and was hitting balls from the 10th tee into the parking lot, on purpose. Not the same thing as this for sure, but certainly on the more stupid side. When I confronted him he said "so what, I can pay for any damage I cause" I assured him that I knew that he could but if he launched one more in that direction he wouldn't have the opportunity to do so again for a very long time as he would be removed from the course and suspended and possibly have his membership revoked. He straightened up but I thought he was going to punch me for a little bit. He later sobered up and apologized for his behavior. 

My point in that rambling mess was I tried to handle it in as non-confrontational way as I could. Something needed said and it was. Even so it was still an ugly situation, especially given his status and my little peon golf shop guy status (was how he was looking at it). The rest of the time that I worked there we never had another problem with him, and he tipped everyone a lot better for awhile after that. 

[Buckeyebowman]

You're right, Four Putt. The idea that he was on the practice green was right there to be inferred. The question then becomes, Why stand in the exact same place all the time? Also, why didn't he notice the damage he was doing?

As for the "tin cuppers" I can't tell you how many times I've found nearly identical, parallel gouges on tees and in fairways. Of course, the divots are never replaced.

[Patch]

The "practice" green was was damp, but not so damp that walking around normally would cause any damage. 

BTW, where did the "tin cupper" remark come from in this thread?

[Buckeyebowman]

8 hours ago, Patch said:

The "practice" green was was damp, but not so damp that walking around normally would cause any damage. 

BTW, where did the "tin cupper" remark come from in this thread?

And yet you said that he repeatedly took his stance in the same place, time after time, and damaged the green.

The "tin cupper" remark came from me, since I slightly misunderstood your OP. It refers, as I'm sure you know, to golfers who repeatedly hit shots from the same location looking to correct some flaw. Four Putt straightened me out.

[The Hook Meister]

If this was on the practice green i don't see the problem. Those greens have an army walking on them every day. If it was on the golf course then I agree we should all be aware of what what we do and don'r do can effect other people.

[klineka]

41 minutes ago, The Hook Meister said:

If this was on the practice green i don't see the problem. Those greens have an army walking on them every day. If it was on the golf course then I agree we should all be aware of what what we do and don'r do can effect other people.

Practice green or not it shouldnt matter IMO. You dont own the course, so do your best not to damage it. He had to move to collect the balls in/around the hole so sooner or later he would have noticed that he was damaging the playing service. 

Pro players lay a towel down all the time and stand on the towel if they are going to be putting for an extended period of time from the same spot.

It shows a lack of respect for the course and now costs the course additional money and time to fix something that easily could have been avoided.

Edited May 7, 2018 by klineka