Flyrdrive

Thought I'd post some comments as I'm into my 4th year as a Starter at a nice resort course. Understand, resort courses don't operate like private or public courses do. The Resort here is the Big Dog, the golf course is just an "amenity" like a water park or similar. Probably 2/3rds of the Resort guests don't play golf, or don't play regularly. The course does allow memberships for some of the local residents though. Problem #1-- 2/3rds of the Resort guests don't play golf, or don't play regularly. Which guarantees those rounds are going to be 5 hours or more if those folks play. Problem #2-- Never piss off the Resort guests. Any negative feedback on social media is immediately flagged and brought to management's attention for action. Seriously, the Resort has a department whose job it is to monitor social media for any mention of their property. Problem #3, This really isn't a good golf course for anyone who normally shoots 90+. (Most of our resort guests) It's a great course, well-known architect, difficult greens. Tour players seldom break 69 (par 72), and course record is 65 by a Tour player. So it's not a pushover. Problem #4 The Resort management, (not the course management) runs the show. But then the members think THEY should run the show. Of course, the Resort Guests, who paid $400 for one night and unlimited golf think they are the reason we exist. Then there's the corporate groups who book 100 rooms and schedule an outing with 80 players, they KNOW they own the whole facility. None of them know half of what's going on for the day. Our "standard" pace of play is 4:20. Our regular members can usually make it around in 4:00 in a foursome, but many singles and twosomes do it in 2:30. I have played with the golf shop staff in 3:00 easily, but we aren't spending all day looking for golf balls in knee deep grass. (totally useless waste of time anyway, you won't find it unless you step on it. Might get snake bit too.) If we have more than 80 golfers for the day, it's almost a sure bet the pace will drag out to 4:45 or more by noon. Large Corporate outings average 5 hours or more for 18 holes. Of course, corporate outings seem more like drinking tournaments with a little golf thrown in. Fully HALF of our golfers think it "normal" to arrive at the pro shop 10-15 minutes (or less) before their TEE TIME. This isn't just the Resort guests, but also the drive-ins from the nearby cities. I know most folks on this site are semi-serious golfers, and wouldn't do that, but a VERY LARGE percentage of weekend golfers do. Then, by the time they get their cart loaded, get some range balls which they won't have time to hit, go back to their car for whatever gear they forgot, and make it the 1/4 mile to the range, it's already their TEE TIME, and they STILL haven't ordered their beers/bloody marys/tequila&OJ, etc. If I can get them to the tee within 2 minutes of their TEE TIME, I'm doing well. Of course, they will still then spend the next 5 minutes fishing gear out of their bags, applying sun screen, marking balls, proposing wagers, etc before the first ball leaves the Tee. Fully HALF of our golfers are playing from the wrong Tees. Just because they play "blue" on the muni track at 6200 yds back home doesn't mean they should play blue at 6800 yds on a real golf course, but I can't tell them that. I might as well be asking them to turn in their man card. I myself haven't played from the blues here in 5 years, because I'm 60, and I'd like to hit 8 into a green designed for an 8 or 9 iron shot, not a 4 iron. True ready golf is still a foreign concept to many golfers, and I guess, because we are a Resort, drinking is often to excess. Honestly, on average, the people I've joined on a $35 muni track probably have more sense and courtesy than many of our high-dollar guests. I could do a two page rant on how our "guests" sometimes treat the equipment and property. I could classify some of it as vandalism, not just sloppiness. I personally think EVERY customer service business ought to throw the worst 10% of their customers off the property as a regular business practice. The world might actually become a nicer place after a few years.

My point was, (I thought obvious) 30 tournaments a year, (winning most of them), driving yourself coast to coast and Florida to Canada on what would amount to farm roads today was a real grind. Back to your pity party for today's Pros.

Not a fan of what the cop did, but on the other hand, have seen parents told not to let the kid drive at the course, and two holes later, guess who's driving it again? Lots of folks think the rules are for "other" people I guess. I operated lots of 2, 3, 4, and 6 wheel machinery as a kid, but it was on our ranch, and if I tore one up, I'd have rather answered to a cop than my Dad.

Just for reference, Here's Byron Nelson's schedule in '45. Won 11 in a row, and had to drive himself to most all of these events. And not on interstate highways either, but lousy two lane roads. Most of his fellow pros were in the same boat. THAT was a grind. Byron Nelson's 1945 Tournament Results Jan. 5-8, Los Angeles: 71-72-70-71--284, second Jan. 12-14, Phoenix Open: 68-65-72-69--274, first, won by 2 Jan. 18-21, Tucson: 67-68-67-67--269, second Jan. 26-28, Texas Open: 67-66-68-68--269, second Feb. 1-4, Corpus Christi Open: 66-63-65-70--264, first, won by 4 Feb. 9-11, New Orleans Open: 70-70-73-71--284, first, won by 5 Feb. 16-18, Gulfport: 69-68-72-66--275, second Feb. 23-25, Pensacola: 69-69-71-65--274, second March 1-4, Jacksonville: 68-66-72-69--275, sixth March 8-11, Miami International Four-Ball: first (team tournament) March 16-19, Charlotte Open: 70-68-66-68--272, first, won by 4 March 23-25, Greater Greensboro Open: 70-67-68-66--271, first, won by 8 March 30-April 1, Durham Open: 71-69-71-65--276, first, won by 5 April 5-8, Atlanta Open: 64-69-65-65--263, first, won by 9 June 7-10, Montreal Open: 63-68-69-68--268, first, won by 10 June 14-17, Philadelphia Inquirer: 68-68-70-63--269, first, won by 2 June 29-July 1, Chicago Victory National Open: 69-68-68-70--275, first, won by 7 July 9-15, PGA Championship: first (match play) July 26-29, Tam O'Shanter Open: 66-68-68-67--269, first, won by 11 Aug. 2-4, Canadian Open: 68-72-72-68--280, first, won by 4 Aug. 16-19, Memphis: 69-73-66-68--276, fourth Aug. 23-26, Knoxville Invitational: 67-69-73-67--276, first, won by 10 Aug. 31-Sept. 3, Nashville: 70-64-67-68--269, second Sept. 6-9, Dallas: 72-70-71-68--281, third Sept. 13-16, Tulsa: 73-69-75-71--288, fourth Sept. 19-23, Esmeralda Open: 66-66-70-64--266, first, won by 7 Sept. 27-30, Portland: 71-71-67-66--275, second Oct. 4-7, Tacoma: 70-69-73-71--283, ninth Oct. 11-14, Seattle Open: 62-68-63-66--259, first, won by 13 Dec. 14-16, Glen Garden Open: 72-65-66-70--273, first, won by 8

Guests typically roll two carts a year at my course. Either they think they are ATV vehicles, or they are off-road racers. Usually, alcohol is involved. Have seen grown men, 40+ years old, deliberately jump golf carts over curbs and ditches. (Yamaha, we need three more new axles and five alignments this month) Would LOVE to just throw the whole group off the course sometimes, but then they trash the place on all social media.

My last trip in an AA MD80 I had folks in front recline. They were 2.5 hour flights, and no meals, but I could sure see someone in my seat being pissed off by not being able to use a laptop or whatever because of the recliner in front. Much of this problem lies in the seat pitch or spacing used nowadays, it just sucks. And no, I don't recline in coach, and I would sit up if asked. I have a bit of a problem with the "It's MY seat, I paid for it" group. Courtesy is a dying trait. I imagine you wouldn't be so happy if the guy next to you smelled of last night's frat party and BO and played a shoot-em-up movie on his DVD player with no ear buds. He paid for HIS seat too. It seems the people who care most about THEIR rights and comfort care least about anyone else's. In other words, it's all about ME.

I made it through 9 seconds worth!

**IF** I were to play music on the course, I'd probably opt for something soothing like Patsy Cline or Alison Krauss, which I suspect would irritate all the under 40 crowd just about as much as their music does me. So keep it turned down, or let's agree to just listen to nature. If you want to wear ear buds, that's fine too, I don't mind ignoring you either.

I'm a retired FAA Air Traffic Controller. By some serendipitous set of circumstances, somebody decided to build a nice resort golf course three miles from my house, so now I'm a part time starter, which pretty much pays for my golf if nothing else.

Quote: 17. PLAYING BACK TOO FAR The narcissist golfer believes he's attractive, funny, talented. And he insists on playing the championship tees, as if anything less than 7,500 yards is an affront to his manhood. Yup, and while you're hitting your mulligan 20 yds right of the correct fairway with your whiz-bang driver from the tips, the REAL pros hit a two iron from the same tee to the proper spot on the fairway. You could too if you used a hybrid from the proper tee for your skill level. BTW, the members in the group behind are laughing at you. #37, Showing up at the pro shop 5 minutes before your tee time, then rushing to the first tee while ordering six beers and a bloody mary to go. THEN use a mulligan while the next group curses under their breath and starts looking for the marshal's phone #. How about a thread titled "You might be a redneck hack if...."????

New guy from Texas, mostly retired, part-time starter at a Golf Magazine Silver Medal Resort course. Play twice a week when weather and course traffic allows. When weather allows and course traffic doesn't, I fly for fun. (therefore, the user name...)