Myrtle Beach golf courses

So this a new one for me. I've been going to MB for many years now....always for a week in August and on occasion, a short trip in the winter/early spring. I'm heading down for a few days next month and I'm in the process of getting some tee times set up....so far I have two and I was quite thrown off when I called each one.

First I called The Founder's Club at Pawley's Island....I explained to the guy on the phone that I receive regular emails from Golf Holiday and they recently sent one that featured the Waccamaw Golf Trail and gave me the opportunity to answer a few questions and receive a free round on one of their courses. Mine told me that I got a free round at the Founder's Club, only the cart fee needed paid. Well upon hearing this, the guy at the course was shocked and started asking me a bunch of questions about where the email came from, what website it sent me to, etc. He claimed to have never heard of this and reluctantly booked my tee time, but made sure to remind me about 5 times to make sure I don't forgot the certificate I printed out because otherwise I WILL be paying full price. Ok buddy.

Next, I called the Tradition Club....also in the Pawley's Island area. Start talking to the guy there, explain that I have a membership at GolfDigestTeeTimes.com and would like to make a tee time for next month using the special they have listed ($55 golf & cart, approx. 50% off normal rate). Once again....the man claims to have never heard of this and decideds to transfer me to the club pro. I explain the same thing to the pro and he claims to have never heard of it either! He then says, 'you must be reading it wrong, there's no way we would allow that kind of pricing during the high season, I bet it's only valid during certain months'. I tell him, 'no, the heading on the special is actually $50, which is for most months, but it says right there that during March, April, and October it's $55'. Well he goes into a whole big speech about he doesn't know how this kind of thing is available when he has no knowledge of any partnership with the website. He then gets really ridiculous and asks if I've called the right Tradition Club, because, as he put it, there are other clubs in the country with the same name. I told him a couple times over that I'd be glad to wait while he goes online real quick and takes a look for himself but he refused for whatever reason. Well in the end he booked me a tee time but much like the guy at Founder's, he seemed none too happy about it.

So I just wanted to say that I find it really odd that these courese apparently had no idea of the specials and offers they're involved with, and it was especially odd that I ran into it two times in a row, and on completely different offers. Has anyone else ever ran into this kind of thing? It's actually really disappointing to me because all I want to do is take advantage of a great offer I came across and the guys at the course are kinda talking to me like I'm trying to rip them off, all because they are apparently underinformed in some way.

Lilke the money is coming out of their pockets.... I have had similar experiences but not necessarily with those courses. The part that sucks is that you now have a "bad taste in your mouth" when you go to play. What would otherwise be a great experience now has been somehow tarnished. Enjoy it anyway! The best revenge is to set the course record and from then on, they'll see your name up there and go "damn, that's the guy that played here for cheap and there was nothing I could do about it!"

Haha....good call. I'll be sure and post it if through some miracle that actually happens!

I'm going to play devils advocate on this one.

How many calls a day do you think these guys get where people say they have a discount? Just because it is on the internet does that make it true?

Times are tough these days and everyone is looking to save a buck. So you've got to think they get a guy every ten minutes claiming he has been coming down there for years, and he always plays there, so he wants a deal this time, or he is bringing in 28 guys and they always eat dinner and drink beers afterwards.

So in summary: The club pro should have looked up the internet site, but I can understand them being stand offish whenever someone calls saying they have a discount.

You should make this same post on the [url="http://www.myrtlebeachgolftalk.com/"]Myrtle Beach Golf Talk Forum[/url].
It is filled with Myrtle Beach regulars and a lot of the pros and/or managers from some of the courses there also post on the forum. It would be interesting to see what response you get there.

[quote name='stickburn' date='26 February 2010 - 04:13 PM' timestamp='1267218839' post='2279427']
I'm going to play devils advocate on this one.

How many calls a day do you think these guys get where people say they have a discount? Just because it is on the internet does that make it true?

Times are tough these days and everyone is looking to save a buck. So you've got to think they get a guy every ten minutes claiming he has been coming down there for years, and he always plays there, so he wants a deal this time, or he is bringing in 28 guys and they always eat dinner and drink beers afterwards.

So in summary: The club pro should have looked up the internet site, but I can understand them being stand offish whenever someone calls saying they have a discount.
[/quote]

I understand your points and I can definitely see where you're coming from here. Here's why I feel like my situation isn't exactly as you described: For one, I didn't at any point mention that I've been coming down there for years or anything of the sort. Second, I was very clear and concise as to where I received the offers and both of the sources were very known and reputable organizations (MB Golf Holiday & Golf Digest). I didn't mention it in my original post but along with asking the guys I spoke with to take a look for themselves online, I also offered to fax the printed certificates of the specials, to which each answered 'no thanks'. Lastly, and for what it's worth, I'm just playing as a single, so obviously I was not attempting to receive the special pricing for a whole group of guys (even though at least one of the offers says it's valid for your whole group). If they truly are worried about the amount of money they would be losing, it would only be for a single golfer...which I would think would be pretty insignificant when you consider the volume of play they have at this time of year.

Like I said, I do come down every year in August as well, when greens fee's are at their lowest and paying full price isn't too bad. A good experience at a course (in terms of both the course and the staff) at a point in year like now would be the kind of motivation that would make me want to come back and play the course again in the summer. Like a poster above mentioned, though I am still going to play these courses when I go down, a bad taste has already been left and it would take an exceptionally good opinion of both the course and the staff while I'm there to entice me back.

if they dont like it, just take your business elsewhere. When times werent tough they certainly up charged for no reasons. Getting good price rounds is a benefit of the recession. Hand them you coupons and laugh all the way to the 1st tee box and enjoy some good golf. Everyone gets greedy when it comes to their own line of work, but they do the same bargaining outside of their workplace. I am sure they know whats going on, just trying to make you pay full price.