Problems with a nice little rural course

[Jackal66]

There is a nice little rural course that we play a few times a week.

The owners and managers are great people.

The high school gets to practice for free.

The problem is: they don't have any marshals.

There is no dress code, and they are pretty relaxed.

The problem is : they have groups of 8-12 that play on the weekends.

People won't let you play thru.

Those large groups sometimes have never played before.

There will be 10 people sharing 3 sets of clubs.

We are walking and are waiting on every shot.

People hit balls that get close to you and never hollar fore.

Ones in carts will pick up your ball, and drive off with you hollaring at them.

It is really aggravating.

Would it be best to just go to another course?

Thanks for the info.

 

[tatertot]

Actually had a similar situation ... Wasn't worth it. Golf us supposed to be fun.

[alfriday]

If the owners and managers are great people, go talk to them and tell them your problems. Depending on the course layout, you could skip around the course. 18 holes don't have to be played in the order on the card. Or perhaps you could start on the back nine if the big group is on the front. Also, if this is only a problem on weekends, play the course during the week and go elsewhere on weekends if they can't accommodate your concerns.

[Murphy76]

Simply don't go there any longer. If it isn't fun and just boils up the blood, let it go.

If there aren't any other viable golf courses nearby, play on days when these muffin-heads aren't there.

If you have no other option, play solo at night.

If that isn't possible, buy a simulator and play in your basement/garage.

If your female dog in heat of a wife still complains about it, file for divorce.

 

OK, you still have to go to the Lutheran minister to get 'counseling', But it's gonna be worth it. Just imagine: A day when you wake up naturally (not an alarm).

You mumble into the kitchen while openly (and skin-to-skin) scratch your coin-purse. I don't just mean scratch-n-sniff. I mean full body-grow-out-your-nails itching of your nuts. Your right leg quivers from the sensation. Life is good.

 

From there, you play at least 18 holes on a partly-cloudy day with an average temp of 70 fht. I can't remember the conversion ratio from _F_ to degrees C. After that, you go to your favorite dining location and eat whatever the god-loving beck you want. No calorie reminders or nagging about choleseral intake or saving yourself for grand-kids. You eat like a hog, and sit back with a glistening haze around your mouth, and belch up last nights' strippers' underwear. It is unpleasant, but the forgotten memories it inspires is worth all coinage.

 

Somehow you are transported home. Your bed is a soft tropical paradise with a warm quilt-y overtone.

After you let the dog go out to the bathroom, he curls up next to your pillow in bed.

Sleep.

 

Repeat without end...............

 

 

This is the horrible picture of divorce.

 

Moving on:

 

[DonatelloNobodie]

Course management could address some of your issues. Others are out of their control, like player's behavior. Making and enforcing rules might cost them more in lost customers that it gains. You left out playing music on the course and cell phone conversations. Culture changes.

If it really destroys your enjoyment of the game, play elsewhere after letting the management know the reason. Play where, when, and how to optimize your enjoyment of the game. If you don't enjoy it, don't play.

[Jackal66]

> @DonatelloNobodie said:

> Course management could address some of your issues. Others are out of their control, like player's behavior. Making and enforcing rules might cost them more in lost customers that it gains. You left out playing music on the course and cell phone conversations. Culture changes.

> If it really destroys your enjoyment of the game, play elsewhere after letting the management know the reason. Play where, when, and how to optimize your enjoyment of the game. If you don't enjoy it, don't play.

 

That's something else.

We walked up on a par 3 the other day, and there were 4 carts parked within 6-8 foot of the putting surface.

This was a 187 yard hole.

We could hear the music ( clearly) from that far away.

[Bonneville85308]

Often time a course with very limited staffing (like one guy in the shop and that's it on the whole property) will have no idea that such a problem exists, so I would tell them.

I suspect though, you will face the common issue these days that the course is not going to want tick off this group of 8-12 paying customers no matter how slow they are, and no matter if there are 25 paying customers behind them being held up.

[Jackal66]

> @Bonneville85308 said:

> Often time a course with very limited staffing (like one guy in the shop and that's it on the whole property) will have no idea that such a problem exists, so I would tell them.

> I suspect though, you will face the common issue these days that the course is not going to want tick off this group of 8-12 paying customers no matter how slow they are, and no matter if there are 25 paying customers behind them being held up.

 

That's what happened at a new course about 5 miles north of us.

The owner's wife had nevwr been around golf.

After a year, they only had 2 groups of 8-12 people playing there.

If someone came in with a 4-6 year old child as a ride along, she would get out a set of Snoopy golf clubs and strap them on their cart.

People would drop their heads as they watched a child that never played score a 34 on the first hole.

Most players would tell their child that they could only putt on a few holes, but some let them play it all out.

 

[third-times-a-charm]

> @Jackal66 said:

> > @Bonneville85308 said:

> > Often time a course with very limited staffing (like one guy in the shop and that's it on the whole property) will have no idea that such a problem exists, so I would tell them.

> > I suspect though, you will face the common issue these days that the course is not going to want tick off this group of 8-12 paying customers no matter how slow they are, and no matter if there are 25 paying customers behind them being held up.

>

> That's what happened at a new course about 5 miles north of us.

> The owner's wife had nevwr been around golf.

> After a year, they only had 2 groups of 8-12 people playing there.

> If someone came in with a 4-6 year old child as a ride along, she would get out a set of Snoopy golf clubs and strap them on their cart.

> People would drop their heads as they watched a child that never played score a 34 on the first hole.

> Most players would tell their child that they could only putt on a few holes, but some let them play it all out.

>

 

Sounds like your 'rural town' has a people problem, not a course problem.