Loving the growth of golf right now, Loving the influx of people from all backgrounds but...

[Bigjim1022]

10 hours ago, jordan2240 said:

For me, it simply ruins the environment of the golf course.  One of the things I enjoy most about golf is the relative serenity of the golf course.  Sure, you hear people talking from time to time, and the occasional shouts of 'fore' (or is it 'four'), but that's a normal part of the environment, and always has been.  The constant sound of music is someone's attempt to change that environment to their own liking, showing little respect for those around them.  If music enhances your enjoyment of golf, there is absolutely no reason you can't keep it to yourself. Frankly, it will sound a helluva lot better coming through ear buds anyway.  It really just boils down to respect.

I’ve played both with and without music.  Admittedly I play mostly by myself.  I’ll occasionally have music playing, I kinda like it sometimes.  Also admittedly, I wasn’t around others.  I can understand the desire for serenity though.  Some of my most enjoyable rounds are doing cold weather golf as another poster mentioned.  Yesterday I had the course practically to myself.  It was great!

[jordan2240]

3 hours ago, Bigjim1022 said:

I’ve played both with and without music.  Admittedly I play mostly by myself.  I’ll occasionally have music playing, I kinda like it sometimes.  Also admittedly, I wasn’t around others.  I can understand the desire for serenity though.  Some of my most enjoyable rounds are doing cold weather golf as another poster mentioned.  Yesterday I had the course practically to myself.  It was great!

I'm the 'other poster' that mentioned the cold weather golf, but I learned today it has its limits.  40-some degrees with 40 mph winds does not make for an enjoyable round.  Of course, if my playing partner hadn't been so damn slow, it might not have been as bad.  Live and learn. 

[Bigjim1022]

12 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

I'm the 'other poster' that mentioned the cold weather golf, but I learned today it has its limits.  40-some degrees with 40 mph winds does not make for an enjoyable round.  Of course, if my playing partner hadn't been so damn slow, it might not have been as bad.  Live and learn. 

I had to knock iff yesterday due to the same issue.  Got to the 12th and the wind picked up and temp dropped big time.  Was near froze as I got. Ack tiny car.  Was still great to be out all alone!

[hahanice]

i just hate all the traffic that covid is bringing. the tee sheet at my club is packed, and it wasnt at this point last year. but this is a me issue, my club is semi private. that's on me to find a private club with less daily play. Not fair of me to be bitter at the course for doing what its supposed to do (fill tee sheets). 

 

The other stuff I honestly feel is lack of knowledge. the people who dont fix divots seem like they've never been taught to do so. tons of teachable moments that we let go.

 

I will never tuck my shirt in, and i play music when i am alone or my group asks me to (i turn it down when passing other groups). 

[jimb6golf]

Completely agree with the initial thoughts. There are just too many people out playing golf, especially on the weekends, that simply do not have a clue.  A lot of people quit the game as it takes too long but most times it takes longer when the group in front of you doesn't keep up, lines up 12" putts, and has all 4 in the wheeling over to the woods looking for someone's lost ball.  Some quick 'etiquette rules' should be posted in every clubhouse and the rangers should help to push slow people along.  And I agree that a lot of people don't fix their divots or ball marks either and that can ruin a course (I always fix visible ball marks on the greens).  Don't mean to sound like an oldie but some simple rules would certainly help keep the game moving along and make it more interesting.

[The Pearl]

I suspect that after Covid is long gone, the number of golfers will fall back to the longer term trend. 

 

Our course are more packed than ever.  Been some slow rounds , but for the most part things have been surprisingly moving better than I expect on each round. 

 

The two worst trends are more ball marks and music. The music reasoning is that "I only play it loud enough so that I can hear it", which is not close to reality.

 

And yes, if you can't be outside in nature for 4 hours without music than you have a problem.

 

 

[Soloman1]

There is a solution to the pitch mark/ball mark problem, but course management heads would explode hearing it. If you asked the course, "Why don't you..." they'd tilt their head like a dog and look at you like you're an alien.

 

Anyone want to guess the solution?

[Fairway14]

On 10/29/2020 at 1:55 PM, stecho67 said:

 

 

Any opinions?

 

 

 

 

 

Participation in golf has declined because most people now tend to favor pursuits which offer instant gratification. Striking reasonably solid and straight golf shots requires learning and practice time which relatively few people are willing to do.

Tiger made golf "cool" and brought an influx of people trying golf for the first time. But most all of that crowd soon gave up the game because hacking it around , duffing shots, looking for balls all day, and shooting 120 is more frustrating  than it is fun. Now Covid has caused people to seek outdoor pursuits, including golf, but my expectation is the end results will be similar to 20 years ago, that most of the newcomers give up the game.

[milesgiles]

3 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

There is a solution to the pitch mark/ball mark problem, but course management heads would explode hearing it. If you asked the course, "Why don't you..." they'd tilt their head like a dog and look at you like you're an alien.

 

Anyone want to guess the solution?

 

I favour camouflaged sharp shooters in the trees.

[milesgiles]

3 hours ago, Fairway14 said:

 

Participation in golf has declined because most people now tend to favor pursuits which offer instant gratification. Striking reasonably solid and straight golf shots requires learning and practice time which relatively few people are willing to do.

Tiger made golf "cool" and brought an influx of people trying golf for the first time. But most all of that crowd soon gave up the game because hacking it around , duffing shots, looking for balls all day, and shooting 120 is more frustrating  than it is fun. Now Covid has caused people to seek outdoor pursuits, including golf, but my expectation is the end results will be similar to 20 years ago, that most of the newcomers give up the game.

 

Certainly hope so 

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

28 minutes ago, milesgiles said:

 

I favour camouflaged sharp shooters in the trees.

But then the fairways are littered in corpses, and can you imagine the GolfWRX threads after that?  "I landed on a dead guy - do I take a drop or play it as it lies?"  "All this blood is leaving patches all over my favorite fairways."  "My morning tee time was interrupted by a funeral procession"

[Fairway14]

4 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

 

 

Anyone want to guess the solution?

 

Replace natural grass greens with artificial turf ?

[Soloman1]

Did Patrick Reed move the dead guys arm on his practice swing?

 

I'm not as smart as most of you, so my idea is very primitive.

 

All these 1,000's of rangers driving around waving at people (but never getting anyone to play faster) should get out of the damn cart and fix ball marks on greens while players are driving/walking to the greens after hitting their second/third shots.

 

This costs nothing, zero, nada and improves the course and experience of the customers.

 

But you'd think you were asking them for loan if you suggest this. The course management look at you like you're nuts and the rangers will want to attack you with a rake.

[pktaske]

In Central New Jersey, you cant find a public tee time for a twosome this weekend before 2 pm and I've been looking since Wed night. Not one. Singles have a couple slots here and there on some mediocre courses. And if you start at any time after 12:15pm, good luck finishing.

 

Guy at Charleston Springs said they had as many rounds booked this year by Sep as all of last year...and that's with the few weeks of closure we had in early 2020.

 

(I almost forgot we had 20 minute tee time intervals too for a while. That truly was a great time to be golfing).

Edited November 8, 2020 by pktaske

[pktaske]

4 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

All these 1,000's of rangers driving around

Where?

[Soloman1]

At the 15,000+ golf courses in the US?

[Amps]

Anyone playing music on a golf course should be tipped into a deep bunker.

[Amps]

On 10/29/2020 at 8:55 PM, stecho67 said:

I wish maybe the golf channel or some YTers would spend a bit more time on teachings such as these especially with so many new people coming to the game.

Not a bad idea, and considering most YTers are constantly looking for content, this should be an easy one for them. 

[milesgiles]

22 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

Did Patrick Reed move the dead guys arm on his practice swing?

 

I'm not as smart as most of you, so my idea is very primitive.

 

All these 1,000's of rangers driving around waving at people (but never getting anyone to play faster) should get out of the damn cart and fix ball marks on greens while players are driving/walking to the greens after hitting their second/third shots.

 

This costs nothing, zero, nada and improves the course and experience of the customers.

 

But you'd think you were asking them for loan if you suggest this. The course management look at you like you're nuts and the rangers will want to attack you with a rake.

 

I’d be very grumpy if a marshal got my pitch mark I don’t make many 

[milesgiles]

On 11/7/2020 at 6:48 PM, Fairway14 said:

 

Replace natural grass greens with artificial turf ?

 

I did add this up out of interest as I thought the savings on maintenance might balance out the investment..

 

not even close, however good a price you could get on building them 

[Fairway14]

30 minutes ago, milesgiles said:

 

I did add this up out of interest as I thought the savings on maintenance might balance out the investment..

 

not even close, however good a price you could get on building them 

 

My answer (artificial turf greens) was a facetious one. The reality is that there is no solution to greens having pitch marks from golf balls. Some players fix them while others do not, and that's that. I've seen diligent on course Marshalls who carry a 3 foot long pitch mark repair tool, but they're only able to do the work when golf holes/greens are open without players.

[naval2006]

There's no music in my country but there's an important influx of new players for Covid reasons, as stated above.  

 

I fully agree on pace of play, which is a nightmare.  We walk at my course so there's plenty of time to have your shot prepared while your partners are playing.  New golfers are seldom ready, often don't pay attention to the action around them so you have to wait and wait.  Aggravated by YouTube preshot routines that take forever.  

 

On the newbies side, there's usually nobody telling them how to properly walk the course so this is another lost good habit. This experienced golfer teaching novice golfer thing is gone.  Seasoned players no longer share their experience for the sake of the game and if this does happen new players often believe they are being tutored around and don't like it either.  

 

I was talking to my buddy the other day and we both agreed we're in our 40's, not old, but we've been around for so long in golf that we notice the changes even though we don't care much about it as long as the game is still being played and people stick to the Rules of Golf in tournament golf.  

[jordan2240]

1 hour ago, naval2006 said:

There's no music in my country...

I know we have our problems here in the U.S., but I couldn't imagine living in a country without music.  Where the heck do you live?😉

[jordan2240]

I played a round a few weeks ago, and I swear the foursome in front of us had a discussion before going out as to whether to play mini-golf or real golf.  Sadly, they chose 'real' golf.  The older couple in the group was dressed like they'd just come from dinner at a nice restaurant.  They were also sharing clubs.  Fortunately, they let my buddy and I pass when they forgot a club on a green and I picked it up for them; otherwise, we might still be trying to finish the round.  I get that ya gotta learn somewhere (though I seriously doubt that the younger couple in the group were golfers to any degree), but ya gotta have some rules, like 'four duffs per hole' or something like that. 

Edited November 9, 2020 by jordan2240
grammar

[llewol007]

Has to start from the golf course. Some course are different than others. Some Muni courses have you check in and thats it. No mention of pace of play, fix your divots on the green and the fairways too. I cant say all Muni course because at Harding park, from check in, they till you expected pace for front nine and back nine and tell you where to refill your sand container if you need more. It is a shame. Funny how you said " influx from all backrounds" like there was just a break through. Thank goodness "they" are allowed to play now???🤪

Edited November 9, 2020 by llewol007

[pktaske]

On 11/7/2020 at 10:21 PM, Soloman1 said:

At the 15,000+ golf courses in the US?

I see a Ranger out actually 'rangering' about 1 in every four or five rounds.

[Divot License]

On 11/7/2020 at 10:36 PM, Soloman1 said:

All these 1,000's of rangers driving around waving at people (but never getting anyone to play faster) should get out of the damn cart and fix ball marks on greens while players are driving/walking to the greens after hitting their second/third shots.

 

This costs nothing, zero, nada and improves the course and experience of the customers.

 

But you'd think you were asking them for loan if you suggest this. The course management look at you like you're nuts and the rangers will want to attack you with a rake.

Our club is interesting as all our marshalls are volunteer members of the club. As it's there club also they do actually seem to make some effort. I've had them rake a bunker for me after my shot to keep play moving, they will ball spot if they see someone driving over a hill etc and yes they have even repaired pitchmarks if they happen to be next to the green and see the balls land. 

 

Ultimately all these acts of kindness are usually an excuse to have a quick chat but they make a difference. 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Jedaigeki

[extrastiff]

L

Edited November 10, 2020 by extrastiff

[FakeClubPro]

I wish golf would become like tennis where tennis courts lie dormant for lack of use.  There are too many snowbirds coming down to Florida this time of year.    Just joking.  They should allow average Joe's to play private courses.

 

Oddly enough about tennis - a pretty extensive study was done on which sports/exercise added the most to a persons life span.  Tennis was the winner.   An Indian guy I know who is a PhD loves tennis.  He said it had everything to help keep people healthy and younger.

[milesgiles]

30 minutes ago, FakeClubPro said:

I wish golf would become like tennis where tennis courts lie dormant for lack of use.  There are too many snowbirds coming down to Florida this time of year.    Just joking.  They should allow average Joe's to play private courses.

 

Oddly enough about tennis - a pretty extensive study was done on which sports/exercise added the most to a persons life span.  Tennis was the winner.   An Indian guy I know who is a PhD loves tennis.  He said it had everything to help keep people healthy and younger.

 

Is that cause or effect? I’d get winded pretty quickly playing tennis, if you can play into your senior years you’d have to be pretty fit, compared to golf anyway