Will we see the end of concrete/asphalt cart paths in the next few decades?

[MountainKing]

Just now, Double Mocha Man said:

 

1.  More opportunity to land on the middle-of-fairway cart path and get pro length on your drives.

 

2.  If you put your music in the bottle holder where are you going to put your traveling cocktail???

 

Water bottle goes into the netting under, I don't walk very often but I got it figured out for when I do!  I personally save the cocktails for after the round!

[ruascott]

Our club ditched asphalt paths and replaced them with a crushed granite product that uses some kind of binding polymer. 

 

Big improvement... any ball that hits them just dies in place.... hopefully they hold up.  Something like this 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by ruascott

[Soloman1]

Many golf courses in Japan use a slurry-like material made from old tires that’s poured then hardens into a spongy surface that’s easy on golf balls and deadens the bounce. It’s great around the clubhouse.

 

And there are still courses that are walking only with caddies.

[scomac2002]

48 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

And there are still courses that are walking only with caddies.

 

Now that's the answer.  I've done it twice.  Once in the Dominican and the other time in Venezuela, a long, long time ago...

It's the only way to fly! 😉

[DonatelloNobodie]

Agree Cart paths should run down the center of each hole, not along the sides.  Hitting it dead straight would result in a deserved big bounce forward.  A ball would never bounce off of the path and go OB or into a hazard.  On cart path only days,  walk time to and from the ball would be reduced, resulting in faster rounds.  Distances to the green could be marked on the path.

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

28 minutes ago, DonatelloNobodie said:

Agree Cart paths should run down the center of each hole, not along the sides.  Hitting it dead straight would result in a deserved big bounce forward.  A ball would never bounce off of the path and go OB or into a hazard.  On cart path only days,  walk time to and from the ball would be reduced, resulting in faster rounds.  Distances to the green could be marked on the path.

 

 

If I want to look at concrete straight in front of me I'll take the freeway. 😁

[smashdn]

On 5/18/2022 at 1:00 PM, Warrior42111 said:

concrete will last a lot longer and take more abuse for  less maintenance I assume. 

 

Concrete paths wear down cart tires faster than asphalt.  Little tidbit from Golf Course Management class from college.

[smashdn]

15 hours ago, ruascott said:

Our club ditched asphalt paths and replaced them with a crushed granite product that uses some kind of binding polymer. 

 

Big improvement... any ball that hits them just dies in place.... hopefully they hold up.  Something like this 

 

 

That's a classy look too.

 

Local private course has paths that end at the start of the fairway.  You then scatter the cart traffic through the fairway.  Path picks back up somewhere around the green.  Most par threes have a full length path.

[Argonne69]

1 hour ago, smashdn said:

 

That's a classy look too.

 

Local private course has paths that end at the start of the fairway.  You then scatter the cart traffic through the fairway.  Path picks back up somewhere around the green.  Most par threes have a full length path.

 

That works great for private courses. They have the member's money regardless of whether they're playing or not. Most public courses depend on the cart paths for revenue. Whether it's the cart fees, or simply the rounds played when the weather doesn't allow carts on the fairways (CPO), contiguous paths are a necessity. I know of several public courses that had no choice but to extend the paths throughout the course. Simply too many missed rounds when it was walking only. 

 

 

[Double Mocha Man]

2 hours ago, smashdn said:

Concrete paths wear down cart tires faster than asphalt.

 

Especially the way I drive a cart.  😀

[eagle2838]

19 hours ago, Argonne69 said:

 

That works great for private courses. They have the member's money regardless of whether they're playing or not. Most public courses depend on the cart paths for revenue. Whether it's the cart fees, or simply the rounds played when the weather doesn't allow carts on the fairways (CPO), contiguous paths are a necessity. I know of several public courses that had no choice but to extend the paths throughout the course. Simply too many missed rounds when it was walking only. 

 

 

 

For public, no question that continuous paths are needed both for allowing play on CPO days as well as serving clientele that is going to be majority riding unless you're a destination resort. I am a fan neither of cart paths nor riding in general, but this is the reality and riding does have a place in golf for those who prefer it. 

 

I'm pretty torn on the concrete/asphalt vs. sand/gravel debate, sand/gravel looks nicer if maintained and it impacts play less, but it also definitely requires more frequent maintenance and the dust can also be a real issue. When not maintained, a potholed or washboarded gravel path is a nightmare to drive on and also really loud for surrounding players. 

 

At our private, majority walking club we replaced a lot of our crushed stone paths with sod a few years ago and also paved over some problematic high-traffic gravel ones to combat dust and frequent maintenance needs. This has worked well for us, but would not be viable for a public course or one where carts were used by more than 25% of golfers. I love the idea of the crushed stone + binder (presumably Klingstone or something similar) idea @ruascott noted above for courses like ours, but also not really an option for most public tracks. 

[vandyfan]

On 5/20/2022 at 6:50 PM, MountainKing said:

it would speed up cart path only and you wouldn't have to worry about landing on one that results in the ball going in a hazard or OB.

 

It would be an eyesore but I cannot argue with your logic. A cartpath down the middle makes sense for numerous reasons, the one you mentioned AND when it is cart path only you have 1/2 as far to walk in many cases. Again, I mostly walk but it is most frustrating when you miss a green 5 yards left and hit the CP and bounce OB. That absolutely sucks. 

[mallrat]

On 5/23/2022 at 5:08 AM, DonatelloNobodie said:

Agree Cart paths should run down the center of each hole, not along the sides.  Hitting it dead straight would result in a deserved big bounce forward.  A ball would never bounce off of the path and go OB or into a hazard.  On cart path only days,  walk time to and from the ball would be reduced, resulting in faster rounds.  Distances to the green could be marked on the path.

 

 

Reminds me of an old joke among greenskeepers. 
 

“what’s the safest place on a golf course?”

 

right next to the flag stick

[Nels55]

On 5/23/2022 at 5:08 AM, DonatelloNobodie said:

Agree Cart paths should run down the center of each hole, not along the sides.  Hitting it dead straight would result in a deserved big bounce forward.  A ball would never bounce off of the path and go OB or into a hazard.  On cart path only days,  walk time to and from the ball would be reduced, resulting in faster rounds.  Distances to the green could be marked on the path.

 

 

Uh, no...  It's bad enough scuffing up balls on paths to the side of the fairway, hitting a perfect shot down the middle and ruining a ball would be really annoying.  Not to mention trying to lay up short of water or what have you and having the ball hit the path and go too far into the penalty area.  LOL I hate cart paths but putting them in the middle of the fairway would not be such a good idea. 

[jibbs1082]

Aesthetically zero paths and properly maintained rough on a private course.

 

Public's need paths even though they look terrible. Until you have played a course with ZERO cart paths of any sort, you don't realize how visual the difference is. Courses that utilize sand/gravel of some sort that blends in with the landscape is ideal... but nothing is worse than dry dust kicking up - and as mentioned, pot holes. Paving asphalt is probably a larger upfront cost but less to maintain over 10 years unless the club is a dog track and doesn't maintain their gravel paths.

 

[kobe123]

On 5/18/2022 at 3:26 PM, Mustard_Tiger said:

People blasting music on the course is way worse than cart paths. Neither is going away, though.

 

Let me guess, you don't like hoodies on the course either? You'd hate Whisper Rock and a ton of good players play there.

[Wham49]

unfortunately I see more of that coming

 

the music thing, I dont mind as long as it is at a personal volume level, if I walk up to you and I can hear it, then walk away and 10 feet away cant hear it, I'm cool with it

[MountainKing]

22 hours ago, blackbdmillsaps said:

 

It would be an eyesore but I cannot argue with your logic. A cartpath down the middle makes sense for numerous reasons, the one you mentioned AND when it is cart path only you have 1/2 as far to walk in many cases. Again, I mostly walk but it is most frustrating when you miss a green 5 yards left and hit the CP and bounce OB. That absolutely sucks. 

It would be a total eyesore, but one I'm willing to put up with to improve pace on CPO days and decrease those awful bounces you get on the path that throw the ball in a bad place or a hazard.  Or maybe not even that extreme, just have the path cross the fairway at some pont like you see on a lot of holes.   

[PNWGuy]

Why does almost every thread include a complaint about loud music? 

Edited May 25, 2022 by PNWGuy

[ChipStrokes]

Just now, PNWGuy said:

Why does almost every thread include a negative allusion to loud music? 

grumpy old men love to complain, and now they have access to the internet.

[Double Mocha Man]

21 minutes ago, PNWGuy said:

Why does almost every thread include a complaint about loud music? 

 

So what's on your boom box?

[Warrior42111]

14 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

 

So what's on your boom box?

Get off by lawn by the Boomers

[Nels55]

55 minutes ago, Warrior42111 said:

Get off by lawn by the Boomers

 

[smashdn]

On 5/22/2022 at 9:57 PM, Soloman1 said:

Many golf courses in Japan use a slurry-like material made from old tires that’s poured then hardens into a spongy surface that’s easy on golf balls and deadens the bounce. It’s great around the clubhouse.

 

And there are still courses that are walking only with caddies.

 

That is how they make those rubbery feeling running tracks.  I worked at a rubber component manufacturer and we would ship our cured runners and flash to a company in Ohio to grind and re-process into either crumb rubber for turf athletic fields or integrate into the running track.

 

On 5/25/2022 at 12:10 PM, PNWGuy said:

Why does almost every thread include a complaint about loud music? 

 

With the exception of the person playing the music, it is generally not well received.  You have a large segment who doesn't want to hear the music on the course and another that probably doesn't want to hear the music you want to hear on the course.  I don't see many golfers, even those who choose to listen to music, who condone playing it loudly on the course.

 

One of the least enjoyable rounds on the course was made that way due to the contribution of music that was both inappropriate for the company and at a volume magnitudes beyond excessive.  Long story short, you don't blast gangster rap from your cart in a mixed sexes scramble.  Especially after the lady has informed you she doesn't appreciate the lyrics.

Edited May 27, 2022 by smashdn

[Subsonic]

Cart paths are necessary, but there has to be a better solution than asphalt or concrete.  They almost always turn into bumpy pot hole ridden messes around here and courses cannot afford to repair them.  
 

It seems to me that sand or gravel with high traffic areas in asphalt or concrete works better.  I have played a few courses with that setup and it seemed to work better. 

[Argonne69]

5 hours ago, Subsonic said:

Cart paths are necessary, but there has to be a better solution than asphalt or concrete.  They almost always turn into bumpy pot hole ridden messes around here and courses cannot afford to repair them.  
 

It seems to me that sand or gravel with high traffic areas in asphalt or concrete works better.  I have played a few courses with that setup and it seemed to work better. 

 

The course I played yesterday had packed sand paths. A little rough in spots, but certainly no worse than the worst asphalt paths I've run across. Certainly looks a lot better than endless sea of concrete or asphalt. 

 

[PNWGuy]

On 5/27/2022 at 7:38 AM, smashdn said:

 

That is how they make those rubbery feeling running tracks.  I worked at a rubber component manufacturer and we would ship our cured runners and flash to a company in Ohio to grind and re-process into either crumb rubber for turf athletic fields or integrate into the running track.

 

 

With the exception of the person playing the music, it is generally not well received.  You have a large segment who doesn't want to hear the music on the course and another that probably doesn't want to hear the music you want to hear on the course.  I don't see many golfers, even those who choose to listen to music, who condone playing it loudly on the course.

 

One of the least enjoyable rounds on the course was made that way due to the contribution of music that was both inappropriate for the company and at a volume magnitudes beyond excessive.  Long story short, you don't blast gangster rap from your cart in a mixed sexes scramble.  Especially after the lady has informed you she doesn't appreciate the lyrics.

 

Regarding my comment...  I totally understand where you are coming from.  I was asking why comments about music on the course show as non-sequiturs to the original topic.  I'm not sure how music on the course relates to cart paths.  I guess it is on people's minds.

 

I can totally see a blades vs. cavity backs or denim on course post on the horizon.

[Double Mocha Man]

49 minutes ago, PNWGuy said:

 

Regarding my comment...  I totally understand where you are coming from.  I was asking why comments about music on the course show as non-sequiturs to the original topic.  I'm not sure how music on the course relates to cart paths.  I guess it is on people's minds.

 

I can totally see a blades vs. cavity backs or denim on course post on the horizon.

 

I just think folks want to go off topic, get their non-sequitur in on their pet peeves, when and where they can.

 

Now, about those Levis on the cart path...

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by Double Mocha Man

[soregongolfer]

Depends on whether or not we get hovercrafts in the next few decades.

[Golferpaul]

On 5/18/2022 at 12:50 PM, blackbdmillsaps said:

Cart paths are terrible. Straight up. They almost never "help" you and for every time you get an added 30 yards on your drive from hitting the cart path, ......

 

 

I've played courses for decades with cart paths and my guess is that I hit a path less than one time out of 100 rounds of golf, or one out of 1800 tee shots.  So, I think this problem should go to the bottom of the list of golf course issues.