Is there Etiquette for Living on a Course?

[Warrior42111]

Was visiting a friend who lives on a golf course we were right by a tee box enjoying a drink on the patio porch area. A neighbor also was out with friends and their kids I'd guess ages 2-4.

 

There was some type of tournament going on at the course with rules officials and spotters. So kids at that age are going to be kids , I have a 2 year old myself. They were running around having a grand old time.  

 

So my question is, are you suppose to be 'quiet' if you live by a tee box on player playing? I tend to think my house my yard my rules as long as the kids aren't screaming bloody murder. Are there actual HOA rules on this? I know it doesn't bother me at all dogs barking, music, party going etc. if there's a house there. I ask since the wife and I are looking at some houses on a golf course, and being by a tee box is clearly safer for the kid being outside. 

[shankasaurus rex]

I can't imagine there would be an HOA requirement to be quiet for the golfers, and I'd be REALLY reluctant to live anywhere that is a rule. 

[bortass]

Nope but maybe some HOAs have rules about that. My HOA only restricts the type of fencing you can have bordering the course. Leaf blowers/dogs/ loud people are all things you get to deal with when playing next to houses.

 

I will say my limited experience is it's the behavior of golfers that are more of a nuisance. Nothing like listening to a golfer yelling F bombs and other %$&%$&^%$ or taking a leak in plain view when you're sitting outside chilling. One of our courses actually has signs posted on the cart path between 8 and 9 telling golfers to respect homeowners and wait 'til the turn. Kinda sad.

 

Edit - I do know one of our courses has issues with homeowners trespassing. A lot of new development and realtors are telling people they also get access to the course which is false. That's my biggest issue, some homeowner walking on the cart path when we're trying to play but it's very rare. 

Edited February 6 by bortass

[jholz]

There's obviously any number of property owners and golfers (it has to literally be millions, one must image) who successfully manage to either live next to a golf course or play a golf course that lies in close proximity to residences - without serious incident.

But, I also used to house-sit for a couple that had a standing window replacement account with the golf course their property bordered. It was clear that someone needed to rethink the placement of a window.

 

Additionally, I used to play a course in Greeley, CO where a property owner regularly used the course as his son's "daily practice facility." They used to hit hundreds of balls into the greens surrounding their house - like bring a shag bag to the par 3 tee box kind of thing. Totally disrespectful. 

From this, I'm willing to surmise that about 98% of any population will blindly follow reasonable rules. But, most rules have been created to stem the behaviors of a small minority of douchebags - who will probably ignore them anyway. What fun!

 

Welcome to the conundrum of society.  

Edited February 6 by jholz

[Warrior42111]

22 minutes ago, bortass said:

Nope but maybe some HOAs have rules about that. My HOA only restricts the type of fencing you can have bordering the course. Leaf blowers/dogs/ loud people are all things you get to deal with when playing next to houses.

 

I will say my limited experience is it's the behavior of golfers that are more of a nuisance. Nothing like listening to a golfer yelling F bombs and other %$&%$&^%$ or taking a leak in plain view when you're sitting outside chilling. One of our courses actually has signs posted on the cart path between 8 and 9 telling golfers to respect homeowners and wait 'til the turn. Kinda sad.

 

Edit - I do know one of our courses has issues with homeowners trespassing. A lot of new development and realtors are telling people they also get access to the course which is false. That's my biggest issue, some homeowner walking on the cart path when we're trying to play but it's very rare. 

I actually know a few communities that issue trespassing during golf hours. It's a liability issue as I understand it.  Someone walking the path and being struck by a ball, have really no case if they try to sue since they were trespassing. 

[bortass]

Just now, Warrior42111 said:

I actually know a few communities that issue trespassing during golf hours. It's a liability issue as I understand it.  Someone walking the path and being struck by a ball, have really no case if they try to sue since they were trespassing. 

I agree with liability, I've called the pro shop a few times to give them a heads up to try to avoid an accident. Luckily the course I play doesn't have as many issues as our sister course does with it.

[Warrior42111]

10 minutes ago, jholz said:

But, I also used to house-sit for a couple that had a standing window replacement account with the golf course their property bordered. It was clear that someone needed to rethink the placement of a window.

 

 

Yeah if we bought on a course I'd make sure the location was a 'safer' one. One way better for the kid and us being outside. Also, just don't want to deal with replacements etc. Most houses here were built during or after the course so the golfer and course have no liability. 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

Personally, I think Golf Courses are getting to be ridiculous with how close they put houses. The Country Club my FIL is a member of down in Bluffton/Hilton Head, SC has the houses quite far away. Yelling kids wouldn't even phase you. That's acceptable.

Courses around CLT, though? Lining fairways..... up close and personal. If I hit their houses, I feel bad, but it isn't my fault they built a peninsula of houses on a right angle dog leg. Capital STUPID!

But I hate how houses are taking over golf courses. The kids that might be around aren't a problem. It's the nerve of trying to avoid the houses and then duffing the shot. Bleh!

[jholz]

 I've never understood the drive to do both at once - honestly. 

 

Just build houses. 

 

Then, build a golf course. Preferably a nice, internal, walkable one. 

 

When trying to do both - everything and everyone suffers. 

[Pepperturbo]

1 hour ago, Warrior42111 said:

Was visiting a friend who lives on a golf course we were right by a tee box enjoying a drink on the patio porch area. A neighbor also was out with friends and their kids I'd guess ages 2-4.

 

There was some type of tournament going on at the course with rules officials and spotters. So kids at that age are going to be kids , I have a 2 year old myself. They were running around having a grand old time.  

 

So my question is, are you suppose to be 'quiet' if you live by a tee box on player playing? I tend to think my house my yard my rules as long as the kids aren't screaming bloody murder. Are there actual HOA rules on this? I know it doesn't bother me at all dogs barking, music, party going etc. if there's a house there. I ask since the wife and I are looking at some houses on a golf course, and being by a tee box is clearly safer for the kid being outside. 

Yes, residents are supposed to be respectful.  NO, HOA rules that I am aware of regarding how you and children behave while golfers are just off your property; just self-imposed common-sense etiquette.  People buy property on the golf course for the enjoyment it brings, but it comes with responsibility.

 

Even though it's your house, your rules and your kids, you and your children need to respect what goes on when golfers are outside your house.  Otherwise, don't buy on a golf course tee box.  By the way, living off a tee box is the noisiest place.  Best is left fairway 250yds from tee, on Par 5.

 

I lived in a pvt gated community, on a golf course for fifteen + years, two different houses.  I was on the HOA BOD as well as the BOD of the country club.  Also, was raising a youngster that regularly had friends over some times 4-5.  We parents taught our children to be respectful of what's happening on the golf course, outside our property.

 

In both communities, over 70% of the golf course homeowners were not golfers, but some had Social memberships at the club.  We had to educate all residents owning golf course property about golfers on nearby tee boxes and putting greens, and how owners, as well as the golfers, must be respectful.  Neither of my homes or others had yard fences either; fences not allowed unless there was a pool.  FYI: golf courses are not parks for the public enjoyment and walking dogs is in most cases strictly prohibited.

Edited February 6 by Pepperturbo

[third-times-a-charm]

There are no rules but by and large I've never really seen a problem personally from either side. Obviously social media has postings of some heated occasions between homeowners and golfers and etc but I'd wager the majority of the time - like 95% - both groups live in harmony 😂

 

There's always going to be the parents who dont parent well enough and let their kids run free. There's always people on the golf course who treat it like their own personal piece of property. And then there's always golfers thinking they can play a ball and make a divot in someones backyard and there's always the rowdy group of golfers, etc. Both groups can blast music disrespectfully - equally.

 

It's wild to me that any golfer can be liable for a window breaking but thats some weird rules for Northerners that I've never understood.

[StudentGolfer4]

1 hour ago, jholz said:

 I've never understood the drive to do both at once - honestly. 

 

Just build houses. 

 

Then, build a golf course. Preferably a nice, internal, walkable one. 

 

When trying to do both - everything and everyone suffers. 

Presumably the people building courses and communities/neighborhoods are in it to make money. Assuming I want to make money why would I build a golf course at all? I can make way more using that 200 acres and just build a nice subdivision. 
 

I don’t like homes encroaching on a course any more than you do, but it’s a necessary evil a lot of places. The money from selling lots commonly pay for the course to be built and maintained. 

[me05501]

A private course I play frequently has a long, straight par five as its sixteenth hole.

 

Years ago the owner of the course developed a long row of condos with their screened back patios about 10 yards from the right side of the fairway. They literally run from the teeing area all the way down to the second shot landing area.

 

To make matters worse, the fairway is elevated and the rough slopes steeply down toward the condo property. There's not much to keep a ball that starts on the rightmost edge of the fairway from rolling down to within a few feet of this private property. 

 

It's a bad setup all the way around made worse by the fact that the owner of the golf course profited from the construction of the condos.

 

Everyone involved should know better including anyone who might buy a condo 220 yards from the tee box. Of course that doesn't keep them from making smart comments to those of us who sometimes end up having to fetch a ball from their lawns. 

 

It's funny how the people will unload all of their accumulated frustrations onto the one poor guy who ends up down there when they happen to be outside. "All you people do this and that when you oughta do that or this, blah blah blah!" Sorry lady. I can only be responsible for myself. 

[jholz]

33 minutes ago, StudentGolfer4 said:

Presumably the people building courses and communities/neighborhoods are in it to make money. Assuming I want to make money why would I build a golf course at all? I can make way more using that 200 acres and just build a nice subdivision. 
 

I don’t like homes encroaching on a course any more than you do, but it’s a necessary evil a lot of places. The money from selling lots commonly pay for the course to be built and maintained. 

 

American municipalities found a much more elegant and egalitarian solution many, many years ago and produced the types of golf course and residential areas I described. Seems to have been pretty economically viable at the time - and remains so. 

 

The modern approach you describe is only necessitated by the drive to maximize profits.  

[StudentGolfer4]

1 hour ago, jholz said:

 

American municipalities found a much more elegant and egalitarian solution many, many years ago and produced the types of golf course and residential areas I described. Seems to have been pretty economically viable at the time - and remains so. 

 

The modern approach you describe is only necessitated by the drive to maximize profits.  

Times change. The United States use to build walkable cities with public transportation being a focal point. They use to build golf courses that weren’t part of real estate developments. Courses use to be walking only, built my horse and plow, and 6k yards. I would love if smaller walking only courses were the norm but I believe that ships sailed. Much like the type of courses that use to be economically viable. 
 

Each year I look at the list of new courses that open up. The very large majority are A) private, B) some sort of real estate decelopment, or C) destination courses like Sand Valley/Cabot/Pinehurst etc. There is some overlap in there as well. Sand Valley has residential homesites. Pinehurst has thousands of homes and condos associated with it. I believe I read Cabot Citrus will have property owners as well. 2 very nice private clubs opened up in my city recently. Both are very expensive and surrounded by multi million dollar homes. The developer would not have built the course if he wasn’t allowed to build homes on the surround property. 

 

Of course the modern approach is to maximize profits. At times I don’t love it either but that’s the goal of business and the whole idea behind a capitalist economy. 

[LeoLeo99]

Gosh, I remember 40 years ago fighting with a homeowner after I almost plunked his wife with a golf ball.  The wife was sunbathing in her backyard when my wayward drive landed close by. I'm not happy that I hit my ball OB.  Her husband was not happy with me.  Hey, you're adjacent to the golf course and I see your house has about a dozen golf ball dents in the siding.  

The funniest encounter was some residents that let their kids play in the bunkers on a par 3 at a private course.  We shooed them away because of safety reasons.  The parents were right there and must have watched a golf telecast because they called the kids out of the sand and they all stood quiet and still while we hit and gave us all golf claps.  The kids left their Tonka trucks and shovels in the sand went back to playing in the sand after we hit.  They were so polite that I didn't have the heart to say anything to them.

[act0fgod]

5 hours ago, Pepperturbo said:

Best is left fairway 250yds from tee, on Par 5.

Assuming this is a joke, but maybe not because right would have been worse?  I've owned/own 3 houses on courses.  260 left of the 7th tee, on the 12th green and on the 18th tee.  The left at 260 has definitely been the worst in my opinion with people coming in the yard (frequent) and broken windows (only twice in 15 years).

 

4 hours ago, StudentGolfer4 said:

Presumably the people building courses and communities/neighborhoods are in it to make money. Assuming I want to make money why would I build a golf course at all? I can make way more using that 200 acres and just build a nice subdivision. 
 

I don’t like homes encroaching on a course any more than you do, but it’s a necessary evil a lot of places. The money from selling lots commonly pay for the course to be built and maintained. 

 

 

I think you have this a bit backwards.  Courses are often built as part of a housing development to increase the value of the property that is being sold for houses (15-30% increase).  The 15-30% increase more than offsets the decrease in number of buildable lots.  Problem with this setup is when all the houses/lots are sold who takes care of the course.

[Pepperturbo]

42 minutes ago, act0fgod said:

Assuming this is a joke, but maybe not because right would have been worse?  I've owned/own 3 houses on courses.  260 left of the 7th tee, on the 12th green and on the 18th tee.  The left at 260 has definitely been the worst in my opinion with people coming in the yard (frequent) and broken windows (only twice in 15 years).

Worst???

 

At my last two clubs, left at that yardage was typically unreachable by most people; most people fade/slice right; plus most people can't reach Par 5s in two.  One of my houses was hit once by a touring pro from the tee.  My other house was 275 from tee, on left, hit once as well, that's over fifteen years.  Houses off the tee inside 250 on the right get bombarded, presuming they are close to the fairway.

Edited February 6 by Pepperturbo

[StudentGolfer4]

1 hour ago, act0fgod said:

Assuming this is a joke, but maybe not because right would have been worse?  I've owned/own 3 houses on courses.  260 left of the 7th tee, on the 12th green and on the 18th tee.  The left at 260 has definitely been the worst in my opinion with people coming in the yard (frequent) and broken windows (only twice in 15 years).

 

 

 

I think you have this a bit backwards.  Courses are often built as part of a housing development to increase the value of the property that is being sold for houses (15-30% increase).  The 15-30% increase more than offsets the decrease in number of buildable lots.  Problem with this setup is when all the houses/lots are sold who takes care of the course.

Interesting. Maybe it’s different by location. I’m in the Indianapolis area and that is not the case here. There’s a nice club on the north side of town that was built within a housing community in the early to mid 2000s.  In 2010 the course almost went bankrupt and members began writing 6 and 7 figure checks to keep it open. The reason the course had no money is because of the real estate downturn and it was full of empty lots. There are now fewer lots and the course is finally stable. They were also bought by a management company in 2022. 
 

The two newest country clubs to open in the Indianapolis metro area were developed by the same person. I have personally heard him say that money is made off of the residential aspect and not the golf course. For the first of the 2 clubs that opened it was necessary to have X lots at X number of dollars to get funding for the project. 
 

The nicest stand alone clubs in the area are all member owned and do not operate to turn a profit. (There are some tax implications to go 501(C)(7) along with this.)

 

Isn’t there a saying along the lines of, the only person who makes money on a golf course is the third owner? 

[david.c.w]

If I lived on a golf course I would not change anything in my activity or planning to accommodate golfers, unless I agreed to it in an HOA covenant.  That being said, I would be generally proactive if there was something out of the ordinary and try to work with the course if necessary.  If you have to play through my pool party with a DJ and 50 people, sorry.  However I will try to point speakers away from the course instead of right at it.  Like every other situation in life, try to be respectful of your neighbors and environment.  If I had an awesome backyard I would not think twice about hosting a party on Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day.  That being said, I would not host one every weekend.

 

Again, just don't be a jerk.

 

 

[vallygolf]

I would never buy a primary residence on a golf course.  No way.  Played golf recently with a member who lived in the community of the golf course we were playing.  Homes were back a good distance and it is a new community (2 years).  He pointed out his home which was to the side and behind one of the tee boxes.  He has had 4 broken windows.  I didnt see any damage to the house from the tee box where I was standing.  He laughed and said the damage was to the front of his house from a fairway of a hole 100 yards away.  Balls would hit the pavement in the front of his house and rocket into his home.  There really is no safe place in a golf community. 

[Hawkeye77]

On 2/6/2024 at 9:16 AM, Warrior42111 said:

Was visiting a friend who lives on a golf course we were right by a tee box enjoying a drink on the patio porch area. A neighbor also was out with friends and their kids I'd guess ages 2-4.

 

There was some type of tournament going on at the course with rules officials and spotters. So kids at that age are going to be kids , I have a 2 year old myself. They were running around having a grand old time.  

 

So my question is, are you suppose to be 'quiet' if you live by a tee box on player playing? I tend to think my house my yard my rules as long as the kids aren't screaming bloody murder. Are there actual HOA rules on this? I know it doesn't bother me at all dogs barking, music, party going etc. if there's a house there. I ask since the wife and I are looking at some houses on a golf course, and being by a tee box is clearly safer for the kid being outside. 

 

If I lived on a course, the last place I'd live is close to any set of tee boxes - too close meaning I can hear them screwing around and normal activities on our property would reasonably bother someone.  Plus, in addition to the less than desirable view of the course, you have to look at those folks in a concentrated way all the time - no thanks!

 

There are a lot of ways to evaluate safe spots if you want to live on a golf course - and they can be found, but admittedly few and far between in some developments.  But if there is some way a ball can find your yard on the fly (and all sorts of permutations), you may as well assume it will happen.  We don't live on a course but living on one with kids playing in the yard and 1% chance of some yahoo's ball flying at them - we wouldn't have done it for sure.

[Hawkeye77]

And to answer the specific question - I'm enjoying my property, which is not part of the golf course, pretty much as I see fit.  Golfers would get the same respect as my other neighbors, but no way I'm telling the kids to pipe down ordinary kids' playing and yelling and carrying on because some snowflake is preparing to tee off, lol.  If I'm playing on a course next to housing units I don't expect someone to intentionally interfere with my golf (and it's never happened) but I don't expect them to live their lives any differently otherwise.  

[Flashman]

They way I see it is my house my property. Golf course is private property not owned by the HOA. If I don't have the respect of the golfers why should they expect any in return.

[david.c.w]

2 hours ago, Flashman said:

They way I see it is my house my property. Golf course is private property not owned by the HOA. If I don't have the respect of the golfers why should they expect any in return.

 

I agree with the first sentence, but not the second.   Why do you not have the respect of golfers, and why are you not respecting them by default? 

 

Are there jerk golfers?  Yes

Are there jerk homeowners?  Yes

Are most of them jerks?  No

 

Seems like you are looking for a problem.

 

 

[Pepperturbo]

22 hours ago, david.c.w said:

 

I agree with the first sentence, but not the second.   Why do you not have the respect of golfers, and why are you not respecting them by default? 

 

Are there jerk golfers?  Yes

Are there jerk homeowners?  Yes

Are most of them jerks?  No

 

Seems like you are looking for a problem.

 

 

Agree. 

 

Not having respect for others is a recipe for conflict.