Do you respect the grounds crew?

[gvogel]

[quote name='Jimmy Mac' date='11 June 2010 - 12:20 PM' timestamp='1276273209' post='2502945']
I've always looked at the grounds crew as a measure of the quality of management at a course.

Some courses I play, they all stop working, shut off their engines and scurry off behind trees or at least keep a good eye on the hitting groups. Very classy and respectful.

On other courses, they just keep on mowing right down the fairway and pay no attention to the golfers. As if we are inconveniencing them. Which is likely true, but we're also the paying customers.[b] I fully understand if they want to finish up a directional swath that they're mowing, but when they double back to go cross the fairway again,[/b] it does get annoying. So then I'm up there trying not only to judge my swing for the given shot, but also trying to guess how much I need to lead a shot to miss the guy on the lawnmower. I never, never, never want to hit a ball toward anyone.

To me this behavior from a grounds crew means they've forgotten who the customer is, it's just poor service. Not unlike going to a restaurant and having the busboy swipe your plate when your only half done with your meal. It just means the management hasn't done a good job of explaining to the crew how they should act on the course.

I've also had a mower run over my ball in the rough. Couldn't really blame the guy as he had just come over from another hole and didn't see where I had hit and the ball was sitting down. It gouged the cover and moved it a few feet, no exciting bullet-like launch, I just dropped a new ball and went on with my round.
[/quote]
I was just finishing my first directional, and turning - probably would have seen the guy on the tee.

At least you know the score.

[gvogel]

[quote name='Enfield303' date='11 June 2010 - 06:57 AM' timestamp='1276253822' post='2502486']
In the UK most greenkeepers are workshy lay-abouts. So we tend to actually aim for them with tee shots .
[/quote]

That was a great post - now I have to contemplate whether I am a workshy lay-about! (Ouch - maybe i am.)

[mdgboxx]

Since dufusses are part of Golf, (we tried everything to exterminate them but regretably failed) I guess personal safety is part of your responsibility. Had you been wearing a hardhat you would prevent a concussion or even losing an eye and you would have saved your precious Oakleys since they don't fit over the hat. That said, he is still a dork! But YOU'RE the one that got hurt.

[mlp]

What idiots hitting golf balls at/near people. I don't particularly like waiting for grounds crews but I never EVER hit a ball near any person if there is even a 1/100 chance of me hitting them.

[eyeguy]

Interesting I saw this post today since I almost hit a guy as he was mowing the green this morning. I had waited about 2 to 3 minutes for him to finish up and he had placed the flag back into the hole and was walking off. After I hit my wedge, I noticed he started mowing the back of the green again. Of course the ball went right at him. Not sure if my ball hit close and back spun or whether it hit the mower, but it surprised and scared him enough to make him jump. My ball backed up to 6 ft from the hole. I thanked him for the assist and made my birdie. He wasn't put off by it and was smiling when I asked if he was all right. What I have seen is these guys work in this environment and after a while, they kind of become de-sensitized to the inherent dangers of a golf ball in flight. I would never hit a ball onto a green or fairway when another player is within range, but somehow, I don't have the same concern if it is a groundskeeper as long as they know I'm coming. Probably wrong line of thought, but we should probably all re-evaluate our options in these situations especially after reading what happened to the OP. Seriously, you could have died out there.

[gvogel]

AFter yesterday's incident, I have been quite gun shy. I have made a commitment to moving way off the fair way when a group is hitting. Way off.

Much to my chagrin, I have found that I am a ball magnet. When players don't want to hit me, they steer the ball, resulting in a shot that lands very close, or passes me by very close.

I now know that when players see a tractor up the fairway, they really don't want to hit near it. But, golf being golf, in their attempt to steer clear of the tractor, their swing directs the ball straight towards me! That's golf - the great game of opposites, as my Dad used to say.

I hate to ruin their hole, but golfers can't help but to hit at the fairway guy, even when he is 20 yards in the rough. Most golfers, anyway. I actually feel sorry for them.

But, I don't feel sorry for a player that reloads when the fairway cutter guy resumes cutting the fairway; that guy should count to 10, and wait until the fairway guy sees that he is going to hit again, and move out of the way.

[bear]

"Do you respect the grounds crew?"

Yes.


"Do you ever hit a ball when a maintenance worker is working within the possible flight of your shot, and not looking at you?"

No.

[puttapotomus]

At the course(resort) I am a Starter at we explain to every group not to hit into the maint. crews. If they do, and the crew calls the Pro Shop, the group will be escorted off the course with no refund.

[avgjoe]

did they not yell "fore!"?
if so, that's f'ed up...

[Skaffa77]

Wow dude! That's messed-up. Sorry. I don't think I've ever had the inclination to hit a shot when grounds crew are potentially in my line of flight. The grounds crew I've met are mostly all nice folks and they enjoy having a conversation with a fellow golfer. Most of them remind me of how my father would be if he worked at a golf course.

As far as respect...I respect those who deserve it. All people deserve respect from the start, a few lose it by their actions or words.

[electroleum]

Members of a grounds crew should at least be smart enough to realize that if they are on course, they are at risk of being hit (which you obviously are). As such, they should be constantly aware of their surroundings and keeping their eyes open for golfers nearby (which you obviously did).

Now here's how I view these situations. When I approach an area where grounds crews are working, I will give them a few moments to notice me and take appropriate action, and maybe give them a quick whistle or holler to get their attention. If after a short while they don't seem to care about moving out of the way, or if they're not paying any attention, then that's their problem not mine.

In your case, you gave them the courtesy of noticing them and moving aside on your mower to let them hit...so they should have given you the courtesy of making sure you were aware that someone was hitting a second ball. If you had just kept on mowing without getting out of their way to begin with, then I would have said you had it coming.

[Socrates]

Extremely lucky to be around to start the thread. A number of years ago, one of the grounds crew was hand watering a green and took a golf ball (from about 200 yds out) right in the nads. No warning given. He was hospitalized for a few days (almost lost his testicles) and missed a month of work.

If I have to wait even several minutes to get their attention, I wait until they know that I am there and they are watching or have moved out of the way.

The OP should send a note to Oakley and let them know they might have saved his life. Maybe they will send him a replacement.

[eyeguy]

Just heard today, one of our cart girls quit because she got bonked in the head with a ball... so remember to also respect the cart gals too!

[golfortennis]

As a dew-sweeper, I deal with this issue all of the time. I have to echo the person who talked about the maintenance crew's behavior in this situation being very reflective of the course.

I always make sure the grounds crew knows I am there before I hit a shot. If they don't wave back to me, I don't hit. It was funny in Florida how the course workers seemed to expect us to hit. A starter actually told us the crew is supposed to fend for themselves. Well, I'm not about to play that game. The few minutes is not worth having to deal with the alternative.

[6keith]

Funny comment about the ball picker cart guy. As a kid and one who worked on the course we always tried to hit the cage as it really scares the s**t out of you when it happens. I really got pretty good at it hitting a 1 iron.

Now as an adult I am always concious of the grounds crew and try to make certain they are either moved out of play or watching before hitting. At our club we have more people working at all times than any other course I have played (traveled for 22 yrs and played courses all over the country with clients). Our crews are really aware of players around, shut down gear until we play thru etc.

[bermuda]

[quote name='Johnny' date='11 June 2010 - 01:31 AM' timestamp='1276234310' post='2502379']

I would actually prefer them to keep going, then stopping during my swing.
[/quote]

This is what our superintendent told us at the course I worked at in college, and I heard an expert being interviewed on the radio the other day who said such noises become background "white noise." With course budgets being squeezed, I don't see how you could have it any other way. To pull off the hole, turn off equipment and wait while people take 10 minutes to putt wastes too much time.

And you don't want the course workers being too courteous. Once, one of my co-workers, while hand-watering a green, thought he would help a group of women by bending over to fix their ballmarks. He lost track of where his 3/4-inch hose was pointing (OK, that could be interpreted a couple of ways) and doused one of them with water.

[Bonneville85308]

I do, for the most part. Except for one guy at my club. It's not a written policy, but it's customary for the workers to pull their machines off to the side or behind trees and idle them when a group is playing the hole. But we've got this guy who will look you straight in the eye and keep on mowing, often holding up the group on the tee for 5 minutes while he finishes. Then he'll follow you to the next hole and do the same thing. Quite annoying. Still, I would never intentionally hit a ball towards him, I just wait.

[larrybud]

[quote name='sean_miller' date='11 June 2010 - 12:35 AM' timestamp='1276230951' post='2502323']
We have more respect for them than they have for us. Nothing like being followed for 18 holes by a guy with a chainsaw/edger/mower and having the guy not even skip a beat while trying to putt or tee off. Dude - at least let it idle.
[/quote]
What drives me nuts is that greens crews sometimes start on 1 and work their way through 18, thus being followed. Why not start on 18 and work backwards, so you only interrupt a group once?

[larrybud]

[quote name='avgjoe' date='14 June 2010 - 11:14 AM' timestamp='1276528494' post='2507974']
did they not yell "fore!"?
if so, that's f'ed up...
[/quote]
He was on a mower, would not have heard it. Can't make the assumption they didn't yell.

[mshills]

[quote name='larrybud' date='18 June 2010 - 11:00 PM' timestamp='1276916408' post='2518745']
[quote name='sean_miller' date='11 June 2010 - 12:35 AM' timestamp='1276230951' post='2502323']
We have more respect for them than they have for us. Nothing like being followed for 18 holes by a guy with a chainsaw/edger/mower and having the guy not even skip a beat while trying to putt or tee off. Dude - at least let it idle.
[/quote]
What drives me nuts is that greens crews sometimes start on 1 and work their way through 18, thus being followed. Why not start on 18 and work backwards, so you only interrupt a group once?
[/quote]

Exactly - I cannot understand when I play and encounter regular old course mowing. Granted it was some years ago, but on every course where I once worked, we would ALWAYS have the mowing done by the time play started. The only way you'd come across the mowing was to tee off as a single at 6:30 AM and play "speed golf." Then you'd be sure to catch one of the mowing crews, but regular foursomes starting at 7AM would never, ever run into the mowers.

I'd never hit without getting the attention of the mowing crew, but most of the time they'll wave me on up, which always makes me uncomfortable. Even if they know it's coming, I just don't like hitting into ANYONE - whether a mowing crew, landscaping crew, other golfers, bev cart girl, ranger, it does not matter.