Update: pics of goat track course VS. nicer course

[Jackal 141]

This post is really just a follow up to my other about " Do you score better and nicer courses".

I am just referring to this course compared to a course that is maintained with mowing, has grass everywhere needed, greens and fringe are maintained.

With smooth greens that don't bounce.

 

[Tom the Golf Nut 2,110]

This was the saddest course I have ever seen. I don't know how anyone could score well on this course. I'm not sure if I would play there even if it was free using one of my old set of clubs. But I could definitely see a 250 yard drive rolling out to 400.

But for sure you would score better on a nicer course.

[Rickp 20,453]

We had one near us similar in CT years ago. It was a local Farmers Hobby.
Actually it was in better shape. Great for beginners and kids.


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[Jackal 141]

1 hour ago, Rickp said:

We had one near us similar in CT years ago. It was a local Farmers Hobby.
Actually it was in better shape. Great for beginners and kids.


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That's what I consider this one.

It was brought up a few weeks ago, and someone told me that a pro or scratch golfer could really tear this course up.

We started wondering, because in a scramble tournament 2 months ago, a guy brought his cousin from the Korn Ferry tour to play.

Their team won with a -22 under par, but we had a -17 under.

They said the guy would hit a great shot that would land in front of the green, then bounce 50 foot high, and go over the green.

 He was like " What the heck??".

Edited October 16, 2020 by Jackal

[edingc 7,174]

5 hours ago, russtopherb said:

Let's not be so quick to diminish courses that are still operating and people can learn to play the game on. It's easy for us in this region that's littered with decent courses, but it's not so easy for a lot of other golfers and potential golfers. 

This one looks very similar to one in our area that has recently gone further downhill than it had been in recent memory. It was never a nice course, but it was short, relatively open, flat and had very small greens. A great place to learn the game on. They recently jacked the prices up while the quality went down, and tried to sell to a developer before the local residents stepped in to stop that (already a very busy area, they didn't want more traffic.) I'd be sad to see it go, but at the same time I can't justify paying much more than a dollar per hole if all of your greens are dried out and the last four holes are unplayable all year due to drainage.

There is a ton of work that goes into keeping a golf course in decent shape. While high school is in session, my course has two full-time employees only, the owner and his buddy. Such a tough gig - I'm thankful he had a good year with all of the renewed interest in golf because I was seriously concerned he might not make it much longer. Thankfully, he's young and built a sleeping room in the old locker room area so that he can basically live at the course when necessary, but the guy has a wife and couple young kids at home, too. Just a very stressful and tiring job. He's made so much progress in three years though, so I hope he keeps it up.

[Jackal 141]

52 minutes ago, edingc said:

This one looks very similar to one in our area that has recently gone further downhill than it had been in recent memory. It was never a nice course, but it was short, relatively open, flat and had very small greens. A great place to learn the game on. They recently jacked the prices up while the quality went down, and tried to sell to a developer before the local residents stepped in to stop that (already a very busy area, they didn't want more traffic.) I'd be sad to see it go, but at the same time I can't justify paying much more than a dollar per hole if all of your greens are dried out and the last four holes are unplayable all year due to drainage.

There is a ton of work that goes into keeping a golf course in decent shape. While high school is in session, my course has two full-time employees only, the owner and his buddy. Such a tough gig - I'm thankful he had a good year with all of the renewed interest in golf because I was seriously concerned he might not make it much longer. Thankfully, he's young and built a sleeping room in the old locker room area so that he can basically live at the course when necessary, but the guy has a wife and couple young kids at home, too. Just a very stressful and tiring job. He's made so much progress in three years though, so I hope he keeps it up.

That is a great story.

Thanks for sharing.

This owner doesn't work at the course.

If they get real busy, he'll run the register.

He has owned it for 18 years.

They won't water any fairways or tee boxes.

They recently started charging for just passengers on carts. ( If a non-playing spouse, or a Mom wants to take her kid to play golf.)

Owner won't update to a modern aerator.

Still using the plug machine on greens.

It leaves holes big enough to stick your finger in.

Then, they sand it and pull a chain link fence over the top.

After this aeration????? It takes about 2 months to recover.

The maintenace crew would like to do more.

One of the workers Dad offered to let him use a backhoe and dozer for free, just pay for fuel.

I guess as long as he makes money.

 We've had a really wet summer up until 3 weeks ago.

I should have taken pics when it was green.

The dirt spots showed up a lot better.

Edited October 16, 2020 by Jackal

[Shapotomous 1,030]

That looks a lot like the course I joined this year....for $200.....for a 2 year membership.....that I can then walk for FREE in the evenings when its not too crowded.  As mentioned above its like walking a driving range and is good enough for me to use for cheap practice golf.  I just move my ball to a grass patch in the rough or fairway and play from there....unless I want to practice hardpan lies!!  See, there are some advantages.... if most of you all wanted to practice hardpan lies you'd have to put the ball on the cart path!   

I put some pics of it in another thread...Can a Pro Handle Your Course Playing Conditions (or something like that)

[Kenny B 23,011]

8 hours ago, Jackal said:

 

1st of year, we'll join the other course thats opening back up.

Don't know where you live, but you might want to check out joining the other course now.  Many courses in my area will let you join in Oct for next year, so you get to play the rest of this year for free.  

[BIG STU 7,095]

18 hours ago, Jackal said:

Random places in the fairway. Dirt only, and it is so hard you couldn't dig with a pick & shovel.

Actually my type of course especially if it is cheap. A course like that is a hoot to play with vintage equipment. And my vintage equipment is not pristine so a few more dings and dents ain't going to hurt anything. And I would love hitting my little chest high (now) cut 1 iron on those hard fairways

Edited October 16, 2020 by BIG STU

[Tom the Golf Nut 2,110]

3 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Actually my type of course especially if it is cheap. A course like that is a hoot to play with vintage equipment.

Big Stu, your a better man than I am. I am spoiled with my wife working for a private Robert Trent Jones course. I don't think I could conciously put a tee in the ground. That is if I could. The ground looks pretty hard.

[Jackal 141]

4 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Don't know where you live, but you might want to check out joining the other course now.  Many courses in my area will let you join in Oct for next year, so you get to play the rest of this year for free.  

They haven't quite got it playable yet, but I'll ask about that.

With the past owners, they only took membership sign -ups during January & Feb.

Don't know why.

I'll start checking.

Thanks for that info.

[Jackal 141]

4 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Actually my type of course especially if it is cheap. A course like that is a hoot to play with vintage equipment. And my vintage equipment is not pristine so a few more dings and dents ain't going to hurt anything. And I would love hitting my little chest high (now) cut 1 iron on those hard fairways

With the right frame of mind, it's a blast.

[revkev 21,992]

In all seriousness that's what Bethpage Black looked like when I played there in the mid 70's, for real!  If you can imagine it for anyone who has played there since it was fixed up - with those slopes around the greens?  Bare dirt - you'd miss a green and end up 40 or 50 yards in some sort of ridiculous lie and no way to get it on the green.  And the tees required a nail and a hammer to get tee into the ground.  

And you had to wait in the parking lot for several hours playing cards before you would tee off. 

Glad those days are behind me, hope they will be soon for you. 

[BIG STU 7,095]

7 hours ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

Big Stu, your a better man than I am. I am spoiled with my wife working for a private Robert Trent Jones course. I don't think I could conciously put a tee in the ground. That is if I could. The ground looks pretty hard.

This is no joke I played a course one time where the regulars actually carried tack hammers to put the tee in the ground. One of my playing partners graciously let me use his hammer

[ejgaudette 857]

This looks not too disimmilar from the course closet to me. It's a realtivley open track and we have had a drought here in NH making it worse. Not all the clubs fault though they are in a flood plain and as such they cannot do certain work and bring in material. The course is slowly getting worse it seems. The only other option is very nice but is 100 a round which is more than double this course. The next courses are at least 35 out. Still can be fun, I just am liberal with ground under repair when needed to enjoy the round more.

[toehold57 648]

If you can play there, you can play anywhere...

It’s a place to have fun, not get serious on.  Play winter rules, give yourself a good lie and swing away!  Laugh, have some fun!

 

Remember golf started in fields, not manicured lawns

[Tom the Golf Nut 2,110]

17 hours ago, revkev said:

In all seriousness that's what Bethpage Black looked like when I played there in the mid 70's, for real!  If you can imagine it for anyone who has played there since it was fixed up - with those slopes around the greens?  Bare dirt - you'd miss a green and end up 40 or 50 yards in some sort of ridiculous lie and no way to get it on the green.  And the tees required a nail and a hammer to get tee into the ground.  

And you had to wait in the parking lot for several hours playing cards before you would tee off. 

Glad those days are behind me, hope they will be soon for you. 

I grew up on Long Island, lived there for 35 years. I played all the courses at Bethpage tons of times during the 80's and 90's. It was $22 to play the black, and as you stated it was rough ( both the course and the condition. Then the PGA comes to town and now its $140+.  Now its so popular you never get on. Glad Im not on line at 3am anymore.

We used a Phillips screwdriver to make a hole for the tee!

[Rickp 20,453]

Interesting, I was under the assumption Bethpage was always the well kept course.
What we did to get on Bethpage was one of the guys kept calling the course (weekdays) and look for cancellations which there were many. This was the day before so we had to be ready to skip work the next day.


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[Tom the Golf Nut 2,110]

3 hours ago, Rickp said:

Interesting, I was under the assumption Bethpage was always the well kept course.
What we did to get on Bethpage was one of the guys kept calling the course (weekdays) and look for cancellations which there were many. This was the day before so we had to be ready to skip work the next day.


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Bethpage has five 18 hole courses. All were kept in good condition except for the black back in the day.  The yellow course was always a little iffy because it was the easiest. It received a lot of beginner play. It was difficult to get on most of the courses due to the volume of players. Nobody wanted to play the black. Difficult course, hilly, and you had to walk it. So usually it was easier to get on.  I liked the red course the best. It was similar to the black. 

[Rickp 20,453]

Bethpage has five 18 hole courses. All were kept in good condition except for the black back in the day.  The yellow course was always a little iffy because it was the easiest. It received a lot of beginner play. It was difficult to get on most of the courses due to the volume of players. Nobody wanted to play the black. Difficult course, hilly, and you had to walk it. So usually it was easier to get on.  I liked the red course the best. It was similar to the black. 

Black is definitely nasty. We also played Green a couple times, all we could get.
I think 2 of the guys just liked to have dinner/drinks on way back home.


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