Shag bag guy on the practice green.......

[pbclub]

What does the group think about "Shag bag guy" and his cousin "Half bucket of range balls guy" who show up to the practice green and proceed to drop 40 or so balls onto the green while others are practicing? Does it bother you when this guy has balls all over the green while you are trying to chip/putt? Or no? Range ball guy also just leaves his balls there when he is done. Not in the bucket but all over. When asked why he does this he says "So others can use them for free". Of course, most people are polite and dont use stuff that does not belong to them, so the balls sit there until the mowers or another employee have to stop what they are doing and pick up 40 golf balls all over the place. Is this common? I find it rude and selfish, but maybe I am too sensitive lol. Opinions?

[NM01]

Unless someone has bad technique and can shank a chip or pitch shot I don’t care what their doing.

Its wasted energy to worry or concern myself with stuff I can’t control 

[cnosil]

In my opinion it depends on how many people are using the green.  If I am there by myself I'll use a bucket/shag bag and if someone shows up I'll scale back to a handful of balls or play to a single hole.   Don't care if they leave balls on the green, happens on some of the courses I play.  

[goaliedad30]

Pre-round, I use just a handful of balls, and find a hole no one is using to chip to. I can vary trajectory as needed to practice what I want, and even just chip to a spot on the green instead of a hole.

When I'm working in practice mode, I may use 10-15 balls at a time, either to a single target (block practice), or to various targets (game practice). Either way, when I'm done, I clear off the entire practice green (at least the balls I've been working with).

Our dedicated short game area has balls already in shag bags, so everyone hits what they need, then shags them and puts the bag back for the next person.

[ShimmyCocoBop]

I like golf because most of the time, players are courteous to one another and courtesy in contagious.

It's a "gentleman's game".

Sounds like Shag Bag Guy thinks he is doing something nice for others by leaving his balls behind. 

[Rob Person]

Working at the course, and sometimes having range duties, I don't mind. From our ball dispenser up to the range area is about 50 yards, so most won't see the left behinds. If after 3 or 4 people pass by them and move to a different stand then the "free balls" I sometimes will grab a wedge from the storage area and knock them onto the range. If we are busy, I leave them and mention to a random person where there are some extras laying up there nobody is using.

 

As for the chipping area, a person hitting 30 balls is normal, and we would rather they shag bag them versus walking up and club swatting them back down. Seen too many times a stray ball get knocked into another area and left. Plus some are careless and have chucked the club into the green. Our chipping area is cut and rolled just like the course greens so maintaining its integrity is key.

As for putting areas, we don't allow chipping onto them, and unless you are doing ladder or circle drills, 6 balls is usually the norm to see people practicing with. 

[Fore67]

17 hours ago, pbclub said:

What does the group think about "Shag bag guy" and his cousin "Half bucket of range balls guy" who show up to the practice green and proceed to drop 40 or so balls onto the green while others are practicing? Does it bother you when this guy has balls all over the green while you are trying to chip/putt? Or no? Range ball guy also just leaves his balls there when he is done. Not in the bucket but all over. When asked why he does this he says "So others can use them for free". Of course, most people are polite and dont use stuff that does not belong to them, so the balls sit there until the mowers or another employee have to stop what they are doing and pick up 40 golf balls all over the place. Is this common? I find it rude and selfish, but maybe I am too sensitive lol. Opinions?

Not too sensitive at all. I agree with you wholeheartedly!

This is entirely inappropriate behaviour! Most people who are warming up or even practicing have a little more sensitivity to the situation. When warming up, I take either 1 or 2 balls and work through some drills. When practicing I change to 3 balls and concentrate my activity to one hole. 

For anyone to use their shag bag or a half bucket of balls is ridiculous. They will be putting into balls that are around the hole more often than making putts. If they fill the cup with balls, no more can go in anyway. If they hit balls to all the holes they are just being a nuisance and have disregard for other players. If they leave the balls on the green, they are disrespecting those who have to follow behind to clean up after them. Range guy clearly doesn't know about golf. Most range balls won't give you much feel on the putting green and practice with them would be like not practicing at all! 

If I spot guys like these, it's a great education experience for me to explain to them the reasons why the shouldn't do it! 

FORE!

Mike

[Josh Parker]

18 hours ago, pbclub said:

What does the group think about "Shag bag guy" and his cousin "Half bucket of range balls guy" who show up to the practice green and proceed to drop 40 or so balls onto the green while others are practicing? Does it bother you when this guy has balls all over the green while you are trying to chip/putt? Or no? Range ball guy also just leaves his balls there when he is done. Not in the bucket but all over. When asked why he does this he says "So others can use them for free". Of course, most people are polite and dont use stuff that does not belong to them, so the balls sit there until the mowers or another employee have to stop what they are doing and pick up 40 golf balls all over the place. Is this common? I find it rude and selfish, but maybe I am too sensitive lol. Opinions?

So I guess for me this is a 2 part question.

1.  I don't mind the 40 balls if they are chipping to one flag and allowing others to practice as well. 

2.  Leaving them there and not at least putting them all in one spot is a no from me. I have been to facilities that have the pvc slides to collect them all and they stay at the putting/chipping green all the time and I have been to others that don't. 

At the end of the day it's just about being respectful of everyone else. 

[cnosil]

If we want to complain,  I'd say complain about the guy putting on the chipping green.   I want to hit shots to different holes and can't becuase there is some guy putting!

[pbclub]

23 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Unless someone has bad technique and can shank a chip or pitch shot I don’t care what their doing.

Its wasted energy to worry or concern myself with stuff I can’t control 

Bad technique? Sorry I dont understand. Do you mean like hitting into you?

Edited May 25 by pbclub

[NM01]

57 minutes ago, pbclub said:

Bad technique? Sorry I dont understand. Do you mean like hitting into you?

Not hitting into me as where I’m practicing? Bad chipping technique. I’ve seen enough hacks on the chipping greens who thin or shank a wedge. Nobody needs to get hit by that type of shot. I move to a location where that person won’t cause me bodily harm

[Philpug]

If I am on the practice green putting, 4 balls max. If I am on the chipping green, 6 balls max. 

On 5/24/2024 at 4:25 PM, pbclub said:

"Half bucket of range balls guy" who show up to the practice green and proceed to drop 40 or so balls onto the green while others are practicing?

I have a BIG problem with this guy when he chips a bucket of range balls ... then leaves them scattered on the green for someone else to clean up let alone leave them in the way of who ever wants to use the green after him. 

[pbclub]

6 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Not hitting into me as where I’m practicing? Bad chipping technique. I’ve seen enough hacks on the chipping greens who thin or shank a wedge. Nobody needs to get hit by that type of shot. I move to a location where that person won’t cause me bodily harm

Haha I get it!

[rhaze91]

I may be off but this is offensive!  Using range balls to practice chipping and putting! Offensive. I keep a set of 5 or 6 cycled out balls that I play my rounds with that I use specifically for chipping and putting.  Using range balls for this is terrible.

This is to be meant to be somewhat sarcastic.

[pbclub]

So half bucket of range balls guy saved me. I grabbed my putter to go practice and realized when I got there that I forgot golf balls. Sure enough, half bucket guy had been there earlier and left all his balls everywhere. After knocking all the balls (30ish) to one general area off the green I used a couple to practice! I would have used the range bucket you usually just leave for someone else to pick up, but for some reason it was not there today. Thanks half bucket guy......You're a real American hero. 

Edited June 2 by pbclub

[fixyurdivot]

On 5/24/2024 at 4:56 PM, cnosil said:

In my opinion it depends on how many people are using the green.  If I am there by myself I'll use a bucket/shag bag and if someone shows up I'll scale back to a handful of balls or play to a single hole.   Don't care if they leave balls on the green, happens on some of the courses I play.  

Same here.  I use my shag bag on the large practice area near us when I have it to myself or maybe just one or two others using it.  If others show up, I just use fewer balls or stop hitting onto the green and just play to an open area target.  

To answer the OP's question and situation, yes I would view that as rude and selfish.  Situational awareness and being courteous is difficult for some.

[cnosil]

Today's final round of the Kingsmill outing was interesting,  around the practice green were buckets of balls set out for people to use for practice.   When I left balls this evening,  all the balls were scattered around the green.  

[Hoyoymac]

I really enjoy practicing chipping.

Our course has two shag bags full of range balls at the practice chipping area.  I will use those if I’m just warming up before a round and then pick the balls up with the shag bag and return it to it’s stand when I’m done.

If I’m really practicing though I will target times of the day when the course is less busy and will first clear whatever balls are on the green and then use my own shag bag filled with my gamer balls. 

If other people show up I will take a break until they are done.

[alii1959]

There are things that happen on the practice green that make little sense to me.  First, practicing with range balls.  The balls you play with will react differently on the course.  Why mess with yourself like that?  Second, if you are going to use range balls, why not remove them from the green when you are done?  Why leave them in other's way?  Most of the folks at my home course are courteous and respectful.  Most of us use 3 balls.  There are two guys I know that use shag bags and spend time at one hole, pick up their balls, and leave.  No problem with them.  We have pros that come and practice and have unusual setups to work out putting issues.  We have kids competing in Drive, Chip, and Putt (One won!).  My point is that we have some serious people at the course working hard to improve.  Very seldom have issues, but it is a private course.

[Heyweb]

Public course player, we have two different greens one for putting one for chipping. It’s common practice to have 40+ range balls on the chipping green. People come and go and use what’s there. I bring my own balls during off peak. My beef is the guy who takes virtually all of those range balls for himself when there are others practicing. 

[Hacker60521]

@pbclub I can see how this can be frustrating as it seems like “half bucket” guy doesn’t know how to work with others in a shared space. Frankly, if he’s leaving balls on my line I’d just knock them away so as to mark off my workspace. Also, if someone is just tapping random putts without a work plan, he’s wasting time. Sounds a lot like he’s replicating his range work busy just banging away. I work most of my drills with 3-6 balls.