Public course starting times

[That’s Mr. Dirt]

What’s with the delays and double-bookings? 8-minute tee offs? 
  Rarely does a round go by where we do not have to wait to take the next shot.  Waiting for someone to finish their search for a ball that the zoomed into the darkest part of the woods. Never gonna find it by looking and bobbing around like a sparring partner. 4 minutes, drop, shoot & move on.

   Double-booked? No problem, you're just gonna have to wait. Why? I didn’t create this mess, now my round is ruined because I’m angry that you let in a foursome that includes Little Joey, who is out for the first time! Look at him go! That’s his 8th shot on a Par-3 and he’s still 120 yards from the green. Don’t worry, he’ll mis his 5th putt and slam his putter into the green.  Look out, Tiger! This kid is coming after your legacy!

   8-minute tee offs? What with short/shank drives and Breakfast Balls, this is an impossibility. What? You’ll lose $$ if you can’t squeeze groups into the schedule like trying to fit into your high school baseball jersey? Knock it off. 10-minute tee tomes and charge a little more, no more than $5 or I’m never coming back.

   Finally, why are you playing from the tips? You say it’s because you are young and that’s where the pros hit from. Hey, Slick! The pros practice every day (you don’t) and they are much better than you. Plus, they don’t hammer Fireball after a missed putt. Quit playing Ego Golf.

   I’m done for now, I think.

[RetiredBoomer]

I'm the rare player who likes  casual speed golf.  
I'm just not in a hurry.
If I have to play fast, then I'll play fast.

What I wouldn't like is having to book tee times.
As a weekday player, I just have breakfast at the club with the gang,
and then we go to the first tee.

When that's no longer possible, I imagine my golf days will be done.

,  

[Rob Person]

4 hours ago, That’s Mr. Dirt said:

What’s with the delays and double-bookings? 8-minute tee offs? 
  Rarely does a round go by where we do not have to wait to take the next shot.  Waiting for someone to finish their search for a ball that the zoomed into the darkest part of the woods. Never gonna find it by looking and bobbing around like a sparring partner. 4 minutes, drop, shoot & move on.

   Double-booked? No problem, you're just gonna have to wait. Why? I didn’t create this mess, now my round is ruined because I’m angry that you let in a foursome that includes Little Joey, who is out for the first time! Look at him go! That’s his 8th shot on a Par-3 and he’s still 120 yards from the green. Don’t worry, he’ll mis his 5th putt and slam his putter into the green.  Look out, Tiger! This kid is coming after your legacy!

   8-minute tee offs? What with short/shank drives and Breakfast Balls, this is an impossibility. What? You’ll lose $$ if you can’t squeeze groups into the schedule like trying to fit into your high school baseball jersey? Knock it off. 10-minute tee tomes and charge a little more, no more than $5 or I’m never coming back.

   Finally, why are you playing from the tips? You say it’s because you are young and that’s where the pros hit from. Hey, Slick! The pros practice every day (you don’t) and they are much better than you. Plus, they don’t hammer Fireball after a missed putt. Quit playing Ego Golf.

   I’m done for now, I think.

Every course has its challenges. Everybody likes to think they can play their game like a pro. Everyone out there has paid to enjoy themselves. Every tee time booked is about the courses money-grab.  Every golfer thinks they should be a priority. Everybody talks about growing the game. Tons of New golfers are out there because of social media, and they set those bad examples and make it look like a party

But most importantly, Every golfer has to start somewhere! And nobody is there to help then. Unless they join a forum like MGS! I should know, I was THAT golfer!

The list goes on and on. It sucks. 

At least we all have this community to unload our thoughts,  problems, successes, and failures.  

 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

I'm a relatively fast player. I enjoy walking the course and walking is good exercise.  Usually a twosome in a cart can't even keep up with me. But that is why I tee off first. I'm there early and gone. My course is about a 6 mile walk. I'm done in 3 hours and 15 minutes. 

When my children wanted to play golf I spent the time to teach them the right way. Lessons, driving range, then simulator rounds. No course until I thought they were ready. Then I only took them during slow times and they teed off where my drives landed on par 4's and 100 yards on par 3's and 5's. As they got better and bigger we moved back.  If anyone came up on us I let them play through. If everyone took this approach we wouldn't have some of the problems we are seeing today. 

More people are playing golf, more courses are closing, tee times are compressed. Just got to deal with it or join a private course or move to a less populated area. My course is a hidden gem. Cheap, good and between Pinehurst and Myrtle Beach. Everyone passes by heading to the other destinations to pay much more. I researched before hand and the move made sense. Golf accessibility a local course I could be a member at, and decent rates.

 

[ParFore74x]

41 minutes ago, Tom the Golf Nut said:

I'm a relatively fast player. I enjoy walking the course and walking is good exercise.  Usually a twosome in a cart can't even keep up with me. But that is why I tee off first. I'm there early and gone. My course is about a 6 mile walk. I'm done in 3 hours and 15 minutes. 

When my children wanted to play golf I spent the time to teach them the right way. Lessons, driving range, then simulator rounds. No course until I thought they were ready. Then I only took them during slow times and they teed off where my drives landed on par 4's and 100 yards on par 3's and 5's. As they got better and bigger we moved back.  If anyone came up on us I let them play through. If everyone took this approach we wouldn't have some of the problems we are seeing today. 

More people are playing golf, more courses are closing, tee times are compressed. Just got to deal with it or join a private course or move to a less populated area. My course is a hidden gem. Cheap, good and between Pinehurst and Myrtle Beach. Everyone passes by heading to the other destinations to pay much more. I researched before hand and the move made sense. Golf accessibility a local course I could be a member at, and decent rates.

 

On the weekends, I was also walking and one of the first ones off for the day. On one of the three courses that I play, it seems that those days are over. Arrived there this morning 20 minutes before sunrise and there are already several groups in line on the first tee box waiting for the go ahead to tee off. It’s been this way at this course for a couple of months now. Lucky for me I was able to drive 15 minutes to the other side of town and was the third player off for the day. 18 holes in 2:30.

Tee times during the week are not required at the three local munis but they will still allow them. It seems that the weekends have gotten to the point where they will be required as soon as the sun rises. 

[Tom the Golf Nut]

1 hour ago, ParFore74x said:

On the weekends, I was also walking and one of the first ones off for the day. On one of the three courses that I play, it seems that those days are over. Arrived there this morning 20 minutes before sunrise and there are already several groups in line on the first tee box waiting for the go ahead to tee off. It’s been this way at this course for a couple of months now. Lucky for me I was able to drive 15 minutes to the other side of town and was the third player off for the day. 18 holes in 2:30.

Tee times during the week are not required at the three local munis but they will still allow them. It seems that the weekends have gotten to the point where they will be required as soon as the sun rises. 

I guess I’m fortunate. First tee times are 8 during the week and 7:30 on the weekends. Walking members are allowed out after 7am.  I only know of about 5 walkers and a few of those are afternoon walkers.

[Billsy22]

This is the reason private courses exist I think. You pay a premium that others won’t to have some breathing room. I worked at one in high school, then again when I was in between jobs and trying to find my way in this big world. I worked closely with the superintendent in charge of maintenance as a “maybe I wanna do this” kind of thing and he basically told me he does nothing different there than he did at the public courses he was assistant superintendent at in the past, besides appear at 1-2 rich people gatherings at the club house.

 

I think with golf, with a few exceptions, you get what you pay for. The less expensive courses tend to be busy and packed in like sardines. The second hand clubs we buy can be damaged beneath what the naked I can see. Noodle golf balls just don’t fly like a Pro V1. All this being said, I play cheaper public courses, buy all my clubs second hand and well out of date, and play cheaper srixon soft feels. I want to improve but the most important thing is being outside with the homies. Even if our 4-4.5 hour pace gets slowed by the 4some in front of us to a 5 hour or longer pace.

[RetiredBoomer]

4 minutes ago, Billsy22 said:

This is the reason private courses exist I think. 

For many, you're absolutely right.

However, we have several nice public courses in our area.
I could enjoy playing them.
I've got the five and even six hours to play a round of golf if that's what it takes some days.
If my buds were there, I could happily go there too.

I love my club not just for the 1906 Donald Ross golf course, however.
I love the club for the club.
I love the reading and card playing areas..
I love the bar and grill.
I like to sit out on the deck and sip a drink
while reading the papers or watching the other players coming in.
My wife and I love the planned social activities in the function room.
I don't use the pool, but many do.

I go to the club when I KNOW that I'm not going to be playing golf.
But we have many members who are obviously there just for the golf and care little about everything else,
even though they're paying for it.

I could very well be wrong, but I think that most golf forum members fall in the latter category.
Your thoughts?

 

 

[Rob Person]

@RetiredBoomer

If I were part of a club,  public or private,  I'm of the mindset to get my money's worth. I would try to make use of any amenities offered.

[Tom the Golf Nut]

Having been a member of a private club for 17 of the last 19 years I can say we utilized most that it offered. My children were raised there. Nothing better than a safe place where they could play at the playground, learn to swim, golf, tennis, get good food, attend functions like dive in movies, breakfast with Santa, Easter Egg hunts, carving pumpkins, brunches on Mothers Day, Father's Day, Thanksgiving if you didn't want to cook. There was a grill,  fine dining and bar. Plus I got to play a lot of golf on a Robert Trent Jones golf course.

We moved out of state and joined another (so I thought) private club. Turns out it went public due to diminishing memberships. On line it said private. But it still has that private feel. Pool, tennis courts, fishing pond, clubhouse, pro shop, and such. It just lacks dining, a grill and a manned bar. The facility and equipment are there just not utilized anymore. 

But members have perks. Meaning preferred tee times. Your allowed to start on other holes if there is a back up at the first tee. Your allowed to go off the back nine where public must start on one. You can play on the course if you are a walking member an hour before carts are allowed out. You pay monthly dues which costs about the same as three rounds of golf. Its a hidden gem and really never that busy. In the last 1-1/2 years I only made one tee time. I usually play at a minimum twice a week. Its membership is not stuffy at all. The feel is more of a family operation. 

 

[Stuka44]

On 8/31/2024 at 6:47 AM, That’s Mr. Dirt said:

What? You’ll lose $$ if you can’t squeeze groups into the schedule like trying to fit into your high school baseball jersey?

And this is the catch 22 that most courses don't understand. And I do believe it will hurt them in the long run.  Many courses are still closing, but like golfers, who don't think they are to blame for slow play, courses never believe they will be the one that closes.

There is a local public course, arguably one of the nicest.  Price not too out of line with cost in the area.  We never play it!  Why?  Because they just squeeze people in.  After watching 3 groups tee off in front of us between 3:15 & 3:30, when it should have been one, the 3:20 tee time, we had 3:30, and the round took 5.5 hours,  we let the course know, in person afterward, and via email to address the problem, and not surprisingly we got no response.  The thing they don't care about is this.  ANYONE who in this day and age shows up at a golf course without a tee time on a weekend, is not going to keep coming back.

You are 100% right.  They forget that 90% of all of the rounds played on their course, are played by 49% of the golfers.  Catering to walk ups, will hurt them in the long run.  They just don't care. Our foursome plays 40 times a year.  We would happily play there 5 times a year, and give them 20 rounds, OH WELL.  I hope the walk ups, and (once a year, no tee time) players, keep them going..  We go 10 -12 times a year to a place, right around the corner, where I have actually heard the pro, on the phone say. "No don't show up, you're not going to get out, I don't have a tee time till 1210".