I know it sucks, but you can skip around them and then just play 2 balls on another hole. If they're just ignorant of the golf etiquette, then hitting into them solves nothing. If they feel entitled, then going around them may actually annoy them.

Alternative is to just ask to play through, but the logistics of being near enough to talk to them isn't always possible. So, our group will usually skip a hole.

Anybody that intentionally hits into a group for any reason need to have their ass kicked and banned from the course.

Many golfers have zero clue about letting people play through. In my experience they don't know to offer, but when asked they always allow it. Keep this in mind.

BO

Hitting into players is like putting a blindfold on and firing a gun at them. Maybe not the perfect analogy but when you actually hit someone it's really negligent.

Old Memorial is a MUST play if can, in Tampa. Stayed and played w/ member - its definitly one that is off the grid, but outstanding track and atmosphere

would be interesting thread - little known, but outstanding courses - list as public, private but can play, private but very hard to get on.

it is interesting to me this thread keeps getting updated - my club just ran deal this year that dropped initiation fees alot - like to 10% of original. if can afford - private courses offer a lot, but the financials are such these days I would not pay much to get in. Few clubs can still get top $ for initiation fees.

PS - if you hit into a group as described at my private club - you'd be gone and a$$ beating may follow. Don't think these old guys don't know someone - an extra couple $ to their bookie may be all it takes.

I actually think clubs and golf courses in general need to target people between 21 and 35 and young kids. I think the demand in people from 14 to 21 is pretty inelastic. They're either really good players who play often, or they have no interest and won't until they're older. I'm 29 and if I could have had an affordable membership somewhere with a nice practice facility, I would have done it by now. I'm sure there are plenty of people from 21 to 35 who play somewhat often, but don't make enough to afford to drop a few grand on a membership. A sliding scale relative to age and/or income would make a lot of sense, with the goal of converting those people to full members as they get older.

I agree with this, and I hate when people get on me for using a rangefinder and taking 2 practice swings. My pre-shot routine is to shoot the flag (15 seconds), pick a club (5-10 seconds), take two practice swings (5 seconds), line up the shot, step in and hit (5-10 seconds). That's 30-40 seconds, which may be twice as long as the guy who guesstimates the distance and takes one practice swing, doesn't line it up, and swings, but it also gives me a much better chance of committing and hitting a better shot and easily cuts five strokes off my round, which at worst evens out.

Using that routine, walking and shooting in the 90s, I've gotten around in well under three hours when there was nobody in front of me, but when I'm in a group with family and friends, they'll sometimes tell me I'm slow! I'll also do as much of this in advance as possible, so that when the green clears or a playing partner hits, I am standing behind my ball waiting to step in and swing.

Most time lost around the golf course is lost by well-intentioned people who don't understand that they're slowing things down. People who only take one club to their ball when they aren't 100% sure that's the one they need (take 3 - one higher, one lower), people who drive over to the cart partners ball on the right side of the fairway, wait for them to hit, then drive to theirs on the left, people who never play ready golf and people who learned how to line up a putt by watching Tiger on Sunday in the Masters at 5:50pm.

Getting rounds down under four hours is critical for golf's future among recreational players, and I think courses should actually offer golf etiquette courses monthly that focus on pace of play, but also include the usual stuff about walking on someone's line, etc.

I think courses need to teach people about waving people up on par 3's and/or playing a hole together as a five or six-some, then letting the faster group through. Here they should have let you tee off with them, let you putt out first, and you'd at least be in the fairway on the next hole by the time they got to the tee.

You were the biggest a-hole in the situation, and it's not even close. Nothing like putting someone's physical safety at risk, then giving them the COURTESY of warning them. Besides, most people look up when someone yells fore instead of defending themselves. Yelling at them to clear the green would have been fine, calling the pro shop to ask a marshal to come out would have been fine. Hitting into someone is never the solution to anything. It also gives them an excuse in their own minds for their behavior, just making it worse. Walking up to them with driver in hand when you weren't walking off the tee just puts the cherry on top. Yeah, they were really wusses for resisting taking you on fists vs. driver. You really showed them, boss!

The only acceptable excuses for hitting into people are being blind to their location and not having reason to think they're there or hitting a career shot that's 30+ yards longer than your current best. Hitting within ~20-30 yards of the green when people are putting is rude, even aside from safety.

The sub four hours thing always mystifies me. Like there are always going to be slow days, why not just enjoy being outside on a golf course instead of stuck in an office or something?

Because (a lot of) people have many obligations and that is why golf participation is declining.

If there are groups waiting, it should be four hours and you are done. It doesn't matter if you are on hole 12 or 17.

Yeah well if I pay my money I'm going to expect to play the whole course, and if a course has some ridiculous policy like that I won't be playing there, pure and simple.

And golf's participation rate is not my problem.

Good. Regs wouldn't want you there. If you are unable to finish a round in 4 hours 15 max, please stay home.

When your local golf course/country club closes it will be your problem.

And our collective golf community should embrace ways to create more participation.

It isn't speed of play. It is time doing one activity that takes up to seven hours door to door.

Baseball finally recognized they needed to do something. So should golf.

Each golfer is allotted 4 hours and 15 minutes or 100 shots. Whichever comes first.

Pay for more shots or time.

I don't mind spending 5 or 6 hours on a golf course, I'm going to play anyway... But new players and recreational players are going to be annoyed and not come back. For experienced players it's less the total time and more all of the instances they're waiting while the group in front of them dicks around and slows everyone down.


That's a terrible solution. So the group in front of me is slow, and not only do I have to wait behind them all day, I don't get to finish?

Kinks will be need to be worked out. A GPS system that tracks all groups and makes sure groups aren't penalized for groups in front playing slow. It will take some time to perfect. Limit of triple or quadruple bogey per hole too.

Something clubs around me have been doing is opening play up to select people. I have my Paradise Golf card and you play numerous courses around the area during the summer just for cart fees. They also have some "try us out" certificates for private courses. The rates are good, around the $40 range for a number of private courses in the area. It gets them a few hundred extra rounds and also the off chance that they get another member out of it.

I wonder how the members like "outsiders" coming to their place to play though. Hell, the course I used to belong to would always have tournaments and outings on the lesser of the two courses so members would always have their own course play. The LPGA Symetra Tour used to have a tournament and they would even have them on the worse of the two courses.

Living in Vegas there are so many reasonably priced resort/country club quality courses it's silly to pay a premium for a private club unless you just have so much money it doesn't matter.

All the guys I play with drink 6 plus on the course after having a few at lunch and we never finish in more than 3 and a half unless were being held up. Agree that ready golf is the key.

It's rude to hit 30 yards from the green when people are putting?

It would be rude to land the ball 30 yards from the green. Rolling the ball within 30 yards is different.

BO

Yea, that was obvious to me. Landing it 30 yards can mean rolling it onto the green, which I would obviously agree would be rude.
If I ever have the chance to hit knowing I cant get within 10-20 yards of the green, I will do it.

If you're standing over a putt and you hear a ball land it's incredibly disconcerting - you don't know how close it is to you, whether you're about to be hit, whether it might roll into your line, etc.


That's fair.

My buddy is literally the slowest golfer on the planet..I wont play with him anymore at least 1-2 mins PER SHOT or PUTT..tilts the **** out of me!!

Hopefully you've confronted him...I would have no qualms telling a buddy to hurry the f**k up

I have been giving some thought to joining a country club and was wondering what sorts of things I should make sure to ask or find out about before going through with it?

Also, I am trying to figure out if it is worth it to join if I'm not 100% rooted in the city (I prefer to stay here though and my job is stable, but I have no kids and life happens so I could always end up elsewhere) so any advice on that would be appreciated. Due to the potential waitlists and price incentives for younger members it doesn't make a lot of sense to wait until I am sure that I will remain in the city because it ends up costing much more for initiation and the ones that let you pay that on an annual installment plan take that incentive away for people over certain ages.

I don't envision myself using the pool (have one at my condo) or dining options regularly and probably wouldn't play that much tennis so it would mostly be for golf. I could definitely see those other benefits being more important as I get older though.

Know how you can get out.

There are many clubs that may have 5-year waiting lists to LEAVE.

You are stuck paying dues even if you want to walk away from your membership.

This.

On the flip side, you may have the ability to buy a membership (with the clubs blessing) directly from someone looking to leave. I know many in my area taking big losses on their equity because they need to get out, and many new members getting good deals.

Also, other common questions I would ask based on your requirements would revolve around food/bev minimums, additional assessments or charges (range/locker/club storage), cart fees, guest policies, etc.

After initiation and monthly dues, there can be significant mandatory additional costs before you tee it up, so be aware.

However if they are offering incentives to younger members, and you aren't locked in beyond your comfort zone, it can be a great deal even if you don't plan on being there forever.

It's usually an issue to leave only if it's an equity membership, which not many are these days. Standard deal is you're on the hook for 30 days or something after you state you're leaving.

Also, regarding equity memberships, there is a chronological list of members waiting to leave. If someone wants to buy, the longest on the list is the one they buy from. You can't just find some random member wanting to leave and snag his membership.

BO