Ready, Set, Wait?
How many times has this happened: You arrive at the golf course ready to get your golf groove on only to find (as you’re walking to the first tee) that there are four foursomes backed-up in front of you.
Should courses be held accountable? I mean, if I was late for my tee-time, I would get an earful from the starter – or worse, lose my time slot! I mentioned in a previous post about S.G.O.Y.M.B. – Should a backup on the first tee (or any tee for that matter) qualify you to get at least some of your money back?
It would certainly “assist” in helping management to motivate staff to have a more open-eyed approach to creating the right environment at the golf course for the customer base. All that should add up to better business!
Several years ago, I played at a well-known course here in the Denver area, Arrowhead. We never expect a round there to be fast, but after a nearly 3 hour front 9, we found a backup on the 10th tee. People had complained about the backup (as you describe) on the 1st, so the starter moved them to the back. We had a 45 minute wait at the turn.
The course is under new management, and I’m hoping to give them another try soon.
Whenever there is a backup like the one described here, scores, as well as tempers soar. There is really no excuse for a backup like this on the first tee, and moving groups to the back nine is not a solution unless there is a large enough gap to reasonably accommodate the overflow crowd. Once a group gets out on the course and a group holds up play, it is the responsibility of the ranger to move the group along or have them let others play through. I have seen slow groups that threaten to hold up a shotgun start to a scramble given rain checks for a later round of golf in order to get them off the course. But I have also seen management refuse to let a group go off the back nine, when there was no group for a few holes finishing the front nine and no one for the first few holes on the back side. A little common sense and courtesy, please.
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