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Does a poorly maintained course ruin your game?

McRock

McRock

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I went out and played my local course yesterday. It's never been perfect, but it seems to be set up for the worst year ever. Our grass is green, but the fairways are half dirt, bumpy, and I'm not sure what's growing is grass. The mowers killed 6 trees last year by rubbing the bark off, the greens have ruts because the mowers went to fast and in a circular pattern rather than 'back and forth.' My paved driveway is softer than the dirt in the tee off blocks, and my yard has shorter grass than the tee off blocks (and nicer grass too). I hit a full swing 56* wedge into the up slope on a green, and the ball bounced 6 feet high on the first hop clear over the green. We have the mower to cross-cut the greens, but that hasn't been done in over 5 years. We haven't plugged (aerated) the greens in 3 years, even though we have the equipment.

Needless to say, it just bugged me, and I didn't play that well because all I could think was how horrible the course has gotten over the past 10 years.

The biggest effect a bad course has on me is my mental game and mental stability. I seem to just lose it. Does a bad course effect your game? Which part of your game is most effected?
 
Those conditions sound awful!

If they have the equipment to do these things, why don't they? Shouldn't the grounds keeper be held responsible for doing his job?
I would write a letter to the management and explain exactly what you just said here- and if nothing changes I would take your money elsewhere.
 
I wouldn't play at the course you describe. I guess I'm lucky to live in an area where most of the course's are in great shape. No doubt playing somewhere like your situation would cause you to shoot higher scores.
 
Poor fairways don't bother me that much. It is when the greens are crappy. That just messes up my game the worst. I get so frustrated, because I can never get a rhythm with my putting.
 
I try not to let bad conditions bother me when I play, but your description sounds pretty dang bad! Not sure if I could handle all of this you're talking about. Sorry your home course has went downhill. My home course isn't the nicest of tracks either, but they at least punch the greens and cut them the right way.
 
RxGus said:
Those conditions sound awful!

If they have the equipment to do these things, why don't they? Shouldn't the grounds keeper be held responsible for doing his job?
I would write a letter to the management and explain exactly what you just said here- and if nothing changes I would take your money elsewhere.
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Yeah I don't get it if they have the equipment to do it why not? I'd do the same with regards to writing a letter or calling someone ANYONE to complain. Otherwise i'd switch to another course.

dmb012 said:
Poor fairways don't bother me that much. It is when the greens are crappy. That just messes up my game the worst. I get so frustrated, because I can never get a rhythm with my putting.
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Greens for sure would be killing my mental game and overall game literally. Fairway, I could somewhat deal with but all in all, if the greens are at least playable then I wouldn't be too hard fought if the price was right.


All in all it sounds like new/newer management has taken over and killed this course though. There was a company that came through the denver area a few years ago and took over 3 of the courses I would regularly play. The courses were literally destroyed in less than 3 years and I haven't gone back since. It would take monumental marketing, ridiculously low green fees and a new management sign for me to go back. Heck, the could've already turned over mgmt companies and I wouldn't know.

So after all that, yes, if the course is in poor condition I'm effected both mentally and physically in my game.
 
If a course has consistently bad greens I will not go back and give them any more of my money...
 
Bad greens are the worst, because I feel like I can never make a putt on those greens. I can deal with other bad conditions as long as the greens are decent.
 
Sometimes my friends that only play a couple times per year want to play some poorer local courses, due to cost. But I can hardly do it anymore, it just isn't enjoyable to play out of fairways that aren't even as nice as my yard.

The poor conditions definitely affect my scoring and I'd rather play just once a month at a nice course than daily at a dump.
 
I would definately be effected by bad course conditions. In this situation I would be greatly effected. In situations like these you need to change your style of play to cater to the crappy course conditions. In my case I dont have the skills to change my playing styles and it will negatively effect my scores instantly. Which in turn would kill my mental game.

To me it sounds like this course is having issues with paying for good maintenance, They may be going through some rough finiancial situations and thought they could cut their maintenance budget and didnt realize how bad the results could be. Ignoring the budget in course maint. will negatively effect your budget because like all of you said, you would not play this course with the current conditions. If this was my home course I would mention something to the management right away. Either write them a letter or even spark a conversation about why a certain green is in such a terrible condition.
 
Our management would be the board of directors (afterall, it's a municipal course). They ignored everyone's opinions last year and instead of hiring the qualified groundskeeper with experience, we hired the former groundskeepers nephews, who had no experience and were not qualified in any way (hence, they managed to kill trees with mowers). You have to love small town politics. For various reasons, I can't complain to the City through official means, but I did complain outside of any official capacity (ie, over adult beverages to a council member).

I have been shopping new golf courses this year. I live in rural Iowa, so the next closest golf course is 20 minutes away (and it has sand greens). The next closest golf course after that is 30 minutes away. I got a season pass to a driving range at a championship grade golf course 35 minutes away. It's sort of my way of testing this year whether or not a 35 minute drive each way is going to bother me.

We actually rehired the old grounds keeper for this year. I have little faith in his abilities, but he at least mowed the greens correctly.
 
Horton said:
Sometimes my friends that only play a couple times per year want to play some poorer local courses, due to cost. But I can hardly do it anymore, it just isn't enjoyable to play out of fairways that aren't even as nice as my yard.

The poor conditions definitely affect my scoring and I'd rather play just once a month at a nice course than daily at a dump.
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Completely agree. My godfather swears by this local muny that I just absolutely dislike. It is not in the shape of the course described in this thread but after paying other courses in the area that are in better shape it is tough for me to play here even though it is cheap. I seem to always play poorly here and the course is not tough but I am mentally defeated before ever teeing up the first ball. I have told myself to just go out and enjoy the time with my godfather and not to even worry about the course conditions and what I shoot that day. I do try to still beat him though. Its weird because my godfather never seems to understand this but I think it is a problem if I am hitting approach shots into greens and never leave a ballmark thus I never have to use a divot tool. That tells me something about the greens but he does not see this argument. Oh well it is what it is. I just go out there every now and then to play with him but that is about it.
 
Yes! Played at one of the 'best' courses in the area two days ago and it was awful. The fairway was so dried out that every lie on the fairway was paper thin. It was actually a better plan to aim for the rough so you would have a bit of turf to work with. The greens meanwhile were suuuuper slow and required a real whack to get the ball going. I actually found the fairways the most frustrating part. I couldn't manage more than a few clean approach shots. Most ended up as a hard bounce, a cloud of dust and a 40 yard run.

I was driving over 250 all day though thanks to the run out!

But I would not pay 100 bucks to play there again.
 
Yes and no. If I go to a less expensive course, I don't expect great conditions and I can live with that (to a point, of course). But if I go to a more expensive course and the conditions aren't any better than the cheaper courses, it can affect my game, more mentally so than physical.
 
McRock said:
I live in rural Iowa, so the next closest golf course is 20 minutes away (and it has sand greens). The next closest golf course after that is 30 minutes away.
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Sand greens??? What in the world is that??
 
I played a couple new to me courses last year that were like that. Bad greens, bad or literally no fairway grass and no grass on the tee box. It definitely affected my game for the worse. And I didnt play any of them again and dont plan to.
 
Those are terrible conditions, I owuld find a new course. I agree, when you play a course like that you are almost always playing off a bad lie or you get a bad break. I have stopped going to courses that I used to frequent because they stopped maintaining them. It effects you nearly the entire round and that just isnt fun.
 
During summer my home course, the greens are garbage. On one par 3 around 157 from the tips with a lake in front a bunk around the front to the back left and everything slopes down to the lake/bunker. Me and my dad have seen the ball hit the top of the green(right side) and have seen it jump literally ten feet and jump off the green.

During summer it is really bad and just isn't fun to play.
 
I really look for one quality in a golf course, great greens. Greens are in good shape I am happy, add some length and dog legs and I am in heaven. Bad greens with a poorly maintained course is not a good combo, ruins the round before it begins.
 
Yes, for me its a mental thing!
 
Absolutely! Bad conditions = bad mood for me and that will in turn mean a bad round. If I am going to pay a good amount of money to play a course I expect the conditions to reflect that. If I only paid $10 I probably wouldn't be mad but if I paid say $50 or more I would definitely be upset and most likely I would not return there again.
 
I agree with some of the others that good greens are the most important factor to me. I can handle it if the fairways are not so great but if you have terrible greens theres no way Im going to spend my money on that.
 
emanthei said:
To me it sounds like this course is having issues with paying for good maintenance, They may be going through some rough finiancial situations and thought they could cut their maintenance budget and didnt realize how bad the results could be. Ignoring the budget in course maint. will negatively effect your budget because like all of you said, you would not play this course with the current conditions. If this was my home course I would mention something to the management right away. Either write them a letter or even spark a conversation about why a certain green is in such a terrible condition.
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It's the sad, vicious cycle of maintenance. i.e. small budget -> poor maintenance -> angry golfers who choose not to play there -> even less money coming in -> even worse maintenance... you get the idea.

Since I want to play as much as possible without breaking the bank, I've had to play on courses of all kinds of conditions. There are some that I just won't visit again, due to poor conditions. Sometimes it's a real bummer, because the scenery and layout is nice, but not enough to warrant coming back. I think the groundskeepers have it rough here in Southern California, with water conservation such a big deal. Fortunately, we've gotten a ton of rain (for here) in the past two years, so our reservoirs are full. Maybe the local muni's will be green instead of brown this year!

Anyway, back on topic. Sometimes poor conditions affect how I play, but I usually remind myself that I'm not good enough to use that excuse. That is, except on the greens. When I play on greens that have been punched or sanded recently, I don't beat myself up over missed putts. It helps me keep my cool and focus on the real problem - not hitting the green in regulation in the first place, after putting a tee shot into the woods!
 
Even the nice courses out here get torched in the late summer time. The rough turns into a lighe golden brown color (cuz it's dead) sort of making this lion's mane around each hole. Parts of the green literaly burn away revealing patches of dirt. Bad course conditions can definitly destroy a good round. Expecially on the putting greens in my opinion. Can't really save strokes when you're 2-3 putting everything.
 
Bad greens will destroy my round. I hatre when I hit a good putt on a bumpy or patchy green, and it just hops the away from the hole.
 
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