Everyone Wants To Be The Starter

Diane

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Last week, I was playing. Our tee time was 6:30am. At 6:27am, a guy in the group behind us asked when we planned to tee off. The group in front of us had just hit their 2nd shots and there was a starter there. Tee times at that course are 9 minutes apart and there is a reason for that. Why bunch things up so early in the day. We responded that we would tee off at 6:30am. I know Fourputt is a starter at his course - maybe someone else is too - why can't people just calm down and wait their turn?
 
why can't people just calm down and wait their turn?

Because too many people think the world revolves around them.

I swear, what's the point in teeing off early just so you can stand and wait in the fairway?

Was that group all up in your rear for the rest of the round?
 
That is poor taste Diane. He should not have said anything. At our course the 1st time is 7am and we usually have it. They do NOT want us going off even a minute before that.
 
Things like that are just annoying. I wish the city muni's here would actually keep to the times. The starter will line 'em up, but no regulation on when they actually start swinging away. So usually you'll start hearing the driver impacts shortly after moving away from where you hit your second shot. :angry:
 
As Diane said, I work as a starter at my home course, which is a public course in the Denver area. I call groups with a 9 minute warning, and then on the time specified on the tee sheet, but I'm not stationed at the tee. I sit in a booth attached to the golf shop, from where I can see the 1st tee on both of the courses that I'm responsible for. I can also see the 9th and 18th greens, and I'm responsible for recording the turn and finish times for all groups on our 18 hole course so I can radio the ranger if a problem seems to be developing. I also check golfers in after they've paid their green fees, issue carts to those who are riding, and take reservations over the telephone for up to a week in advance. :dazed:

It's full time job when I'm on duty, so I get the assistance of a host at the first tee who sorts out the type of problems that Diane encountered. If the host is doing his/her job (not always the case unfortunately) then groups are not allowed to tee off until I've called their tee time. We make a point of trying to keep from getting too bunched up on the par 5 2nd hole or par 3 4th.

In my opinion a properly trained starter/host should be able to keep such problems from occurring, but some courses just don't bother to take the time to train, or they don't have the budget to station a host at the tee, and then all sorts of weird things happen.
 
4-Putt - I played at a course in the Spring that gave out cards with your tee time and the time you should be on the tee of every hole and also walking off the 18th green. I thought it was a good idea to keep the pace of play on track.
 
I agree with you 4P, the starter can resolve most of these issues if he is paying attention. There is a reason for 9 minute tee times....to establish a buffer between the groups so they aren't tripping over each other.

At Dell Urich, a public course here, everyone is in a hurry to tee off as soon as the group in front has hit their second shots and moved out of range....if you do that, you will be waiting longer on the next tee because it is a par 3 and it causes backups. I just wait for the other group to get ON THE GREEN before hitting. That is just about 8 minutes and it doesn't jam you up against the group in front on the next tee.
 
4-Putt - I played at a course in the Spring that gave out cards with your tee time and the time you should be on the tee of every hole and also walking off the 18th green. I thought it was a good idea to keep the pace of play on track.

At Hot Springs Village, they have 9 courses that stay full most of the time. Pace is never a problem because they have two marshalls per side and each has a sheet that shows what time you should be on each tee box based on your tee time. If you are behind, they warn you the first time to pick up the pace. The second time, its pick up your ball and go to the next tee or pick it up and go home....you choice. I was a member there for 2 years and loved it!
 
At Hot Springs Village, they have 9 courses that stay full most of the time. Pace is never a problem because they have two marshalls per side and each has a sheet that shows what time you should be on each tee box based on your tee time. If you are behind, they warn you the first time to pick up the pace. The second time, its pick up your ball and go to the next tee or pick it up and go home....you choice. I was a member there for 2 years and loved it!

Our rangers have a matrix spreadsheet like that too, and some of them take the job seriously. We don't have the funds to print up a card to hand out to the players that most wouldn't bother to look at anyway. For our Men's Club tournaments, the cards are printed from a tournament software program that also prints the times on the card when the group should finish each hole, based on the starting time. I find it a good tool for gauging my group's progress, but I know that many of our players ignore it. :angry:
 
Our rangers have a matrix spreadsheet like that too, and some of them take the job seriously. We don't have the funds to print up a card to hand out to the players that most wouldn't bother to look at anyway. For our Men's Club tournaments, the cards are printed from a tournament software program that also prints the times on the card when the group should finish each hole, based on the starting time. I find it a good tool for gauging my group's progress, but I know that many of our players ignore it. :angry:

Of course they do. Many people feel they paid their greens fees so they can play at whatever pace they choose.
 
On one hand I hate that I live in a town so small that it only has 2 public golf courses -- but on the other hand, I sure am glad we don't really have problems like this. I can count on one hand the times that the course has been so crowded that this kind of thing was an issue. I couldn't live if it were, because when I'm getting rushed from behind I normally start falling apart.
 
4-Putt - I played at a course in the Spring that gave out cards with your tee time and the time you should be on the tee of every hole and also walking off the 18th green. I thought it was a good idea to keep the pace of play on track.

My league plays at a course with clocks on a few holes. They're supposed to show what time you teed off if you were maintaining pace of play. As it, if you are here now in your round you should have teed off at 2:30. It's a good idea, and cheaper than handing out sheets to each group, but they never seem to be working.
 
Like I have mentioned before. My course has GPS in the cart and it notifies the group if they are playing too slow.
 
The course I went to out on Melbourne Beach uses clocks like that, Claire. It works pretty good, I think there are 4 total on the course. I've never run into a pace issue there when I've played though. Usually by the time I hit the first clock at the 4th tee I'm already about 10 minutes ahead of pace.
 
Like I have mentioned before. My course has GPS in the cart and it notifies the group if they are playing too slow.

The course I play at for league has the same thing, I don't think anybody pays attention to it though.:sad:
 
My league plays at a course with clocks on a few holes. They're supposed to show what time you teed off if you were maintaining pace of play. As it, if you are here now in your round you should have teed off at 2:30. It's a good idea, and cheaper than handing out sheets to each group, but they never seem to be working.

Our local muni courses have those clocks and I think they are great!
 
Like I have mentioned before. My course has GPS in the cart and it notifies the group if they are playing too slow.

This drives me nuts. Ive had long rounds where we are waiting on almost every shot and the dam GPS beeps every 5 minutes to let you know your off pace.
 
This drives me nuts. Ive had long rounds where we are waiting on almost every shot and the dam GPS beeps every 5 minutes to let you know your off pace.

I think the cart GPS should be smart enough to beep the guys in the front of the pack holding up play, not the ones being held up. Also, at some point, they should send a marshal out to address this situation.

Neatest thing I ever saw a GPS cart do was turn itself off. I played Ledgestone in Branson, MO and they warned us at the start that if we drove the cart into one of the marked environmentally sensitive areas, the cart would stop... Well, one of the guys in the other cart didn't believe them. He ended up pushing the cart back into the fairway before it would go again. Funny! Also, this was an interactive system so you could order lunch from the touch screen keyboard!
 
Neatest thing I ever saw a GPS cart do was turn itself off. I played Ledgestone in Branson, MO and they warned us at the start that if we drove the cart into one of the marked environmentally sensitive areas, the cart would stop... Well, one of the guys in the other cart didn't believe them. He ended up pushing the cart back into the fairway before it would go again. Funny! Also, this was an interactive system so you could order lunch from the touch screen keyboard![/QUOTE]

We can figure this stuff out but still can't cure cancer with all of our technology, wisdom, etc? :confused2:
 
Also, this was an interactive system so you could order lunch from the touch screen keyboard!

I haven't found a local public course that has GPS in the carts, but one of the local county muni courses has a menu and squawk-box at the 8th tee so you can place your order as you come up on the turn and it'll be ready and waiting for you when you hit the clubhouse.
 
Come to Tampa Osahar, lots have them.
 
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