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are the golfers better at the "nicer" golf courses?

I have belonged to private clubs and I think the memebers take a bit of pride in keeping the course looking good. Probably because they can play more often and they use it to entertain etc. Still people are who they are. There are jerks at the nices private places and jerks at muni's. I enjoy the game a ton and its a treat to play anywhere. I hope I am kind to the people I play with, the staff and to the course. I am not good enough to be arrogant.
 
Canadan said:
I would imagine the commitment to the game from those golfers is elevated, ?
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friend who joined me at a tournament recently is a member at a pretty upscale exclusive track I have never been on. Said he played there it was 3 or 4 times last year...played a public course about 40 times. I really enjoy golfing with him so good for me...get more rounds with him.
 
What I’ve come across is skill is no indicator of what course you’re on. What IS different is attitude and etiquette. The ‘better’ public courses seem to have more attentive players. There are usually less pure beginners who don’t want to pay that much to lose a lot of balls. Also- raking, divots, pitch marks get taken care of (mostly). And I don’t see a lot of pull cart tracks in traps or on greens. Both of which are fairly standard at a couple of muni’s in the area.


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I think it depends on the course. I used to belong to a Pete Dye designed course that was known as a "players course". The course never came close to full membership as it was too tough to attract family play. There were certainly higher handicaps there but there were also a ton of single digit and even + handicaps.
 
I would love to just see some sort of tournament where the pros play at a total dump of a course, even if it’s 9 holes. Do it in the off-season, make it for charity and the proceed go to a children’s charity and the rest goes to renovating the course with a local youth golf program.
 
clarkgriswold said:
I would love to just see some sort of tournament where the pros play at a total dump of a course, even if it’s 9 holes. Do it in the off-season, make it for charity and the proceed go to a children’s charity and the rest goes to renovating the course with a local youth golf program.
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I like this idea Griswold.

Where I live most of our city tracks are laid out around our airport because it is city ground and cheap usually. And by airport, you understand I mean air strips.
One of the fondest memories I have is watching a touring player try to hit out one of bound and slice it back in using that strip on a long par 4. Fun stuff like that doesn't come up on TV or competition often.

As far as this thread goes: I'm not sure how you are defining "better." But I think because of what is invested into the experience, I believe you would. More to do with community, staff, and opportunity around it though.
 
It’s not really an issue of averages but rather the cream at the top... the best players at private clubs in MA are generally better and perhaps a slight advantage in pure number of players vs local public courses.

However, I’m not sure about the rest of the country but I know for a fact that my +2 friend didn’t pay full price to join his private club. They gave him a huge discount to help garner their club in championship listings
 
I would guess that you will see all abilities at any club regardless of how nice or expensive it is, the only difference I would expect to see is the actual condition of the place

Vortex said:
I've played a wide variety of courses including muni executive 9s, private courses, PGA tour stops, and premium resorts. Golf is full of nice people. In my experience, there's not a discernible correlation between type of people and course.

When it comes to private clubs, there's a vibe to each one. My cousin belongs to a club in Palm Desert and they're a high-test crowd in my humble opinion. You just need to understand you're a guest so be respectful (tuck in your shirt, remove hat in the club, clean your shoes off, etc.), and don't play slow. Each member stroked a sizable check to join and they probably pay a grand each month. Therefore, it's easy to see some people like things to be a certain way and don't always embrace change. Example; everyone knows Bob parks his cart in the same spot everyday at 11:30 for lunch. What moron would park there at 11:20?? Whoops. :D
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I agree about being respectful when you are visiting a club, but I also feel that the members should be respectful of visitors as well and there have been times that I haven't seen that when visiting some courses
 
I dont think they are neccesarily better golfers, they just have more money to spend. You have good and bad golfers at every income level, the difference at the nicer courses is that you will probably see people wearing nicer clothes, having nicer clubs in their bag and sparing no expense when it comes to food and drink at the course.
Its much the same here in Columbus. People love their golf here and quite a lot of people also have money to burn. Ive played on munis as well as some of the nicer semi-private courses and it really makes no difference. You have good and bad golfers.
 
I actually think they might be---with an *

They certainly play faster during weekend AM tee times than what I've experienced on local public tracks.

I notice this--though I am unsure if this is a function of greater concern of being perceived as slow--or actual skill level.

No idea if they are conceding a ton of putts or just keep it in front more often.

I do know this: Recently a friend of mine invited the slowest golfer EVER to play at 08:30 on a Saturday at a private course.

He should've known better---this guy was just ridiculous.

We finished in 04:05---but the 4 ladies behind us screamed at them on #12 because they were being so slow (group behind clearly in the wrong---but in all fairness this guy was SLOW).

A bit of a digression but the takeaway is: Regardless of reason---in my experience the pace is generally faster at private courses even when tee sheet is stacked in 8' increments.

Whether this is an artifact of skill or pace awareness--I can't definitively say.


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In my limited experience the golfers tend to be better at private golf courses. There are still very good and bad at both, but there are less people who drink 8 beers and shoot 120 at the private courses, and there is usually a solid group of sticks.

But nothing to be intimidated by, there are still plenty who are high handicaps.
 
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