Course Maintenance Obligation to Inform?

[Greg Kulbick]

I don't know where the threshold would be, but I think nicer, or more high end, courses should inform. If its the kind of place people go out of their way to play because they're known for immaculate conditions, I'd want to know and be pretty aggravated playing in conditions I can get on down the road for a meager greens fee.

 

[j_sizzle9]

Its hard to say, because we are the day before full rates going into effect. Golf season starts today in our area, and rates all rise on 11/1. Yesterday was cheaper, but that seems like it was the regular off season rate.

Fair enough, but given the course conditions and experience you guys had a heads up prior to booking is the best situation and I think reduced rate is warranted when you play a course undergoing maintenance that affects play.


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[Kenomikes]

Funny thing is I clicked on the website and they have a notice regarding maintenance on the parking lot. Seems to me they could have easily mentioned the golf course condition.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS AND PATRONS REGARDING PARKING LOT RESURFACING:

As of close of business on Sunday, October 21st, BOTH the Main Entrance and Exit will be closed off. The temporary entrance for Monday, October 22nd will be at the edge of the grassy area off the parking lot. Please follow all signage.

NOTE: any cars left in the parking lot after Sunday evening at 8pm will be towed at the owner's expense.

We expect the resurfacing project to be completed by Wednesday night, October 24th. We will continue to keep you updated especially if there are any changes in our schedule.

Until then, please only park in designed area, which will be clearly marked.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

 

[kevin81002]

Yesterday we got together with a couple of THPers and played a beautiful course called Fox Hollow. Always considered one of the best in the area just a fantastic layout. Upon arrival it said cart path only or drive in rough because of overseeding. The fairways for the front 9 were basically uncut for several days and the greens, while true were incredibly slow until we got to about hole 14. By slow I mean the grass looked like the fairways normally did, just uncut for several days.

When I booked the tee time, two days prior there was no notification about this. They put me down for our foursome and off we went. It didnt take away from the fun with the guys, but @c.a.eleric and @Mward and I were talking about course responsibility. Do you think they have an obligation to the golfer to notify at the time of booking?

This wasn't punched greens or fairways or anything obnoxious, but we booked to play a fantastic golf course and it definitely wasn't that.

I think they should tell the players of any course issues. For work, we booked a tournament at a local course at their normal rate. When we got there, the entire course had just been punched and overseeded. Not a single word was said to us about when they planned on punching when we booked the tourney. Made for a long day with a bunch of upset people.

 

[Space Bandito]

I certainly think they do have the responsibility. It really bothers me when courses don't disclose that information. I feel like they're trying to pull a fast one knowing that some golfers may not play if they know about the current course condition. I think it's dishonest.

I have played courses that don't even mention it at the pro shop upon check in. That really irks me.

Aeration is worse than over seeding in my opinion, but both should be disclosed. If a course has a requirement that you leave a credit card on file so that they can charge you if you violate their cancelation policy, then you should be given all of the information up front.

 

[bigskyirish]

I think they do. Slow greens and uncut fairways are just as bad as aeration, IMO. Both completely change the experience.

I believe they have a duty to inform and really should be charging reduced rates, too.

Ditto these responses for me. If I'm playing what I think is going to be a nice course at full rate for whatever the particular season is, I expect the course to be in good shape. If the greens and fairways aren't going to be cut for several days before I play, I expect the course to tell me so and then let me make an informed decision about whether I want to play at whatever rate they intend to charge for those conditions. If it's the full rate, my decision will be easy.

I played We-Ko-Pa in Scottsdale a few years ago in late October under similar conditions. To their credit, they informed everyone of the conditions and the rate was reduced, so I decided to play. But playing fairways that haven't been mowed for 3-4 days is almost worse than aeration in my opinion, and I didn't really appreciate that until I did it. In retrospect, I would have played somewhere else.

 

[Scrap Iron]

I think they should inform when booking and have it on their website or social media accounts Then if someone wants to play reduce the rate as well.

 

[TheCrest4]

They should definitely inform just as a courtesy to those paying. May or not change peoples minds about playing but the more information the better IMO.

 

[golfinnut]

All courses should have the responsibility of any maintenance, lack of cutting, pesticides applied, etc. to anyone that plays their course. If it affects the game in any way, pace of play, temporary greens, CPO. etc then it should be mentioned as the tee time is being made or put on their website. A definite reduced rate should also be applied.
Back when we had a lot of rain here in the NE, a lot of our courses couldn't get out to cut. One particular course I played told us in the clubhouse that the rough was going to be very long & we should attempt to watch the ball very closely & don't spend too much time looking for it just to speed up play. They knew ahead of time & were at least polite enough to tell us before we started.
I hate it when courses don't tell you that "the greens were just aerified yesterday" until you get to the course. You are then obligated to play there just because you drove all that way to the course, so it's just easier that way. Knowing full well that the greens are going to be bumpy all day long. There is your excuse for your bad play! :act-up: Right off the bat. It's normally a "guaranteed 2 putt" for me when I play greens like that. It just becomes a ball striking day & forget about scoring.

 

[Nerdy]

I would think they would want to inform someone of the condition just for word of mouth purposes alone. If I owned a course and we had their issues going on, I would want it known that this isn't our typical condition. I would hate for someone to come out to the course for the first time, see the course in that shape, tell all their friends, and never want to come back again thinking that's how the course always looks.

 

[Parrot]

I think the course should have some public advisory of expected maintenance issues. I believe that overseeding and any attendant issues with that certainly fall within the expected.

 

[Doubleb21]

Green fee's are not cheap and i believe a course should be explaining the condition to the golfers. It is better to be upfront about it than have upset people who might not come back and play. Customer service 101

 

[JDax]

I think they should inform, and perhaps offer a lower rate, especially since the greens hadn’t been cut in days...


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[Jeff Spicoli]

They have absolutely an obligation to let you know. Especially if you are playing at a nicer course, you are paying for an experience and have expectations what that experience will be. It is almost a case of lying by omission when there is course maintenance and the customer is not made aware at the time they book a tee time.

 

[Bucketsofjoy]

I think they should tell you, but this time of year it is smart to be proactive and ask them upon booking.

I think the most likely scenario is that the pro shop has no idea what the maintenance crew has scheduled, and they may not even know what the actual course conditions are from hour to hour.

 

[emart2173]

The responsibility falls in both sides. Many of the courses here especially the higher end ones post on their site about course conditions, but at the same time the consumer should bear the responsibility of checking with the course before booking. Most normally research restaurants and other places before reserving a spot.

 

[campilobaxter]

This summer I played at a local course in Vegas and booked a foursome online. This course is up in the hills, and they have to pump the water up throughout the course to water it. The price was about $10 cheaper than I expected, but there was no explanation for the price drop. When we arrived, the pro shop informed us that they had a pump go out, and the upper half of the course was basically dead. The greens were fine, however. "The course is still very playable", we were told.

The course was actually not that playable. I definitely would not have booked it had I known beforehand that it was dead. We still had a good time, but I was definitely annoyed that they didn't tell us about it when we booked.

 

[phoffer]

JB, we are coming out of overseeding around here, and all the courses I've played recently are very clear about it when booking. For example, the city courses list the exact dates of both overseeding and CPO, which is nice cause you can plan in advance. They don't offer reduced rates, but they are already cheap enough to be pretty packed almost all the time.

The responsibility falls in both sides. Many of the courses here especially the higher end ones post on their site about course conditions, but at the same time the consumer should bear the responsibility of checking with the course before booking. Most normally research restaurants and other places before reserving a spot.

I don't think a restaurant is very comparable, because the restaurant isn't going to have 4 unannounced weeks a year where they tear the whole place up and put it back together, making it a much less enjoyable experience.

 

[Golf Ghost]

JB, we are coming out of overseeding around here, and all the courses I've played recently are very clear about it when booking. For example, the city courses list the exact dates of both overseeding and CPO, which is nice cause you can plan in advance. They don't offer reduced rates, but they are already cheap enough to be pretty packed almost all the time.



I don't think a restaurant is very comparable, because the restaurant isn't going to have 4 unannounced weeks a year where they tear the whole place up and put it back together, making it a much less enjoyable experience.

Pretty sure the point was regarding consumer research, not comparing a restaurant directly to a golf course.

 

[phoffer]

Pretty sure the point was regarding consumer research, not comparing a restaurant directly to a golf course.

I get that, but if you go to a course's website, and they don't mention it, nor do they mention it when booking, that's a reasonable amount of research. Maybe I should have been more clear that researching a restaurant is not very comparable to researching a golf course.

 

[KEV]

They really should have let you know. It's not like it was just fairways or just greens, having that many areas a mess was weak on their part to not tell you about. If anything they should have offered a discount.

 

[Parrot]

...the greens, while true were incredibly slow until we got to about hole 14. By slow I mean the grass looked like the fairways normally did, just uncut for several days.

To me, the uncut greens are more of a problem than the fairways. Why let them go for several days? And then not cut them until the afternoon? I'd rather know about poor green conditions than the over-seeding of the fairways.

 

[emart2173]

I get that, but if you go to a course's website, and they don't mention it, nor do they mention it when booking, that's a reasonable amount of research. Maybe I should have been more clear that researching a restaurant is not very comparable to researching a golf course.

The point is if you are going somewhere and it’s around a busy season or high volume time you look to see if that’s the case and what the expectations are. Same for golf everyone knows certain times of the year courses perform different types of maintenance from overseeding to punches greens, etc. so during these times call the course before you book to see what the conditions are. It’s just as easy to do that. It shouldn’t all fall on the course


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[Golf Ghost]

I get that, but if you go to a course's website, and they don't mention it, nor do they mention it when booking, that's a reasonable amount of research. Maybe I should have been more clear that researching a restaurant is not very comparable to researching a golf course.

I often ask a restaurant if they're busy when calling over. Can asks a pro shop attendant what they know even if they don't offer it without being asked.

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[Jeff Spicoli]

The point is if you are going somewhere and it’s around a busy season or high volume time you look to see if that’s the case and what the expectations are. Same for golf everyone knows certain times of the year courses perform different types of maintenance from overseeding to punches greens, etc. so during these times call the course before you book to see what the conditions are. It’s just as easy to do that. It shouldn’t all fall on the course


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I disagree. When booking a tee time, all it takes from the pro shop is a simple, "Just so you know, our course is under repair right now" and explain what is going on. It is common courtesy and good business sense. If I booked a round and the course didn't tell me, I would be much less inclined to play there in the future and I would probably feel like I wasted my time and money by playing there in the first place.