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Course setup rants

OGputtnfool

OGputtnfool

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Ok, feel free to put up the things that irk you regarding course setup. I think the biggest one that irks me is when a course normally puts red/white/blue flags to signify front/middle/back pins and the guy putting in the flags can't get it right. I get that once in a while you're gonna have one that's pretty close and could go back/middle or front/middle, but yesterday, we had a blue flag that was clearly in the front portion of the green. I mean, it's not really that difficult.
 
A close 2nd would be when the tee markers for the tips leave no room to go back 2 club lengths without hitting rough... or worse yet, when teed up directly between the markers, your back foot is in the rough.
 
200/150/100 yard markers that aren't actually that distance from the center. I've played a couple courses where the 150 marker was wildly off when using a laser.
 
Tee boxes that are not level :banghead:
 
I think it depends on who selects the pin positions and the tee box setups. At one of the courses I play, it is fairly obvious that the person or people doing the selections do not play golf or do not comprehend why certain pin or tee marker placements are not good or, reasonable or fair.
 
Snickerdog said:
Tee boxes that are not level :banghead:
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Good one, but I'd put that more in design/construction than setup. I'm thinking of things that the course maintainers do to set the course up for play.
 
Here's another. How about when the tee markers aren't even put back on the tee box after they mow it.
 
How about a Pete Dye course I played in Florida where on one of the long par 4's has a gigantic 30' high mound with RR ties all around the base, right in the middle of the fairway, where a well struck Driver ball would land about 280 out from the back tees. Very little room on either side of it. Dumbest hole design/hole setup I've ever seen.
 
OGputtnfool said:
Good one, but I'd put that more in design/construction than setup. I'm thinking of things that the course maintainers do to set the course up for play.
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Sometimes the design / construction contributes to setup issues. I'm talking about tee boxes where the markers are set up to force one to have an obvious (don't need to carry a level in your bag) side hill, uphill or downhill stance for your tee ball.
 
When the tees are set up behind trees forcing you to play a specific shot with no other alternative
 
OGputtnfool said:
Good one, but I'd put that more in design/construction than setup. I'm thinking of things that the course maintainers do to set the course up for play.
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At our course, it's a maintenance issues, not a design/construction issue. What happens is that the tee boxes have started to crown or slope to one side due to the years of sanding, seeding, aerating and erosion issue. The tee boxes were flat, but many really need to be redone. The smaller the tee box, the more pronounced the issue.

So, this is my biggest rant - flatten the tee boxes.
 
Brassie said:
How about a Pete Dye course I played in Florida where on one of the long par 4's has a gigantic 30' high mound with RR ties all around the base, right in the middle of the fairway, where a well struck Driver ball would land about 280 out from the back tees. Very little room on either side of it. Dumbest hole design/hole setup I've ever seen.
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What course is that?
 
wubears71 said:
At our course, it's a maintenance issues, not a design/construction issue. What happens is that the tee boxes have started to crown or slope to one side due to the years of sanding, seeding, aerating and erosion issue. The tee boxes were flat, but many really need to be redone. The smaller the tee box, the more pronounced the issue.

So, this is my biggest rant - flatten the tee boxes.
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Almost all the courses here have this issue. Drives me nuts
 
wubears71 said:
At our course, it's a maintenance issues, not a design/construction issue. What happens is that the tee boxes have started to crown or slope to one side due to the years of sanding, seeding, aerating and erosion issue. The tee boxes were flat, but many really need to be redone. The smaller the tee box, the more pronounced the issue.

So, this is my biggest rant - flatten the tee boxes.
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One of the courses I play has the crowning issues. But on some of the holes where there is crowning, there are multiple tee boxes. Some of these other tee boxes are flat. Yet, the tee markers always seem to be on the crowned tee boxes.
 
Brassie said:
How about a Pete Dye course I played in Florida where on one of the long par 4's has a gigantic 30' high mound with RR ties all around the base, right in the middle of the fairway, where a well struck Driver ball would land about 280 out from the back tees. Very little room on either side of it. Dumbest hole design/hole setup I've ever seen.
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My Dad's CC is a PB Dye course and it has spent years trying to correct stupid Dye signature stuff. The issue there is that a lot of Pete Dye features were used, but since it was PB Dye, they weren't used well. Mounds built up with railroad ties in places that make no logical sense are all over the place. The course is just too hard for the wrong reasons.
 
Bernoulli said:
One of the courses I play has the crowning issues. But on some of the holes where there is crowning, there are multiple tee boxes. Some of these other tee boxes are flat. Yet, the tee markers always seem to be on the crowned tee boxes.
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Haha, I know that. In our case there are multiple tee boxes that are never used since the location isn't the easiest to hit from for the majority of golfers - longer forced carries, harder angles, etc.
 
OGputtnfool said:
What course is that?
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It was Cypress Links, originally a Gary Player course but Pete Dye modified it in the late 80's. That course doesn't exist anymore. It is now The Dye Preserve in Jupiter, FL and it was done on the same land back in 2002.
 
This might be more of a course design issue; Courses with holes that has a large tree growing in the middle of a fairway. Usually about 100 yards from the green.
 
I'm with the tee box issue-ers. Put the pin wherever you want, force me to take a crap angle to it, put a Keebler tree in the fairway, mow/lay the fringe against ever conceivable approach if you want. Just give me somewhere clear and flat to stand when I tee off!
 
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