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How often do you see a Ranger/Marshall?

I am a ranger and I get complaints of being to aggressive on the course. I'm always respectful and only try to keep play at the pace in which I like to play at. But to answer your question, if this happens as often as you say, call the club house and they should take care of it. If not, put your big boy pants on and remind the group in front of you the rules of golf etiquette.
http://www.usga.org/etiquette/tips/Golf-Etiquette-101/
 
I see the Marshall a few times a round but this is at my club which is private. They seem to be on top of it but it's also a retirement community so slow play is the norm. Good thing is they almost always let us play through.


Tap-in Talking
 
there is no rangers at my home course or callander,the only course's you may find them is the likes of gleneagles,carrick on loch lomond etc.at my home course and callander slow play isn't too bad,the slow players are usually quite courteous and let you play through.....
 
At my home course there are no rangers anymore, they do have a guy who just does miscellaneous tasks like fill the water coolerss on the course, empty the course trash cans, and of course ride around and look for golf balls, but they do not say anything to the groups except chit chat with people they know. These guys only work a half day per week and get free golf and cart for doing this, not a bad deal on their part but I don't think I would want to do it.
 
mcook77 said:
Happens way too often. Either try to play through and if that fails, I just call the clubhouse for a hopeful resolution!

Tappin' from my iPad!
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As a part time course worker at a course that does not have a full time ranger, I recommend calling the clubhouse if there is a issue. At our course, we will run out and follow a bit to see what is happening if we get a call about slow play. Everyone paid to play and we want everyone to have a good time and go home happy.
 
Thechosen1 said:
The worst is when they see the group slowing others down, yet just drive right by without a word said. Like seriously just do your job please?
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That's been my experience with rangers/marshalls. It looks like they're simply trying to best their fastest trip around the course. Starters at some places I play to tell me the rules...REALLY? If I need a former Wal-mart greeter to tell me the rules, don't you think they sould assign a marshall to me?????
 
happens varely rarely at some of the public courses I play
 
We see them all the time, they just don't ever do anything other than tell you there are 'a few groups in front of you that are a little slow'.
 
I think being a marshall is often a hard job. First and foremost, you want everyone on the course to have a good time. Most course's have a established a standard time it should take to play 18 holes. It is correct that if a group falls behind the group in front, they should let the group behind play through. This is where the marshall has to be very diplomatic and choose his words wisely when suggesting to a slower group that they should let the following group through.

I hate slow play as much as the next guy, but the simple fact reamins that some people just play faster than others. Simple fact. If you go to the course during peak hours, weekends, holiday's etc. you have to expect some sort of delay. Another simple fact.

The USGA states; "Unlike many sports, golf is played, for the most part, without the supervision of a referee or umpire. The game relies on the integrity of the individual to show consideration for other players and to abide by the Rules. All players should conduct themselves in a disciplined manner, demonstrating courtesy and sportsmanship at all times, irrespective of how competitive they may be. This is the spirit of the game of golf".

If everyone would follow this statement of etiquette, the game would be much more fun for everyone. It only takes a drive in the car today, if you've been driving as long as I have, to notice that we live in a me me me world, more so now than ever. There is far less courtesy on the road and on the golf course, than there was twenty, thirty years ago. We are a world that has went out and gotten into a big hurry.

Marshalls that will not do their job when the situation comes up, can be as big of a problem as those creating the problem. I avoid playing at peak times, and I avoid courses in my area that are known for their lack of control of the course.
 
Hit that one "dead on" Hoosier!
 
We get situations at my course where it is really busy with the course heavy with foursomes. At some point a twosome will want to go out and we warn them that there are lots of foursomes out and they always say "no problem...we are in no hurry" only to get a call from either the twosome mad because they are being held up or a foursome mad because the twosome is hitting into them.

Our course has tons of people who walk. I'm guessing it could be as high as 60/70% of the people on the course at a given time walking. I've seen cases where there will be a foursome of walkers on 9, going to the back nine and having a twosome or something get in behind them, and then scream because the foursome is too slow. We allow people to go off the back first as long as they ask the people on 9 that are getting ready to turn if it is ok to cut them off.

These groups starting on 10 have to realize the group before them that may be walking, have already played nine and may be a little tired, thus a little slower than those that are just starting out.

I see the me me me attitude from both the slow group out front, and the group pushing or playing faster. We work hard to promote good will with everyone on the course. We also, like any course have some longtime members who have developed the attitude that they own the place and have the right to do anything, and while we want our members to feel like they are a peice of the place, they still have to treat others with the same respect they want for themselves.

Golfing when it is busy requires some give and take, along with the willingness to compromise at times. I wish I had every answer when it comes to slow play. Courses need the business and you hate to run anyone off, but it happens because some people can not keep their cool and compromise a little.

Myself, I have said many times that I avoid peak hours, weekends during the day and holidays for the most part. I play most of my golf in the evening, even on weekends and rarely have issues.
 
I don't mind a normal (4-ish hour) round, especially on the weekends. I rarely play in a foursome, so I just accept that I'll need to slow myself down a bit. Intentionally slow play is a different thing, but it's a waste of energy for one or two people to get mad at 10 foursomes that are slower than they are.
 
Most of the time these days I see marshalls just driving around doing nothing, maybe twice in a round they drive by. When I had my club membership those guys actually did do some traffic control and they stopped and talked to the players and asked what was up, is it going fast enough, are we having to wait or whatever. On the public courses around here the marshalls are mostly just driving around doing nothing that I can see.
 
There are starters at most courses here, but the only course I frequently see a ranger is a State Park course by me where they are always out and about. There, I see a ranger a couple times per round but other courses I rarely seen one.
 
For some of the courses they are on most of the time. Other days you won't see one at all. Depends how busy the course is. Most of the courses around here usually stop running them once twilight rates start however.
 
At the course I am at now they have starters who also are the marshals for the day. On the first hole a group is not allowed to tee off until the group in front has reached the green. This puts some space between groups. But the things that irritate me and the group I play in is they slip a group in between the normal tee times. Just backing up tee times and slowing things down. A few years ago I was marshaling at a course that would not let the marshals do anything to a group that was playing slow. We could ask them to speed up but nothing more. If a group fell behind by a hole or more we could do nothing about it. I got so frustrated by this that I eventually quit. They did not want to aggravate players who were playing slow but they aggravated the players behind the slow play. Did not make sense to me and thus I had to deal with players who were always upset because of slow play. Often the response from the slow group was I paid my money and no one is going to rush me. Then you go back and talk to the group(s) who are upset and they tell you to "just do your job" in an unpleasant manner. So you get upset players and upset marshals who are not allowed to do their job correctly.
 
Maybe once a round. Twice at the most.
 
Marshalls??

I call them "ball hunters" around here....that's about all they do.
 
Nice courses: a few times/round on weekends.

Home Course: I see him a few times on the weekends during morning rounds. He isn't doing anything, but riding around. A few weekends ago I was hitting my approach shot on 18 and all of a sudden I heard this noise coming up behind me. He was riding up on a hill along the woods edge hunting for balls about 25 yards behind me.

John Deere Tappin...
 
tdinbr said:
Marshalls??

I call them "ball hunters" around here....that's about all they do.
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What's sad is that I have seen that as well. Rather than worry about a group being 2-3 holes behind they would rather look in the weeds for balls...
 
A question for those who see marshalls not doing their job as you think they should do: Do you address this with the golf pro? Or just complain about it to people who can't do anything about it (like the people in your group).

Maybe they are doing what they are told because that was the instruction they got from the golf pro. You need to let the person in charge know you aren't happy about it or things will never change. Maybe they need to get new marshalls, may be that means the pro needs to give them new instructions.
 
I always see 'em when I don't need 'em and never see 'em when I need 'em.............

But I guess when I see 'em when I don't need 'em they are doing a good job then!
 
Smallville said:
A question for those who see marshalls not doing their job as you think they should do: Do you address this with the golf pro? Or just complain about it to people who can't do anything about it (like the people in your group).

Maybe they are doing what they are told because that was the instruction they got from the golf pro. You need to let the person in charge know you aren't happy about it or things will never change. Maybe they need to get new marshalls, may be that means the pro needs to give them new instructions.
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So the head pro tells them to ball hawk all day long?? Nice job if you can get it!!
 
tdinbr said:
So the head pro tells them to ball hawk all day long?? Nice job if you can get it!!
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Maybe he just tells them to have a presence on the course and not to confront people. A slow playing group of drunks might not be in the best interests of a marshall in a 4 on 1 situation.

Either way. Do you bring your concerns to the person in charge? Or do you just whine about it?
 
Smallville said:
Maybe he just tells them to have a presence on the course and not to confront people. A slow playing group of drunks might not be in the best interests of a marshall in a 4 on 1 situation.

Either way. Do you bring your concerns to the person in charge? Or do you just whine about it?
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If they are told not to confront people regarding keeping up regular pace of play, then in my opinion they have no presence on the course whatsoever. If they have to confront an aggressive group then there should be a policy in place regarding that so as to insure their safety.

No whining here. If there is a problem on the course, we simply call the clubhouse and inform them of the problem. If they do not address it immediately, we finish our round and never go back. Bad customer service does not need rewarding.
 
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