- Thread starter
- #26
you can also pay less than $100 without caddies during off season with resident rates
Streamsong
you can also pay less than $100 without caddies during off season with resident rates
This is the way I would go back. I don't think I've heard from anyone that has stayed at the resort that thought it was that great.
We were there about a week after they reopened the blue course with redone greens, so the caddie didn't have a solid idea about the smaller undulations and breaks, but he did well to give us lines to take off the tees and for approaches, and he fit in with our attitudes and personalities.
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Just spent the last 4 days at Streamsong with a group of 8 guys, 5 of which had been there previously. I was a first timer (eh).
Courses were a blast tee to green, the greens were quite gimmicky IMO, especially on Black.
The room at the resort was fantastic, my roommate and I were upgraded to a 2 br suite, which was fantastic.
The food was just ok, and the service is quite below avg. The caddies we had were saying that the resort laid off a lot of staff last year at height of pandemic, and is having issues restaffing. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere.
We had same 4 caddies for all our 5 rounds and all drove 45+ minutes to the course each day. It was convenient for me and my buddy who live in FL, but the other guys traveled from Mass and that is a long day of travel. For the price, I would elect to travel somewhere else and play less golf at a premier facility than go back year after year here.
I am going back to play in an FSGA tournament in Sep, so was nice to see the courses prior to.
Courses were a blast tee to green, the greens were quite gimmicky IMO, especially on Black.
The room at the resort was fantastic, my roommate and I were upgraded to a 2 br suite, which was fantastic.
The food was just ok, and the service is quite below avg. The caddies we had were saying that the resort laid off a lot of staff last year at height of pandemic, and is having issues restaffing. This place is literally in the middle of nowhere.
We had same 4 caddies for all our 5 rounds and all drove 45+ minutes to the course each day. It was convenient for me and my buddy who live in FL, but the other guys traveled from Mass and that is a long day of travel. For the price, I would elect to travel somewhere else and play less golf at a premier facility than go back year after year here.
I am going back to play in an FSGA tournament in Sep, so was nice to see the courses prior to.
Lions81
Well-known member
Just got back from a trip there last weekend. Played each of the courses. They have put new grass in on the Red and the Blue, and the greens were in amazing condition, as were the fairways on the Blue. The Red's fairways still need to grow in a bit and take better in certain areas. I still much prefer the Red and the Blue over the black, but I did enjoy the Black more this time than I did previously. Maybe it just takes playing it a few times to get the hang of it a bit. We were able to ride based on the time of year, and man is that course easier to play 36 on when riding vs walking. The back 9 of the Red course continues to just be a monster.
JayB
Well-known member
Disappointing to hear some of the lackluster experiences with the hospitality side. Assumed that given it is in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing else there, the restaurants and accommodations would be excellent.
Staying tuned to hear what some of the fall trips report back and hoping for a better result. Some guys I play with are getting organized for a spring trip and SS was the consensus. Maybe not any longer….
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Staying tuned to hear what some of the fall trips report back and hoping for a better result. Some guys I play with are getting organized for a spring trip and SS was the consensus. Maybe not any longer….
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- Moderator
- #32
Gotta be honest, no one enjoys the black course. It’s an angrier, longer, red course. There’s a reason it’s called the third best course on property.
- Thread starter
- #33
To be clear, the accommodations are nice and aren't the issue. Food was pretty good too, but it's hard to get decent talent in the middle of nowhere, particularly given the seasonality. I suppose wait staff, bartenders and cooks could do what caddies do and go to northern destination courses (e.g., Sand Valley, Whistling Straits, Arcadia) in the summer months, but those are much different positions.
Factor in COVID and the general **** storm in the labor market and it's likely to be a persistent near-term issue.
Hey guys. I'm going here for 2 days in 2 weeks. What are your restaurant recommendations? Bone Valley or restaurant 59 any good?
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Can't miss with either. Both excellent.
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Try the smashed avocado.
I just booked a few day trip there in late September with a couple buddies. I'm really hoping some of these issues that you guys have described have been ironed out, but at that time of year, I don't imagine the place is bustling. Oh well, 3 top 100 public courses at the same location. We'll give it a go.
Acesteve
Well-known member
you know what, service just about everywhere now officially stinks and I'm pretty much resigned to it. Sick employees and lack of employees. I've not seen small or mid-size businesses that are immune
I thought Bone Valley was the best by a good margin. After trying all the others to start, we ate at BV exclusively the next 4 days.
So we ate at the Bone Valley Tavern after our round at black - the soup and wings were absolutely amazing. That night we we ate at Restaurant 59 and had the Wood grilled oysters and Steakhouse Cheeseburger. Absolutely amazing meals for sure!
- Moderator
- #41
I think you’ll be alright. Remember that you’re on vacation and that the only pressing things you have are your tee times. Other than that, also be aware that late September is still hot as Hell down here, and you’re probably gonna want to get acclimated to the heat and humidity by sitting in a sauna for a bit. Not a whole lot of shade or breeze out there!
100%. Getting the chance to get away from life and just enjoy a buddies trip is what it's all about. Good golf, good food and good drinks.
I do have one gripe about Streamsong.... specifically related to the caddies.
So it is mandatory to take a caddy and walk up until a certain time of the day which is fine however below is the scenario my FIL and I came across.
-We teed off on Black later in the day so gas carts were available - we took a fore caddy and he was extremely knowledgeable and a great caddy. It started raining on 6...torrential at times however we powered through and even offered him to stop at the turn but he stuck with us. The 2 individuals walking opted not to contribute towards the caddy cause they have played there many times before - so we had our own personal caddy for 18 holes which was great.
At the conclusion of the round, as we were walking off the green we asked him to dry off all of our clubs/shafts to prevent rusting, at which point he said "sure yes I can do that" and we also asked if he would be joining us on Red the next day, which we advised him we would be using push carts but since we need to take a caddy would you like to come with? He said that he doesn't have control over whom he gets assigned to...fine. Understood.
We get back to the sheltered starter area, give him his pay (we gave him $120 for his forecaddying efforts and how he said he would dry the clubs off which I think was pretty darn good considering the starter said $40 is the base rate). After we exchanged money he basically ran off in a rush so much so he left his water bottle and towel in the back of the cart. We then asked where did he go, at which point the starter called him on the radio but he was already in his car. Kind of rude/dishonest of them....
We then asked the bag attendant if they could dry off our clubs since we were playing red the following day - they said sure thing, no problem.
The next morning, we are set to play on red with pushcarts - as we are looking for our bags at the starting area, I noticed my headcovers in a completely different bag, along with my FILs... and the caddy from the day before standing there saying "hey since we had such a nice time together yesterday, I figured I would carry for you" - we advised him that we never asked for a carry looper and that we are taking pushcarts at which point he became visually upset - I even went to the starter to confirm that we were set for pushcarts and he advised that we were.
So, not only did he misinform us the day before and run off, I think after he saw what we tipped him for fore caddying he would force us into a carry looper, which the minimum rate is $100 for, before tip. Also didn't appreciate how he swapped out the majority of our bags into a lighter one (big peeve of mine)
We end up apologizing for him being misinformed, advised him we understood if you want to go with an alternate group for a higher rate but he said "no that's fine" and the remainder of the round, he paid more attention to the other caddy and their 2 players than ours. Frustrating but still had a great time on the course.
So it is mandatory to take a caddy and walk up until a certain time of the day which is fine however below is the scenario my FIL and I came across.
-We teed off on Black later in the day so gas carts were available - we took a fore caddy and he was extremely knowledgeable and a great caddy. It started raining on 6...torrential at times however we powered through and even offered him to stop at the turn but he stuck with us. The 2 individuals walking opted not to contribute towards the caddy cause they have played there many times before - so we had our own personal caddy for 18 holes which was great.
At the conclusion of the round, as we were walking off the green we asked him to dry off all of our clubs/shafts to prevent rusting, at which point he said "sure yes I can do that" and we also asked if he would be joining us on Red the next day, which we advised him we would be using push carts but since we need to take a caddy would you like to come with? He said that he doesn't have control over whom he gets assigned to...fine. Understood.
We get back to the sheltered starter area, give him his pay (we gave him $120 for his forecaddying efforts and how he said he would dry the clubs off which I think was pretty darn good considering the starter said $40 is the base rate). After we exchanged money he basically ran off in a rush so much so he left his water bottle and towel in the back of the cart. We then asked where did he go, at which point the starter called him on the radio but he was already in his car. Kind of rude/dishonest of them....
We then asked the bag attendant if they could dry off our clubs since we were playing red the following day - they said sure thing, no problem.
The next morning, we are set to play on red with pushcarts - as we are looking for our bags at the starting area, I noticed my headcovers in a completely different bag, along with my FILs... and the caddy from the day before standing there saying "hey since we had such a nice time together yesterday, I figured I would carry for you" - we advised him that we never asked for a carry looper and that we are taking pushcarts at which point he became visually upset - I even went to the starter to confirm that we were set for pushcarts and he advised that we were.
So, not only did he misinform us the day before and run off, I think after he saw what we tipped him for fore caddying he would force us into a carry looper, which the minimum rate is $100 for, before tip. Also didn't appreciate how he swapped out the majority of our bags into a lighter one (big peeve of mine)
We end up apologizing for him being misinformed, advised him we understood if you want to go with an alternate group for a higher rate but he said "no that's fine" and the remainder of the round, he paid more attention to the other caddy and their 2 players than ours. Frustrating but still had a great time on the course.
DEFINITELY pack sun screen and a water bottle with liquid IV / Nuun - its going to be hot in September and only the red really has some trees/shade on the edges of the fairway.
Wow, that's intense. I enjoy walking, and my experience at Pinehurst #2 with a caddie this past year was really good, but I was thinking of just walking (or taking a push cart) and figuring our where to hit it myself. I've never been, so maybe that isn't the wisest plan of attack.
Only later in the day are caddies not mandatory (we were there in November). But like the 2nd day when we played red, 2 people walked and had one caddy and my FIL walked as well but with pushcarts. Honestly, aside from a super exclusive club I have never had that be mandatory - normally only 1 caddy if 2 are walking and 2 are riding/lugging their own.
Now, on Red you can figure out where to go with the exception of one hole as there were 2 paths right off the green with no direction. If you're playing black I would highly suggest taking a caddy as it is very confusing since there isnt alot of signage...
I played Pinehurst in June last year - definitely an easier walk. I appreciated the caddies there for their course knowledge above anything else.
- Moderator
- #47
You could go in blind, but it’s a bit tricky on any of the courses to do so. If you take a cart, you have to have a forecaddy. I had not heard anything about walking only being limited to certain times of day, I have walked at 10 AM and I have walked at 1 PM and never had any issue. The routing gets a little wonky though on I think one or two holes, if you walk without someone who has been there before, just give yourself a mental heads up that there is some crisscrossing that happens between the two courses.
When in Rome, right? I should just take the caddies. I appreciate everybody's help on this.
- Moderator
- #49
If you take a cart, you have to by default. The entire group has a forecaddie whether they wanted one or not. 100 for the group, so 25pp if a foursome, 33pp threesome, you get the picture. Out there, they are worth it for the help around the course.
I've played each course enough times to know where I'm going, so I don't mind walking it and saving quite a bit on everything, which then just pays for the drinks during and after the round anyway.
- Thread starter
- #50
Perhaps, but these issues were from late 2020 and early 2021. Things have actually gotten quite a bit worse since then