Course Maintenance Obligation to Inform?

JB

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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 do. Slow greens and uncut fairways are just as bad as aeration, IMO. Both completely change the experience.
 
They do have an obligation to inform in my opinion. If I am going to hand over my cash for an experience based on an understanding of conditions that have existed in the past, then I should be informed of a difference in those conditions and I will make the choice.

JM
 
@JB, did they charge you guys full rate?

I think if a golf course has planned maintenance happening they have an obligation to let the consumer know prior to arrival.

They should also inform you of their is a reduced rate during the maintenance time.


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@JB, did they charge you guys full rate?

I think if a golf course has planned maintenance happening they have an obligation to let the consumer know prior to arrival.

They should also inform you of their is a reduced rate during the maintenance time.


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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.
 
I think they have the duty to inform if the course is in a different shape than one expects it to be especially by their own doing.
 
I agree with the other responses. At a minimum they should at least inform golfers of the impact of the maintenance and offer a reduced rate.
 
@JB, did they charge you guys full rate?

I think if a golf course has planned maintenance happening they have an obligation to let the consumer know prior to arrival.

They should also inform you of their is a reduced rate during the maintenance time.


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I agree with this. They should notify you and offer an incentive in situations like this

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If there are known, scheduled maintenance procedures going out on the course that is going to effect play, the course should absolutely disclose that on their website AND if booking over the phone. It's their discretion to discount rates and whatnot, but the course should absolutely give the golfers information about any conditions that might effect their experience, especially in a negative manner.
 
I guess I just don’t understand why they were cutting them in the middle of the afternoon? That’s a definite 6am thing, so it’s ready for the day’s play. Even the muni courses get that right.
 
I absolutely think they should let you know if the course is undergoing any sort of maintenance whether it be overseeding, punched greens, etc. Let the person making the booking choose if they want to play after being presented with that information. I also think if the course is not in its normal condition they should offer some sort of discount as well.
 
I guess I just don’t understand why they were cutting them in the middle of the afternoon? That’s a definite 6am thing, so it’s ready for the day’s play. Even the muni courses get that right.

I called the course and asked this very thing after our round. I was informed that they always cut at 6am, but they had no cut for 4 straight days (in fairways) due to maintenance and they started with the back9 at 10am. Simply a schedule thing.
 
I feel like a good course should inform players when they schedule a tee time of any maintenance that might affect play.

Obligation feels a little strong, I think it makes better business sense to keep the customer happy, vs getting people on the course. Depending on the level of maintenance being done i think it’s a better choice to offer some sort of discount.


Unrelated, is fox hollow where we played in Feb?
 
Unrelated, is fox hollow where we played in Feb?

I dont know if you did or not. You played Innisbrook and I believe the day you were leaving you played Westchase.
 
I dont know if you did or not. You played Innisbrook and I believe the day you were leaving you played Westchase.

Yup. Westchase was the course i was thinking of, I think we discussed fox hollow but didn’t play it.
 
I called the course and asked this very thing after our round. I was informed that they always cut at 6am, but they had no cut for 4 straight days (in fairways) due to maintenance and they started with the back9 at 10am. Simply a schedule thing.

Feels like it’s still kinda weak on their part for the lack of heads up
 
I agree, I have had this happen several times. I think they should inform.
 
I would be peeved too, and just provide some constructive feedback to the course like "you know this wasn't in it's normal great playing conditions , they fairways and greens were long, etc. If the course could notify people at time of booking that will help minimize their disappointment, and some may even need to find another course, but at they'll be informed"

I dunno, I'm one to say something but not be a dick about it, not expect a refund or anything, but just something for them to consider for the future

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I think they have an obligation to inform, though how they inform is another story. If they're not going to inform over the phone, which I understand why they may not depending on how busy the phones are and that most book online these days, they should have an area of the home page of their website to keep everyone informed. Course I worked at had a section right next to the Book Now section of the website and it had a full 7-day maintenance schedule listed. If someone booked over the phone though we did not inform, it was up to the player to look in advance at the website.
 
I think they should. There is nothing worse than showing up at a course and expecting it to be premium and find something as you describe. They should at the least offer a discounted rate for play.
 
I think they do. Anytime they charge a full price for less than full service the customer should have the option to walk away if he chooses.
 
Nothing worse than being all excited to play and the course is not what it should be. They need to at least tell you when you book your tee time that the course is not playing up to standards and than you can make the choice of playing or not.


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There should have been an advisory about the conditions being atypical. I’m surprised such a nice course wouldn’t mention anything at booking. Even online bookings have advisory warnings. It’s bad business to underperform expectations, so it’s in the course’s interest to let people know.


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

The pro shop staff should alert customers of pending maintenance work, but usually they don't. To be fair, often times the staff doesn't seem to know what work the maintenance crew is doing or planning to do.
Whenever I book a tee time I call the pro shop and ask about expected course conditions.
 
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