Private Club Feature or Bug?

[jeffg21]

My club is like this. There are some holes directing you, but there is no signage on each hole giving yardage and such. It bugs me, but I guess I overlook it or am now used to it. But when inviting guests, like @xThor, and he has his own cart, I was constantly telling him where to go. And @jeffg21 was like, "if I was not riding with you, who knows where I would be at on this course."

Now in general they have had a low golf membership for a while, that may have something to do with the why.

Truth

 

[Just_Brad]

@radiman and i got super lost on day 1 at the hideaway. because of the signs, not the give-me-the-sweet-release-of-death hangovers we both had.

I was paranoid the whole time I would lose the group if I wasn't right on them from hole to hole. Didn't help that the carry was usually on the back of the other cart lol.

 

[MGoBlue]

Our course (semi-private) has 150 or 100 yard poles depending on hole total yardage. We should do away with them, because most everyone has either GPS or rangefinders or both. For guests or public that don’t have these, our carts have GPS.

As for directional signs, we have them to direct toward first and tenth tees, and to show direction to the fifth tee, which is across a road.

 

[tequila4kapp]

I’m not bothered by it. Visitors should be guests accompanied by members. New members would be encouraged to play with other members to learn the ropes, so there’s a social benefit to it. Private Courses should offer different features from public courses otherwise what’s the point of being a member? It would take me once, maybe twice, playing the course before I’d remember everything…just not such a big deal that it’s worth getting worked up about.

 

[Parrot]

I don't think I'd get in much of twist over it but I definitely get your point. If a club doesn't want it, so be it.

But, if a club is hosting an event, it should accommodate and be gracious as fully as possible in its welcome to the guests, who likely have paid good money to get in a tournament at Bushwood, to enjoy the club and course. I think a temporary sign indicating flow of the course and hole numbers isn't an unreasonable ask. Were there signs up for hole sponsors or whatever else might be sponsored?

 

[blugold]

I've played some really snobby clubs. One at a THP event that wouldn't let a woman into the bar. Swanky clubs suck.

 

[OldandStiff]

This is the "the bathroom is down that hall" (with 6 identical doors and no labels), "the range is out to the left" (4 paths to the left and range not in sight), "it (answer to your question) is in the ______ thread" (185 page thread) and that stuff pisses me off to no end. It's just gatekeeping exclusionary nonsense that always says more to me about the people involved than whether or not that new person belongs there.

 

[golfinnut]

... to find your way around

 

[frontTsociety]

So if I told you to drive across the country and said, sorry, no road map and no gps, but you have to keep pace to make it in a couple days, how frustrated would you be not really knowing where you were going, even if you are with someone that has drove the path or not?

Wow, you got me there.

 

[Bosco...]

Dunno, I kinda prefer the simpleness of it. Simple post with a number, yardage plates on the box. Don’t really need the “This hole brought to you my Jim the Plumber”.

But I might also be guilty of removing every damn piece of shrubbery and landscaping between the back of clubhouse and 18th green including Pampas grass “150 yard fairway markers”. Depends on the course I suppose, but just let the grass talk.

 

[Muchmore]

A lot of people might complain about The Hideaway it sounds like

I get the opposition to it but doesn’t bother me personally. I think that attitude would have a lot more to do with the club and its members than not having signage. Some places like the Hideaway are exactly as described, and yet the members and the staff couldn’t be more welcoming.

Then there are courses with signage that I’d never want to step on again because the members would make you feel not welcome at all.

I’d be way more turned off by being treated poorly than not knowing the routing immediately

 

[Mark_UK]

MPCC and Coral De Tierra local to me are both like this. I played MPCC with a member so wasn’t a huge deal, but Coral was a shotgun start. We we teeing off on hole 12, it was a clust**** with everyone trying to find what hole they were starting on.

 

[Keith Prater]

I was a member at a club like that once. It didn’t bother me, but it wasn’t exactly difficult to find the next tee boxes either.

 

[rhinosparky]

My country club is private and only allows guest if accompanied by a member. There are no signs directing where you need to go and there are quite a few spots that you could get lost. Each hole has a rock with a etched course emblem and the tee number but I couldn't tell you where they are other than maybe three holes.
As far as yardages go they are right there on the scorecard. Yardages on the course are painted markers that designate 200-150-100 and can't remember the last time I used them as technology has made them obsolete in my opinion.
Elite would be a stretch. It's simply another cost, maintenance, and item not needed when members and accompanied guests are the only people who play it.
Heck our course will not even allow charity events unless it is sponsored by a member and it can only take place on Mondays.

 

[MWard]

Doesn’t bother me. GPS lets me know I’m on the right hole when the yardages get smaller. A scorecard lets me also have a decent idea of if this is the right way or not.

Now I have to know what course this is @McLovin

 

[uitar99]

While lack of directional signage was annoying, I once attended a private club as a guest and they had no signage for either the ladies or gents locker rooms. I picked wrong and walked in on two gals in their 70's who were thrilled I had picked incorrectly.

For that kind of coin, including quarterly food and beverage spend, couldn't there be some kind of directional signage. For that kind of money they could hire minimum wage employees to point the way.

 

[Matthew]

I’d guess a majority of private club members would prefer to raise the dues and to not have any outside charity events or just limit them to a few each year. My club is very low on the elitist scale compared to a dozen others in the metro area and I’ve already heard complaining from members that we are hosting the state amateur tournament this July which will close the course to members for 3 days and shut down many of the tee boxes/locations for 10 days. When your club is only open about 180 days each year, closing it for a few days during the peak warmer months is a big deal to some. I don’t care about the shutdown and think it’s an honor to get one of the more prestigious state golf tournaments.

I'm certainly in that demographic. Our course has more Monday outings than I'd like to see & have expressed I'd pay more for fewer of them, especially after our renovation. Now, I'd prefer to lose my course for major tournaments, state or Monday qualifiers, prestigious amateur events & similar but "Joe's Pool Hall Scramble" can go across the street to the city course.

 

[shanewu]

sounds like a bug to me

 

[Et Tu Brute?]

The type of courses I prefer, it is totally obvious where the next hole is. Ideally within 30-50 yards of the previous screen is the next tee.

Courses where you need a sign to tell you where to go are usually either built winding around through housing developments for the convenience of the housing developer or they are in terrain where I don’t want to be walking in the first place.

But in any case at a true private members club, it makes no difference one way or another how convenient or not an outsider may find navigating the course.

 

[GoldenBuff]

Not communicating basic information on the course is a fail. I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't at least have signs on the tee boxes. This is a pet peeve of mine. Some people like to withhold information or, worse, make others search and dig to get it. Why? Making information easy to get and understandable is a high level move and shows respect. /rant

 

[Architex]

A feature that I like, there is no reason to clutter up the club for those dozen charity or outside events each year. Signs, barber poles, and stakes make it harder to mow/trim so there is good reason to do away with them. In my experience, it’s very intuitive at most private clubs to see where the next tee is as they usually have shorter distances between greens and tees. My club took away the 100, 150 and 200 yard stakes/barber poles several year ago as well with very few complaints. I think we only have a 150 yard barber poles on two dogleg par 4’s.

My club has buried granite markers for 50-250 distances. They are nice until you hit one and watch your ball sail. They are good for grounds guys since they can just mow over them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Sean]

If you've played at a private club like that, do you consider it a feature, or a bug?

I have never seen a golf course that didn't have signs directing you to the next hole, if it's necessary.

 

[Jeff Spicoli]

A sign indicating which hole you are on with stock yardages is a must, IMO. Not putting anything up is just silly.

Same here. I just realized that the course I grew up playing didn't have signs with the hole number on it.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

I'm sure this falls into the category of "Why do you care?" But this one really bothers me. I played a charity event yesterday at a swanky private club. This club does not have any signage on the course. There are colored tee markers on tee boxes, but that's it. No "this way to hole such-and-such." No sign on the tee box indicating which hole it is, or any information of any kind.

It just feels so elitist to me. Basically saying "If you have to ask then OBVIOUSLY you're not a member." I hate it!

If you've played at a private club like that, do you consider it a feature, or a bug?

Have played many like this. Mostly, after some consernation, I turn my attitude toward being blessed to experience a place which doesn't allow much outside play.

 

[CBaker]

My big question to this is....is it hard to navigate though? Some are much harder than others (this ain't 7 comes to mind), but some are so straight forward it's almost common sense to anyone who has golfed before.

Does seem a bit weird to not even have a sign that says yardages from the different tees though.