We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Private Club Feature or Bug?

McLovin

McLovin

grateful for this community
Albatross 2024 Club
Joined
Jul 23, 2014
Messages
39,648
Reaction score
28,678
Location
orlando
Handicap
4.5
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?
 
That would annoy me for sure
 
I play at a private club that is the exact same way, but far from a high dollar club. There isn't a single marker on the course telling you what any hole is. I asked why when I first joined, and they said that Pete Dye's dad who designed it said "the members should know where to go, why would I put up signs."
 
OhioGolfer said:
I play at a private club that is the exact same way, but far from a high dollar club. There isn't a single marker on the course telling you what any hole is. I asked why when I first joined, and they said that Pete Dye's dad who designed it said "the members should know where to go, why would I put up signs."
Click to expand...

hey dipsh1t dye dad - how the hell are the members supposed to know when they first join?! this mentality is EXACTLY what i hate about it. congratulations on doing everything you can to make sure you make guests feel as unwelcomed as possible. piss off lol
 
Seems odd and annoying
 
McLovin said:
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?
Click to expand...
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 local muni doesn't have signs, do that mean we are elite?

Honestly I don't think it would much bother me, it hasn't at a handful of clubs I've played.
 
Seems unnecessary and exclusionary
 
A sign indicating which hole you are on with stock yardages is a must, IMO. Not putting anything up is just silly.
 
I don't think I've ever played on one that doesn't have any hole signage.

I've played on a few that don't have any markers on each hole, like you get the Hole 7 - 358 yards blue tee's and that's it, no red, blue or striped ones.

I wouldn't love playing on the course without anything, but I don't know if it would really bother me much.
 
It’d bother me until I learned the route, then, I’d feel swanky.
 
Last edited:
OhioGolfer said:
I didn't say Pete Dye said, it was his dad. Our original 9 is the only 9 his dad designed.
Click to expand...
not meant as a slam to you......more of a dislike of elitist designers......
 
I have never noticed. I don't think it would bother me, as long as I was not a single and there was no one in front of me on a course I had never played.
 
Doesn’t bother me. Most private courses I’ve played, or courses in general, are laid out to be easy to navigate. The handful I’ve had issues with are public courses with mostly useless signs. There’s one in EKY that has an intersection where 4 different paths cross with one sign pointing in the direction none of the paths go. If you’ve not played it at least a couple times you end up backtracking and probably more than once.
 
tahoebum said:
A feature that I like, there is no reason to clutter up the club for those dozen charity or outside events each year. Signs and stake 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 several year ago as well with very few complaints
Click to expand...

the club we played yesterday has multiple forked cart paths, and the course cuts through a couple practice holes. so at least here i would disagree it's not intuitive, and i've played other similar clubs that were the same. granted i have the world's worst sense of direction. i would also say a well-designed sign can add charm and class.
 
McLovin said:
hey dipsh1t dye dad - how the hell are the members supposed to know when they first join?! this mentality is EXACTLY what i hate about it. congratulations on doing everything you can to make sure you make guests feel as unwelcomed as possible. piss off lol
Click to expand...
Yeah that would annoy the p out of me.
 
frontTsociety said:
Hotels have signs in the halls, private residences don’t. I see this as the same thing.
Click to expand...
I don't think this a fair comparison. Golf courses are much larger and one probably already feels ackward when trying to figure out a new course, let alone one with zero direction.
 
frontTsociety said:
Private courses, like houses, are unlikely to have unaccompanied visitors.
Click to expand...
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?
 
It isn't just 'swanky' clubs here... Play a few links type courses in the UK/Ireland and you can get lost almost immediately if you are not with a local. No cart paths to follow, etc...
I got lost after the third hole at Royal County Down. Green is in a little bowl and there is no clear indication of where to go next. There are what look like goat tracks all over, but which one takes you to the next tee? And at other courses in the Republic, especially smaller local courses, holes/fairways can actually cross over each other and share tee boxes as well. Scorecards don't have maps, either. You get what you get at a putt-putt- Hole, Par, Yardage, Score. Yardage markers are few and far between as well. And at at least one course near Cavan that DID have yardage discs in the fairway, the yardages were different for EVERY HOLE, so you needed to buy a yardage book. AND it was in meters... So, on hole one, the white marker might be 145M, but on hole 2, it could be 165M. 4 different color disks, and none were the same for any hole.
 
While I don't love signage at a private club, there are a lot of classy and cool ways to do it nowadays
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top