I'm with you 100%. There is NOTHING i hate more on a course than crappy signage. My brain explodes when I hit a fork in a cart path and there is no indication at all which way I should go. Makes absolutely no sense to me.
Private Club Feature or Bug?
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.
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I don’t think that would really bother me unless it’s a confusing layout. I used to work at a high end club and it was the same thing. It was fine though because the first tee was literally right next to the range and it was impossible to miss.
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Not sure it would bother me much, but I completely understand where you're coming from here.
That would annoy me to no end...member or not.
Comparing driving across the country without a GPS to finding the next tee box after you leave a green might be a bit of a stretch.
I've played regular public courses, private courses and nice resort courses that don't have tee markers or good signage telling you where to go, don't think it's an "elitist" thing.
My course isn't private or fancy and we don't have hole signs beyond front nine and back nine. I tend to prefer the aesthetic
I have no problem with that. Actually like it. Less is more and I'm sure no one has gone missing over the years. If I remember correctly Ballyhack didn't have any signage-not sure of the other Dormie properties.
I'm not saying it's an "elitist" thing. I'm just saying there should be signage.
I'm not sure the lack of signs is a nefarious plot to keep the common golfer out. The $40,000 initiation fee and dues are there for that.. That said, I think it's certainly possible and appreciated to have a classy looking small placard somewhere with the hole number and yardages. But if not, hey, it's their course.
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i can definitely see the frustration specific to a multi-day tournament hosting nonmembers. but this was a monday when the club is closed for play anyway.
for clarity, i'm not annoyed by a lack of signage for a charity tournament; i'm annoyed by any lack of signage. courses reciprocate. guests are a thing. if done well, subtle but helpful signage doesn't have to be an eyesore. but i'm not the one paying dues, so i get that my annoyance means nothing to nobody haha
I think it is a bug.
I had never played a course like that, until The Hideaway, that didn't have hole markers, you just drove up and there were numbered tee markers I/II/III/IV. It honestly confused the heck out of me, but more in the overall "where is the next hole, I am so lost trying to follow through this development".
We went the wrong direction on day #1, after the Snicky Snack. The group we were with left before us, and tacos in hand I went the wrong way lol.
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i agree with this. but it's not my course. more for the six-figure initiation and 4-figure monthly dues, less for the lack of signs
To answer though, I don't think it is a nefarious plot. I think it is just expected that you know where you are going because you live there/play there all the time. Same as how there are no yardage signs at the tee boxes as well, you probably are pullng that info from the GPS on the cart already, or you just know because you are there every day.
I would have to get the sense of the club before making a call, but you would think a situation like you were in, you are paired with a member so routing or anything like that wouldn't be an issue.
At the end of the day I am visiting someone else's club and if they run it a certain way and provide a certain vibe and the members are ok, then that's on them and I will just enjoy my time there while I'm there. Whether I am in the tax bracket to even consider membership or not, if the "quirks" bugged me enough then check them off the list and move onto the next.
At the end of the day I am visiting someone else's club and if they run it a certain way and provide a certain vibe and the members are ok, then that's on them and I will just enjoy my time there while I'm there. Whether I am in the tax bracket to even consider membership or not, if the "quirks" bugged me enough then check them off the list and move onto the next.
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My club doesn’t have any signage nor yard markings for the different tee boxes and it’s not a big deal. Every tee box has a marking somewhere on the ground on the distance to the middle of the green if you want to use that. We all have GPS watches and rangefinders so no big deal. Also our course averages 70% of the rounds a year by walkers. The layout Is super obvious where the next tee box is so there’s zero confusion.
Not something I would get my knickers in a bunch over
Would definitely be annoying the first few times out but once I learned my way around I wouldn't care most likely. If they're hosting a charity event with a bunch of people who've never played there though they could at least set some temporary signs up at the forks to let people know where to go. Pace of play at charity tourneys is already terrible. Why make it worse?
I wouldn't get worked up about it but i usually expect any course, public or private, to at least have a display of some sort saying "Hole 13" or something around the tee blocks.
Our course has plaques. That say like "Hole 1 : weeping willow 378yds" or whatever.
I never thought that might make people feel more included and welcome. I will ask the club to remove them ASAP.
I mean we do have a sign that says "People with 5 figure salaries will be shot on sight" . But that is just the usual stuff really
Our course has plaques. That say like "Hole 1 : weeping willow 378yds" or whatever.
I never thought that might make people feel more included and welcome. I will ask the club to remove them ASAP.
I mean we do have a sign that says "People with 5 figure salaries will be shot on sight" . But that is just the usual stuff really
A lot of courses are like that to encourage you to take a caddie.
The Pete Dye course I belonged to years ago had no signage, nor does the municipal course I belong to now. As I think about it, it is pretty much ht and miss whether a course has signage on each hole or not.
An argument for no signage.....Years ago, I played in a club championship at a course outside Chicago that had an extremely long par 5s, 675 yards into the prevailing wind, the 15th at the time. As we approached the 14th green, we saw a guy standing on the side of the 15th tee box, trying to hit a shot that was well above his feet, about waist high, and in thick grass. We thought he was still playing 14 and that we had hit into them! Turns out his drive on 15 hit the signage for that hole and the hole was now playing 5 yards longer for his 2nd shot.
An argument for no signage.....Years ago, I played in a club championship at a course outside Chicago that had an extremely long par 5s, 675 yards into the prevailing wind, the 15th at the time. As we approached the 14th green, we saw a guy standing on the side of the 15th tee box, trying to hit a shot that was well above his feet, about waist high, and in thick grass. We thought he was still playing 14 and that we had hit into them! Turns out his drive on 15 hit the signage for that hole and the hole was now playing 5 yards longer for his 2nd shot.
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.