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I wanted to post an 'incident' my golf party and I experienced yesterday, while playing at Butternut Farms GC, in Stowe, MA. (I will paraphrase as much as possible to keep this as short as possible.)
We arrived at 12:30 pm, for a 1:05 tee time. The starter said there was nobody in front of us until the 3rd hole, and asked if we minded teeing off earlier, at 12:50? So we did. Around the 6th or 7th hole, the Marshal came up to us and said the group of 3 behind us were complaining about our slow play. He asked us to play 'ready golf,' (which we already were,) and to try and keep it moving. He then proceeded to follow us shot, by shot, until the 9th hole, until he drove off. The ladies behind us on the 9th, came up to yell at us and said, "how dare you 3 don't pick up, skip a hole or two, since no one is ahead of you, etc.....) The Marshal then came up to us again, and we asked: "What is the suggested/approp. time alotted to play this course?" He replied: "2:15, per 9 holes." We explained to him that we were hitting our 2nd shots on the 9th, and we were only at 2:05 for time, clearly within their scope set. Instead of agreeing with us and telling the group behind us to either back off, or play through, he proceeded to follow us shot by shot until the 15th hole. (We were walking and carrying, and still finished all 18 under 4 hrs, and we are all high handicappers.) Also, we offered twice for the group behind us to play though, since we knew, there was no one in front of us by two holes from the start. All in all, it made golfing less fun and rather stressful, having a Marshall up your rear all day long. Sorry this is long, but I am just curious: Who do you think was 'at fault' here; us, or the Marshal for not dealing with the group behind us instead? Also, please share any other stories related to pace of play. |
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| # 1 5/3/2010 9:52:59 AM |
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The ranger was a moron, and you should have (and still should) complain to the pro, director of golf, and the course owners. Let them know how you were treated and advise them that you will never play their course again, will tell everyone who will listen what a terrible experience your group had at Butternut Farms, and are even writing about your lousy experience on widely read forums such as this one. I'm from Mass also and a few years ago I brought some clients to play at Pinehills and had a run-in with a dipshit ranger. It was a weekday and our foursome was exactly one hole behind (as we would arrive at a tee, the group ahead was getting off the green). There was no one behind us. We never once saw a group. And this moron ranger pulled very similar crap that he did to you. On the 12th hole, I had had enough and not only threatened to knock his teeth out, but that I'd do my best to get his ass fired. He drove back to us in the 17th fairway and started to apologize, but it was too late for that. Believe me, there is no one more cognizant of slow play, and I am always making sure that whoever I am playing with does not hold up play. But some of these iidiot rangers go too far. The Director of Golf comp'd our meals, gave us a voucher for a round for 4 players, our choice of a dozen balls each, and a Pinehills hat. I thought this was very fair.
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| # 2 5/3/2010 10:06:47 AM |
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For a start you might want to send just what you wrote here in an email to the course. Maybe a link to this discussion as well. Some courses I play the ranger is seen but not heard unless there is actually a problem. Other courses it looks like he's afraid if he's not out harassing somebody he may lose his job. If I'm on pace for a 4 hour round I'll say so. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself.
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| # 3 5/3/2010 10:49:36 AM |
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Why on earth wouldn't the group behind you play through when you offered? Seems like they wanted to complain more than actually, oh, I don't know, solve their problem? Gotta wonder about some rangers, too...give 'em a badge and they think they're the law...
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| # 4 5/3/2010 11:03:44 AM |
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the ranger & the ladies were at fault! i think those old COUGARS where checking you out? LOL!
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| # 5 5/3/2010 12:19:33 PM |
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To everyone so far who has checked this post out and replied, thanks so much! Yea, at first, we tried to make jokes about it and really did 'defend ourselves' and our rate of play. Unfortuntely, it got us no where that day. I will be calling and writing the course today and will post the outcome. Thanks again for reading!
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| # 6 5/3/2010 1:14:35 PM |
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I'm just assuming that your group was a foursome, you didn't mention how many were in your group. If you were a foursome then it's completely possible for the 3 behind you to raise hell. Uneccesary, but possible. They might not have realized that one less player will tend to move things faster. However, the complaining by them was totally uncalled for. The marshall sounds typical of many courses, just riding around the course, not getting in anyone's face, not starting trouble, just as long as he can keep his job and get his free golf on his days off. The group behind you should have taken the invite to play through, so they're just as whacked as the marshall.
I agree with Otterman, take it to the course, not in writing, but verbally. But I'd go one step further, make sure you know who the top dog is and get your gripe to them. Not just the rookie standing behind the counter collecting your money. Another thing would be to do it in view of other patrons nearby. Your more likely to get results as well as comps that way. I'm not saying, do it for the comps alone, but heck, you paid for enjoyment on the course, now get your money's worth. Most marshalls/rangers wear name badges so be sure to have that too, not just a description of the person. |
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| # 7 5/3/2010 1:54:58 PM |
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the ranger & the ladies were at fault! i think those old COUGARS where checking you out? LOL! The ranger was out of his mind, at one point you were 10 minutes ahead of pace of play. These ladies were out of line. You should have let them go ahead and then buzzed there tower once or twice during the remainder of the back nine. |
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| # 8 5/3/2010 3:03:50 PM |
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We had almost the exact same problem at the end of last year......One of those Country Clubs that decided to go semi-public so they can make more money......We were told at the start they had a strict time line......We were approached four times by the marshall to be told we were behind pace.....And threatened that he was going to make us skip a hole.....We never even saw the people behind us for the whole round!!!!!!!! We don't play slow by any means and we finished 20 minutes less than their alotted time to play a round......Moral is we will never play there again.....When you pay good money for greens fees you should be able to enjoy your round and play golf.....I could see if we were holding people up...but like I said we NEVER saw them.
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| # 9 5/3/2010 3:11:50 PM |
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When you pay good money for greens fees you should be able to enjoy your round and play golf.....I could see if we were holding people up...but like I said we NEVER saw them. Exactly right. |
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| # 10 5/3/2010 3:34:10 PM |
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stupid. i play golf to get away from a nagging woman to go to the course and have to listen to three nagging women and a marshal that has as much authority as the lunch lady in elementary school. what can he do? i don't understand why they wouldn't play through and i'm shocked they had the nerve to complain on more than one occasion. definitely take it up with the course and good luck.
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| # 11 5/3/2010 3:41:14 PM |
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i play golf to get away from a nagging woman I play 60% of my rounds with my favorite playing partner, my wife. I never nag her, she never nags me. It's unusual for women to behave like this on a course. In my experience, they are generally polite, courteous, and play quickly. |
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| # 12 5/3/2010 4:24:03 PM |
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Are you sure you guys were playing at a good pace? Sounds like you may have been playing slow if there were open holes in front of you and a group of ladies were on your asses?
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| # 13 5/3/2010 4:34:12 PM |
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Are you sure you guys were playing at a good pace? Sounds like you may have been playing slow if there were open holes in front of you and a group of ladies were on your asses? Hockey, I've been a member at a few clubs with a lot of women members. I find that in general, women play faster. They are very concious of pace of play. There are two couples in paticular we play with often, and sometimes we go out the 3 guys and the 3 girls seperately. We cannot keep up with them, and we can play in 3:45 walking. The girls are 15 - 22 handicaps, and we guys are 8 - 12 handicaps. |
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| # 14 5/3/2010 4:41:47 PM |
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Are you sure you guys were playing at a good pace? Sounds like you may have been playing slow if there were open holes in front of you and a group of ladies were on your asses?
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| # 15 5/3/2010 4:41:54 PM |
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Are you sure you guys were playing at a good pace? Sounds like you may have been playing slow if there were open holes in front of you and a group of ladies were on your asses?
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