Angry thread - why are some courses open at this time of year?????????

[Piece]

Traditions serves those that are desperate for a game when all others are shut. I've played it when most holes have been flooded, not just casual water. This was a long time ago when I was young and just wanted to play, not really caring about the course condition. I've even played it when the course was frozen solid, putting across the water on 16 for a laugh. Nowadays, I don't even consider it in winter when there's been rain. Wildwood was another course you just didn't play in winter.

 

[Foxholer]

Well in all honesty they are total money grabbers. They have ruined Pine Ridge which about 10 years ago was voted #1 public course in the country - Now they pile on as many people onto the course as possible to sell as many tee times as possible, totally ignoring the fact they have a time sheet....

Pine Ridge was renowned for being a 6 hour weekend round before Pine Ridge bought it. 6 minute tee times were the cause!

Only played it a couple of times since the change, and then early weekday mornings, so can't comment with authority, but do know the tee times have been changed to more sensible ones.

 

[Smiffy]

Oh well. Lesson only for me today.
Taken from the website.....

WEDNESDAY 17TH DECEMBER 2014

THE COURSE IS FULLY OPEN WITH TWO TEMPORARY GREENS ( 4TH & 8TH ) IN PLAY, DUE TO THE CONSTANT RAIN OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS THE GROUND CONDITIONS HAVE BECOME VERY SOFT AND THEREFORE TO HELP PROTECT THE COURSE IT WILL BE CARRYING ONLY UNTIL THE CONDITIONS IMPROVE. PLEASE CONTINUE TO TAKE GREAT CARE WHILE PLAYING THE COURSE. PLAYERS ARE ASKED TO TAKE HEED OF THE DIRECTIONAL WHITE LINES AND TO ALSO AVOID AREAS WHICH REMAIN WET THROUGHOUT THE COURSE.

Going to be like a bleeding quagmire

 

[davidy233]

Oh well. Lesson only for me today.
Taken from the website.....

WEDNESDAY 17TH DECEMBER 2014

THE COURSE IS FULLY OPEN WITH TWO TEMPORARY GREENS ( 4TH & 8TH ) IN PLAY, DUE TO THE CONSTANT RAIN OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS THE GROUND CONDITIONS HAVE BECOME VERY SOFT AND THEREFORE TO HELP PROTECT THE COURSE IT WILL BE CARRYING ONLY UNTIL THE CONDITIONS IMPROVE. PLEASE CONTINUE TO TAKE GREAT CARE WHILE PLAYING THE COURSE. PLAYERS ARE ASKED TO TAKE HEED OF THE DIRECTIONAL WHITE LINES AND TO ALSO AVOID AREAS WHICH REMAIN WET THROUGHOUT THE COURSE.

Going to be like a bleeding quagmire

Welcome to come up and stand and look at my two courses - firm and fast

 

[CMAC]

Welcome to come up and stand and look at my two courses - firm and fast

grange link seems dead

 

[davidy233]

grange link seems dead

That'll be why they were inviting us along for a preview of our new website recently - should work now

 

[richart]

Oh well. Lesson only for me today.
Taken from the website.....

WEDNESDAY 17TH DECEMBER 2014

THE COURSE IS FULLY OPEN WITH TWO TEMPORARY GREENS ( 4TH & 8TH ) IN PLAY, DUE TO THE CONSTANT RAIN OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS THE GROUND CONDITIONS HAVE BECOME VERY SOFT AND THEREFORE TO HELP PROTECT THE COURSE IT WILL BE CARRYING ONLY UNTIL THE CONDITIONS IMPROVE. PLEASE CONTINUE TO TAKE GREAT CARE WHILE PLAYING THE COURSE. PLAYERS ARE ASKED TO TAKE HEED OF THE DIRECTIONAL WHITE LINES AND TO ALSO AVOID AREAS WHICH REMAIN WET THROUGHOUT THE COURSE.

Going to be like a bleeding quagmire

Did you join a parkland course ? All good on the heathland, though there was a slightly damp patch, just past the fairway bunker on the first.

 

[delc]

You have to consider what is worst. Not playing golf at all, or playing on a wet soggy course? That is the nature of Winter golf! :mmm:

 

[Smiffy]

There was a slightly damp patch, just to the left of my gentlemans sausage

Excited were we???

 

[chrisd]

there was a slightly damp patch, just to the left of my gentlemans chipolata

Sorry Smiffy but I think that's what he meant!

 

[bozza]

I played Woodham on Monday which was renowned for being a bog in winter but it for take over by new owners earlier in the year that specialised in drainage.

Well I'm not sure how but they have made it worse!

It's been pretty dry up here so far I'd say and the course was just a mud bath, par 5's and par 4's shortened to par 3's on temp greens and the main greens that were on were like putting on a cobbled street and when you tried to repair a pitch mark it just broke up and crumbled.

In my opinion the course shouldn't be open as it must be causing damage to it but with them struggling for money I guess they have to try stay open even though they shouldn't be.

 

[Foxholer]

I played Woodham on Monday which was renowned for being a bog in winter but it for take over by new owners earlier in the year that specialised in drainage.

Well I'm not sure how but they have made it worse!

It's been pretty dry up here so far I'd say and the course was just a mud bath, par 5's and par 4's shortened to par 3's on temp greens and the main greens that were on were like putting on a cobbled street and when you tried to repair a pitch mark it just broke up and crumbled.

In my opinion the course shouldn't be open as it must be causing damage to it but with them struggling for money I guess they have to try stay open even though they shouldn't be.

I've posted elsewhere that, where serious drainage work is done, the 1st year can actually be worse than expected, as the 'usual' drainage is disrupted. Seems they are still doing the actual work too, so that doesn't help!

Greens that break up when Pitch Marks are repaired would be something of a concern though! Time for some soil analysis?

 

[bozza]

I've posted elsewhere that, where serious drainage work is done, the 1st year can actually be worse than expected, as the 'usual' drainage is disrupted. Seems they are still doing the actual work too, so that doesn't help!

Greens that break up when Pitch Marks are repaired would be something of a concern though! Time for some soil analysis?

The only drainage work I could see that had been done was the clearing out of old drainage ditches and ponds.

I'd say 75% of the fairways need new drainage putting in as they were just a bog and you honestly struggled to find where the rough and fairway started it was that long in places.

Apparently the greens have been sand injected to improve them but they were just soft and crumbling with no proper rooting from what I could tell.

It's a shame as it's a really nice layout but unless they spend a lot of money sorting the fact it's nearly unplayable for 6 months I can see it going under again.

 

[Smiffy]

You have to consider what is worst. Not playing golf at all, or playing on a wet soggy course? That is the nature of Winter golf! :mmm:

Whilst I was up having my lesson yesterday I was looking out over the course. The 15th, (par 5th), had so much standing water on it that you couldn't really play it "properly". Driving up to the practice ground via the access road that runs alongside the 18th...lots of standing water on the fairways, and in the rough it was like a mudbath, with big areas of standing water and mud.
God knows what other parts of the course looked like...
Surely it cannot be "fun" playing in conditions like that. Why not just close the course and be done with it?

 

[JustOne]

The course was horrific. Almost every fairway was waterlogged. We were all finding bogs of water everywhere. Although the greens were good, the rest of the course was really unplayable. We walked in after 12 holes, disgusted by the fact that Crown Golf hadn't decided to close the course.

This annoys me just as much as turning up at a course and the greens are practically unplayable due to hollow-tining.

I think I'd rather play a boggy course with good greens than a firm course with greens like rugby pitches. To be honest I'm disillusioned with golf courses and the way they are run (this forum is partly to blame for that as it makes me look at thing I might never have realised/thought about before) and I may never join another course again UNLESS I just want some social interaction and the things that a club CAN bring, to be honest the golf is becoming far less important than simply having a laugh with friends. Right now I'm looking forward to having a few months off. Might play once or twice but that's nothing to do with wanting to resemble a 'golfer'.

 

[dufferman]

I played my own course, Merrist Wood, on Saturday. For those who know the course, it's reputation for being damp... ok horrific in the wet is well known.

It played fantastic.

The greens were almost as good as the summer, and the few damp places were that - damp - not bogs or swamps!

Apparently, Traditions and Merrist Wood are as bad as each other for holding the rain. Not in my books!