Bloody municipal courses......

[Smiffy]

Wasn't going to play this week-end, wanted to give my arm a rest, but got talked into going out by a couple of mates of mine. Played at Tilgate Forest near Crawley, a reasonable muni and only £15.00 a round. Haven't played there for a good few years so thought I'd give it a try.
Played total crap for the first 7 holes. Either pulling, duck hooking or drawing the ball into cabbage etc. Had 4 points as I stepped on to the 8th tee....
8th hole is a par 5, downhill to a stream and then uphill from there onto the green. My mates teed off and were both in trouble, I hit one...and glory be it went straight, and long, down the middle. Whoohoo!! "I'm back" I thought.
Anyway, when it was my turn to play my second shot I hit a nice 5 wood over the stream and up the middle of the fairway. Feeling really pleased that I had just hit two good shots I was amazed to see two kids come running out of the trees whooping and a hollering and run over to my ball, pick it up and then jump on bikes and pedal off!! I was bloody livid and so were my mates. We had no chance of catching these little gits but I suddenly remembered why we don't visit many municipal courses. I dropped a ball in roughly the position where my ball had been when it was stolen and proceeded to knock a nice wedge onto the green and can the putt for a birdie..I just doubled my points tally on one hole! Parred the next for 3 points so my 4 points had suddenly become 11!
Settled down and played crap again for the next few holes, got to the 14th which is a 90 degree dogleg right. We all hit nice drives down to the dogleg but when we got down to our balls to play into the green.....no bloody flagstick! The little gits had nicked that too...
Don't you just love municipals???

 

[clubchamp07]

We have had that at our club and it's not a muni. Normaly only happens during summer holidays and in the evening's.
Dont we just love the non playing kids.

 

[Fyldewhite]

This isn't a municipal problem. Any course near housing will attract kids like a magnet in the summer holidays. It's a difficult issue too. The young ones tend to be just looking for balls to sell and are mostly harmless but the older teenagers carrying an antique 3 iron are the ones that end up having a hack from the middle of a green (we've had divots taken out of several greens over the last month). The only real answer is a marshal but obviously the cost of this is considerable.

 

[Parmo]

Its deffo not just a Muni problem, these things happen.

 

[DCB]

There was one rather up market club in Glasgow that used to employ security gaurds to patrol the far reaches of the course to keep the riff raff out !

 

[Bunkers]

There was one rather up market club in Glasgow that used to employ security gaurds to patrol the far reaches of the course to keep the riff raff out !

Pollock by any chance??

My last game on a muni ended on the 11th at Linn Park when about 12 drunk neds emerged from the trees as i was driving off to "have a go of yer golf sticks mister"...never again!

 

[DMC]

I took up the game on our local muni,to this day noise doesnt bother me when playing.

 

[DCB]

Aye, that's the one.

Also had fireworks rockets fired at us at Lethamhill one Friday afternoon ! They lined them up on a wall and set them off directly across the fairway at us.

Not been back, and that was 15 years ago !

 

[drawboy]

I remember a few years ago that happening to our 4 ball little get picked up the drives and scarpered little did he know one of the guys I was playing with was an ex yorkshire cross country champ he dropped his gear and took off after him, caught him after a few miles and kicked his arse.Poetic justice.

 

[JustOne]

You came to Crawley and didn't phone me?...serves you right then Shame you didn't have your clubs nicked from the carpark LOL

I hate Tilgate, I'm surprised you even played it.

 

[drawboy]

I've been told the flats at South Leeds have been knocked down so that's solved the problem. good job I'm re joining next season.

 

[Andy]

There was one rather up market club in Glasgow that used to employ security gaurds to patrol the far reaches of the course to keep the riff raff out !

Pollock by any chance??

My last game on a muni ended on the 11th at Linn Park when about 12 drunk neds emerged from the trees as i was driving off to "have a go of yer golf sticks mister"...never again!

Greenock also hired a security guard, but he never lasted long. The local neds kicked hhis roger hunt in and he gave up, was never replaced.

Andy

 

[tonecapone]

This used to happen a lot at South Leeds when the flats were there,Dont know what its like now,Once following a four ball round got on the par 4 at the side of the flats teed off,Total mayhem happened as we were walking up the fairway Two Very nice little children came running onto the fairway picked up 2 of our balls hurled some abuse then turned tail only to find the 4 ball in front blocking there escape little bit of questioning and persuasion they got the balls back plus about another 20.The kids was going to bring there dads bless em,They most likley didnt have one the little barstewards.

 

[Smiffy]

You came to Crawley and didn't phone me?...serves you right then Shame you didn't have your clubs nicked from the carpark LOL

I hate Tilgate, I'm surprised you even played it.

I didn't ring you on the basis that you told me you weren't available for two or three Sundays you plank...

I don't mind Tilgate, it's not a bad track. Some good holes, some not so good, but for £15.00 it's a day out I suppose. We weren't held up at all which was good.

The funniest thing I saw all day was when we were sitting outside the bar having a drink afterwards. Three "Chavs" came off the course, two were wearing plain t-shirts and shorts, the other one had like a vest top thingy on with camo trousers. All had baseball caps on back to front and one was playing in black trainers. They came up the steps and said "excuse me, is this the spike bar?"
PMSL

 

[Smiffy]

Smiffy, you should have put a short en down the fairway

I did that on the other 17 holes geezer.
8 was the only one I clattered a good 'un on

 

[vig]

Smiffy, you should have put a short en down the fairway, when they came out for the ball, fire a hooded 3 iron up their erses

 

[JustOne]

Three "Chavs" came off the course, two were wearing plain t-shirts and shorts, the other one had like a vest top thingy on with camo trousers. All had baseball caps on back to front and one was playing in black trainers.

Only one pair of camo trousers? You surprise me. In Crawley we like to consider ourselves the Camo Kings!

It was probably a 4-ball but you couldn't see the other chav as he was in full combat camo including little branches stuck in his Topflite cap

 

[mono217]

IM a member at one and hate it because of this **** like that so im moving to a nice private.

 

[tonecapone]

Three "Chavs" came off the course, two were wearing plain t-shirts and shorts, the other one had like a vest top thingy on with camo trousers. All had baseball caps on back to front and one was playing in black trainers.

Only one pair of camo trousers? You surprise me. In Crawley we like to consider ourselves the Camo Kings!

It was probably a 4-ball but you couldn't see the other chav as he was in full combat camo including little branches stuck in his Topflite cap

Good Answer PMSL

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Its a common problem. The last few holes at the Downshire are near a housing estate and those holes are plagued by hoodies intent on knicking or just causing grief. Wimbledon Common was even worse. Not only did you have people deliberately walk the length of the hole knowing it was common land and they had right of way but you'd get dogs running onto fairways and picking balls up as well as kids on bikes all summer long riding off with your finest balata.

I'm quite lucky as my course is on private land and no access anywhere other than through the main gates so even the most ingenous kid would have to go to a lot of grief to get any sort of opportunity to get onto the fairways. That said we have had stuff knicked usually left outside the clubhouse or from cars so we're not above being targetted in some form