Changing Clubs.

[kid2]

This is only my 4th year playing this great game and only my 4th year at my club but im already thinking of changing next season.....Its a bit late now as iv only just paid my subs but to be honest i cant see much that is being done with the course from an aesthetic point of view.....

Fairways are still patchy and brown in parts...There are clumps of grass growing here and there from them not being mowed......Greens are still not great....There's work being down on cart paths which in my view is a complete waste of money because no one ever uses them for the set purpose....

They have put bunkers in places which makes no sense whatsoever..... They have planted new trees in areas that need drains.....
To top all that we went up this morning in the rain for a stableford...Yesterday our juniors played and the course was dry.......4 hours of heavy rain overnight and i havent seen water like there was this morning in a long time...... It was everywhere.....On one fairway i had to walk 20 yards back towards the tee just to get a half decent lie that i wasnt bringing water up in......Now if right be right the course should not have even been opened it was so bad.....

The board said everything was in play and it was lift clean and place on the fairways only within 6 inchs....
Yet because there were no cut lines you couldnt tell what was fairway and where the rough started..... Balls were plugging in most places.....
It was just miserable......
Now we havent a huge member base and like all clubs in this climate we're struggling but in fairness when your paying 660 euro's a year green fee's you expect to see your money going somewhere......
Now last week i played at a club the same distance from home as my own and the green fee's are 710 for the year....Fairways were roaring green.....Well mowed, dry, and the greens and tee boxes were like billard tables.....

How can it be that a club not 25 miles from my own, In the same climate be in such good condition.....

Now i like my club,People are friendly, the grub aint bad, but they are not exactly making it a hard decision for me to play again there next season...
It only has a member base of about 500 yet when you see the competition times for sunday its always the same names...... Competitions are only 5 euro to enter and 10 euro for a medal...Not exactly bank breaking figures....I and my playing partners always see this as an extra little bit that goes towards to the course so we play in all comps that come up....
They have societies out most saturdays, 2 and 3 at times.....

There are 3 very good courses withing 20 mins drive of where i live......All 3 have a 2000 euro membership fee and between 700 and 900 euro green fees per year there after.....

I cant see our course miraculously transforming between now and next march but it maddens me to see whoever is deciding what needs to be done where isnt even doing the right things......For me what they are doing is a waste of time and money.....

What to do!

 

[In_The_Rough]

Same here go to one course and it's like a bog and then go to other nearby and it is unrecognisable. All boils down to what the course is based on. Sand based like Links will be in far better shape than a parkland track built on old farmland

 

[kid2]

Same here go to one course and it's like a bog and then go to other nearby and it is unrecognisable. All boils down to what the course is based on. Sand based like Links will be in far better shape than a parkland track built on old farmland

These are all Parkland Pal..... Thats why i cant get my head round it.....Iv seen our course just degenerate since i joined...And to be fair i know that there's a recession and that courses are struggling but it just seems to me that the committee at our place are just clueless and too laid back.

 

[In_The_Rough]

These are all Parkland Pal..... Thats why i cant get my head round it.....Iv seen our course just degenerate since i joined...And to be fair i know that there's a recession and that courses are struggling but it just seems to me that the committee at our place are just clueless and too laid back.

Are they all built on the same base though that is the key? if they are then there is something amiss. The problem with members courses is the committee's a lot of the time(I speak from experience here) to many favours being exchanged and friendships being kept together rather than what is best for the club. One suggestion that was made at one club near me was to put all the members names in a raffle a draw the committee each year, if one of the drawn members did not want to do it then his position would be drew again, you ought to have seen the committee's reaction to the suggestion. Know it is not an easy time but I do suspect sometime they do not have the clubs best interests at heart. Not saying they are all like this but a lot are.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Our club is going the other way. Greens are getting truer and quicker, condition is improving and they are doing a lot of small stuff, new cart paths, cleaning drainage ditches etc that are small fry but make a big difference in the bigger scheme of things. I was seriously thinking about going at the end of the coming year but if the new greenkeeper keeps moving the place forward then I'll be around for a good while

My advice would be to put your comments in writing to the relevant party(s) and see what response you get. If they don't respond or palm you off then I think you know what their position is and you can consider your options from there. Looking at the weather it seems there has been significant rain your way, and even if the course has been dry lately there is no guarantee the water table has dropped and so it won't have anywhere to go.

Could you consider going part way through the year? Nothing worse than playing somewhere you have no heart in. The good rounds don't feel as special and the bad ones will become a real slog

 

[kid2]

Our club is going the other way. Greens are getting truer and quicker, condition is improving and they are doing a lot of small stuff, new cart paths, cleaning drainage ditches etc that are small fry but make a big difference in the bigger scheme of things. I was seriously thinking about going at the end of the coming year but if the new greenkeeper keeps moving the place forward then I'll be around for a good while

My advice would be to put your comments in writing to the relevant party(s) and see what response you get. If they don't respond or palm you off then I think you know what their position is and you can consider your options from there. Looking at the weather it seems there has been significant rain your way, and even if the course has been dry lately there is no guarantee the water table has dropped and so it won't have anywhere to go.

Could you consider going part way through the year? Nothing worse than playing somewhere you have no heart in. The good rounds don't feel as special and the bad ones will become a real slog

To be honest Homer i think a letter would fall on deaf ears...... I couldnt see a letter changing the course..... And as for the part subs...Both my playing partners have paid also....So there are actually 3 of us that would leave....

 

[thecraw]

I moved clubs this year at great cost to me. I guess its all relevant to income but I shelled out £2k tro move down the coast to West Kilbride. It was a decision I should have made years ago instead of hopping from inland track to inland track. I paid £800 last year for 5 months golf.

I loved my old track as it was a golf club, it was a friendly place where I could join any table for a pint and a natter. West Kilbride is a bit "stuffier" and I'm still finding my feet members wise for a knock. That said I joined WK to play golf and the quality of the course is night and day.

My opinion is if you can afford it do it.

 

[chris661]

I played over the weekend at two different inland tracks and frankly given the condition of the two of them I would be glad to never go near another one. I have been playing links golf now almost exclusively for 10 years and cannot ever see myself joining a parkland again if I had the slightest of choice.

If I were you and had a course that was playable more often even a bit further I wouldn't need to think too hard about it, it is a fairly big jump to make on your own but if you have a couple of mates it should be a bit easier. Go for it, you can always move back after a year if it turns out to be a mistake.