Golf Course Closed again

[HomerJSimpson]

I hope it's not because it's Ladies morning and most of them can't carry........

What are you suggesting?

 

[Fore Right]

Its an El Nino year (7 Year Cycle)
Results in lots of rainy weather starting in the gulf of mexico which spins out across the Atlantic and dumps on us.

Its a reason why this winter has been so ridiculously mild and rainy

 

[Dando]

My course is carry only so there will be idiots out with trollies

 

[chellie]

Not quite sure I understand what's what at our place right now..
We've been, quite rightly, carry only si ce Friday...the ground has been very soft...barely any rain over the weekend though....
Quite a decent amount of rain last night - puddles on the roads this morning - and we're allowed trolleys but carry if you can.....
Doesn't make a lot of sense to me....
I hope it's not because it's Ladies morning and most of them can't carry........

From my experience the ladies are usually bottom of the pile at a golf club.

 

[Imurg]

From my experience the ladies are usually bottom of the pile at a golf club.

So I gather.....ours seem to be a force to be reckoned with and don't take no from nobody.......I wouldn't argue with them anyway...

 

[Teebs]

No buggies are ours currently, regardless of any medical exemption. We had planned to come off fairway mats on the 1st March but it's been pushed back now.

Looks like a decent dry spell now so fingers crossed going forward..

 

[Mandofred]

I'm hoping by later in the week that they will be able to start mowing.....the fairways are getting pretty shaggy....inbetween honking great divots of course. Playing the next 2 days.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

No buggies are ours currently, regardless of any medical exemption. We had planned to come off fairway mats on the 1st March but it's been pushed back now.

Looks like a decent dry spell now so fingers crossed going forward..

We've got medical exemption buggies on the front nine but the rest is carry only. The front is significantly drier than the back so hopefully they might make it trolleys for the front later in the week and who knows, trolleys for all the open holes (currently 1-14, 17 and 18) by the weekend

 

[Springveldt]

Parkland course back open today after 4 straight days of closure, 9 holes only all temp greens. Strange thing is, it rained overnight last night again and is raining now yet it's open? Wouldn't be me, will be like a bog.

 

[simsini]

We've been closed 3 out of the last 4 Saturdays and it's due to hammer it down again all day on Friday.

 

[Voyager EMH]

Here's how it goes at my club regarding who can use a trolley. Medical or age-related exemptions can be applied for and accepted by the club.

 

[Don Shanks]

So bloody woke at our club we would rather be shut and upset 500 rather than go carry only and upset three old fellas

I'm new on this forum and rather hoped it would be a welcome break from other social media. But no, here's somebody using woke for no apparent reason. I wonder if he even knows what it means.

 

[federalexpress]

I'm new on this forum and rather hoped it would be a welcome break from other social media. But no, here's somebody using woke for no apparent reason. I wonder if he even knows what it means.

Whether woke is the correct term or not, a big part of the problem here is protective legislation, specifically the Disability legislation and the H&S legislation and how they interact in a not very sensible way. I post a link providing a full explainer below.

Clubs face a problem because they cannot simply ban buggies without a significant risk of being challenged under disability legislation. It isn't enough to claim (quite truthfully) it damages the course. There is much more onus, basically an unfeasible onus, on taking steps to prevent such a buggy ban.

Instead, and here is the irony, clubs tend to rely on H&S legislation. This allows them to ban buggies if they deem conditions to be unsafe. It doesn't even matter if the buggy user says they will do it at their own risk, even sign a disclaimer. The club is still liable, regardless what their member/customer says.

Some clubs, understandably wary of all this regulation, tend to adopt a simple approach, unless it's 'safe' for buggies (and sometimes for electric trollies), the course doesn't open. Whether this is an example of 'woke' is moot but it is sure regulatory overreach. One day, not that long away, I'll be an old geezer needing a buggy but it wouldn't occur to me to churn up the course on a wet day, to the detriment of others, because of a sense of entitlement.

Here's the link which I think is explanatory, second article in the publication. Note to later viewers of this post, this is a sample download of a free copy of the magazine, which may be updated to a more recent issue at some point in the near future.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.thegolfclubsecretary.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GCS_V20N24-V2_compressed.pdf

 

[D-S]

Local clubs around here tend to have, as has been described earlier in this thread, an escalating scale of restrictions, usually 4 or 5 steps between no restrictions at all to carry only. I don’t know of any clubs close to me that just close if they can’t allow buggies - they all restrict the use of buggies and trollies if conditions are unfit.

 

[federalexpress]

Then mine (which as you know is Minch) is an exception. I don't think we have ever opened and banned buggies with medical exceptions.

The 'traffic light' system you refer to makes sense. There is in fact some talk of us adopting a version but we are rather late to the party.

 

[chrisd]

Local clubs around here tend to have, as has been described earlier in this thread, an escalating scale of restrictions, usually 4 or 5 steps between no restrictions at all to carry only. I don’t know of any clubs close to me that just close if they can’t allow buggies - they all restrict the use of buggies and trollies if conditions are unfit.

Ours went carry only, arguing that they could open the course more often to those who could carry only. Unfortunately they didn't take into account the needs of those who had dispensation letters lodged with the Club explaining their need for a trolley or buggy to play. We challenged their decision under the 2010 Act, and finally they realised that the advice we have given them that it was clear discrimination, and the needs of those with "protected characteristics" we're covered under the Act. Now we don't have trolley bans but there are often buggy bans on health and safety grounds.

 

[federalexpress]

Yes, as I said in my long post, and the article I linked to explains very comprehensively, you are unlikely to be able to ban buggies or electric trollies purely on the basis of damage to the course. We might differ in that I think that is crazy, there is in my view an imbalance here between the rights of people who want to play, regardless of conditions, and the rights of members not to have their course damaged. When I get to be old/ill enough to need a buggy- which I invariably will- I'd regard it as selfish to damage the course for my own ends. But that's just me. And maybe I change my mind when it comes to it!

So golf clubs do indeed use safety legislation instead to ban them (and sometime electric trollies), but even there, it's a bit of a minefield. If you're interested, the article I linked to in my post above is worth reading.

 

[jim8flog]

Saturday - buggy ban. I went down for a drink and chat and to a man they all said they could not understand why there was one.

Yesterday - buggy route. I played and could not understand why we were on it.

 

[RangeRat]

I’m a member of 2 clubs, both are closed today, sun is now shining, fairly warm…perfect golfing weather…

Oh well, another trawl around the record shops today, this weather is costing me a fortune…

 

[Imurg]

We're open, carry only, today after a massive amount of rain fell in the early hours....
Puddles on our 10th green normally soak in after about 30 minutes....there was still one when we left a while back ..5 hours after the rain.
More rain today and tomorrow so likely carry only again and then the weekend....
Ahh yes...the weekend....just 40-50mph winds to deal with.......
It's never going to end is it......