drdel
Tour Rookie
I can give you a 3rd reason the trolley ban might be unwise; A significant proportion of regular golfers are retired; some of these people may not be able to carry their clubs for 18 holes !!
No Trollies reasoning
- Thread starter dejf
- Start date
I can give you a 3rd reason the trolley ban might be unwise; A significant proportion of regular golfers are retired; some of these people may not be able to carry their clubs for 18 holes !!
dejf
Assistant Pro
Actually, those points of mine were towards reasoning of trolley bans. But to comment on your reason - you do not need to be retired golfer for that ... I have tried carrying clubs on back myself yesterday (and I only took 5 clubs) and I won't try that again. My back is not in the best condition and did not help at all.
On the other hand - that can actually be a good reason for the trolley ban - because some people (like myself) won't enter the course on trolley ban day, so you simply get less traffic.
Rooter
Money List Winner
Not read all the replies, but if you use a trolley and go from green A to tee box B, there may only be one route suitable for trolleys, thus increasing traffic to a single area. Carrying would allow players to walk any which way they wanted, thus limiting the impact in a single 'pathway'.
dejf
Assistant Pro
Quite a good point, specific to the design of the course, and possibly valid only for only a couple of holes here and there, but yes, sounds valid to me.
Astraeus
Head Pro
Could it be the case that certain clubs do suffer from the use of trolleys in the winter (such as those with a clay undersoil) but others do not, and simply adopt the ban on the assumption that they are of greater detriment to the course than would be the case with foot traffic? I am yet to hear a compelling and definitive reason for the ban being in force at the majority of clubs and the absence of such, after many years of bans being in place, suggests that it is groupthink rather than a genuine risk assessment which has led to the ubiquity of bans.
For me, I can't see that having the weight spread over three wheels which are either moving constantly or at rest on a piece of ground nowhere close to the playing surface can be any worse than people standing, in studded shoes, on the playing surface for 10, 20 or 30 seconds whilst they perform pre-shot routines or indeed simply walking in those same studded shoes all over the course.
For me, I can't see that having the weight spread over three wheels which are either moving constantly or at rest on a piece of ground nowhere close to the playing surface can be any worse than people standing, in studded shoes, on the playing surface for 10, 20 or 30 seconds whilst they perform pre-shot routines or indeed simply walking in those same studded shoes all over the course.
MashieNiblick
Tour Winner
I found this a little while ago when looking for anything on the relative benefit of hedgehogs. It doesn't cover that but does look at the difference between carrying, electric trollies and buggies.
http://www.englandgolf.org/documents/STRI_Wear_Study_EGU_Wear_trial.pdf
A bit technical and long winded and a lot of description of the methodology but the conclusion seems to be that there isn't a lot of difference between carrying and trolleys but that carts do cause a lot of damage.
I actually think this is an important consideration not really covered by the study.
http://www.englandgolf.org/documents/STRI_Wear_Study_EGU_Wear_trial.pdf
A bit technical and long winded and a lot of description of the methodology but the conclusion seems to be that there isn't a lot of difference between carrying and trolleys but that carts do cause a lot of damage.
I actually think this is an important consideration not really covered by the study.
dejf
Assistant Pro
Very interesting study! It seems to me that the electric trolley in the study is OK also because flat land was tested. It might be the case that if the test was done in a hilly terrain, the electric trolley might perform differently (compared to non-electric one). On a flat land, I would assume that most of the effects are due to a downward pressure caused by the moving object. The results suggest this might be the case. On a hilly terrain, however, there might be some other aspects that this study would not reveal.
Yet still, it is the best objective data on this topic so far.
dejf
Assistant Pro
Any experiences with Powakaddy Winter Wheels - http://www.powakaddy.co.uk/product/winter-wheels/ ?
North Mimms
Tour Winner
My old club (where Delc is also a member) used to have regular trolley bans in the winter.
The course is built on clay.
A few years ago they decided to exempt pull trolleys with hedgehogs from a ban. Plain wheeled trolleys would not be alllowed.
After a year or two, this was extended to allow leccy trolleys with hedgehogs at any time.
This was very popular with the member who struggled to carry, and many (myself included) got HH wheels for my motocaddy
The upshot is that the course is played nearly as heavily in the winter as in the summer. It no longer gets the "rest" it used to get during winter trolley bans, and the course got extremely muddy during the last couple of winters. It was one reason why we decided to look to move to a better draining course. I accept that at my new course, there may well be times when I have to carry a half set or not play at all
