Why do some courses insist on staying open?

[Pathetic Shark]

OK the answer is money but there has to come a time when you say "OK, the course is closed".

One of the clubs I am at a member at has been closed for three days because it is so wet and the course would just get ruined - fair play - everyone understands and accepts it.

The other is your typical "we never close, we never have temporary greens". You might as well put a sign up saying "we don't care about the condition of our course, we just want the money".

I just walked round the latter and one fairway is an utter mudbath. And people are taking motorised trolleys down the middle of it, churning up any remaining grass and then moaning about how wet the course is. Sometimes you have to walk away shaking your head at the stupidity of it all from all concerned.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Our course drains well but has been closed bar one day for the last two weeks. I'm pleased it has been as I don't see how you can do anything but cause damage. Silly to be open.

 

[Dogma]

I appreciate that the condition of the course at this time of year is important and can affect later on in the Spring and the Summer, but what winds me up is my course and the slight hint of rain closes it as they're extremely precious.

This isn't a lie; my course in Bristol has been closed since the first weekend of December.

Closed, as in, completely closed. Week days and the weekend.


Closed again this weekend too, despite a good forecast for Saturday.

They've taken £154 off me in that time period and I've not played a round there since November.

Argh.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Has to be the clubs decision not the members. Members can suggest but it will never be 100% one or the other.

The clubs first responsibility is to make money. It can make it from staying open or closing to keep a higher quality course for the busier periods.

If the club gets it wrong is makes less money.

I guess the exception are member clubs which don’t rely so heavily on visitors.

 

[hovis]

all three course at my place should be closed. ok they have the staff to maintain and repair the courses but i think its an outright rip off to say "sorry you can't have a refund because the course is open"

very poor

 

[Robster59]

There are times when the course should be closed for safety or course preservation reasons but from my experience whilst all on here understand the need to close, you'll always find members who have a moan whenever the course is closed.
It's a tough line to draw. We try to stay open as much as we can for the members but will close it when the course is unplayable or unsafe.

 

[Imurg]

We should have been closed on Wednesday. We weren't and we played a full round.
To be honest, if I hadn't had a break of 2 weeks due to Xmas and New year, I probably wouldn't have played.
When you're splashing up water with almost every step and you finish the round with trousers more brown than black you know you shouldn't really be out there.
Closed Thursday and Friday after a huge deluge Wednesday night but open again today with only 2 temps.
I get the feeling that the members had a moan last year as we were on temps more than half the winter.
This year we've had the full course open when we'd have had 6-7 temps last year..
It's definitely a fine line...

 

[Mike07]

Both courses at my place are closed today and one course open tomorrow... it’s the correct decision

 

[Deleted member 15344]

If the course shoold have been closed then surely there is a simple answer- don’t play on it. And if a course is closed regularly and you feel missing out on Money then join one that doesn’t close as much or has better drainage

 

[IanM]

Correct

Big hotel course near me hasn't closed.... but folk are coming in looking like they've been bog-snorkelling

 

[MendieGK]

If the course shoold have been closed then surely there is a simple answer- don’t play on it. And if a course is closed regularly and you feel missing out on Money then join one that doesn’t close as much or has better drainage

The view at the players is that the course closes itself. The very rarely make and closures although they will stop trolleys etc

 

[louise_a]

I do find "the course closes itself" is a strange phrase, as long as a course is open, there will always be someone wanting to play it regardless of the condition.

We have been closed quite a lot recently, this hasn't bothered me as much as it normally would as I have had a rotten cold since Christmas,

 

[jim8flog]

Our 9 hole course is always open unless there is H&S issue. I have seen more course closures on the 18 hole course during the past 3 months than I have seen in 3 years. New Course Manager and new Club manager.

 

[rudebhoy]

Ours only closes if there is ice on the course and it's deemed to be dangerous. They decided last winter that it would always be open otherwise, citing the "course closes itself in really bad weather" argument.

There was a view previously that the club couldn't win in bad weather - if they closed, there would be a number of members arguing it should have been open, and if they stayed open, there would be a number of members arguing it should be shut. So now it's up to the members. I personally thought it was a bit of a cop-out.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We will close if necessary but usually the club and greenkeeper do a good job at making the right calls. I have been to a few places recently, usually a pay and play and some of the golfers coming off covered in mud make you wonder why they bothered. Playing on a course that wet, that muddy cant be any fun.

 

[Jamesbrown]

Course near me opens up in snow. And yes people play in it. Full tees and greens.
I have actually been in the snow and was given some orange links choice balls in the shop.

Big pay and play hotel course. Money to repair.

I didn’t want to play, but I play with a society in the off season to get away from scrambles and BB’s. And when I asked if it was called off I was told no. So turned up for breakfast and a laugh.

 

[GG26]

Our course doesn't drain well and was rightly shut for a number of days on the run up to Christmas. A number of members moaned and now it is open despite being wetter than before, albeit carry only. No doubt these will be the same members that will moan about the state of the course that they have just churned up in the spring.

 

[Pathetic Shark]

The course I was referring to still being open was a pay-and-play. Just watching people churn up this muddy fairway with motorised trolleys was just unreal. And down at the range this morning, I heard some of those same people complaining about the state of the course. If it's that bad, why are they making it worse??

By the look of that hole, it is going to take until May to recover. Just stupidity all round, the club for having that hole open and for allowing trolleys, the members there for just making it worse.

 

[patricks148]

i suppose with a lot of clubs struggling and the number of proprietary clubs about now days, they need cash so some are always going to open if they can get away with it.

my home course is a well draining links course so water isn't an issue, but snow is and when we have that the course closes itself.

people have to take on board if the course isn't fit to play they probably shouldn't play.

i walked across Torvean golf course in Inverness yesterday and some of that was under water and 3 holes are completely inaccessible because of flooding from the new course. there was one guy still playing despite it being closed... go figure

 

[Coffey]

My course has been closed for nearly 2 weeks now. Closed yesterday because a number of trees have came down in Storm Eleanor and also the wet weather.

There is a course close to me that is always open, It only closes for snow. I have seen people playing it when there are rivers flowing down the fairways. Clubs seem to love saying 'We never close and no temps' even if the course is completely unplayable. They seem to use it as a selling point even though it is just ruining the course. As a result the course has dreadful greens and divot ridden fairways.