winter golf

[ianmc]

winter golf is something i really enjoy the courses usually play longer and tougher because of the conditions.but at a local club of mine (i wont name names)they play off mats although they havent came into play yet and sometimes winter greens which is actually just the fairway and the club only knock a pound off the price of a normal round and when you find yourself paying over £25 for a round it just makes me mad it would be interesting to hear of any other people who have experienced this type of thing and your feelings on the matter thanks ian mc

 

[John_Findlay]

Hi ianmc.

I feel pretty strongly about this one. One of the reasons I joined the club I did was that here are never and never will be winter greens or winter tees. As a seaside course it plays the same all year round. The only difference is that we are allowed preferred lies.

In spite of this, the club still give visitors a big discount on green fees to attract some custom over the winter months. Many links courses do the same, sometimes halfing their green fees for visitors. Others offer huge discounts because you are required to play off mats (The Old Course and Carnoustie for example).

If a parkland course which plays winter tees, greens and possibly mats doesn't offer severely reduced fees then there's something far wrong with the club. Either that or they just don't want people to play the course in winter at all. I wouldn't have anything to do with a club like that.

 

[RGuk]

We don't have winter greens, but we do have mats when things are bad. I don't know about reductions, as I only joined this summer. I agree with you that there should be reductions, I have turned up to play to hear "yes, there are a few temps" and found out there is 1/2 greens or so and been pretty upset.....so I haven't then recommended these courses to mates. It's an odd one, once or twice I've been to some courses that have apologised for all kinds of stuff and cut the fees accordingly. I went to a famous club once and played for £30 all day instead of £65, because the visitors changing room was being painted!!! Needless to say, thanks to their consideration I have returned with friends and the business account in tow!!!

Dave

 

[brendy]

Our course is still playing off yellow tees (stableford tees, ours are reds, greens, yellows then white comp tees)
Greens are pretty much as they were during the last month or two of the proper season but most of the difficult flags have been made easier where possible, ie 2 tier greens are now mostly at the fronts.
36 points wins nothing these days and to be in with a chance of a placing you need at least 39-40 points. The course is a lot easier as the trouble off the tees is mostly overlooked now. Started using NXT extremes now instea of the prov's, they are nowhere ner as soft as my normal ball but for the winter they wil do rightly.

 

[USER1999]

We were on temps today. Fair, got to protect the course. God knows what they charge green fees. Hard frost, so we will all moan if come summer the greens are rubbish.

As golfers we all moan, but the greenkeeper knows best.

What I hate is if the greenkeeper says closed, and then a comittee member opens it an hour later. What makes him an expert?

 

[brendy]

We do have winter greens marked out but never use them unless there has bee hard ground front, our greens are quite well looked after midweek and being less than a mile from the coast I suppose the weather is a little more gracious to us than full on parkland courses (ours is a parkland but tends to get links like weather most of the year...if that makes sense!)

 

[viscount17]

Winter tees are more to do with enabling winter work at my local. Being low lying we do get some wet spots but winter rules cover these. Oh, and green fees are reduced.
Lots of changes this winter, some hedgerows have come out, lots of trees gone in - when these get their growth many of the approaches (not just fairways) will have the appearance of avenues and will be a lot tighter. Biggest difference is the removal of a row of pines marking the oob on the 4th (Par 4,dog-leg right), and after the work is finished, the removal of the oob. Just in case anyone thinks this is going to make the hole easier, the tee is being re-aligned, the removal of the trees opens up a plantation which is going to be left 'aggressive' rather than rough and a pond is going in the corner of the dog-leg on the end of the third of three parallel lateral ditches. Lots of problems for the bold or careless.

 

[Parmo]

One of our greens has changed to winter on a 3 par, it isn’t that bad but I know most of the other ones are really bad and small. I don’t mind teeing off mats; in fact I prefer it to grass (or mud this time of the year). Since my home course is a municipal I don’t see them dropping the cost (unless you are a member or a friend of a friend and the sly OAP/unemployed rate comes in as I have seen) while I pay full cost.