Quote:
Originally Posted by John_W
Since 2011 I've played about 250 rounds on the championship courses and haven't run into that problem. What I normally do is immediately after paying and before putting and chipping, go to the starter shack and check in. They write down the cart color and usually I ask, if not told, who I'm playing with if it's not someone I arrived with. Normally the practice green is within eyesight of the starter shack, so it's easier to monitor the coming and going if you're only putting. Most times if you're a single, the single will want to pair you up with someone in the group if you have three players.
If I were to use the driving range, I would finish up at least 30 minutes before start of play, you did good arriving an hour early. Usually after checking in, let's say it's a 12:44 time and it's now 12:20, the starter might say your behind that group there or something to that effect, or your third from the tee. You can also ask, what group are we following? The main thing is, within 15 minutes of your teetime, stay within eyesight of the starter.
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The putting green at Glenview is not within site of the starter's booth of either Stirrup Cup or Tally Ho. It's another demonstration of how The Villages doesn't know what they're doing when it comes to golf.
The starters actually get a message from the golf shop when you check in and pay. They know that you are on the property. There's no need to go over and tell them that you're there. But it doesn't matter. There is no excuse for sending a group out ten minutes early when one of the players is not there. It happened to me one other time at an executive course. It's an absurd policy. Remember, I arrived at the first tee, ten minutes before my starting time. I'd have no problem if I had been late.
The other thing that's troubling is that there was very little play that day as is the case most of the summer months. There was no reason to send a group ten minutes early. And, if I arrived ten minutes early and my group was already on the first green, they went off at least fifteen, if not twenty minutes early.
It's a case of having a bad policy or starters making up their own rules. I played Mira Mesa last week and arrived 20 minutes before my starting time only to be told that they were running 20 minutes behind. I was then told that the starter was telling everyone to wait until the group in front had teed off on #2 before hitting. I asked the starter about this and he said that it was not policy, but he felt that if you hit once the group in front left the green you'd be waiting on every hole. I asked him if he realized that that was why he was twenty minutes behind. He said yes, but they need to make times 10 minutes apart as opposed to nine minutes apart.
The problem is not that the times are not spaced properly. The problem is that the ambassadors don't do the job of keeping play moving. They never speak to slow groups. There is also the issue of many inexperienced golfers that don't understand rules, etiquette or pace of play. IMHO,
EVERYONE who wants to play golf should attend a Good Golf School before being allowed to play. I've been playing for over 50 years. I taught golf, I taught rules and have acted as a rule official for sectional PGA events. I'd be willing to go to the school if it was a requirement.
People need to be educated and ambassadors need to to their job as opposed to being simply water boys.
As I said, the golf courses in The Villages are poorly designed, poorly maintained and poorly managed. They are mostly for show.