Fivesome
 

Played at Cane Garden on Thursday we made the turn and the last tee time 9:28 of the morning wave was teeing off, five women. The ambassador informed us that they were the guest of the pro. I was always told that foursomes were the max. The tee time office was called and asked the question and was referred to the pro Dave Williams. He made it clear it is within his purview to have a fivesome. I think this a bad policy and sets up many problems for the clubs and their employees.

I think we have to leave it up to the judgement of the pro-----perhaps they were 5 LPGA touring pros

It is not the purview of the professional to break the rules at his/her whim. It says "I am the boss and what I say goes no matter what the rules say". This professional is lacking in doing even the basics as a professional. If he/she'd done it at the least busy time of day then perhaps, perhaps it might be given a pass. The tee time office is complicit in this negative behavior and the professional and office need to be spoken to.

As to "perhaps they were 5 pga touring pros"...bull shirt! They might get special treatment at a private club, but not these. Poor judgement!!!!!

I have to believe after living here almost ten years and living too with a golfer who plays far more than I do...four days a week, that allowing a fivesome to play has to be as rare as hen's teeth. I don't recall seeing it and neither has he.

Perhaps we should see if it happens again before we get our knickers in a hitch.

I for one haven't gotten my knickers in a hitch...if perhaps that's who you are referring to. The problem with non face to face communication(or ear to ear)is that you can not tell the "tone" of the message and it is very easy to "assume" you know the writers thinking. Most of the time we do not unless emoji's are used. I ought to know as I misunderstand people online all the time.

Since no emoji's were used my tone is matter of fact.

Wasn't directing my post to you Fred. Rather to the OP.

I think playing five doesn't happen much. But I could be wrong and frequently am.

Can't get past a five some with 5 females........

I played there yesterday, if these were guests of the pro, he must really not like them or he would have sent them somewhere else.

Bull shirt... I am so stealing that.

Let's get real. You have NO IDEA who these 5 women were or WHY the pro let them out as a fivesome. Not LPGA pros? Probably not. U of F women's golf team???? H Gary Morse's grandchildren??/ Third generation Andrews sisters???? YOU simply have no idea. Does this pro frequently let out fivesomes??? YOU have no idea. Was he told by someone higher on the food chain to let them out. YOU have no idea.

Did they keep pace on the course, or were they 3 holes behind???? Did they hit the ball better than most male Villagers or were they just hacking around??? Since it seems to bother you, did you complain directly to the pro or the club manager at the time?????

Without the FACTS, all you are doing is extrapolating a "no fivesome" rule to all circumstances, and even ASSUMING the pro doesn't have the authority to use his discretion

Sorry to be so harsh, but I love golf as you apparently do, and to my mind the pro is the captain of the club ship. So I think his "orders" are to be obeyed, until such time as his pattern of actions lead to a "courts-martial"

:thumbup::thumbup:

EXCELLENT point, what was the pace of play??

All my thoughts exactly! Great post. :BigApplause::BigApplause:

At the course I played in Indy our regular group was the second group off on Sunday mornings. The first group, a fivesome. We could not keep up with them. We were usually two holes behind this group while being a hole ahead of the group behind us.

A problem is that, for many people, it only takes one bad experience to condemn the whole system. The few times that I play a championship course, I feel bad if the Ambassador has to tell us to pick up the pace. Sometimes we just skip a hole. I am so embarrassed. It's a good thing that the people behind us don't follow us home and harass us.

THAT...is the key. :BigApplause:


In my previous life, we had a group that had the standing first 4 starting times on Saturday's and Sunday's (sometimes out with the first group at 5:45AM)...that were fivesomes (single digit, ready golfers).

The head pro was happy to put us out first, because he knew that we played fast enough that we would set a pace that would keep the course moving...for the rest of the day.

No one behind us ever had to wait and oftentimes we wouldn't even see the 5th group out...even if they were a threesome.

Every so often someone would whine and the pro would ask them if they were ever held up or had to wait on a shot and when they sheepishly said "no"...he would ask them what their concern was then?

The 'Rangers' were also not shy about giving a warning, then making a group pick up and go to the next tee. :thumbup:

I don't care if it's a tensome if they don't hold up play.

If they hold up play even a little, it's wrong.

I absolutely agree with what the pro at Cane Garden did.

Now I have an opportunity to visit this pro and set a tee time for four of my family members and me to play a round. Was concerned that we would have had to split to a twosome and a threesome. Boy The Villages surely is the friendliest town in Florida.

The Cane Garden's pro move smacked of elitism/aka entitlement.

Hopefully they didn't hold you up and that they were at least pretty.

Five women
 

Did they keep up with the pace of play?If so,no issue.If not I would want a rain check for 9 holes.

whats the big hurry anyway....

Hubby and I just love to sit in the cart, back far enough as not to be a bother, and critique their playing abilities.

Lifes too short not to laugh alittle.

Wanting to maintain a decent pace of play is not the same as being in a hurry.

If they're the last group of the morning wave the other option would be to have them play as a threesome and a twosome. It might have been that three people didn't show up for one group and rather have one person miss out on her day of golf he allowed the fivesome.

It's certainly not going to be any slower than a three and a two, and as long as it's not common practice, I would say that it's a good thing to do whatever can be done to accommodate a player as long as it doesn't interfere with other players.

:confused::confused::confused:

Their course..............their rules.
 

Did you ever read The Villages "Good Golf Guide?" (The Rules.)

On the same page where it says, "A maximum of four golfers per group are allowed" (Yep, that's right Grammar Police, it should say "is allowed") is an additional paragraph.

It says, "Note: In some cases the golf staff is extended some liberty in using good judgment on how these policies are applied. As long as the deviation from policy does not circumvent the intention behind the guideline and does not inconvenience other golfers, golf and country club team members are encouraged to demonstrate Raving Fan service. Failure to follow these guidelines, or those given by golf course staff, especially discourteous behavior, may result in unpleasant consequences for all involved."

Now, arguably, a person may not like the escape clause. But the fact is that the people who made the rules created an escape clause for themselves.

Their course.............their rules.

Usually those kids of "escape clauses" as you call them are there to give the golf professional a little leeway to use his discretion when it makes sense. Situations often come up where it makes sense to bend a rule. Rainy day, no one on the course and two foursomes are schedule and only five people show up.

There are several other scenarios where it might make sense to allow a fivesome. That's why the golf professional is given that discretion.

The other side of the coin is that he has to answer to his boss and if he makes a bad call and people complain he's going to hear about it. If he makes enough bad calls, he might be looking for a new job.

Not that you're acting as the Grammar Police or anything, right?!? :D

Could have been said "four golfers maximum are allowed"

Not sure about golf rule language but the word " shall" means every thing in contract language.

Total nonsense! What's good for the goose should be good for the gander. Twice in the past 2 weeks my group was five players. We were forced to play as a group of 3 and a group of 2. Each day play was very slow and we were constantly waiting on tees (all 5 of us) together. Each time we requested that we be allowed to join up and play as a group of five. In both cases Ambassadors told us "absolutely not, I'd get fired for allowing that". On the second such occasion, an Asst. Mgr. rode out to our location on the course to insist no one can play in a group of five in TV. Not even when good judgement and common sense dictates it might be a reasonable option. Given these circumstances, no one, golf pro or not should be able to violate this kind of standing rule. Not even for Lady Pros, Men Pros, College golfers or the Morse family. Wrong is wrong and making excuses is worse.

So, in other words, you are upset because the facility manager used his judgement to allow SOME OTHER GROUP, on some course at some time, to play as a fivesome, but YOU were not allowed to play as 5. The ambassador has no authority to allow a fivesome, so you got the expected response. Again, YOU have no idea of the circumstances of this other fivesome, and as the rules state, the manager has discretion in these matters. Fivesomes are a rare exception to play in TV, and YOU did not get this rare exception. BAAAWAAAH. Would you like some cheese to go with your whine?

Or, put another way----"Gee, officer, yes I was going 65 in a 45 zone, but so were a lot of other drivers, so you have to let me get away with it also" Rotsa ruck.

Breathe

Breathe

Breathe

Life is too short.

I read Swooner's post and had exactly the same reaction.
It's a game in a retirement community; don't sweat the small stuff. Life is too short.

Grammar Police
 

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa
...On the same page where it says, "A maximum of four golfers per group are allowed" (Yep, that's right Grammar Police, it should say "is allowed")...

It began back in high school where I did proof reading on the newspaper.

Next, I became a fan of the precise language of William F. Buckley on TV.

Finally, I became a writer, and The Elements of Style became my guide.

Yes, I notice errors all the time, but I strive to restrain myself from pointing them out. Sometimes I lose control. :police: :D

Thanks fore you're restrain............you wood be fixing me all the thyme.

I totally understand. I spent most of my career preparing and reviewing engineering and other technical documents. (Plus, I'm just generally anal-retentive by nature. :D ) I often suppress urges to join the Grammar Police. And sometimes I don't. :)

I have the best breech of authority golf story. When Tip O'Neill was Speaker of the House, he and his wife were on a boondoggle to Africa. She fell ill and they airlifted them to Wiesbaden, Germany. Tip decided to play a round of golf at Rheinblick, the military course in town. They threw everyone off the course, cancelled all tee times, and he played eighteen alone...with the exception of a huge cadre of security people. To put a cherry on top, they took a brand new set of Wilson Staffs that a customer had ordered and put them in the rental program for Tip to use.