If you are a member of a golf course or a weekend warrior, we all need to understand our role in the maintenance of the course. This is especially true if you are a guest, show respect for the course and its members gifts for golfers who have everything. I am going to talk about 5 things as players we must take care of and respect the course.
Golf clubs spend more than 50% of their budget to keep the golf course in shape, as members demand and complain vividly if the course is not up to our standards. I speak from experience of member complaints, sitting on the board and being Vice President of our Green Commission. I want to share this with you and stop in some of my pet peeves, make me crazy.
Let’s start with the ball marks not fixed on the greens, do not rake sand traps, do not fix chops, chewed up tee blocks and finally golfers who do not take into account for the drive and signs posted your golf cart at any place they want. In my course of members who pay to give them the right to do whatever they want with their car, some guests are just ignorant. Five tips for you, which should be better, on how to take care of the course.
1: Carry a ball mark repair tool in your pocket. If you do not have one, wear a shirt and fix your ball marks. A good green is one that true and smooth, not having the ball bounce its way to the Cup, as the jumps on non-fixed marks. This is one of my biggest pet peeves and members are just as guilty as guests.
2: The earth always in the sand trap and end up in someone’s footprint or shooting hole. Not nice is everything! Follow the rules and play it as you lie or cheat and move the ball. You can not have these situations, if you want to pick up the rake and actually use it.
3: Hacked – tee blocks are ugly and avoidable. The garden kids can only do a lot. Every time you take a chop on the tee, fill it with the seed of the mix in the green boxes on the tee blocks, help the maintenance guys.
4: Same with street chops, please take the time to replace them or if I use the seed mixture attached to the golf cart in a plastic pour bottle.
5: Improper use of golf carts is probably the cause of major damage on the golf course. They are not Off-Road toys, do not use them as such and respect the game and golf course in its use. Please follow all rules and restrictions settings to protect against golf cart damage, these rules are there for a reason, just follow them.
We, as players, are responsible for caring for and maintaining the course of our own damages.