Golf!!!2!

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by rain_e

Played it on Saturday. Second time this year.

How was it?

[FragileMind]

So,I thought I was putting on Shags' greens,but I was at Redwood.Won't be going back this year.Never been a fan of Redwoods greens.

[CarlLester]

Originally Posted by FragileMind

Looking for a great track in the Edmonton area,on the cheaper side.Pretty sure I'll play Redtail one day,so need a cheaper track on day 2.Anyone play Trestle Creek.Looks promising.

Have friends who have played Trestle and they all recommend it. It is a bit of a drive out to the west, you will pass Cougar Creek on the way and that is recommended as well.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Played water valley yesterday. We received a pace of play warning after 8 holes for being 1 hour and 48 minutes, which is apparently slow now for a foursome? That's a 4 hour 3 minute pace which I don't think is unreasonable at all.

That place is terrible. The last time I played there, our 4th cancelled on us as we were getting into the parking lot at WV. We went into the club house and told them we'd be a threesome. They said that if we'd had called ahead, they would have waived the fee for the fourth. We explained that the guy cancelled literally as we got to the parking lot. Their response - you should have called from the parking lot.

Then we wanted to cart and rather than charging us 3 X $18 for 2 carts, they insisted on 2 X $36. So we ended up walking.

Finally, the course was dead but the marshall watched us every other hole. After about 7 holes he gave us a warning. The course states a 4 hour pace of play and we were on pace for just under. We told the marshal our pace was fine and he said "it would be if we had chosen to cart instead of walk".

I'll never play there again. Just awful.

[rain_e]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

How was it?

Very good condition like usual. I usually pay about 4-6 rounds there a season. Fairways/greens are always in very good condition IMO.

The one thing that drives me nuts about this course is the greens. They never break as much as they look like they will. Always gets me.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by FragileMind

Looking for a great track in the Edmonton area,on the cheaper side.Pretty sure I'll play Redtail one day,so need a cheaper track on day 2.Anyone play Trestle Creek.Looks promising.

Ironhead is closer than Trestle, and probably much cheaper. I play there a ton as we have a cabin on the lake there. I enjoy it.

[Madman]

Super simple gadget review for anyone that's interested.

I've always wanted a rangefinder for when I play, but never got one because I didn't want a big clunky one with a full map or even a handheld laser thing. I came across the Bushnell Neo Ghost and grabbed one on sale at SportChek.

http://bushnellgolf.com/GPS-Rangefin...o-Ghost-Orange

I played my first round with it over the weekend and totally loved it. Very compact, super light and it does exactly what I want, simply tell me the distance and nothing else.

All you do is turn it on, it finds the course automatically, (no update or additional subscription fees), and that's really it. I put it in my front pocket and didn't even know it was there. Distances seemed extremely accurate and because of it's simplicity and size, I just took it out of my pocket as I was walking to my ball and I knew which club I needed right away.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

That place is terrible. The last time I played there, our 4th cancelled on us as we were getting into the parking lot at WV. We went into the club house and told them we'd be a threesome. They said that if we'd had called ahead, they would have waived the fee for the fourth. We explained that the guy cancelled literally as we got to the parking lot. Their response - you should have called from the parking lot.

Then we wanted to cart and rather than charging us 3 X $18 for 2 carts, they insisted on 2 X $36. So we ended up walking.

Finally, the course was dead but the marshall watched us every other hole. After about 7 holes he gave us a warning. The course states a 4 hour pace of play and we were on pace for just under. We told the marshal our pace was fine and he said "it would be if we had chosen to cart instead of walk".

I'll never play there again. Just awful.

While I have mentioned a few times here that WV employees are often a bunch of clowns and at least one of the marshalls is a miserable SOB, the other 2 things you mentioned are a little iffy imo. If you book a foursome, but only show up as a threesome without cancelling, its kind of on your 4th member for cancelling at the last minute, not the course.... sure some courses might just say don't worry about it, but a lot won't- not really sure you can fault them for doing so. I do know that WV has a very generous cancellation policy as is- up to an hour before sort of thing. And I don't know the numbers, but pretty sure a good number of courses charge per cart, not per rider. I would even guess it is the majority.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

While I have mentioned a few times here that WV employees are often a bunch of clowns and at least one of the marshalls is a miserable SOB, the other 2 things you mentioned are a little iffy imo. If you book a foursome, but only show up as a threesome without cancelling, its kind of on your 4th member for cancelling at the last minute, not the course.... sure some courses might just say don't worry about it, but a lot won't- not really sure you can fault them for doing so. I do know that WV has a very generous cancellation policy as is- up to an hour before sort of thing. And I don't know the numbers, but pretty sure a good number of courses charge per cart, not per rider. I would even guess it is the majority.

Really? I can't think of a single Calgary area Course that charges per cart and not per rider.

[malcolmk14]

Yeah the cancellation would've been charged at most courses. Most courses charge carts per rider.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

While I have mentioned a few times here that WV employees are often a bunch of clowns and at least one of the marshalls is a miserable SOB, the other 2 things you mentioned are a little iffy imo. If you book a foursome, but only show up as a threesome without cancelling, its kind of on your 4th member for cancelling at the last minute, not the course.... sure some courses might just say don't worry about it, but a lot won't- not really sure you can fault them for doing so. I do know that WV has a very generous cancellation policy as is- up to an hour before sort of thing. And I don't know the numbers, but pretty sure a good number of courses charge per cart, not per rider. I would even guess it is the majority.

I've never encountered a per cart payment requirement but whatever.

Agree re the cancelation - 2 distinctions through: 1) the course was dead and more inportantly 2) they told us that if we would have called from the parking lot, they would have waived the cancellation fee. But because we told them in the proshop they were going to charge us. I understand last minute cancelations should be at the option of the course, but to distinguish between standing outside the door to the proshop and on the phone versus in the proshop and in person and pointing that out to us is just them being jerks.

For a course that isn't convenient to get to, they should at least be friendly. Biggest reason why I keep going to Speargrass.

[Weitz]

I have threatened to walk away from a course when they tried to charge us for our 4th bailing at the last minute.

It was either, miss out on 1 GF for the tee time or miss out on 4 GF's. They quickly waived the fee. Obviously if you had to put down your CC when you booked they could charge you, but I never do that.


On another note I am supposed to golf at Inglewood after work... Hopefully it doesn't thunder storm.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

If you book a foursome, but only show up as a threesome without cancelling, its kind of on your 4th member for cancelling at the last minute, not the course.... sure some courses might just say don't worry about it, but a lot won't- not really sure you can fault them for doing so.

I fully support this. I'm also supportive of courses charging a booking fee or holding CC info.

You and your group made a commitment for 4 green fees. The course needs those green fees to survive. It's up to you to buck up or find a replacement.

[Lubicon]

To play devil's advocate, how many courses can you book for a single in advance? I was under the impression most places only booked for two or more and if you were single you basically show up as a walk on and they get you out as soon as there is an open space. If this is the case then what's the big deal with a 4th cancelling? It's not like you have taken a spot from a single. I can understand two cancelling but am not sure what the bid deal is with one. The course will likely be able to fill that spot with a single anyhow so its not like they are out any money.

[Flabbibulin]

I've played probably 80% of the semi-private and public courses in the Calgary area as a single player and never had a problem booking in advance. I know a lot of web bookings only allow you to book a twosome or more, but I have never had a problem booking as a single when calling in. Anyway, charging for a last minute no show or late cancellation, specifically when the course is dead, is a bit of a dick move, but certainly should expect it on a busy day.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I fully support this. I'm also supportive of courses charging a booking fee or holding CC info.

You and your group made a commitment for 4 green fees. The course needs those green fees to survive. It's up to you to buck up or find a replacement.

Totally agree and my comment was less about having to pay the fee and more about the ridiculousness of them saying that if we would have called from the parking lot 30 seconds before we told them in the proshop, they would have waived the fee.

Anyway, enough about Water Valley staff. Golf = awesome.

[FragileMind]

Played with an older fella,who had low volume classic rock on his pull cart.Didn't think it would bother me,but yeah it did.I don't see a place for music on the course,outside ear buds.

[AltaGuy]

I'm indifferent to music, but if it bothers you, I think you have every right to ask him to turn it off even if he's an older fella.

[malcolmk14]

Yeah, hopefully people who play music on the golf course would ask other people first if they're okay with it. I am not a fan of music on the course.

[AltaGuy]

I think it's kind of a cool thing if it doesn't bother you to have music, but my worry is that too many jerks will just play it without asking, making it an issue like we see in this thread. I could see some clubs banning it, etc because of these jerks.

I wouldn't play music without asking (which I don't anyway).