Getting the tee time is only the first step in dealing with public golf. Courses need to empower starters to do more. Booked a twosome a couple weeks ago and get paired with an older husband/wife. It’s fine - getting paired with randos is part of golf. Only they don’t want to play with us and the starter let them make that call. So now the 1:40 tee time is going off at ~1:37 and ~1:45, which is just gonna cascade down the rest of the tee sheet. Just ridiculous.
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I played on Friday at a county parks department owned course. I booked as a single and they let me play as a single. There was also a single in front of me. This was at 10am on Labor Day weekend. I was dumbfounded and eventually just played w/ the guy in front of me.
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Oh My God, that’s @Browcoww77’s music. If you want to talk to an expert on how to make muni tee times, Mark is your man. We have an embarrassment of muni riches in northeast Ohio, especially given our climate. But it takes a true sicko to master getting good times.
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As a metro detroiter myself what CC’s will happily take your cash and accept public tee times?
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I’ll also add that there are times when I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get out until a few hours before I can play, and many public courses are not great about letting a single get on the course. Can’t book online, so basically need to show up and hope.
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City of Chicago here…
-City course system (not Cook County System , some of which are in the city, not confusing at all for folks despite being same management, website look/feel) does not let you book a single online unless 2 or 3 have slotted in the foursome. And the city and county season discount cards do not work for the other, again, same management and similar looking cards but of course different budget oversights that you would hope the management could figure out internally. I like being first out due to notorious urban pace issues and a regular at one 9 with less traffic than infamous Sydney (home to 2CGC’s legendary Waveland Breakfast Club but a do not go after 7 am), the shop guy lets me slip out first in the dark at least if I book a random spot later in the morning with a 2-3some first despite the first 2 foursomes of the morning usually showing open. If you call and get routed to the outsourced booking service, sometimes they’ll get you on as a single - just a wild card if you get an agent that will do it. If you call the courses, again it depends on the employee if they’ll override and get you booked as a single, not know how or not care to.
-There’s a sneaky ok city 9 on the southwest side, HOWEVER, as I noted I go for first out. A father and teen son (clearly a beginner, dad helps during the round - so slow) repeatedly for the past 2 years hop on a cart and drive to 2 ahead of me. I then wait on them and back up the day behind us, I’ve mentioned to the starter/snack/shop hut (an all in one shack) and just get “oh he works here or knows someone who does” so the buddy system is alive and well in our fine system without even validating it. They even did this on Father’s Day last year with a full sheet.
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Also played 9 holes at GW in the 4 years I’ve lived here. Best course I’ve seen, just impossible to get on short of 4 days notice without a permit.
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It was meant as if you have the money, you should join a CC. But, there are the chances of GAM golf days and such, plus a few FcFer’s have connections if you want to make friends.
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It’s tough but a phone call goes a long way for a single to get out and play
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A phone call? In 2024?
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Just keep the phone call short, it interferes with their AOL service
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This is why I’ve considered boycotting Shepherd’s Hollow. They only let you book online and won’t let you book as a single.
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Here in Cincinnati, it’s not that bad to get a public tee time. Of course courses sellout, but you don’t have to be on the second registration opens up to get a spot.
The bigger problems are value prop and time. While the more expensive public courses have increased their rates, they haven’t done so at nearly the rate of the goat tracks. The price floor for playing a round locally has roughly doubled in the last handful of years (or tripled if you count the steals that used to be GolfNow hot deals), and every one of those courses is in substantially worse condition than it was pre-COVID.
The price difference between shit and premium courses has tightened enough to where it’s worth spending the extra more often than not, and those courses are getting too packed, making it harder for them to maintain. There’s only one exception to this rule in Cincinnati, which is Blue Ash. It’s the best public course in the area and is reasonably priced ($58 for 18 with a cart) thanks to strong contributions from the city and a reasonably spaced tee sheet.
Stonelick is the worst offender of this. They were the best public course in the area for years, and have increased their price while dramatically worsening their product and tightening their tee sheet. It used to be in such nice condition that it justified making the trek and spending so more than other nice publics (100% more than mid tier, 50% more than higher end) to play it once or twice a year. Now, I have no desire to play $100 (40-50% more than mid tier, 20-30% more than higher end public) premium over other nice for shameful conditties.
Pace of play is abysmal everywhere. I don’t go to a public course and expect to play in less than 4.5 hours anymore. I’m waiting on almost every tee box and there’s no reason to play through because every hole is backed up. I’d go private if we didn’t also face similar issues to what @PFitz described.
While I understand CC’s are a lifestyle play and not a prudent financial decision more often than not, they’ve completely blown past what could be seen as reasonable, and there’s no way for me to justify it.
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Goes for all of the courses they own in the area. We can also add Blackheath to that list.
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That’s crap
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Are they managed by Indigo? Formerly Billy Casper and now a division of Troon.
Unsure. However their website also contains this wonderful piece of information.
There are also other public courses here in SE Michigan that don’t take tee times over the phone, you have to use the online system.
SE Michigan is really good for private golf, but is truly mid for public stuff. Grand Rapids, all of Northern Michigan, and the Lansing area are almost better for public stuff.
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LOL I forgot about the 3% surcharge, which also applies at the grill. But at least I can enjoy only pictures of the wedding venue on their instagram account. Not a single photo of the golf course they charge out the ass for.
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