Golfgal Golf news and commentary from a business woman’s perspective.
Sounds like a step backwards in the “sport” of golf to me! How ridiculous to mandate carts just to get more people on the course. And they try to say that it’s “not for the money – it’s so more people can golf”. Sure…more people…more revenue for the golf course…more people with mandated carts which aren’t free…more revenue. Do they think we are that stupid?
We have a hard enough time justifying golf as a sport rather than just a game, but if this is allowed to continue, we not only disgrace the sport, the “anti-golfers” of the world can no longer say in the words of Mark Twain, “Golf is a good walk spoiled.” And it would be very unfair to take that pleasure way from those sad cases who have not experienced the joy of walking from a well hit 5 wood up to the green looking at a birdie putt!
Golfgal
Taking the Walk Out of the Game: Public Golf Courses Mandate Carts
By FRANK ELTMAN
New York Sun
27 Aug 2007
EAST MEADOW — One lady on Long Island is boycotting her favorite course. A man in Florida has published a book and even filed lawsuits to defend his rights. And a former golf executive thinks the game, under these circumstances, shouldn’t even be… read more…
Tech Tags: New York Sun newspaper New York
You must be reading the excerpts from my next book. Yes, it seems that more and more golf facilities are looking to addressing a tough problem with an old way of managing it. The mandatory golf carts and 6 minute tee times are the latest ways of getting more people on the course each day. What does this do…well slow play is a natural by-product of 6 minute tee times and golf carts only…but safety is a lurking issue that overcrowded golf courses are going to develop.
What happens when slow play becomes chronic? Yep golfers go someplace else to play…kinda like the new VISA commercial where fast food restaurants like the new debt cards and shows when a person pays with cash slows up the line how all of the people behind him/her all go to another fast food restaurant…that is what will happen with courses that take drastic measures to produce larger profits by putting too many people on the golf course.
I agree, Golfgal, this is silly. I also agree with the people quoted in the article who say this is really about generating more cash.
Last week I played 18 in under 3 and a 1/2 hours. I was walking. Granted, it’s a fairly flat course and I was walking briskly, but I was also hitting multiple balls on a lot of the holes (it’s a muni course, and was pretty much deserted, so I was playing to practice rather than to record a score).
That tells me that fast play isn’t determined by whether you walk or ride. It’s determined by how fast you play.
Another observation: probably one of the most time consuming aspects of playing is the time spent looking for your ball. When you walk you can head directly toward where your ball was hit. Everybody in your party can do the same.
When you’re sharing a cart, you have to diverge from the line of one of the balls hit as you move down the fairway — and then look for it later from a completely different angle.
It would be interesting to actually gather some data but I bet sharing a cart actually slows play for this reason.
Right on! I actually do believe that golf carts can slow down the game.
The real problem with pace of play is not walking the course – it’s being ready to hit a shot when it’s your turn. And it’s being ready to give up on that lost ball. I’ve seen people search for a lost ball forever and not finish the hole because they lost it. They paid $70 for a round of golf and they are more worried about a $2 ball than getting the most out of the game.
I agree…I’d love to see some data on this whole subject.
It’s about the money – no doubt about it!
Thanks Kirsten and Duke!