5/19/2014 8:05 AM
It has always been and will continue to be preached to the maintenance crew that they need to clear fwy, green ect. when golfers are approaching. The idea of some sort of sign posted on the first tee is just a reminder (specifically for one or two groups that tee off first thing in the morning and play 18 holes in right around 2hrs.) that the maintenance staff is going as fast as they can, if you happen to catch the guy cutting the cup on the 17th or 18th green that you need to let him finish his job instead of just hitting into the green when his back is turned towards you and yelling fore one second before the ball would hit him. Or another example is that if the fwy mower knows he has only one half of a pass left to finish that fwy he should be allowed 20-30 seconds to finish then he will leave. not allowing that 20-30 seconds could cost him 5+ minutes in the long run if a ball happened to land directly in that last pass, he would then as instructed move out of the way and let the players have there space to play the hole out.
That said, its not intended to let a rough mower completely finish mowing a hole while making the customers wait for him on the tee box.
I've personally had to bail off my fwy mower cause I was going to get hit, I had just about 60ft left on a pass when the guy decided he would hit right into me, and had my bucket I carry while changing cups hit that was just a few feet from me in the last 2 weeks(both by the same group of golfers) not to mention the guy weed eating bunker edges that didn't see the golfers yet when they decided to hit up and nailed him in the side of the head.
In no other business I can think of does the owner/owners of the company have any less regard for their own employees safety than in the golf maintenance business.
Many accidents can be avoided if golfers were just a little more patient. That's all we are trying to do.