Things I heard this year. Cancel The title field is required!

1. Duncker John C

   
   10/22/2011 6:10 AM

   Having worked in this business since 1994 at both public and private courses it is amazing to me some of the comments I get from the golfers. Here are the best of 2011 so far:
   
   1 During an extended hot stretch this summer I banned cart traffic from the bent fairways. On the ninth hole on a day where the heat index reached 121 F, I was told that I should have closed the course because " people like me should not be out in this weather."
   
   2 This fall after dealing with nearly 19" of rain we had restricted carts to the path on some low lying holes. #1 was cart path only and #9 was carts scatter. These holes run next to each other. During the afternoon I notice a cart right in the middle of #1 fairway. I politely remind the member that #1 is cart path only and his response was " I know but I am playing the ninth hole."
   
   Just a couple that remind me that common sense is not required for membership. I'm sure these are fairly tame compared to some but they smile and feel a little sad at the same time.
   
   John Duncker
   Mount Vernon CC
   Alexandria, VA

   
   
   
   
2. Andy Jorgensen

   

   1 posts
   
   10/22/2011 7:10 AM

   Very nice John. I can see this thread putting smiles on a lot of our faces!
   
   Some of my own:
   
   "If you don't overseed on the 17th, when we come to play on the 18th the golf course will be dirt!"
   
   "Why does the drainage retention pond hold water? I'm tired of having a pond in the back of my home!"
   
   "Can you fix the door on the bathroom on #5? When my partner came out, he slammed the door in my backswing."
   
   "Nothing changes around here! I never see the rope stakes moved!"

   
   
   
   
3. Hardy Andrew

   
   10/22/2011 7:10 AM

   After being devastated by ice anoxia in 2010, our greens came out as perfect as they could this spring. A new member approaches me and says "new Super is doing a great job". My reply was a smile and a laugh.
   
   Also up here in Canada we had the hottest stretch of weather ever in July and early August. Being proactive, I raised mowing heights and increased rolling. Member's then began to bitch about green speeds. My response was always dead or alive, they'd look at me like I was crazy. And I would clarify by saying if you want them fast pick dead, if you want them slower pick alive. Best part is our "slower" greens were running 10'.
   
   The golfing public has become so spoiled by conditions and the ability to produce great things with less money. It's only going to get worse.

   
   
   
   
4. Peter Bowman

   

   11 posts
   
   10/22/2011 8:10 AM

   As I'm out handwatering a few hot spots on the lawn in the front yard, the old-guy neighbor across the street yells "Hey, Pete. You do know that if you water it you're just gonna' have to mow it later."
   
   Never really thought of it that way.

   
   
   
   
5. Trevor Monreal

   

   5 posts
   
   10/22/2011 5:10 PM

   My favorite is,"The golf course looks great. You've had some nice weather, huh?"
   Remember...if the course looks good, it's the weather. If it looks bad, it's the superintendent.

   
   
   
   
6. McCallum David K

   
   10/24/2011 1:10 PM

   Andy that must have been in the spring after Redneck Billy came and did ice removal for you.......thus the great looking golf course.

   
   
   
   
7. Hardy Andrew

   
   10/25/2011 5:10 AM

   Well of course a new guy could have been the only one to have better "luck". Its a thankless job, but for some reason we love it and continue doing it. I'll be 40 next year and that'll mark 20 years in the industry. Man expectations and complaints have evolved. I used to shun compliments and defer to my staff, but after that spring (with ice) and subsequent summer (the re-couping period) I take every compliment and run.

   
   
   
   
8. Patrick Quinlan

   

   0 posts
   
   10/27/2011 7:10 AM

   I couldn't agree more about the weather comment. We struggled this year and it was my fault. The fall comes and the place really looks better and the President says weather really fixed this place up.

   
   
   
   
9. Rollie Dean

   
   11/1/2011 6:11 AM

   One of our members came up to me and said "Don't make this course look too good, otherwise it will get too busy and we won't be able to come out and golf anytime we want to."
   
   I told him I'd do my best not to do my best and he said I was doing just fine.

   
   
   
   
10. James Rauhuff

    

    0 posts
    
    11/1/2011 10:11 AM

    These are pretty funny! It is interesting though how little that members and owners know about our jobs. I was just asked what I was going to be doing all summer long next year since I am never seen on a mower.......

    
    
    
    
11. Kinney Brian

    
    11/1/2011 11:11 AM

    Had a German couple (nothing against Germans BTW), ask me this morning after their 730 tee time, I was waiting to spray the second green,
    "are you here to dry the greens in front of us"
    told them mother nature was right behind me and she will take care of it as soon as she lets the sun out
    "thanks, great"
    .....

    
    
    
    
12. Brent Venenga

    

    0 posts
    
    11/2/2011 8:11 AM

    I was watering a few hot spots on our bent grass greens on a 100 degree beautiful windy day and a member yells at me "don't you know watering grass during the day will kill it you should do your watering at night." I just kept on watering and didn't feel like educating him at the moment.

    
    
    
    
13. Justin VanLanduit

    

    0 posts
    
    11/4/2011 1:11 PM

    Why is it that when somebody comes to you they always start with the "Now I'm not a complainer, but..." I had a member hit me up right at the start of the year and started it with the above phrase to finish with all the dandelions on the course. We were standing in the rough right outside the pro shop and I looked around and didn't see a one. So I asked him where he was seeing all these and he responded with "there was one by the 5th tee, a few by the 8th green, and I remember seeing a couple by the 17 green."
    
    Or the member that lives next to the course and calls my shop to tell me to make sure her house doesn't flood when it was raining a lot. She sits in one of the lowest points and has a drainage creek that runs through her back yard, and it's my fault when it rains hard and floods her back yard.
    
    I love this life!

    
    
    
    
14. Wahlin Scott B

    
    11/4/2011 2:11 PM

    I have never responded sympathetically to ridiculous complaints. I repeat their complaint back to them to assure them I that I have heard what they have said and tell them I will look into it, but if it goes beyond that I tend to be very direct. I did my apprenticeship at a particular type of private club in South Florida and this is how my Chairman told me to handle it. It has worked well at an assortment of clubs.
    
    We can all marinate our golf courses in fertilizers and chemicals, and create the wow factor with 100 employees, but for the majority of us, if we did that our current members/customers could not afford to play there.