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what are the refund policies like at your course? have any of you tried to get a refund?

i just played yesterday at a course where all of the greens were punched and were practically unputtable. i played all 18 and didn't ask for a refund but it did make me think that after a few holes, it would be nice if i could get a refund. i had no idea in advance that the greens were being aerated.

i don't think it's fair to play 18 holes and then ask for a refund but what do you all think about playing a couple of holes, finding that you'd rather get a refund and leaving the course?

My course will give you a refund (or more likely a rain check) for each 9 holes where you haven't teed off on the 4th hole of that 9 (i.e. you play 3 holes on an 18 hole ticket, get 18 hole rain check - play 12 holes and get a 9 hole rain check). It doesn't even have to be raining. If a work or family emergency arises, whatever, you can get rain check for the side you haven't played. But, you can't get a rain check if you are already playing on a rain check from a previous round... too many players would figure out how to play free golf...

Well it was rough around here for a couple weeks also with all of the aerating. There were even big plugs all over the fairways. But all the green have healed and grown in this week.

The courses here will give a refund of about 50% of your18 hole fee if you stop playing before the 7th hole. After the 7th hole the refund is reduced more for each additional hole played.

What's a refund? A rain check, you can get, and like Fourputt's course, it doesn't have to be raining to get one.
We played a middle-range course in Alabama early spring last year, and weren't warned that the course had been aerated when we booked our tee time. After the 9th hole, we went in raising about it. The guy behind the counter apologized, and said that everyone had been told to warn the golfers that particular week was going to be aerated. He gave us tickets for a free round to be played within 90 days.

this is the time of year to ask when you make a tee time. You cannot expect the course to tell you when you call, no one would come out

At most all courses run by Billy Casper Golf, they tell you when you make the tee times. It ticks people off to drive 100 miles to find a messed up golf course unless they were warned.
Apparently the people at Billy Casper Golf know that's a good way to keep customers coming back instead of losing them permanently.

It might affect traffic a little but plenty of people would still show up, especially if the course was worth a durn to begin with. People that would figure, "Hey, I bet nobody shows up 'cause they're punched and we'll have it all to ourselves", thinking that the increased pace of play would be worth the sacrifice. At the very least, they should warn out-of-towners voluntarily...we went 85 miles to play a nice course and ended up playing punched greens because we came all that way...payed full price because that was the only option. They didn't lose all of our business because it is a nice course but it slowed down significantly. Only way we get to vote is with our $.

Shade

I've never checked into the refund policies at any of the courses I've played at. It's a bummer when you go out and find the greens being aerated but for me, it's an even bigger hassle to then pack up my bags and find another course that's in good condition.