golfrewind.com

I got a tee time at a local course on thursday of last week. Now this course is supposedly a finer course. $40 during the week. AFTER we pay for our rounds, AFTER our bags have been loaded on the cart and AFTER we make it to the first tee the starter informs us that the greens are (in his own words) HORRIBLE!!!! Boy was he ever telling the truth! The front nine had large brown spots and clumps of weds on the outer edges. The back nine ......well lets just say that the back nine was only suited for driving, shooting for the green and then picking up and moving on. NO PUTTING!!!

Well to end all matters i called a local city run course yesterday and inquired about their greens. and i quote "they are magnificant". So I asked for a tee time and he told me just to show up and everything would be good. I arrive to the club house at 7:30 am. The #9 and #18 greens look beautiful. (you can see them from the parking lot) I pay for my round and go to the putting green...wonderful shape! As I am arriving to the second tee box one of the grounds keepers stops by to tell me that I need to keep a fast pace as they are going to be applying sand to the greens this morning! They knew about this and yet did not feel the need to inform me only until AFTER I had paid for my game and was under way.
The #3-#9 holes were horrible. Large clumps of sand, barely puttable greens. The back nine had been sanded then swept leaving ok conditions for putting. So i go to the clubhouse and ask for a discounted rate to play the front nine again in lieu of the conditions and he refused. Only AFTER I told him of my intentions of calling City Hall and complaining did he flag me down in the parking lot and try to make amends. ($5 off my next round of 18).

WHY in the heck won't they tell you these things up front? They may lose business for that day, but now they have lost my business for good and have a person going around spreading the news of how they treat customers at that particular course!! I AM ******!!!! I am not made of money, I can afford to play once a week and now I have to complete an interview with the golf course employee to be sure that there are no problems with the course before I book a tee time.

To be fair, I have called another course in the area and have always been informed of matters that may affect my playing.(aerating, tournaments, company outings, greens conditions, etc..) That makes me feel good and respected and I will play their facilities atleast once a month as a token of thanks for their honesty!

Make good on your threat of calling city hall.
I also wonder if you payed by credit card and then inform the credit card company that
you are disputing the charges if they could get your money back.
A course by me is having a lot of construction going on with lots of temporary greens and tee boxes but at least they knew enough to reduce the greens fees until they are finished.

This has happened to me twice this last couple of weeks but the person behind the counter was kind enough to let me know that sand was being spread. In one case, she offered a free round gift certificate w/cart if I would work around the crews (jump holes) and in the other they offered a discount for that day (no crews, just sandy greens). But these were privately owned, not munis.

Move to Florida

Many of the retired here do...when it starts to get cold.

I got a fast reply from the city hall.........two free rounds of golf and a lengthy apology. The city manager was sincere in his apologies. I told him that one round was all I paid for and that was all that would expect in return, but he insisted that I except two for good measure. He happens to be a golfer and completely understood my frustration. He went on to assure me that he would personally look into the situation as to be sure something like this does not happen again.

I will return to the course as it is a wonderful course. Nice layout and challenging holes....and a city that wants it's golfers to be satisfied with their course.

I thought the midwestern snowbirds usually migrated towards arizona. I know in parts of Arizona, the gov't has to seasonally adjust the per diem in the winter because the lodging rates go up so much in the winter. I know I would choose arizona in a heartbeat over florida.

Of the retirees I know that migrate it seems about %60 to FL, 38% to AZ, and the remaining head to Texas, Arkansas, SC, etc. None miss the MI summers.