Very disappointed with Newcastle

[Seattle_Maslow]

I know a lot of people don't like the Golf Club at Newcastle or Oki courses in general. As a long time Oki Cardholder, I've generally defended the courses and the program. Yesterday's experience at Coal Creek made be begin to question that commitment. First, they no longer provide balls with the cardholder rounds. I guess this is OK, but it's very inconsistently applied, depending on which guy is managing the range. I got free balls with a twilight round last week, but not for a weekend round yesterday...um. OK.

 

Second, we had a 7:30 time that didn't tee off till 7:40. Not the end of the world, but this set us up for a super frustrating round of nearly 5 hours where we waited on every single shot. Very tough to get into a rhythm with that pace. We finally saw a marshal on #7 and complained about the pace. He tried to explain it away, but when I asked if we would finish in 4:30 he got into it with me, saying we had "no expectation of the right of way as a threesome." Huh? I wasn't asking to play through. I just don't want to finish in 5 hours. He said he didn't start until 9 a.m. so it wasn't his fault. Nice. Note to Newcastle and all marshals in general, there is only one acceptable answer in this circumstance: "Really sorry about the slow pace. We're working to fix it. Thanks for your patience." Period.

 

Third is the conditions. If I had paid full rack rate of $170 I would be livid. The greens were shaggy and rolling very inconsistently. Several fairways had bare dirt and several areas around the green were the same. Great if you're trying to mimic US Open shaved conditions, but not so cool for the weekend golfer who actually expects there to be grass under the ball.

[RainShadow]

SOP with Oki.
The Main reason I won't buy an Oki card. They over book and over charge.
Courses are not all that great of shape most of the year either.
If you're gonna skimp on maintenance, at least have the greens taken care of.
Poor conditions seem to be the norm here in the greater Puget Sound region, though.

[wkuo3]

Sorry you had a bad day on the golf course.
No matter who says the economy is getting better, the golf industry lost estimated 700,000 golfers in this country alone in 2013.
Lower revenue and lowered margin of profit ( lowered green fee to stay competitive and staying afloat ) cause the golf course not to enforce the maximum of 4 1/2 hr round of 18.
Every customer is welcomed including those not really ready for the golf course's tougher rating.
They get everyone's green fee when they could.

I had never liked the Oki managed golf courses anyway, except for the Hawks Prairie ( used to be the woodlands and the Links ). I had always had good service from the management groups there no matter whom was at the check in ( have not been there for a couple of years now since the gasoline price went over $4.00 per gallon, the only way to make sense playing so far away from home is to try to squeeze in two rounds with the promotion including golf cart and lunch , which I could not find an excuse to spend the whole day away from family and work )

I did play a round of China Creek earlier this year, without complain because of the lower green fee and the closed in proximity to home.

Free range balls with every paid round was the little perk which Oki Golf was proud of, Cold bottle of water and chilled apple in a cooler on the tee box was any other good gesture which I remembered when they first opened up.

Tough economic situation surrounding the golf industry will force the golf courses to cut service and cut perks and cut maintenance to try to stay afloat. I'm afraid the glory days will never return, and that is a statement not only for Oki managed golf courses but also for most of the golf industry.

Pick and chose where you spend your budget on green fees, At least you will have that choice. Knowing what's going on with the golf industry, I'm afraid the 5-6 hour rounds of weekend golf is here to stay for awhile until these so called golfers drop off or learn the etiquette of golf.

[Seattle_Maslow]

I'm not so sure that golf's decline is impacting Newcastle that much. The place was absolutely packed. Also, they have lots of other ways to generate revenue there; the venue itself has got to be in the black.

The problem is that they have a bit of a captive market. There just are not that many good golf courses within 40-60 minutes of Seattle.

[bpark1210]

I've heard on the other Wa State Courses thread that Newcastle conditions declinded this summer. Not surprised by it one bit theres a lot of traffic that rolls through and w/ PGC courses charging a ridiculous green fee these days I think a lot of Seattle golfers are looking at Oki twilight deals. I've never heard of free range balls with the round, it's never been advertised so can't see why you're dissapointed in that one but I will say the conditions are not looking good at Newcastle. Pace of play has nothing to do w/ Marshalls, it comes down to the players. Marshalls can only do so much one hole at a time, when the tee sheet get's back up by one group it has a ripple affect on all the other groups. I've played Trophy, Wa Nat'l, and Hawks this spring and have to say they're all in good shape so think the conditioning is an isolated issue and by no means am I trying to defend Oki courses.

[Seattle_Maslow]

[quote name='bpark1210' timestamp='1403546005' post='9559063']
I've heard on the other Wa State Courses thread that Newcastle conditions declinded this summer. Not surprised by it one bit theres a lot of traffic that rolls through and w/ PGC courses charging a ridiculous green fee these days I think a lot of Seattle golfers are looking at Oki twilight deals. I've never heard of free range balls with the round, it's never been advertised so can't see why you're dissapointed in that one but I will say the conditions are not looking good at Newcastle. Pace of play has nothing to do w/ Marshalls, it comes down to the players. Marshalls can only do so much one hole at a time, when the tee sheet get's back up by one group it has a ripple affect on all the other groups. I've played Trophy, Wa Nat'l, and Hawks this spring and have to say they're all in good shape so think the conditioning is an isolated issue and by no means am I trying to defend Oki courses.
[/quote]

Not sure how you can say pace of play has nothing to do with the marshals. What exactly is their job then? If there's a gap and the course is backed up, it is absolutely their job to tell folks to pick it up. I was impressed by the marshal at Druids a few weeks ago. We'd fallen off and he very politely told us to pick it up.

[bpark1210]

Yes marshalls are their to bring order to courses but when you have a packed tee sheet w/ back to back groups the players are the cause of slow play. The marshalls can only do so much and in your words should do so "politely". What affect does that do on a course that is overpacked w/ players hacking away. Just saying your interpretation of the job duties of a marshall and the cause of slow play aren't the same. In an ideal world the marshalls would be on top of every hole and group to keep things moving along but on a twilight round I'd be surprised if there was even a marshall scheduled that late.

[Seattle_Maslow]

This wasn't a twilight round. This was at 7:30 a.m. on a Saturday.

Check this out: http://golf.about.com/cs/golfterms/g/bldef_marshall.htm

I'm not the only one who thinks it's up to the course...

[teckneeklyperfect]

wow

[evanm]

No debate here... Oki and Newcastle sucks.

[woodmont]

Okay, so I may be a newbie to the thread, and Seattle in general. But the last time I played at Newcastle--mind you that was back around March and April time because I've been in Afghanistan since then, the conditions were some of the best I'd seen in a while. Everyone seemed courteous and tried to keep the pace of play at a reasonable rate. And if they couldn't I was waved through very politely. As a single I tend to play very fast, and I rarely had a problem. I'm not advertising in OKI's favor here either because I never had the chance to play their other courses. All I'm saying is that I've seen much worse from far more established and more profitable venues.

[Jwowzer]

The only Oki course that I thoroughly enjoy is Echo Falls. While I don't enjoy walking it, I do enjoy the condition of the course every time I've been out.

[SteelieD]

Newcastle is probably one of the most overrated and overpriced places I have ever played.

[bpark1210]

Side note - The prices at Newcastle have gone up for 2015. Winter twilight rates are more expensive than what I was paying last summer. Someone please explain to me how that's going to attract customers. Paying more in winter for colder temps, soggy fairways, and bumpy greens. Makes a whole lot of sense Oki Golf.

[WestCoastHacker]

[quote name='SteelieD' timestamp='1421248780' post='10744913']
Newcastle is probably one of the most overrated and overpriced places I have ever played.
[/quote]

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