I just want to rant for a minute about...

[SnowbirdTom]

Played a muni course in Ann Arbor (Leslie Park) yesterday after dealing with the home course's greens for the past month.  Same speed, just MUCH smoother and sane pin placements. Turns out they have a cutter/roller to use on theirs. It was a joy to behold. Lag putts working, 3-5 footers were makeable. If it went long, short or the wrong direction, the blame fell squarely on me.  😉

[James the Hogan Fan]

On 5/30/2025 at 2:59 PM, mshills said:

We have one green that has gotten too extreme over the years and will need to be reworked at some point. There are far too few workable pins on that green, and when we get to summer speed, I’ve seen this more times than I’d like. 
 

160 yard tee shot executed beautifully. 20-25’ below the hole. 
Putt #1 comes up 6” short. Rolls back to player’s feet. 
Putt #2 hit slightly harder, 6” beyond the cup. Rolls back to player’s feet. 
 

To my mind that is ridiculous and means that pin cannot be placed there, there’s no way that is identifying skill. 

 

There's an insane green near me with 4 separate, ascending tiers. The flag was on second tier and my ball on the third. I hit a perfect putt to the crest and the ball tumbled just over, down towards the hole, which it hit just such that it didn't hit the flagstick, but at such speed it hopped off the back lip and out, rolling out 6 more feet. Had it not hit the hole, it was going down to the bottom tier.

 

Like I get being above the hole can be bad. I get that a green can have a miss which leaves you short-sided or worse. But I really don't like when a green or hole location says quite plainly 'no matter what you do here, you either make this putt or you have 5'/10'/15' coming back.' Often times this comes from a flag cut too close to the base of the tier. 

 

In the case of the green above, the tiers are at best 5-7 yards deep, and the approach is 120-130 or so. I don't know too many casual golfers with a 3.5 yard radius on their misses (tour leading average is 15' ish), basically turning the approach into far more influential lottery than usual.

[Hogan9]

I'm going to rant about my country club. OK, I'm old (75) and joined my club in 1983. Obviously things have changed drastically in the last 40+ years as expected. However, it seems we no longer act like a country club. First of all it's now too crowded. We have over 1000 members which is way too many for a club with only one course. Getting tee times is like getting Taylor Swift tickets. The course is in immaculate condition but so many members violate the cart rules there are now buzzers on the carts

and they shut down if one ventures into a prohibited area.  This something public courses have to do but one would think country cub members would obey the cart rules.  Also if one gets a time and wants to play alone or as a twosome people will jump in any open slots without asking. Again like public golf you can end up paired with a total stranger or worse a slow playing beginner. Finally, we are closing in 2027 for  a year to make design changes to the course. This will be my fifth re-do with a fifth different architect. There were seventeen years between the first and second re-design but now they come every six or seven years and with a healthy assessment. 

Thanks for letting me vent as I will soon have to make a big golf related decision. As I approach 80 years old do I pay to stay or find another option for my golf. 

[ND2005]

On 6/1/2025 at 7:23 AM, SnowbirdTom said:

Played a muni course in Ann Arbor (Leslie Park) yesterday after dealing with the home course's greens for the past month.  Same speed, just MUCH smoother and sane pin placements. Turns out they have a cutter/roller to use on theirs. It was a joy to behold. Lag putts working, 3-5 footers were makeable. If it went long, short or the wrong direction, the blame fell squarely on me.  😉

 

Great little track. Used to live in the condos right next door to the course.