Stonebridge GC -

[Millergolfco]

My wife and I just had a really bad experience at Stonebridge today. The cart rule is drive in the rough and on #6 Janice hit her drive near the fairway bunker. She has a mobility problem and was hurting from walking most of #5 so I crossed the fairway to get her closer to her ball. In the group ahead was an off duty Marshall who complained to the Marshall that we were driving "all over the course". When I explained the situation he said that she should not be playing until she can drive on the fairway and told us we had to leave the course. We were so upset. I went to the pro Shop and explained the situation and they sided with the Marshall. Then, they would only give us a 9 hole rain check! We are really upset, even hours after the event.
Marshalling at Stonebridge GC has been sketchy for a long time, but they are responsible for the reputation of the course. In my humble opinion, they deserve the financial difficulties they are experiencing. There is no doubt Mattamy Homes is going to plough it over and replace it with homes- too bad, and the only one responsible is the club pro. He sets the tone for how the club operates. Empowering a Marshall to tell a player with a mobility disability to leave the course is completely offside.

[big mac]

Yep--that sounds like the club pro--had similar experience. Very insensitive to your wife's condition but I am sure he was happy to take your money when you checked in --don't get me going on the marshals out there .

[Wilster]

Ridiculous of them to do this , very poor effort from Stonebridge

[Drew]

Hi, I am a marshal at Stonebridge and was the starter this morning from 6:30 to 11:45. The cart rule was cart path only but the course was allowing carts in the rough to try and help the golfers. These restrictions are posted and we do explain this to persons before renting carts. The maintenance crew has been putting in very long hours this year trying to get the course conditions back. The reason they are keeping carts off the fairway is because they have been reseeded and are pouring water to the course making it too soft to drive on. I am sorry you had a bad experience but we are trying to get the course condition back as soon as possible for everyone. The course superintendent tours the course every morning before the first tee time and he determines the Cart rules, and we ask golfers to please respect these restriction. Andy

[big mac]

I still feel it was not right for any marshal to disrespect someone who has a physical condition and order them off the course. In any case it is a "he said she said"---did the marshal actually "see them driving all over the course" I don't think so. PLUS--I have played Stonebridge for years and never once had the " young lads" at the check in counter ever say anything regarding cart path yes or no. Hell, one person working the counter 90% of the time only has time to take your money. I'm sorry but that is a fact ! It's a decent course but it needs to clean up it's act when it comes to dealing with the public.

[Michael]

Question for Drew the marshal, what happens should they decide to ignore you and continue playing?? Just curious.

[Drew]

Most golfers are just out for a good time and understand that we are just trying to keep the game to a reasonable pace and protect the course from damage. As marshals we are considered volunteers because we don’t get paid but are allowed restricted access to tee times. So we are all golfers and want the course to do well. Last thing we want to do is P**s people off! Yes people can forget to mention the cart rules of the day but it is posted on the front counter and at the starts of hole 1 and 10 fairway. Because of the conditions this spring these signs have also been added to most if not all the starts of the other fairways. Once the course opens up to a full scatter, persons with restrictions can request a blue flag for their cart which allows them to bring their cart closer to the green than the posted signage. But it is too soft to do that now.

[goochy]

Read ClubProGuy's thoughts on marshalling in the last letter of this mailbag edition. Sums it up nicely in my experience.

https://clubproguy.com/blogs/media/c...season-edition

[big mac]

Read ClubProGuy's thoughts on marshalling in the last letter of this mailbag edition. Sums it up nicely in my experience.

https://clubproguy.com/blogs/media/c...season-edition

Yep---that's a pretty good assessment There ARE exceptions but rare.

[Sakuraba]

I hate to play devil's advocate here, but come on. This guy admits they were told cart of the restriction, and admits violating it. What is the point of putting the restriction up if it isn't going to be enforced?

[big mac]

I hate to play devil's advocate here, but come on. This guy admits they were told cart of the restriction, and admits violating it. What is the point of putting the restriction up if it isn't going to be enforced?

Agreed---but he could have been politically correct and given them a warning ?

[Kilroy]

When I explained the situation he said that she should not be playing until she can drive on the fairway

Is this hard to understand?
Why do you feel entitled to violate the rule? Did you get a blue flag for the cart and permission to drive in the wet areas?
Do you want to play your next round in the ruts made by some bozo who idnored the rules and drove all over a soaked course?
The world is full of cupcakes who feel the rules should not apply to them.

[Bouboude]

Have to agree with Kilroy on this. Only difference is I would of just gave them a warning. However if I saw them doing it again I would ask them to leave.

[goochy]

"bozo"? "cupcake"?....that's a little harsh Dan. I think the OP was just trying to help his wife on one hole. It's a bit of a jump to say he was "driving all over the course".

Surely a reasonable response would have been to politely remind him of the rule and ask him not to do it again....or offer to get him a blue flag... Not to throw him off the course.

[PJ1]

Millergolfco – It’s always nice to get the other side of the story too. Since I was the other person playing in the group with the off-duty Marshall, let me clarify a little.

We saw you driving in the fairway on #6 in an area that was quite wet between the fairway bunker and the cart path. On the #8 tee we simply notified the Marshall of what we saw so he could remind you that it was cart path only because, let’s be honest, sometimes we forget. The way the Marshall handled this and what he said to you was out of our control.

What you failed to mention in your post though is that you aggressively approached us on the #8 green. You proceeded to tell us we “got you kicked off the course” and we should “shut our mouths and mind our own business”. When I was speaking with you (in a polite and respectful manner, btw) I told you exactly what I mentioned above but you didn’t want to hear any of it. When I asked you if you spoke to the proshop about your situation prior to starting your round you told me no. I even told you to call the proshop from the course to explain the situation but you refused. You were quick to blame everyone but yourself.

When you arrived at the course, the proshop would have notified you it was cart path only. When you arrived at the first tee, the Starter would have notified you it was cart path only. At no time did you ever mention your wife’s condition to anyone. So how is anyone at the course supposed to know?

As avid golfers we want to play in the best conditions possible. With the harsh winter and terrible spring we’ve had the majority of the courses in the area are struggling right now, and most will have rules in place to try and protect certain areas of the course. This is the only way the courses will be able to rebound and get back into the conditions that everyone expects.

As for the Marshalling comment you made...most of the time it’s the golfers that are at fault not the Marshalls. Sure you can get a less than stellar Marshall, but that can happen at any course. But remember....it’s not the Marshalls slowing down the group behind; it’s not the Marshalls who are taking 10 minutes to line up a 3 footer for a triple; and it’s not the Marshalls driving in the fairway when they shouldn’t be. Marshalls are there to enforce course rules. If you don’t like the course rules, then don’t play there.

[leafman]

I used to play with an older gentleman who needed a cart and had trouble playing when cart path only. If I was there he would play and I’d throw or chip the ball back towards the path so he could still play. I don’t think anybody should be granted the right to drive on fairways when they are in really wet conditions. Just my opinion.

[Gobble_It]

Agreed---but he could have been politically correct and given them a warning ?

The OP knew the rules and broke it once. He could do it again who knows
I am with the Marshall on this one. It was not going to be an enjoyable round for his spouse given the wet course condition, come back another day when it is dry. I'm not sure they told them to quit or suggested so. Either way, I don't see this as the Marshall's power trip.

[Kilroy]

"bozo"? "cupcake"?....that's a little harsh Dan.

Perhaps, but to be honest, disrespecting the course rules is not cool.

He's blaming the player ahead, the marshal, the proshop staff and the manager when he clearly was going in soggy areas and damaging the wet turf. Blaming everyone but himself.

He feels his situation is somehow special enough that his needs, and those of his wife's, are greater than the people who play there for WEEKS to come.

Too many special entitled people in the world these days.

If cart path only doesn't work for you, you can request an exception and get a blue flag. If they allow it, great. If not, don't play. You don't get to go anywhere you like, doing damage to the course, just because you feel you should be able too. Simple.

It also isn't cool to break the rules and then whine about the rule being enforced in an online forum, with intent to harm the reputation of the course. The "I'm gonna get even by posting about this" is so obvious in this case. His first post.

[goochy]

Fair enough

[Johnyc]

Is Stonebridge still on temp greens? If so then maybe they should wait a couple more weeks before opening. If the course is on temps and the fairways are so wet that they can’t accommodate carts than what’s the upside to opening? I wouldn’t play a course with temp greens myself but I’ll leave that for others a to decide but it sounds like maybe the best outcome for all would have been waiting a couple weeks to allow the course to mature

[big mac]

If he was aggressive towards the marshal then that's a different story--I was not there so I don't know. A warning--by all means. If the course is as wet as it is then DO NOT OPEN IT or AT LEAST DON'T RENT CARTS simple I love golf, usually I have about 15 games so far---this year 2 . Why pay top $$ for poor conditions---not my fault---not the courses fault--must be mother nature JMHO

[justsomeguy]

Is Stonebridge still on temp greens? If so then maybe they should wait a couple more weeks before opening. If the course is on temps and the fairways are so wet that they can’t accommodate carts than what’s the upside to opening? I wouldn’t play a course with temp greens myself but I’ll leave that for others a to decide but it sounds like maybe the best outcome for all would have been waiting a couple weeks to allow the course to mature

The upside is that they have members who have already paid in advance for their golf this season. Most of them would likely prefer to play in less-than-ideal conditions for free, rather than pay $50 per round to play somewhere else for 5 or 6 weeks. They also have league players who are expecting to start playing by a certain date (leagues start this week at Stonebridge), so there is additional pressure to open the course by then.

Most courses survive on a combination of members, league players, tournaments and green-fee players. I'm sure that the decision to open or not for these courses depends mostly on what their members expect, when their leagues start and when the first corporate tournament is booked. The needs of the occasional green-free players come last, and can usually be accommodated by just discounting the prices.

[Johnyc]

The upside is that they have members who have already paid in advance for their golf this season. Most of them would likely prefer to play in less-than-ideal conditions for free, rather than pay to play $50 per round somewhere else for 5 or 6 weeks. They also have league players who are expecting to start playing by a certain date (leagues start this week at Stonebridge), so there is additional pressure to open the course by then.


Most courses survive on a combination of members, league players, tournaments and green-fee players. I'm sure that the decision to open or not for these courses depends mostly on what their members expect, when their leagues start and when the first corporate tournament is booked. The needs of the occasional green-free players come last, and can usually be accommodated by just discounting the prices.

To each their own. No way I’m playing 9 holes of temp greens. Golf courses, IMO, can get away with poor conditions on the fairways and rough but it sucks if the tees and greens aren’t at least decent.

[314314]

You said it!

I am member at hylands which by the way, lots of temp greens right now on both courses. Yet, while not an ideal scenario, I still go out and play.. why you might ask? my memberships has been paid. - I can only assume that stonebridge has a few members who already paid as well. So it would be only fair to open course so that some members can go out and play.

As per the individual who initially complained, this has been a good learning experience for him (and others) who might think that rules do not apply to them regardless of being a private or public club.

... I wouldn’t play a course with temp greens myself but I’ll leave that for others a to decide

[Tbone]

I’ve been working in the golf course industry for over 30 years. At several different courses in Ottawa and Southern Ontario. Customer service should be put ahead of anything else now, with the state of the game and the conditions that Ottawa area courses are in, honestly did this 1 cart do so much damage to the 6th fairway to warrant a complaint from an “off duty” marshal �� and being told to leave the course? Did anyone here take a photo of the damage to the 6th fairway where this great infraction occurred? It’s been my experience that Marshall’s are usually retired old men who want easy free golf are the worst offenders of rules when they play, and even worse when they are “on duty” and the mostly don’t understand the game of golf and are clueless to what the superintendent and staff are trying to accomplish, to those who say they broke the rules so they should be punished, wake the up it’s not like these poor people were doing donuts on the greens..it’s really discouraging to hear this situation is still happening and it’s this type of stuffy thing that’s holding up the growth of the game.

[Kilroy]

Tbone, are you seriously suggesting that people should do whatever they please with no regard to the rules of the course, to the point of risking damage, because we need to 'grow the game' ?

I doubt I am the only one who thinks this is just wrong.

[Tbone]

Where did I say people should do whatever they please?

[Sakuraba]

If someone did doughnuts on a green, I'd be hitting them with a lot worse than asking them to leave, and giving them a free 9 hole pass to come back once the cart restriction was lifted. I'd be looking for compensation for the damage done, and maybe involving the police.

We are very quick to condemn conditions, and when a course tries to improve them, we are quick to condemn their cart restriction, or in this case, ignore it. I wasn't there, so I don't know what damage was done. But I've golfed enough to know as soon as one cart ignores the restriction rule, many more follow along.

[Wilster]

If someone did doughnuts on a green, I'd be hitting them with a lot worse than asking them to leave, and giving them a free 9 hole pass to come back once the cart restriction was lifted. I'd be looking for compensation for the damage done, and maybe involving the police.

We are very quick to condemn conditions, and when a course tries to improve them, we are quick to condemn their cart restriction, or in this case, ignore it. I wasn't there, so I don't know what damage was done. But I've golfed enough to know as soon as one cart ignores the restriction rule, many more follow along.

I think he may have been exaggerating , never the less , its a customer service problem when all the dust settles in this thread .
It looks like Stonebridge marshalls could have addressed it better and maybe listened to all parties involved before asking the people involved to leave.
Ive experienced both good and bad marshalls on many courses , if anyone has had a bad experience then tell the course , and hope they learn from it

[big mac]

I think he may have been exaggerating , never the less , its a customer service problem when all the dust settles in this thread .
It looks like Stonebridge marshalls could have addressed it better and maybe listened to all parties involved before asking the people involved to leave.
Ive experienced both good and bad marshalls on many courses , if anyone has had a bad experience then tell the course , and hope they learn from it

Well said