Ok first it was things that drive you nuts now what would you like to see your course or any course try.

1. Dont put any flags in the greens. I have heard that shooting for the flag sometimes causes higher scores. Id like to play a course and try it. (I know i can shoot for the center of the green i'm just saying)

List any other ideas. Mainly looking for something innovative and creative.

Around here I would them to actually try raking the bunkers....


Response to your post...without being able to fire at some flags, you wouldn't be able to use your skill to shoot a low score..it would always be an accident.

For US courses in general -

Never call a bunker a "sand trap".
Never use the words "tee box"
Plant less flowers and other useless flowery plants near/on the course.
Try to use less water.

In some instanced that is true, but the average golfer cant break 100. Too many people see a pin on the right fire at it, miss right have a tough up and down, miss the chip, and 2-3 putt. Instead if the hit to the center and 2 putt lower scores for the average golfer. Again this is not for a person that shoots in the 70's more for the average hacker.

lol on raking bunkers.
I would like dress codes to be enforced on courses.
I'm tired of seeing tee shirts and tang tops, I kid you not.
Also rangers to do their job instead of just driving around.
Also courses to drop rates when they Aerate Greens. Nothings worse then paying full price and finding out the greens are nothing but holes and sand.

I know this is out of left field, but I just have to mention it.

Scaled green fee based on time to complete round to speed up play. Not gonna happen, but just a thought.

Take a $100 per golfer deposit on every group tee'ing off in the morning. The first group that finishes in more than 4:30 forfeits their deposit.

Make the damn hole bigger!!!

go green - organic solutions to maintenance - bugs not chemicals, less water off fairways and greens

plant flowers only at the Red or forward teeing area

maintain bunkers

I absolutely hate when they aerate the greens and ....

A: Don't tell you about it. (this is first and foremost. Just let us know when we call, and definitely when we are checking in!)

B: Don't charge full price if your course isn't up to it. If you just did the greens, there need to be a discount.

i don't care, just do whatever it takes to keep the greens smooth and fast, the bunkers light (not "beachy"), the tees flat and healthy, the fairways tight (yet healthy) and the rough long (yet playable for amateurs)

I disagree. On my home course, on several holes if the hole is toward the front of the green I want to know it. I would much rather club down and then chip/putt upslope than be faced with a 20 foot downslope putt from closer to the center of the green.

I'd like to see some type of cleaning of all the damn geese $hi* on the course's I play. I literally had a fairway completely covered in geese crap my ball look like it was in a bunker of geese $hi* LOL. Also the squirrels stealing stuff out of my bag and cart is getting old too.

Personally, I would like to see more creativity in the design of courses. This might seem quirky or gimmicky to most, but seeing holes that are outside of the typical par 3,4, and 5 would be fantastic. What about a Par 2 that is 50 yards? Or a gigantic Par 6. I would also like to see more obstacles in the middle of the fairways in terms of a bunker or single tree forcing players to be creative and drawing or fading the ball around.

I just want to see more creativity in the game. Mix up courses with short Par 4's with very small greens to entice the bombers to go for it, but at the same time penalizing them them if they make a mistake to the point where the non-bombers can keep up.

Long holes that force you to take something other than driver off the tee to showcase long iron play. Personally, I would just like to see a tournament with a mixture of these elements to see who the "best" golfer really is. I think we're coming into an era of golf were golfers are all good at one skill set.

Bring back the short (under 150 yards from the tips) par 3!

Amen to that I don't know why courses feel that the par 3's from the back tee's always needs to play like 200 plus yds.

Caddies as an alternative to golf carts.

Mark yardages on more sprinklers on par 5's. I know I'm not going to reach the green from 300 out, but it would sure help when figuring out how far to hit my layup.

I think what i'd like to see most is some consistency on the little things. For example, color coding the flags based on pin placement (red for front of green, etc), fairway yardage markers and so forth.

I'd also like to see courses spend their money a little more wisely. There is a local public course that is spending big bucks building an outdoor pavilion for banquets, but 95% of the cart path is unpaved sand and dirt, the 16th tee area is a complete mess, and the 15th hole has had the cart path roped off and closed for two years. Seems like they should be spending the $$ on that stuff first.

Enforce the pace of play!!!

+1 by only allowing handicaps better than 15

There's a course here in Maryland designed by Ernie Els that has the remnants of an old brick house in the MIDDLE of the 18th fairway. It's a par 5 and if you go either side of the house you can lay up to another area and make it a 3 shot hole. I you can fly the house (about a 230 yard carry from the Blue tees) then you'll get a good downhill bounce and have a shot for the green in two. It's a very neat desgin and really makes you take a second look on the tee.

If you look at the pictures that rotate through the homepage on this site you'll see the house and hole. The only thing is this is taken from the rough area of the fairway, so it appears the house is off to the side, but it's not, It's right in the middle of the fairway fromt he tee.

http://www2.cybergolf.com/kemper/courses/whiskey.asp

IF I was to build a course right now, the things I would do that are "different"....

1) Have a couple of holes that can play as par 3 & 4s, as well as 4s and 5s. Just have 2nd tee box(es) on a couple of holes. Have them "hidden" from the further tee box so it doesn't have an ugly look to it. You can handicap each "layout" and have multiple layouts. Would be cool to have your home course play all sorts of ways. But, at the same token, you would be shooting to the same 18 greens, so you would still know where to play the ball (which I think is key to playing a course well). However, you can't just put the 2nd (closer) tee box where the "normal" landing area for the hole would be. You want the hole to play different, not just take the tee shot out of it.

2) Have well-kept and clean ball/shoe cleaners at every tee box. How annoying is it to have the bristles rubbed down to nothing? OR no water in the ball cleaner. Just a really simple thing that goes a long way in my book.

3) Strong enforement of golf etiquette. Divot repair, ball mark repair, place-of-play, etc etc etc. Have the starter go over the rules for the course then have a ranger monitor each group. I don't want Hitler out there, but just remind people to fix divots and ball marks to keep the course in good shape. Also have the ranger keep the pace of play up.

4) In-cart GPS.

5) A REAL practice area. I'm not Vijay, but I like to get there 30-40 minutes beforehand to check in, hit 20-30 balls and hit some putts. But there are some course around here with HORRIBLE ranges. Just crap. I know it takes some time/money to keep up a nice grass range, but I think most players really enjoy that. Also, I know people who really go out of their way to go to a nice grass range to hit balls, versus going to a matted "public" range that is really designed for just the driver.

6) Bulk round purchase. I am starting to see some of this. NOT a season membership, but buy a block of fees and get a discount based on the number of fees purchased. I played 30 rounds at my "home course" last year and that wasn't even CLOSE to enough to justify a full membership. Offer a discount, free range balls with the round, etc etc. Gets people playing MORE golf at your course.

Ok, that's enough! I could keep going.... But it's time to leave work

+1 -- the silent aeration is the worst.

I'd like to see some of the newer courses have ACTUAL dog legs in them. I'm sick of the 18 straight holes (yeah more houses can fit yada yada) but it would bring back strategy. 3 wood instead of driver to avoid going too far instead of avoiding one of nine bunkers that makes a hole like like an F1 circuit.

I like courses that have a pin sheet and tell you what part of the green the hole is cut. Front, Middle and Back are OK but I like the pin placement sheet.

teeboxes that arent uneven. god i hate that.

more rangers at holes.

immediate removal from course if you take a divot on a par 5 with your driver. (from the teebox of course, and if they are attempting the tips)

cheaper rates for lower handicaps.

less golf leagues during the week.

This is bs because slow play is a mentality that affects both good and bad golfers. I've played with plenty of 20+ hc that play quickly. On the other hand, some of the slowest players I know are single digit hc.

Golf course management needs to enforce the pace of play.

A practice area that actually helps....kinda mentioned in a Golf Magazine article a while ago


-Different stations at the range (grass of course) to work on uneven long shots like sloping left to right and uphill shots. You rarely ever have a completely flat lie but for when you do there should also be flat areas for practicing tee shots. Also in these varying grass length....don't always have a fairway type lie.
-At each station there is a kind of practice hole so you can see if you're in the "fairway" or the "rough" and maybe throw in a few doglegs

There's obviously much more you could do with this, but this is making it easier to practice things that would occur on the course. the only time someone practices from wierd slopes and terrains is on the course.

Completely agree, I'm about a 22 handicap but I'm able to keep or beat the pace of play of almost any golfer on the course. The ones going spider man on the green and realigning their ball 4 times are usually the biggest hold up

Caddies instead of carts. At least get off your butt and start walking around the course. If you can't walk and have a certified disabled permit, you can ride.

Access gate at every tee, which you must open using a punch time card. The gates connected with a central GPS positioner which in turn is connected with the transponder in your punch card. If you take too long (and through the system, the gate knows if you're too slow or just being held up) you can't get on the tee without letting the following group through. Tough S**t.

Really good ones. The cheaper rates might get people to actually work on their game, sadly, it would just result in people lying about their score MORE than they already do.

I think the golf leagues & weekend rates are what keep the courses alive. However, just because you are in a golf league, you don't own the course. I hate nothing more then some of these 25+ HC hacks who act like they own the place but can barely get off the teebox.