71 replies to this topic

[bbbrisco]

I just got done golfing at a course here in FL, and I was wondering what people think of the cart attendants who seem to want to strap your bag on the cart, then meet you at your cart after the round. I find it really awkward and totally useless. I have no idea who thinks this type of service is a good idea. Are there really people who can still golf but have trouble getting a bag from their trunk to the cart? I don't need or want any help (in fact, I'd be walking the course if they'd let me) and I sure as hell don't want to tip some kid $3-5 for basically opening the tailgate of my Rav4 for me. For the life of me, I can't imagine who would find this type of service appealing. Anyone a fan?

Even worse (and luckily absent at this course) are the dudes by 18 waiting to wipe down your clubs with a dirty rag. They have this at Fire Rock in London, Ont. and I find it obnoxious, and unlike the bag drop attendants, hard to dodge. I end up tipping the kid a few bucks, but would rather he stay away from my clubs and really resent the course setting up this ridiculous situation. So much so that I haven't been back to Fire Rock (not too impressed with it anyway - would rather play Tarandowah any day).

Luckily, this seems to becoming more and more rare, but not fast enough for my liking. I figure there must be a secret cadre of (likely really old) people out there who find this type of over-the-top service appealing, but I can't think of anyone I know who would appreciate this (maybe my grandfather if he wasn't so cheap . Any thoughts on why these jobs are still around in 2012?

ps. I grabbed my stuff off my cart myself and chatted with the cart boy for a minute while I changed shoes, but didn't tip him. I'm guessing a tip is usually expected, so now I'm feeling a tad guilty (not his fault that his job is basically pointless and something I find annoying). What's the normal practice for tipping cart attendants at a course you're playing via GolfNow (ie daily green fees)? This is not Winged Foot or something, and I'm basically going out as a single on off times.

[Isaac_Newton]

Almost every course in Las Vegas has cart attendants.  They help you on the way in and out and do a poor job of cleaning the clubs.  When I was a caddy we cleaned clubs with a bucket of water and a brush, these guys just use a damp rag.  We usually tip about 3 - 5 $ on the way out.  

I agree this is a useless service and adds no value to my experience at the course.

[lobub]

I just say "I'm all good." when they approach with their wet rag. I clean my grooves after every shot so I really don't need the service. I'm sure I get called all kinds of names as I walk away, but I could care less.

[Thrillhouse]

I also am in the "im good" boat. If I want a service I have no problem tipping accordingly for it, if I don't then sod off.

Last time we did this I spent four pages trashing the kid who wipes my clean clubs down with a dirty rag and then stands there with his hand out. We had a bunch of cart kids chiming in about how they "cant make a decent living without tips", so this should be fun!

[BENNYSUPREME]

That happened to me the other day.  I just said nothing as he looked at me hoping I would give him a tip.  This guy was atleast 50.  Felt awkward but heck why should I pay to have some one move my bag five feet.  

[One Gray GLI]

I absolutely despise it..I enjoy cleaning my clubs myself, and definitely don't mind walking 1/4 mile to my car after my round..  I'm also in the "I'm good" crowd, or I just completely avoid the person. I'm also younger (22), so they usually go for the older men because they tip better, or so they think.

[FATC1TY]

During the summers, we stay at our home in the mountains, I play a decent RTJ track. Nothing fancy about the place at all, but you are almost forced to pull up, they remove the clubs, get your cart set up while you park, and go in.

After the round, it's a wipe down, and they load your clubs up.. Not hard to do, because I'm removing my shoes so I have time. It would be one thing if you pulled the car around, loaded it up while I was in the locker room taking shoes off, wiping my face off, and grabbing a quick drink on the way out, but I'm not.

I rarely tip for the service unless I'm in a good mood and find myself with the appropriate bills in my cash cover.

[doubleBZee]

I always turn down the service and I try to unload before they get there.  I hate the dirty cloth to clean.  The last time they actually did it, half of the clubs were still dirty.  Sometime I want to leave a massive divot attached to my 9i and see what happens.

[thaus7]

Thrillhouse, on 12 March 2012 - 07:04 PM, said:

I also am in the "im good" boat. If I want a service I have no problem tipping accordingly for it, if I don't then sod off.

Last time we did this I spent four pages trashing the kid who wipes my clean clubs down with a dirty rag and then stands there with his hand out. We had a bunch of cart kids chiming in about how they "cant make a decent living without tips", so this should be fun!

I CANT MAKE A GOOD LIVING WITHOUT TIPS!!! lol, jk. I do caddy at a country club, and you are completely right. if you don't want your clubs cleaned and your clubs taking from your trunk, ect. its perfectly fine, just say I'm good and most kids will respect what you would like done.

[MB GOLF]

I try and stay away from these type threads, but... here goes:

Simply put, I view it like the street corner windshield cleaners in NYC.  You pull up to a stop light, they run off the curb, spray you down and wipe away.  Then want money after smearing bugs all over and leaving a nice haze... just like on my irons & woods.

Is this really a service?  To me it comes off a bit lame.  Like the others, I usually say "thanks I got it", especially when the rag is dripping mud or if a sandy course, I do not care to have a light sanding of my woods (scratch marks)... sorry guys who do this... I been around the golf block and you can't sell me otherwise.

Then at courses where they are short carts, they always attempt to hustle you out of the cart while my keys, wallet, phone & watch is in a pocket I prefer to get to while on the cart.... and I have a few things to put away, again, I prefer to do it while on the cart.

I have never failed to tip a kid for asking first... I always say yes if he is a polite young man with a clean rag... If ya don't ask, you'll be asked to step aside politely.

[Thrillhouse]

thaus7, on 12 March 2012 - 07:33 PM, said:

I CANT MAKE A GOOD LIVING WITHOUT TIPS!!! lol, jk. I do caddy at a country club, and you are completely right. if you don't want your clubs cleaned and your clubs taking from your trunk, ect. its perfectly fine, just say I'm good and most kids will respect what you would like done.

I like the caddy service though, and that is something that is well worth a tip in my book. Of course there is a big difference between lugging a bag around for four and a half hours and doing a shoddy job of wiping off a set of clubs.

[oneunderbogey]

I did almost the exact job you speak of for awhile.  There were 2-4 of us working at a time and were responsible for, being the starter, washing carts, wiping down clubs, being marshals, and carrying clubs from parking lot to cart and cart to parking lot.  This was a semi private course with 150ish members and some public times available.  What I learned is the set up works well in the private club set up but not so much for a public course.  We had the members who we knew.  When I first started, the people I worked with taught me which members want what I learned Joe doesn't want you anywhere near his clubs, and Bob wants the full treatment.  When it came to the public tee times we were never sure what to do and it was frequently awkward.  

As far as what the general practice is.  If you don't want help there is nothing wrong with saying I'm good when he goes to grab your bag plenty of people did this at my course.  I'd say out of the people we did help only 50% ish tipped so don't feel that bad about it.  Tips varied widely everything from $1 to $50.  A $2 tip was the most common and any tip was very appreciated.  We also had some members who tipped with non monetarily, like with a sleeve of balls or something once in awhile.  Remember you are probably tipping some high school or college kids trying to make enough money so he play the game you both love, golf.

Edited by oneunderbogey, 12 March 2012 - 08:08 PM.

[BNich0622]

I have worked at a private country club in CT for the past few years and we offer bag service, club cleaning  etc, for all members that store their bags in the bag room. It is a non-tipping club but certain members that I have created a nice relationship will palm me a few bucks here and there.

To the OP, are you talking about a public course or a private club? Just think about when you were 16-18 working possibly your first job, making minimum wage maybe scrubbing strangers dirty clubs hoping to make a few extra bucks. Don't be so harsh.

I would say if you were to tip, do it on the way out if you were happy with the service and the kid or kids were nice and welcoming.

[Fore_Man]

How about meeting me at my car with a cart, maybe load my clubs as I put my sprikes on. Then meet me at my cart to grab the cart when I'm done.  That I'm willing to tip for.  Nothing else.  If I still have to walk to/from the car I might as well do it with my clubs on my shoulder.

I always drive past the bag drop, even if they set it up so you have no choice.  I always reload my bag with gear and pockets with keys, wallet etc somewhere between the 18th green and cart return.  That way I can hop out and grab my clubs before the vultures arrive with their filthy, sandy dishrags.

[bbbrisco]

BNich0622, on 12 March 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

To the OP, are you talking about a public course or a private club? Just think about when you were 16-18 working possibly your first job, making minimum wage maybe scrubbing strangers dirty clubs hoping to make a few extra bucks. Don't be so harsh.

I would say if you were to tip, do it on the way out if you were happy with the service and the kid or kids were nice and welcoming.

I think it's normally a private club that has been reduced to taking in green fees from GolfNow (go go recession!). Great course, and a deal at $30/day.

And I didn't mean to come off as criticizing the workers - I'm more trying to understand why this situation actually comes about. I'm assuming the club managers only put them out there because they feel they have to, either to attract certain golfers or because they feel some members would complain if they weren't there. Those hypothetical members are who I am ragging against, assuming they exist. I have no problem with the workers themselves, and actually feel kinda bad for them because that job seems kinda pointless and I can't imagine they are learning too much. I understand they are probably just paying their dues on the way to a (hopeful) eventual club pro job, or making a few bucks for college, but there's gotta be a better way to make use of young people who are willing to work.

I'm just trying to understand who is actually wanting this type of service. It seems from the posters on here that most people find it either annoying or useless (or both), but then I guess the GolfWRX members aren't your typical CC members.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I'm a member at a private country club and none the less belong to the "I'm good" crowd. I contribute (rather generously, I think) to the yearly holiday bonus fund for employees and try to tip more than the bare minimum for the services I do use (i.e. the dining room staff, the bag-storage guy who fetches my pull cart and the guys in the proshop who help me out with regripping and minor club repairs). But we also have staff who meet people in the parking lot, offer to clean clubs and all that jazz and I don't care for that kind of "service". Heck, it's only 60 paces from my car to the proshop. I'm going to be walking 4-5 miles before the day is over and the extra 1% added on the beginning and end won't kill me.

P.S. I also much prefer gratuities that I can tack onto my food bill, etc. It's too much of a hassle to arrange beforehand to have a fiver within easy reach every time I walk by the "reception area".

Edited by Fourmyle of Ceres, 13 March 2012 - 09:24 AM.

[Man In The Miura]

Three buddies and myself played at a course that was big on all the extra service.  It was a cart-only place.  After the round we were surrounded by a few teenagers eager to massage our clubs and take them to the car... which was literally the first spot closest to the clubhouse, all af about 50 feet.  Great, I beep the car to unlock it, slap them each $5, tell them to put the clubs in the back.  We change our shoes and go inside to have lunch.  From the restaurant I glance and see them putting clubs in the car and think nothing more of it.
40 miles later, dropping the first guy off at his home, he says, ""Hey, these aren't my clubs!"  It turns out that two sets of clubs were correct, two sets were not.  The employees had somehow, in the 5 minutes left unsupervised while doing their job, managed to screw up which clubs belonged where.  I was lucky, but two guys had to turn right around and drive another 80 miles round trip to retrieve their clubs.  I guess when they got there some proshop guy told them to be more careful.

My motto: keep your hands off my clubs and your lips off my ball.

[dporto]

Geezzzz, what a bunch of cheap crumudgeans you guys are!!!     I'm not a big fan, but generally speaking, I view this "service" as part of the greens fee. If the guys are friendly and are using a fairly clean rag ( my "woods" all have covers so I'm not worried about them being scratched anyway) I'll let them clean my clubs and throw them a few bucks ($3-$5). There are only a few "daily fee's" in my area that do this and I don't play them on a regular basis so I wouldn't say it's a big pet peeve or anything...

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I am occasionally cheap and certainly a curmudgeon but it's more an element of what each of us views as "golf". For me, it is a recreational activity and chance to get some physical activity and fresh air a few times a month. I'm a member of club because of the opportunity it provides to "play golf" and as such I'm not looking for additional layers of commercial transactions encrusted onto what's basically a pretty simple experience.

Everything I do in my job and many things in my family life are these complicated arrangements in which various people have to be consulted or stroked or asked to do things for me or they ask me to do things for them. When I leave all that behind for 4, 5, 6 hours to "go play golf" I really do want to leave it behind. Someone justifying their presence by offering "services" that I don't require just spoil the whole relaxation element for me. And any part of "golf" that isn't a relaxing getaway is a drag.

Keep in mind that unlike occasional visitors to a Country Club For A Day public course, as a member of a club those minor little inconveniences (to my view) are something I deal with no once in a while but on like 90% of the occasions I "play golf". So it's not  simply a going along to get along just this once kind of thing. When I'm visiting another course I basically go with the flow and don't sweat it.

[jnier75]

When I was a cart attendant (about 6 years ago) all I wanted was a dollar to clean out the mess in the cart someone left and scrub down the excess dirt off the clubs. I would be fine with no tip if I didn't touch your clubs or you left your cart clean of trash. As for taking the clubs out of the trunk and placing them on the cart, the club paid me minimum wage to do that, no reason to tip someone for doing their job. Nowadays I'll throw the guy a dollar or two if i have it on me.

[Thrillhouse]

jnier75, on 13 March 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

When I was a cart attendant (about 6 years ago) all I wanted was a dollar to clean out the mess in the cart someone left and scrub down the excess dirt off the clubs. I would be fine with no tip if I didn't touch your clubs or you left your cart clean of trash. As for taking the clubs out of the trunk and placing them on the cart, the club paid me minimum wage to do that, no reason to tip someone for doing their job. Nowadays I'll throw the guy a dollar or two if i have it on me.

Isn't that what your employer paid you for? To clean the carts for the next customers to use?

[jnier75]

Thrillhouse, on 13 March 2012 - 08:56 PM, said:

jnier75, on 13 March 2012 - 08:48 PM, said:

When I was a cart attendant (about 6 years ago) all I wanted was a dollar to clean out the mess in the cart someone left and scrub down the excess dirt off the clubs. I would be fine with no tip if I didn't touch your clubs or you left your cart clean of trash. As for taking the clubs out of the trunk and placing them on the cart, the club paid me minimum wage to do that, no reason to tip someone for doing their job. Nowadays I'll throw the guy a dollar or two if i have it on me.

Isn't that what your employer paid you for? To clean the carts for the next customers to use?

The job was to clean the cart of sand and grass and make sure the cart is charged. When someone leaves 2 cups, candy bar wrappers, 3 sleeves of balls, the box of food from the turn and cigar casings strewn about in the cart that's going above and beyond cleaning up for that person.

I never cleaned the clubs unless asked but the older guys would hop on up to the 18th green and clean clubs while the group was putting so that way they felt obligated to throw tips. I thought that was just ridiculous.

[natedd]

oneunderbogey, on 12 March 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

I did almost the exact job you speak of for awhile.  There were 2-4 of us working at a time and were responsible for, being the starter, washing carts, wiping down clubs, being marshals, and carrying clubs from parking lot to cart and cart to parking lot.  This was a semi private course with 150ish members and some public times available.  What I learned is the set up works well in the private club set up but not so much for a public course.  We had the members who we knew.  When I first started, the people I worked with taught me which members want what I learned Joe doesn't want you anywhere near his clubs, and Bob wants the full treatment.  When it came to the public tee times we were never sure what to do and it was frequently awkward.  

As far as what the general practice is.  If you don't want help there is nothing wrong with saying I'm good when he goes to grab your bag plenty of people did this at my course.  I'd say out of the people we did help only 50% ish tipped so don't feel that bad about it.  Tips varied widely everything from $1 to $50.  A $2 tip was the most common and any tip was very appreciated.  We also had some members who tipped with non monetarily, like with a sleeve of balls or something once in awhile.  Remember you are probably tipping some high school or college kids trying to make enough money so he play the game you both love, golf.

I worked in the same type of situation in high school.

It wasn't that big of deal on tips, it was our job and we were paid for it.  We had numerous members who wanted to be coddled (and gladly tipped) and others who didn't want to be coddled (and even some of them threw us a tip once/month to split between the guys for being helpful).  We had public/daily fee guys that were regulars and loved the service and others that didn't.  You learned who wanted what, and made sure they were happy.  Someone posted that golf was his relaxation time and it didn't want to be hassled with the extras.  That is a fair take, but on the other side is the mindset that we dealt with often: golf is my relaxation time and I don't want to worry about the little things so I lean on the cart boys to take care of the crap.  Those guys wanted their bags loaded a certain way, range balls and tees stocked and sometimes drinks.  

The awkward part was the parking lot design was crap and didn't let carts in to the lot.  We either had to meet folks at the bag drop or meet them at their cars to get them  headed in the right direction.  Sometimes people were practically looking for a "tip fight" and could be very rude. I had a bunch of people very abruptly say, "Don't expect to scam me in to a tip for this crap".

I will say that it was without doubt the best summer job I ever had.  Free golf on Mondays, the ability to play during the week at reduced rates if the course wasn't crowded, $6/hour (in 1994) and keep all tips.  I was one of the few who would work early, so I was always done ~2ish and usually walked away with ~$75/day in tips.

[jlevitt9]

On of my first jobs was hanging out by the green on 18 at San Dimas Canyon in SoCal, cleaning clubs for tips. I didn't mind if people said "I'm good", but it was such a blast after cleaning for a couple hours, to go home with $75 or so in my pocket.

As some have said on here, most, if not all, of the kids that do this are golfers....I'm happy to slap $2-$5 in their hands for cleaning my sticks, even if it's an average job. I remember how happy I was to have those couple bucks in my hand when I was that age.

[lowndes]

I was a cart boy at a private club here in Houston during high school and we would drop people off carts in the parking lot, clean clubs, etc.  I honestly never really expected a tip out of either and could care less whether I got one.  I worked there because we got free golf any time we weren't working, free lessons from the pros, etc. and it kept my parents off my back about getting a job.  Best job of my life.  Also, the dropping a cart off in the parking lot or cleaning clubs wasn't something we were required to do by the club.  We did it because it gave us something to do instead of just cleaning carts, picking the driving range or washing the balls all day.  If you don't want your clubs clean then just say no thanks and there is no need to tip somebody for dropping off a cart for you or picking you up in the driving range but a thank you is always appreciated.  All they are doing is trying to make your day at the course a little more pleasant and relaxing.

[wholeinwon]

The course I am at is a huge customer service driven facility.

We have complimentary valet parking, staff shuttle your clubs from the bag drop to the pro shop/cart staging area (about 1/3km), they give those who don't use valet and walk back up to our pro shop that option as well, as the parking lot is pretty far from the shop.

Once checked in our cart attendants will load your bag up for you, the reason we do this is not just customer service but it gives our attendant time to check for damage on the cart before the round, introduce the guest to the facility and direct them where to go.  It'd be a little awkward doing this while they loaded their own bags.

Upon completion of the round we have an area where our staff scrub the players clubs (unless they ask us not to), and give them the option to shuttle them back to the valet/bag pickup stand.  Again gives our attendants time to interact with guests, check for damage on the cart and direct them where to go if they have any functions, etc.



Our tip outs for our outside service staff were the highest they have been in 2011, so I'm guessing that the people in this thread might be the minority out there.  Being a fully public course offering complementary valet, loading you up and using your name at all opportunities, offering free range balls, washing your clubs and loading them back up in your car is something very few of our 55,000+ guests/season grumble about.

Our outside service team does not have a tip jar, nor is a tip expected from anyone, yet more often then not one is given for the service at our facility.



To put it into a dollars point of view in terms of tips: From the amount of players we had during our 2011 season (late May-early October) our players tipped just under $2/head on average for the entire year.

I'm not disagreeing with this post just trying to provide perspective from a place where it seems to work...

[tElihu]

Regarding club cleaning, my pov is pretty much that of the OP.  My solution is to hand them a buck and say "I'm good".   I consider it a "cart attendant 'shooing' charge".  

But I always clean up after myself and throw away all of my trash from the cart.  IMO if you leave the cart a mess, you owe the attendant something for cleaning up after you, whether they wipe your clubs down or not.

[Thrillhouse]

jnier75, on 14 March 2012 - 08:08 AM, said:

The job was to clean the cart of sand and grass and make sure the cart is charged. When someone leaves 2 cups, candy bar wrappers, 3 sleeves of balls, the box of food from the turn and cigar casings strewn about in the cart that's going above and beyond cleaning up for that person.

I guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree on that one.

[oneunderbogey]

Thrillhouse, on 14 March 2012 - 05:13 PM, said:

jnier75, on 14 March 2012 - 08:08 AM, said:

The job was to clean the cart of sand and grass and make sure the cart is charged. When someone leaves 2 cups, candy bar wrappers, 3 sleeves of balls, the box of food from the turn and cigar casings strewn about in the cart that's going above and beyond cleaning up for that person.

I guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree on that one.

Really you think it is the cart attendants job to clean your trash out of the cart?  Just throw your trash in the trash cans on the course or at the clubhouse, it is not that hard.  You are probably the type of person who thinks its okay to throw trash on the ground in a building with a janitor because they are there to clean it up.

[Mr.Fuji]

bbbrisco, on 12 March 2012 - 06:04 PM, said:

I just got done golfing at a course here in FL, and I was wondering what people think of the cart attendants who seem to want to strap your bag on the cart, then meet you at your cart after the round. I find it really awkward and totally useless. I have no idea who thinks this type of service is a good idea. Are there really people who can still golf but have trouble getting a bag from their trunk to the cart? I don't need or want any help (in fact, I'd be walking the course if they'd let me) and I sure as hell don't want to tip some kid $3-5 for basically opening the tailgate of my Rav4 for me. For the life of me, I can't imagine who would find this type of service appealing. Anyone a fan?

Even worse (and luckily absent at this course) are the dudes by 18 waiting to wipe down your clubs with a dirty rag. They have this at Fire Rock in London, Ont. and I find it obnoxious, and unlike the bag drop attendants, hard to dodge. I end up tipping the kid a few bucks, but would rather he stay away from my clubs and really resent the course setting up this ridiculous situation. So much so that I haven't been back to Fire Rock (not too impressed with it anyway - would rather play Tarandowah any day).

Luckily, this seems to becoming more and more rare, but not fast enough for my liking. I figure there must be a secret cadre of (likely really old) people out there who find this type of over-the-top service appealing, but I can't think of anyone I know who would appreciate this (maybe my grandfather if he wasn't so cheap . Any thoughts on why these jobs are still around in 2012?

ps. I grabbed my stuff off my cart myself and chatted with the cart boy for a minute while I changed shoes, but didn't tip him. I'm guessing a tip is usually expected, so now I'm feeling a tad guilty (not his fault that his job is basically pointless and something I find annoying). What's the normal practice for tipping cart attendants at a course you're playing via GolfNow (ie daily green fees)? This is not Winged Foot or something, and I'm basically going out as a single on off times.

I have played Fire Rock quite a few times and don't recall the wiping guys being there...Just got back from 10 days in MB and the bag drop/club wipe thing is at every course, we never go to the bag drop but I will always tip these guys when they actually load it onto the cart as it seems you get better treatment in my experience...The wiper guys always get a polite brush off as I clean as I go and dont care for them handling my gear...BTW, I give Tarandowah the nod over Fire Rock as well, playing there Sat and cant wait!



Cheers,

Scott