Conference 7.286::golf

    
     Most of the "public" courses have a core group of regular players that
     automatically get the tee times on weekend mornings.  Trull Brook is
     like that.  Getting a morning tee time is impossible.  And with
     leagues that dominate public courses in late afternoons, you can't
     play a spur of the moment round anymore.
    
     Public courses are quickly becoming relics.  There are private, and
     semi-private courses nowadays.
    
    -rick

    The method I use works for me. Depending on the course I schedule time
    in the afternoon of weekends approx 3-4 days ahead. I fortunatly dont
    mind going myself and joining others. It seems there is always room for
    singles. I find I will get shut out if I wait until 9 or 10 on that
    morning and the better the day the more chance of a shut out. So book
    during the unpopular times, settle for nine and do 18 over two days. As
    the days get longer you can get 18 and still start at 3:00p.m. I also
    find the courses get empty during the summer on late sunday afternoon.

    
    
    
    as an FYI to base note......
    
    
    >>>a 5-10 year wait, if you know someone.
    
    at the club I belong to there are 5 people on the waiting list. This
    being peak time, they will probably get in in September/October.
    
                                                 
    >>> Then, you end up playing one place most of the time...meaning you 
        loose some of the allure of the game.
	
    I do not agree. Although it would be nice to play a different course 
    every time, my game is such that every time I tee it up it is a 
    challange and different from the time before. I enjoy the fact that
    it is always VERY competative, a great group of guys, always something
    going on (tournaments, side bets, contests....), and most of all, a
    guaranteed tee time. You MUST play a lot to make a private club
    membership worth it. It is not for the weekend player. It also is nice
    to take advantage of things like a pool, tennis, dining etc. with the
    family.
    
    
    
    	my two copper Lincolns,
    
    	Joe

	I can't believe you can't get thru to Stow. Anyways, have you tried
Butternut? A new 18 hole course 2 miles down the road from Stow. Another
suggestion is to call on Friday morning or afternoon. People tend to call
and get a tee time on Wednesday. Only to find out they can't play, and
cancel there tee time on Friday.

	Another course is Juniper in Northboro (36 holes). There I know
its impossible to get a tee time before 1:00 in the afternoon. Unless someone
cancels. Juniper sells tee times for $100. You can buy a tee time for the
whole season. Problem is its mandatory you take carts and you have to have
a foursome. You get charged to your credit card whether you show up or not
if you don't cancel.

Ron

    I am sure we  all  have  the  same  problem  if  you want to play every
    (almost?) every Sunday. What I ended up doing is paying extra.
    
    I got a gold  card  at  Stow  Acres ($380 per year).  It allows me to
    call half a day earlier  than  the  rest  of the crowd.  So I have no
    problem getting my 5:30 AM tee time for Sunday. Game anyone?
    
    Tavo
    
    P.S.  There are some other  benies  with  the  gold  card.   Pro-shop
    discounts, USGA handicap, club tourneys.

    
    
      We have the same problem over here in Scotland trying to get times
     on the public courses.
    
      On Saturday past, I was down at the booking office at 5.45am to book
     a time for next Saturday and was about 6th in the queue. The booking
     office doesn't open until 6.45am and it was COLD!! 
    
      However, if you are prepared to go down early you'll be able to get
     practically any time you want for the following weekend. It's the same
     for any other day, ie book 1 week in advance. There's always a crowd
     of us playing so we all take our turn when booking times.
    
      I'm a member of a club that uses public courses. We've got a great
     deal - a season ticket costs 200 pounds sterling - that enables us to
     play 3 good quality par 72 courses, a good par 69/70, 3 other par
     67/68 and a nine-hole course. You can play as often as you want 
     throughout the year. It costs 15 pounds for a single round on the 
     longer courses so if you play a lot of golf you save big money buying
     a season ticket.
    
    
      Danny.
    
    

    Overlook books tee times a week in advance.  Since they also offer a 
    limited membership, which gets you a reserved slot, you need to get
    on the horn to them a week before you wish to play.
    
    Also, it's sometimes easier to book for 4 players.  There are courses
    that won't give you a time before noon, or even 2 p.m., if you have
    less than 3 players.
    

    
    	Tavo...
    
    	'Got to pay for it'! 5:30AM ... Your paying for it allright! I
    	used to get off that early too.. but for me, it kills Saturday
    	evening ("gotta get some sleep honey, I have to get up at 4:30
    	tomorrow")... and then Sunday is a 'sluggish' day even if you
    	get to bed early on Saturday. That's too high a price for me!
    
    	We now tee off at 6:45ish every Sunday. That extra hour plus
    	makes all the difference.
    
    		Jerry

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback so far.  

I had heard about the fact that "a couple" of "public" courses were selling 
preferred tee times on the weekend, but from the replies so far, it would seem
that this is the rule rather than the exception at most of the popular courses
around here.  That would explain a lot.

As for late in the day rounds, that used to be when I tried to play.  I liked
playing late because it allowed me to get some things done before "wasting" the
rest of the day on the course.  If you start at 3:00, you should get in 18 and
if you're too tired to do anything else that day, it's alright.  Now, however,
it seems like lots of others have also decided to play at this time.  This means
that (a) you seldom get off before 4:00, and (b) play is so slow, you seldom
finish.

Since the greens fees also usually go down around 3:00, I tried a new tack of
trying to go out towards the end of the "high-price" time, figuring that most
folks who waited until 2:45 to play, would wait until 3:00 in order to save
30-40%.  Playing at 2:45 is usually a nice time of day and you can finish.
Unfortunately, everyone seems to have caught on to that little trick too!

BTW - I did get to last weekend.  I looked through my New England Golf Guide
      and tried a new course for me, the Bradford Country Club.  Called Saturday
      morning and got a Sunday morning time.  Boy, was I surprised! 

      The course was in pretty good shape, but I was not really prepared for
      the challenge: 141 slope from the blues and 134 slope from the whites?
      I played the whites with someone who said that many of the tee placements
      were very easy.  However, since this was only my second time out this
      year, and I'm not the world's greatest golfer (probably not the best in
      my neighborhood!), I managed to get rid of many of those "extra" golf 
      balls that were weighing down my bag!

Anyhow, guess I need to find a club or at least buy a tee time somewhere to 
insure that I get to play regularly without living on the phone all week.
(Although the suggestion about calling on Friday seems to make sense.  I'd bet
that I would not have been able to get my Sunday morning tee time if I called
on Wednesday...since I'm always trying to reserve as a two-some.)

Thanks,
John

    re: .8
    
    also the golf isn't very good at that time of day...
    
    my score always got better the closer I would play to the
    actual time I wake up...anytime after 10 am is fine with me
    
    you'd be suprised how trying to score well is affected by
    your own internal clock...
    
    it never made sense to me why amatures always want to get out
    and compete at 6 am, then never seem to be consistant. that's
    why the best players always go off last in tour events I guess
    
    maybe we amatures should take a lesson from that if we are serious
    about being competative...

	Just found out that Juniper in Northboro takes tee-times 2 weeks
in advance. There are early slots available. It must be a foursome and you
must take carts. If you reserve a tee-time the price is $160, $40 a man
including cart. If you only have 2 or 3 its still $160.

Ron

    RE: 5:30 Tee Time
    
    I  guess it depends on each person.  Even if I  went  out  the  night
    before,  I  enjoy  being able to finish the round by 10 AM,  then  go
    home,  lay  down  in  a hammock I hung up in the porch and  read  the
    Sunday  Globe.  By lunch time I am rested enough to get going and  do
    something else.  And the rest of the foursome I play also enjoy being
    done early.
    
    Tavo
    

    
    reply .10
    
    	Gordon,
    
    	The ONLY reason the best players go off last in a tourny
    is because they are leading the tourny. Imagine if they
    ever went first... TV coverage and spectators would all leave
    once they figured out noone can catch the current leader, and then
    when would TV go off the air, would they have to wait for the
    entire field to finish?
    
    	Unless I'm missing something?
    
    	Walta

    re: 13
    
    that's exactly what I was infering in .10
    
    if that wasn't the case then the players going out
    first would ALWAYS catch the leaders...the best golf
    is played later NOT earlier
    
    ever look at the tee times for a major, in most cases the
    best are given the best tee times....
    
    it wasn't very often during palmer/nicklas hayday that
    they didn't get something like 10am/2pm as their first
    two daye qualifying times...
    
    today as their time has past the may get something like
    8am/12pm
    
    

re: last few

Walta hit the nail on the head - or maybe I should say hit the ball w/the
sweet spot - in the pro tourneys, the leaders go last for "spectator appeal".
The author of .10 is obviously not a "morning person" and apparently thinks
that nobody else is, either. Early morning golf suits me just fine...

Hello,

	Just as an FYI, my golfing partner called Butternut on Tuesday
afternoon. He got a us a tee-time of 6:20 on Saturday. Not bad being a
holiday weekend.

Ron

    Hello,
         If your located in Lowell, why don't you try Green Meadows in 
    Hudson NH. They take Tee times One week in advance..(course is in
    GREAT shape)... Also Shaker Hills in Harvard MA, you can book 4 days
    in advance (they have a computer you call that gives you all open
    times)... My "home" course in Litchfield NH -Passaconaway CC- has a
    $35.00 Inner Club that is well worth it. Course needs to grow in as
    it is fairly new but for someone who hits the ball all over the place,
    like I do, this is the place to be. From the Blue Tee's this course
    provides a great challenge.........
    
    Good Luck,
             (from someone who never has a problem on the week-end)

    Are you an early riser???
    If you are you can always get on at Crystal Springs at 6:00 AM on
    the back nine.
    
    Merrimack Country Club has early (18) hole tee times.
    
    These are not premium courses but they present a fairly good challenge.
    
    Far Corners in Groveland has early tee times also.
    
    Good luck!!!
    
    Mal

    
    	I'm frustrated that I can't hold a tee-time with only a 
    	two-some tomorrow at Wachusetts at 10:15.
    
    	Any two-somes out there want to join us?
    
    	Please send me mail asap!
    	Tom
    
    	piet::desrochers

 Tom,

 This is becoming true at most coures, even Grand View. 4-somes rule on a 
 golf course, just ask Mary.

 Did you loose my number somewhere?
 
 - Sully