[mike_malone]

 Mike,

    You can only place the water on the original routing if you play the original routing. Besides, at Cobbs I thought beer was the only approved beverage.

[Jim_Kennedy]

Adam,
It's not an answer, and the fewer plastic bottles the better, but there is now a deposit on them in Ct.

This same nickel deposit on soda cans/bottles has really cleaned up the roadsides, and helped empty the landfills.

[mike_malone]

 They should allow you to borrow a cart so you can drive out and drop off your bottles strategically before playing and then go back at the end and get them. I'm sure you geniuses can solve this problem yourselves without the need for government intervention ( the course in question is municipally owned).

  They can give you $5 off for bringing your own water.

[Sean_A]

There are rules to follow in life.  Three of which are don't eat the snacks at the bar, don't drink from water coolers and don't eat food off street vendors in India.  I always carry my own water.  If its that hot than use a cart, don't play or bring your own.  It is in no way the responsibility of the course owners to see that people have water on the course.  What in the heck are people of thinking of here?  What is next - a guy gets hungry so the course owner has to provide food.  ONLY IN AMERICA.  I would add, the biggest bunch of whiners on earth, but that might upset folks - tee hee.


Ciao

[Brian Freeman]

This is one of those excuses on legal matters that just drives me nuts.  Totally just a convenient excuse for cutting costs and to charge for something that should be provided as a part of the round.

Here's a novel concept: manage the water coolers in such a way that bacteria do not grow in them at a harmful level.  No bacteria = no lawsuits!  This is 2010, certainly there are guidelines somewhere on the internet as to how to regularly disinfect a water pitcher on a regular basis so that it doesn't become a bio-hazard.

If the club grill leaves food sitting out overnight, they can't serve it the next day.  So as a response, do we shut down the grill?  No, we make sure the food is prepared in a safe manner so that people don't get ill from it.  Problem solved, no lawsuits, happy customers.

[Brent Hutto]

If the club grill leaves food sitting out overnight, they can't serve it the next day.  So as a response, do we shut down the grill?  No, we make sure the food is prepared in a safe manner so that people don't get ill from it.  Problem solved, no lawsuits, happy customers.

I agree, Brian. But the difference is, people aren't willing to pay extra for cellophane-wrapped sandwiches instead of fresh ones.

P.S. Hendren or someone will chime in with a photo of an ancient Stewart Sandwich heat lamp.

[Bill_McBride]

There are rules to follow in life.  Three of which are don't eat the snacks at the bar, don't drink from water coolers and don't eat food off street vendors in India.  I always carry my own water.  If its that hot than use a cart, don't play or bring your own.  It is in no way the responsibility of the course owners to see that people have water on the course.  What in the heck are people of thinking of here?  What is next - a guy gets hungry so the course owner has to provide food.  ONLY IN AMERICA.  I would add, the biggest bunch of whiners on earth, but that might upset folks - tee hee.


Ciao

Why not eat the snacks at the bar?

[Mike Cirba]

If its that hot than use a cart, don't play or bring your own.  

Sean,

I'm starting a movement to have you extradited back to the states, where you'll spend the remainder of your days in the witness protection program, located in Palm Springs, CA.  

[Michael Dugger]

This is quite the discussion over a topic that baffles me.

We paying golfers expect the bathrooms to be cleaned, right?

When I take a cart I expect the battery to be charged, right?

We are talking about a sport where maintenance is a huge part of the game...and as a paying customer I expect well manicured tee boxes and putting greens.

Yet, we've got to beg for cleaning drinking water???  WTF!  

It's just rude

[Pat Burke]

At a former course, we daily, cleaned and put out our coolers  The cleaning followed whatever
restaurant guidelines for cleaning we were to follow.  Halfway through the day, we had 2 random coolers tested, and they were found to have pretty high counts of contamination.  We were amazed.  Couple of weeks later, on a busy day, saw the first group walking up to the cooler on one hole (yes, walking  ), and watched as 2 of the players bent down, pushed the button and put their mouths to the outflow
Seems that forcing the paper cups was just too much effort for these guys.
We took out the coolers, and posted signs that there was no water available on the course.  We had returning nines and allowed people to bring their own water if they wanted (no soft drinks or alcohol).
My initial thoughts with using water bottles is litter, and cost.  Someone needs to design an unobtrusive dispenser for small water bottles maybe.  
If water bottles are "given" to golfers (hidden costs of course), maybe collection bins for the bottles with proceeds to junior golf?

[Brian Freeman]

This is quite the discussion over a topic that baffles me.

We paying golfers expect the bathrooms to be cleaned, right?

When I take a cart I expect the battery to be charged, right?

We are talking about a sport where maintenance is a huge part of the game...and as a paying customer I expect well manicured tee boxes and putting greens.

Yet, we've got to beg for cleaning drinking water???  WTF! 

It's just rude

Thanks for saying what I was trying to say, in a better way.  To me this is just a cost of doing business, and it's just cheap and class-less to attempt to get out of it.  The course I played on Sunday was a ~$60 daily fee course and had drinking pitchers on nearly every other tee box, so clearly there is a way to pull this off without breaking the bank.

And not to change the topic but I also am a believer that use of the range and practice facility (if the club has one) should always be included in the cost of play.  One of the simplest ways to speed up play is to let people hit a few balls before they start so everyone isn't hitting two off the first tee or making a 12 on the first two holes. 

But these sorts of things are one of my pet peeves, don't even get me started on airlines and checked bag fees.

[Sam Morrow]

If we all drank Crown and Cokes on the course this wouldn't be an issue.

[Mike Cirba]

P.S. Hendren or someone will chime in with a photo of an ancient Stewart Sandwich heat lamp.

For Dan Kelly and other devotees....

Nearly 40 years later, I've still never tasted anything better.  

[Mark Chaplin]

I played a very famous US course last summer and they didn't have any accommodation forcing me to book into a hotel as I was tired at the end of the day. Should I have invoiced them for the room?

[Dave Givnish]

The first time that I saw this problem was in Phoenix about 8 years ago at the Thunderbirds' course.  A junior golfer got sick after playing on a particularly hot day, and eventually died.  Most of the courses here have gone to ice/water machines.  A few of the private clubs have refrigerators at each rest station with food as well.

I got a large wide mouth bottle that fits into the drink sleeve on my carry bag and fill up every time.  The ice machines work well and are probably less expensive than the labor time needed to sanitize the water jugs.

One course out here wouldn't put water on the course in the summer so they could generate drink more cart revenue.  It worked once, but I'm pretty sure that we never went back.

[Michael Dugger]

I played a very famous US course last summer and they didn't have any accommodation forcing me to book into a hotel as I was tired at the end of the day. Should I have invoiced them for the room?

That argument holds up about as well as this:

I wanted to play a very expensive course recently, but I can't afford it, so I was forced to rob a bank to get the money.

[Greg Tallman]

I am pretty certain that back in the day at White Day Anthony Gray would just drink from the stream. Solves a lot of issues.

[Matt Elliott]

At Tavistock we went to bottled water on the course two years ago.  We have them located in three spots on the course as well as the halfway house.  We keep the bottles in nice wood finished coolers that match the other wood accessories on the course.  They are very unobtrusive and the service has been a big hit so far. We also don't charge for it individually, the club covers the cost. 

Caves Valley also has bottled water in large wooden chests at various places on the course. I've always thought it was a nice touch and the members and guests seemed to like it too. While the waste if all of the water bottles are an issue, maybe recycling is the answer...

[Bob_Huntley]

MPCC went to bottled water some years ago. Our insurance carrier would not insure us if we used stationary water coolers. This came about because of an expensive law-suit in the mid-West, not because of unsanitary practices of the club staff but by  the actions of vandals.

Water bottles are offered at the tee on both course and again mid-round. There is a very effective recycling program in use.

The Club dues take care of the cost.


Bob

[Tom Yost]

Are the plastic bottles not recyclable?

There was an incident in Phoenix a few years back where some water jug contamination sickened a group in a jr golf tournament and one kid died!  I have avoided the water jugs ever since.

It is hard to carry enough water if it's hot and you are walking.  I am usually beat down after a summer round even when riding.  Last summer, I played in a mid-afternoon tournament at a private course that had coolers with bottled water on every third tee.  I finished the round fresh as a daisy and came to the important realization about how important it is to stay hydrated.

[Dan Herrmann]

Tom,
Yep, we recycle them - we have recycle bins next to our 4 or 5 coolers stocked with water bottles.  Each bottle costs about 30 cents.

Personally, I love the water - I hydrate a lot more than the pre-water days and feel a lot better. 

[D_Malley]

Thanks for all of the responses!
I should of made it clear that this is a public course, so we do not have the option of just putting out coolers of bottled water.
And our food and beverage provider has exclusive rights to all F&B sales.

I guess maybe soda type machines are the only option.

[John Moore II]

I have seen courses that used the big 5 gallon bottles that you can purchase from drinking water suppliers. You know, the water cooler in the office style jugs. Of course, the only places I have seen this were high end private clubs that probably didn't get more than 25 rounds a day. This is a reasonable, if costly idea.

I know in NC we had to have separate trash cans for aluminum, plastic and regular trash. It was legally mandated that we recycle. So, in that case, it was OK.

But I have seen places where the hose used to wash the carts is the hose used to fill the jugs that go on the course. Hose is sanitary clean I'm sure...

Its tricky to work with. You need water in the course, but you don't want to risk people getting sick at the same time, and you don't want mountains of trash. So, its not an easy question to work out.

[Garland Bayley]

I have seen courses that used the big 5 gallon bottles that you can purchase from drinking water suppliers. You know, the water cooler in the office style jugs. Of course, the only places I have seen this were high end private clubs that probably didn't get more than 25 rounds a day. This is a reasonable, if costly idea.

I know in NC we had to have separate trash cans for aluminum, plastic and regular trash. It was legally mandated that we recycle. So, in that case, it was OK.

But I have seen places where the hose used to wash the carts is the hose used to fill the jugs that go on the course. Hose is sanitary clean I'm sure...

Its tricky to work with. You need water in the course, but you don't want to risk people getting sick at the same time, and you don't want mountains of trash. So, its not an easy question to work out.

That's exactly what I thought of when I started reading this thread. I took the time to read it all to see if anyone mentioned it. While I was reading JKM posted this. Get the water cooler like JKM says. If someone gets sick, they can suit Crystal Springs, not you.

[John Moore II]

I have seen courses that used the big 5 gallon bottles that you can purchase from drinking water suppliers. You know, the water cooler in the office style jugs. Of course, the only places I have seen this were high end private clubs that probably didn't get more than 25 rounds a day. This is a reasonable, if costly idea.

I know in NC we had to have separate trash cans for aluminum, plastic and regular trash. It was legally mandated that we recycle. So, in that case, it was OK.

But I have seen places where the hose used to wash the carts is the hose used to fill the jugs that go on the course. Hose is sanitary clean I'm sure...

Its tricky to work with. You need water in the course, but you don't want to risk people getting sick at the same time, and you don't want mountains of trash. So, its not an easy question to work out.

That's exactly what I thought of when I started reading this thread. I took the time to read it all to see if anyone mentioned it. While I was reading JKM posted this. Get the water cooler like JKM says. If someone gets sick, they can suit Crystal Springs, not you.

The only problem is cost. I don't know how much those jugs cost, but I know they are a bit pricey. Can the average course afford them? Also, where to keep them can be a problem as well. The places I have seen them had them in 'half-way houses' that had steel entrance doors that could be locked with a dead-bolt. Otherwise, someone might come out at 3am and steal your bottle base.

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