[Bill Brightly]

I am proud of my Grounds Committee, we just approved removing the wooden 100 and 150 stakes in the rough, as well as the red, white and blue cement plates in the middle of the fairway at 100, 150 and 200, respectively. We will rely solely on sprinkler heads for yardage. In addition to "cleaning up the clutter" this should save some time for the guys cutting the roughs, so they dont have to jump down to move the stakes, then put 'em back.

(Mike Nuzzo's new course got me thinking about this, and our Superintendent loved the idea!)

Wonder how the members will react next season?

I'll work on the ball washers next year...

 

[mike_beene]

Bill,we got rid of ball washers ,hole signs,above ground trash cans and tee screens.It really cleans up the clutter. Ball washers on tees make no sense anyway:did you just putt with a dirty ball?

[Matt_Cohn]

They should have ball washers next to the green then.  

[Bill Brightly]

What do others think? Should ball washers go the way of the horse and buggy?

[K. Krahenbuhl]

What do others think? Should ball washers go the way of the horse and buggy?

I don't think there is much of a use for them.  A wet towel and you're good to go.

[Andy Troeger]

Personally I like having the 100, 150, 200 yard plates (although not the stakes). They are much easier to find than sprinkler heads, although I guess at a private club it would be less necessary since you'd probably know where the sprinklers are anyway.

Ball washers are nice every few holes, I'm not sure they need to be on every tee. Maybe if the course has water coolers they could placed with them only.

[John Moore II]

yes, ball washers should disappear, they are pointless and just serve to take away from a nice course.
as far as yardage posts and such, my club has centerline posts at 150 yards, since we are mostly a public/resort facility, it works to guide play in line. we also have lines on the cartpath at 100, 150, 200, and 250. we also have yardage on sprinkler heads.

[Walt_Cutshall]

We removed our 150 markers and the members complained so much we had to put them back.

Ball washers must go? Too much clutter? What's next, all those pins and tee markers that clutter up the course?

This web site is nuts. Really.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

We removed our 150 markers and the members complained so much we had to put them back.

Ball washers must go? Too much clutter? What's next, all those pins and tee markers that clutter up the course?

This web site is nuts. Really.

For convenience should a tub to wash your club in after every shot be added on every tee as well?

[John Mayhugh]

Without ball washers, we would have never had one of the all-time great movie scenes.  So at least keep one around the practice green.

Seriously, I don't find them all that offensive and barely notice them except when someone decides to clean up all the balls in their bag while I'm trying to hit.  

Getting rid of the 150 yard stakes does make a lot of sense for maintenance. Those were a big improvement over the 150 yard bush.  I think as long as there is easily accessible basic yardage information that's fine. Sprinkler heads work for me.  I remember several years ago playing We-ko-pa's Cholla course soon after it opened.  Carts were restricted to the path, but there were no yardages on sprinkler heads anywhere near most of the paths.  I suggested that the add some sort of plate or marking to the cart path and was met with an indignant response.  Somehow the professional working thought that cheapened the look of the course.  Who wouldn't prefer slower play if it left the cart path unadulterated?  Anyway, I played there again last year and there were yardages on the path.

[K. Krahenbuhl]

Without ball washers, we would have never had one of the all-time great movie scenes.  So at least keep one around the practice green.

Seriously, I don't find them all that offensive and barely notice them except when someone decides to clean up all the balls in their bag while I'm trying to hit.

I'll give you that...one near the practice green/first tee is fine  .

I don't find them offensive at all...just completely unnecessary.

[Lloyd_Cole]

Personally I like having the 100, 150, 200 yard plates (although not the stakes). They are much easier to find than sprinkler heads..

Andy,
I'm with you - and stakes are fine by me. They may be declasse, but they speed up the game. looking for a sprinkler head and not finding one quickly is very annoying, and embarrassing, as one is holding up play.

[Jon Wiggett]

I think they should put a white line across the fairway every 10 yards like in the NFL

No seriously, why not go back to eyeballing the distance? No marker plates, no distances on the sprinkler heads and no yardage charts.

[Dan Herrmann]

Bill,
Does your club ever do (Monday?) outside outings?  If so, how do you think your visitors take to the minimalist approach?

Those 150 yard markers sure speed up play for an outing full of folks that have never played your course previously.

I've even suggested barber poles on Mondays to be put back into the barn Tu-Su.  Honestly, I think barber poles do have a place for outside play or on a daily fee course.

[J_McKenzie]

Bill,

We went down that road with the redo at Brunswick Country Club and the member's hated it.  The problem with BCC and I'm sure with other older clubs is that the irrigation is mostly single row and there is no set pattern to the placement of heads, so they were very difficult to locate.  200, 150, and 100 yard blocks were put back within the first month of reopening.

John  

[Bill Brightly]

Our sprinkler heads will be every 21 yards and it is a 3 row system. The outside row will sometimes be in the rough, so they may not be that easy to find. (It is new system going in the fall/winter, so I have not seen all the heads yet.)

No doubt some members will complain, but I hope they adjust to looking for the sprinkler heads, which, by the way, will now give 3 distances: front-middle-back of green.

Monday outings will be a problem, I guess, but they play so slow anyway...can it get any slower?

[Richard Boult]

Yardages marked on sprinkler heads along with the freedom to use a yardage device if desired seem more than adequate. Can't say I've ever used a ball washer. I'd prefer we keep the pins and flags though.

[Phil Benedict]

I like to keep my balls clean.

[Mike_Cirba]

Ya gotta keep ball washers...why you might as well replace the standard red and white flags if you're going to do away with those friendly, helpful stalwarts who always just stand there waiting to assist.

If possible, it's best to get those kind that are just a hole in a board that slides down between two sets of bristles (one on each side).   It should be painted red, as there is no other appropriate color for a ball washer.

What's next, removal of benches?    

[Anthony_Nysse]

Par Aide has a Ballwasher/spike cleaner/trash can/ medallion with the hole number that I think is perfect with a bench. I think that a layout of the hole is an overdue. That is simple and doesnt stick out. I think that a bench is always a nice touch.

Tony Nysse
Asst. Supt.
Colonial CC
Ft. Worth, TX

[Garland Bayley]

...
Ball washers must go? Too much clutter? What's next, all those pins and tee markers that clutter up the course?

This web site is nuts. Really.

I concur! Except that nuts is not quite the right word.

[Mike Nuzzo]

Wow.

I'm honored to be a conduit.

Please let us know how it goes.
I imagine that the members will take a while to get used to the change.

I think it is a lot easier to start without all the stuff.

Walt - while we don't need the tee markers we do need a pin - that is integral to the game.

[Garland Bayley]

...
Walt - while we don't need the tee markers we do need a pin - that is integral to the game.

A pin is for those sissies that can't shoot their lowest score without one.
 

[JC Jones]

I think they should put a white line across the fairway every 10 yards like in the NFL

No seriously, why not go back to eyeballing the distance? No marker plates, no distances on the sprinkler heads and no yardage charts.

Can you eyeball the distance through a rangefinder?  If not, you may make some people on this site, very unhappy.

[Bruce Katona]

at private clubs where the members play the same course regularly (perhaps with a caddy or rangefinder), you may be able to do away with the markers, but for public play or a course that has a substantial outing business, it would be sheer suicide as play would slow to a crawl.....we have enough of a challange moving our daily customers thru at a good pace.

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