[Craig Disher]

Sometimes the hard realities of life hit golf architecture in the face. One of the holes at my course parallels a residential street  - and has for 50 years. Recently, a new home owner called the police and compained about early morning noise (mowers, etc.) from the greens staff. Our superintendent received a citation for violating county noise ordinances and consequently has ceased maintenance on 5 of our holes before the magic hour of 7AM during the week and 9AM on weekends.

Talking to the home owner hasn't helped. One solution is to erect some inoffensive noise abatement obstacles along our property boundary. Does anyone have suggestions on fence types or foliage that might be effective? As of now, the boundary is fairly open - just a few very tall trees and a chain-link fence. We've already been through all the obvious, obnoxious suggestions and end up with the worry that our hard-working superintendent is going to be hauled off to civil court and seriously punished.

[A_Clay_Man]

TOTB- Why not look into electric equipment or some other form of noiseless machines?

[nick inberg]

I would suggest looking into an electric triplex if you triplex greens or a good set of ear plugs.

[Peter Galea]

I doubt anything, even a concrete "soundwall" will stop the noise or appease the homeowner. Start growing a vine on the fence and plant a hedgerow, although I think it would take a forest to eliminate the problem. Measure the decibels at the property line during different weather conditions. Get a good lawyer, go to the county and lobby hard for a variance, at least for mowing the greens. Then buy the house. I hope it's not the first five holes.

[Dan Kelly]

Reminds me of all of these people in our area who've bought homes in South Minneapolis -- and, upon moving in, suddenly discover that, oh my God, there's an airport nearby ... and has been forever ... and that that JETS fly over ... and that JETS make noise!

Gimme a break.

9 o'clock on weekends? The day's half over!

I'd go across the street, have a very polite conversation, and offer to supply the homeowner with ear plugs for as long as he lives there.

[John_McMillan]

Dan -

Do you think that golf courses and their maintenance staffs should be exempted from county ordinances?  Washington DC's Reagan National Airport is located in the center of Arlington, and landing flights come in over the city, or down the Potomac river.  Landings there are restricted at certain times - I think that they are not allowed past midnight - for noise reasons.  The present solution for the golf course - not working on 5 holes until after 7 am - doesn't seem to me to present a great problem for the golf course.  As far as other solutions, buying the home (or homes) across the street is probably the cheapest option for the golf course.

[A_Clay_Man]

If they're in violation of Danny Noonan's legal interests(noise statues) buying the house won't solve the problem.

[Peter Galea]

Tim, I hardly think it's a fair comparison, jets at 150 decibels taking off and landing every 5 minutes and a greensmower at 90 to 100 decibels once a day for 5-10 minutes. San Jose airport closes at 11 pm and the first flight out is 6am. That will work for a golf course too. 9am on weekends-ludicrous. Do garbage trucks obey the same ordinance?

[Joel_Stewart]

Plant trees and hedges to obstruct the complete view of the golf course.  Then when the homeowner objects, strike an agreement that the trees will be removed if they allow early morning maintance.

[John_D._Bernhardt]

My home club is adjacient to the airport. I thank goodness this is a small towm with only 20 or so flights a day. Of course, our beloved military with no budget issues, sends 30 of so flyby's on friday afternoon. These militarytouchdowns with zero concern about the killer noise is enough to get my 9 iron a little higher....make the commercial stuff seem like childsplay. I used to play at the naval airstation in Pensacola a few times a year and the every 30 second touchdowns and low flight lines over the course made consentration a must to survive the day.

[Dan Kelly]

John McMillan --

Answer with an answer: No.

Answer with a question: What, if anything, in my post led you to think that I think golf courses should be exempt from any law, anywhere?

[Patrick_Mucci]

CDisher,

We've had this problem for years at a club in NJ.

There is no physical solution.

The ordinances are clear.

We have attempted to solve the problem by mowing the greens in proximity last, or some the night before.

The best long range solution is to create a good relationship with the neighbors.  Sometimes this is possible, other times it is not possible, and the mowing rotation is the solution.

The fact that the golf course was there first, by a long shot, only seems to work initially, with time, it seems to come down to the restrictions in the ordinance.

Good Luck, this is not an easy problem to solve, unless of course, Tony Soprano is a member in good standing  

[John_McMillan]

What, if anything, in my post led you to think that I think golf courses should be exempt from any law, anywhere?

Perhaps it was your statement that, "I'd ... offer to supply the owner with ear plugs for as long as he lived there."  To me, that says, "I'm going to keep mowing, so you better not keep listening."

[redanman]

Yet another reason to build golf courses free of homesites!

Lehigh has maybe 10 homes on the course the closest 100 yards to a green or tee.  Yet another ideal characteristic about Lehigh CC that Mark Fine has failed to mention!  

[CGCS]

Get a decimeter and take readings on the property line.  Noise restrictions are usually based on dB at the property line.

I went through the process and found that our mowers were within the dB even though we were  operating before the morning restrictions.

I did have to wait for the airplanes landing at O'hare as they were much louder than  our machines.  The decimeter would not read our machines with the airplanes overhead.

Read and know the noise ordinances, don't expect the officers or the neighbors to know them as well as you do, or should.

As far as operating outside the ordinances.  It is common for golf courses to be exempt for morning restrictions.  Document your noise levels and maybe your course can become exempt with a little leg work.

Dave S.

[Dave_Wilber]

Great advice in that last post.

Plenty of ways to gain an exemption from laws that are really created for construction activities which are prone to the same type of noise all day long (ie...a backup horn on a dozer blaring at 6 am for 12 hours is tough on anyone...but 10 min of mowing a green or a fairway is easy for regulatory types to understand.) Some homeowners will never ever get it. Sad but true.

[Patrick_Mucci]

CGCS and Dave,

I'm not so sure that I would greet the sounds of mowers at 5:30 am or 6:00 am every Saturday, Sunday, and Holiday with the same enthusiasm and understanding that you proclaim.

Since some posters on this site hide their participation from their spouses, I wonder if those same spouses share your views on disturbing their households at those hours on weekends and holidays, especially when the kids were sleeping so soundly.

The reality is: a cushman or equivalent gas powered vehicle pulls up, the mower is downloaded, the green is mowed, the mower is uploaded, the cushman drives away.  Or the triplex drives up, mows the green, then drives off.  

It is also not unusual that more than one green is in the area in question.

Let's not be so quick to think everything a golf club does is correct, and that everybody else is wrong.

Prudent activity combined with good proactive community relations can sometimes solve a problem when the club doesn't have a leg to stand on.

P.S.  Most golf courses aren't located at the end of the runway at O'Hare, and the mower noise rises above all others.

But, that's just my opinion, Tom Paul can still be wrong.  

[Dave Wilber]

Well sure. If I had my way we wouldn't mow at all

Seriously...these people live near a golf course by choice. It certainly isn't like anyone suddenly started maintenance practices....these activities have been going on all along. But

I never saw too many realtors showing houses on the course at 6:30 am or during play hours for those well placed homes right of the landing area.

Certainly golf course superintendents aren't the villians here. Nor are the members/golfers who want that 8:00 shotgun with eveything mowed before the whistle. I certainly think the industry is doing a bunch to help these situations and will certainly continue to develop less noise producing machines.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Dave,

As I said earlier, it used to be that the golf course and noise were there first, and the homeowner afterward, but the political climate seems to have changed.  Understanding that, prudent practices and proactive community relations would seem to serve the club's best interest.

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