Ben: they do a commendable job of keeping things moving at The Old Course - we played a 4 ball in 4 hours the day I played. Hardly speed golf but perfectly satisfactory for a mid-morning tee-time and quicker than expected. I just wish they didn't have us teeing off practically at the ladies tees on many holes to do it.
Pat: that's an infuriating story.
That was my experience at TOC in the mid 2000s. My son and I had an early time, we had a hard time finding where we paid and only got to the tee 10 minutes before we were to go off. The starter had given our spots to another twosome, and after giving us a bunch of crap, he tells me to hang around, that he'll do his best to get us off in the next couple hours. We had a heated exchange during which I told him we'd putt for 15 minutes then I'd be heading over to the clubhouse and have a discussion with the club manager. Somehow a slot became available 10 minutes after our scheduled tee time and he put two other singles with us sans caddies (a shortage that morning, apparently). The course was set up at around 6,000 yards- so short that we hit over the shed on 17 with a slight fade, never to find our balls, apparently through the fairway left- it bore no resemblance to what we see on TV. We got around in 4 hours on the dot with regular help from the riding marshals who were on our two playing partners like flies on ...., (both out-of-shape, 20+ handicappers carrying staff bags, one from Aus, the other from NZ, great guys, fairly strong, but with no control of their balls). We got to see a lot of the course chasing their foul balls- first tee one knocks it near the road right, the other within feet out-of-bounds left. Not the experience we were looking for, but the weather was great and we had the pleasure of lunch in the R&A clubhouse.
Pat Mucci-
Anyone who budgets 2:30 and $525 to play Pebble Beach must be one
rich moron.
My single experience at PB dates back to the early 1980s. Second group off as a threesome, behind two guys we never saw again after the first hole. GF around $100. No caddies available, mandatory carts, maybe cart-path only (don't recall). I guess that the management was so progressive that they adopted "Play It Forward" some 30 years before the USGA "thunk" it (not a big fan). Directed by the starter to the one set of men's tees. First hole, driver (persimmon), sand wedge (probably with a Hogan balata). Second hole, something like 475 yards, par 5, nah, I go to the back tee box and play from there. Ditto for the next four holes. On the way to my ball on 6, a marshal comes to me to let me know I am being watched and to play from the tee markers. I make my case (playing ability, not taking divots, not a soul around to hold up) to little avail, though he concedes the back of the second tee box. Not a problem on 7 (only one tee box), but who wants to lay-up on 8 with a 5 iron? So, not fearing the marshal or respecting the rationale behind his admonishment, I go to the back tee box and hit a good 3-wood to the left side of the fairway. Before I get to my ball, there he is. This time he tells me that if I hit from a back tee again, that I will be forcibly removed from the premises. My playing companions, who were strangers to me until that morning and were happily playing from the tee markers, join the fray and the marshal threatens their expulsion as well. Driver, wedge on 9, driver, sand wedge on 10, two normally longish, world-class holes reduced to the mundane with a great view. Get to 18, the tees are set so the bay is parallel to the tee shot, the back tee is roped off for construction. I look back and think - what is the worst they can do, arrest me? - so I hurry back to a small area near the water that had been left undisturbed and proceeded to duck hook my drive into the bay. Re-teed from where the tees were set and made an easy 5 from there, 7 on my scorecard, and 80 for the round. A very unsatisfying experience on a beautiful day with good company and on a wonderful golf course. I did provide "feedback" to the pro shop people who were mostly unsympathetic and communicated an attitude which can be summarized as "this is our course, you play under our conditions, and if you are not happy, don't come back". I haven't been, though I hear that the current owners and management are much more customer oriented, and the course looks absolutely fabulous. I hope that Rich Goodale will give a full report, keeping the personal stuff to himself, of course.