As golfers, we’re creatures of habit. Our pre-round routines become almost as repetitive as our pre-shot routines. Get to the course; park the car; head to the pro-shop; pay for the round; get cart keys; then we drive the cart back to the car to load up for the day. Recently at Willow, we’ve implemented a new policy that changes that pre-round routine slightly, but it’s truly for the better. Let me explain…
Ever since the first round was played at Willow, we’re constantly working towards a better experience for you, the golfer. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming course to golfers of all ages and skill levels, but with a wide range of customer skill levels comes other challenges. Pace of play is an integral part of any well-oiled golf course, and there’s so many factors that play into it. Over the years, we noticed that a major bottleneck for our pace of play was at the start of each round. Many golfers get distracted or lose track of time and their rounds don’t get started when they should. We recently upgraded our cart fleet, and we’re in the process of phasing out our old carts, but new carts alone aren’t enough to improve pace of play.
The solution we’ve come up with for this pace-of-play bottleneck is our new Golf Cart “Drive-Up Drop Off” system. On arrival at the course, drive your car right up to the clubhouse where you can speak with one of our starters, find the cart you’ll be using for the day, and load your bag and gear right from there! Then you can park your car and prepare for your round. Our practice green is a common stop for most golfers, and it’s conveniently located right beside the clubhouse. If you’re planning to head to the range before your round, just let the starters know and take your cart there, but be aware that we require all golfers to be back at the clubhouse 10 minutes before your tee-time.
This policy has been in place for a couple weeks now, and most of our customers have realized the benefits to this new system. As with anything new, this system will take some getting used-to, but we hope that the benefits to the golfer experience and pace-of-play are evident.
That’s all for our new Golf-bag drop-off system, but here’s few other notes on pace-of-play and ways to improve it.
- Ensure you’re playing from the appropriate tees for your age and skill level. Here at Willow we have 4 sets of tees, red, white, blue and gold. Let’s be honest, as much we all might think we can swing with the pros, the vast majority of golfers should be playing from the white or red tees. That’s not to say that the blue and gold tees are restricted, but you should be very confident in your game before teeing up from back there.
- Once your group has teed off, find your ball ASAP and prepare for your shot. Many golfers will take their time and watch the other golfers in their group, but this can be a big time sink. Get to your ball, think about your shot, make sure you’re not in anyone’s way and wait for your turn. Feel free to watch your fellow golfers once you’ve located your ball, but always make sure you’re ready to take your shot once your turn comes along.
- Same thing goes for putts! Some people really like to take their time on the green, and there’s nothing wrong with that, as long you get to your ball ASAP, repair your ball-mark and do your thinking and setup while others are either approaching, or putting themselves. Of course we want your round of golf to be enjoyable, but these tips will help ensure you’re maintaining pace-of-play while enjoying your time at Willow.
Hopefully our new “Drive-up Drop-Off” System along with these pace-of-play pointers help to improve the golfer experience at Willow. Feel free to leave us a comment below and let us know your thoughts! We’re always looking for ways to improve.
Last Modified: Monday 29 July 2024 05:35
