Ever come across something really cool/useful/unique at a course that you wish everywhere had? A couple of things spring to mind for me. First is compressed air shoe cleaners:
Every course should have one of these somewhere between the last green and the parking lot. So much better than trying to use those big foot brushes or smacking your shoes against each other.
Speaking of the parking lots, I think all courses (especially municipal ones) should have EV chargers. Yes, I drive an EV so I’m incredibly biased, but is a perfect place for them. A level 2 charger for 4+ hours will get pretty much any EV where it needs to go. Since a lot of municipalities that own the courses are trying to promote EV adoption, this seems like a no-brainer to me, but even out here in LA only one of the city courses has one in the parking lot.
Anything else you’ve come across or even would invent yourself?
An air compressor to blow the debris off the bottom of your shoes!
amenities I appreciate: lockers & showers in clubhouse. Ball & club washer on the cart (buggy). On-board GPS system.
witty inventions? not much comes to mind
shock collar for anyone trying to fish balls out of a hazard with a ball retriever
Honestly? I’m just excited to have water jugs back on the course… those are sorely missed…
My parents club in Idaho has the water bottle fillers on the drinking fountains, which were very nice!
Something I have only seen once (at the driving range of the first golf course I worked at) that I would like to see again is an automatic club washer. I like the occasional club clean, as discussed in this thread, but I miss that old thing. Basically a car wash for your clubs, pay a dollar, then one by one put your club heads in to get a pressure spray with spinning brushes. Might not work so well these days with all the different club head styles, but at least for irons that thing was awesome.
Hey now, if you’re not slowing down the pace of play, I say retrieve away!
I think every course should have a 19th hole like Tigers Payne Valley G.C. That layout for it was a beautiful hole and the backdrop of the falls and rock wall were a sight to be seen. Will be taking a trip there to play that course in the near future. !!
My club doesn’t have locker rooms, something I really miss.
I like that car charger idea you have, it’s pretty standard here in Norway now which is great. I also think electricity for a small handful of campervans is a great idea. A few clubs around me have installed powered caravan spots for anyone golfing the next day, and they are really cheap to rent. It’s a good idea to help get a little extra money over the bar too.
I’m another one who likes drinking water on the course, and its impossible to have too many locations. In non-COVID times my home club has water on every second tee, starting at #4. On good hot days, I’ll finish a 20-oz jug of water in those two holes.
For the compressed air, I think it works great, but I always wonder about liability for the club. In construction work, OSHA requires you to wear eye protection any time you’re using compressed air for anything. I’d hate to see someone injure an eye cleaning shoes that way, and file suit against the club.
Might be onto something with the liability thought. Combine that with something else that might just need to be fixed a bunch and it might be a losing proposition for the club.
I’ve been traveling to Sweetens since '17 and a great golf course, few water jugs and a bathroom of some sorts is all you need. Put the money into the course and maintenance budget. I look around at my own club - clubhouse, driving range, short game areas, putting greens are nice but truly unnecessary.
I never thought much about the putting green and short game areas until I haven’t been able to use them during COVID. I really do miss them and will be taking full advantage once they reopen.
Driving range, putting green, chipping green. I can get everything I need to get done with just that. Everything else is nice, but you’re paying for that additional stuff in some manner.
Water and a marshall that actually does their job.
shocked there hasn’t been a comment about a well stocked beverage cart!
Could not agree more my friend!
For courses with a driving range:
I do not understand how hard it can be to drop 5 - 10 nets at a variety of distances between 50 - 100 yds
It’s not the nets that are hard, it’s getting the balls from them after that would be difficult. After spending a decent number of hours behind the wheel of a range picker as a teen, I can say anything that prevented me from just driving the straight lines back and forth was a major annoyance at best or dangerous at worst (since people would be hitting and those types of things would require getting out of the cart cage).
“Comfort” facilities for the ladies.
My wife and I always keep well hydrated out on the course, and it always annoys her when I can just run over to the side to … uhhh … to see the trees and bushes, ya know? 