The little things that take a ccurse from good to great...
 

Beyond green conditions and fairway conditions/drainage; assuming that a golf course is a "nice" course with good overall conditions, what are the little things that take a "good course" to a "great course"? Some things that come to mind to me are:

• Replaced/filled divots in fairway
• Freshly manicured bunkers
• Fresh soapy water in ball washers
• Drinking water coolers every few holes in summer
• Towels in golf carts

What other things can you think of?

All the above and mainly customer service. If they are willing to do anything to keep/make you happy it's a great place from the rangers to the pro shop

Friendly, helpful staff; port-a-potties or restrooms halfway through each nine; good pace of play.

I don't think you can take an average layout and make it great without a redesign. So outside layout and conditioning, the biggest thing a course can do is my opinion is adequate spacing between tee times, and keeping the pace of play up to speed. The little things in the first post are nice, but aren't near the top of my list of important things. If the course is in good shape and the pace of play is reasonable, I'm a pretty happy camper.

I played the Magnolia course at Disney in Orlando. A cart girl came around regularly and gave me free ice cold bottled water to make sure I stayed hydrated, along with fresh golf towels. I was playing as a single. It was August and it was hot. She didn't have to do that, but she did.

There's a course in Kansas here that's kinda pricey that had their golf cart attendant call me by my name. I was a bit surprised by that, but I thought it was cool. I imagine that's how it feels to be a member somewhere.

Also, having towels on the cart is a rarity but very nice. Agree with the rest on the OP's list.

All of the stuff from the orginal post....especially the part about the bunkers...that is a huge pet peeve of mine!

Friendliness of the staff, one of the courses I play semi-regulary puts a card on the top front of the golf cart...(kinda where the rear view mirror would be in a car) with the exact location of the pins for the day on each green...complete with a little drawing of the green, pin location and exact measurements...I thought it was cool!

That is always appreciated, some courses around here do that.

I think general ambience for me which includes the attitude of staff but also the grounds themselves like is the rough and trees etc well cared for. That kinda thing really makes me think a course is better than good.

Great practice areas.

A relaxed atmosphere in and around the clubhouse, and at the starter. Little things like yardage books and pin position sheets are a bonus.

Good staff. Beverage cart that comes around regularly. Electric carts, not gas.

If I chunk or skull the ball I let out a pretty good curse at times. Now if I just over fly a green or hit a green side bunker, it's more of a low key moan or mild curse. It all depends on the nasty level of the shot. I have no doubt let some pretty good cussing out lately because our greens are fricking slick http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...ies/angry2.gif

towels in the summer dipped in mango scented ice cold water
Bottled of water in the on Cary cooler
Divot tools and long tees in cart
On cart gps
Custom bag tags
Free drink after or during the round

Very well said! These are the things my home course tries to do each and every day. Keeping everything up and in working order is a must as well, even the simple things like ball/club washers need to be clean and working. Trash cans are emptied twice a day and while running from one to the other, we even stop at greens if no one is there and fix pitch marks and such.

Gotta really go with this one...friendly folk working there that seem to want you to come back.

I'd say well kept up cart paths. There is nothing that drives me more crazy than when you have a beautiful course, layout and everything else that is mentioned, THEN you have bumpy worn out cracked and dilapidated cart paths.

One thing that seems to be seriously lacking around here are marshalls. I would like to see more marshalling on golf courses, you know, so that they know what your experiencing out there. It's nice to be able to give some feedback and get some things taken care of if you need be.

a few things that immediately come to mind are:
enjoyable and knowledgeable staff, signs at each tee box with a hole layout and yardages, yardages on the sprinkler heads, some sort of food/drink vending (ie. cart girl, vending machine or pro shop provided) well maintained bridges and cart paths, well maintained carts, and pond/lake/creek/ditch upkeep.

Bunkers that are maintained daily.
Customer service and lots of it.
Water/Ice machines.
Starters that can tell you pin placements, anything special you need to know before you start, etc.
Free range balls that are already in your cart so you don't have to drop dollars in a machine.
Employees that know your name and call you by your name.
GPS in cart