[derinasderun]

i understand, at h.s. tournments here, the head coach can only speak to a player between holes, thats six kids on six different holes, coach gets a cart and is very busy driving around watching and talking to the girls between holes, i walk with my daughters group but cant talk to her. to your point, most the other coaches enjoy playing 18 with eachother on the tournment day. i dont believe they take it serious enough but many of the girls dont either. what do you do boys golf is not this way, they have to have a cut, all on the team shoot mid 70s to mid 80s, + or-. i cant imagine anybody going out for any h.s. sport without proper equipment or experience, but it does happen in girls golf. so if you have a coach that doesnt care, you will have problems like you decribed.

[BronUVT]

I went out to a local city course yesterday afternoon to play nine. When I teed off, there was a group of three HS girls with a "coach" on the green. I waited at least 10 minutes in the fairway as they batted the ball around the hole and generally wasted a lot of time.

Once they moved, I hit in, walked up and putted out. When I arrived at the next hole, they were still on the tee box chatting. No one was in front of them (par 3), so they could have already hit. They, including the coach, saw me. They ignored me and took their time hitting. They walked off toward the green, stopping 3 or 4 times to hit their balls again. I counted at least 8 strokes by one of the girls before they got to the green.

I think the coach should have been responsible enough to teach them some golf course etiquette and make them stand aside so I could play through.

The next hole was a par 5 and they were still on the tee box when I dropped my bag and walked past them back to the men's tees. Again, they did not invite me through, even though they had not hit their shots and no one was in front of them.

I finally skipped two holes and went to the close tee box for #6 in order to get away from them. I don't mind the kids playing, I think it is a great idea for them to learn the game. But I also think the coach should teach them all facets of how to handle themselves on the course. Obviously, he either didn't know, or didn't care.

[Muhabsssa]

Definitely irresponsible of the coach. Where was the marshall?

[ImmimiFruff]

I don't think I could have skipped the holes. I would have had to say something, especially when you walked past them to your tee on the par 5. I think I would have just said that I was playing through at that point.

[verybigf]

I think this is an exception. Atleast I hope it is. Sorry to hear that happened CT.

[BronUVT]

I have been in behind kid's tournaments before and I understand that they wouldn't want to let me through. This was obviously a practice session and there were open holes. It looked like they may have started out one group after the other, but this group was just so slow, they got behind before they got past the first hole.

The city courses are notorious for not having marshals, especially after 3PM. In a cost saving effort, they send the marshals and cart girls in about 2:30, close the pro shop at 5 and only leave enough staff to put away the carts and lock up.

[Adeniinteme]

I'm not condoning their behavior, but why not just ask to play through? I know you shouldn't have to, but why not.

[MadMark]

The same thing happens at my home course, and surprisingly it is also the nearby girls HS golf team that tends to ignore other players, with what seems to be their coach's approval. The boys team seems to be more in tune with golf etiquette, and will let folks play through with out being asked. Both teams are coached by men. As an adult, you can't say much to these HS girls, and talking to their coach about the issue is like talking to the weather. Many complaints have been lodge about this problem, but the problem is this. It is a county owned course managed by others. The school district is also run by the county. The managing company has to give the HS players free time to use the course, and practice facilities. One thing is for sure, you don't want to screw up a shot with either the girls, or boys team watching.

Most of us have given up trying to play this course during Thursday afternoons until the HS golf season is over. That, or we might tackle a different course nearby without HS players on it.

[treawittelf]

Poor coaching. Simple as that. I attended 13 youth tournaments this summer (boys and girls), and in most cases these kids know the game. I would hazard a guess if he can't even teach them etiquette and how to sustain a decent pace of play, that it is a pretty terrible golf team.

Kevin

[BronUVT]

Poor coaching. Simple as that. I attended 13 youth tournaments this summer (boys and girls), and in most cases these kids know the game. I would hazard a guess if he can't even teach them etiquette and how to sustain a decent pace of play, that it is a pretty terrible golf team.

Kevin

I think you have nailed it!

[Dodoerabe]

Did you think to just ask if you could play through? Rude as it was of them to not let you through, maybe they just needed a little prompting.

I would have just said: "Is it okay if I go through? I'll be out of the way in no time and you won't have to worry about me being behind you."

If they say no just skip a hole and get ahead of them anyway. If people don't know they are doing something wrong, they will never know to correct it.

[kesFockplek]

Coach should have taken them to 9 hole par 3 to teach them the game. Sounds like they weren't ready for regulation 18.

[kesFockplek]

Did you think to just ask if you could play through? Rude as it was of them to not let you through, maybe they just needed a little prompting.

I would have just said: "Is it okay if I go through? I'll be out of the way in no time and you won't have to worry about me being behind you."

If they say no just skip a hole and get ahead of them anyway. If people don't know they are doing something wrong, they will never know to correct it.

Yeah, true enough but the coach should have known. Shouldn't he?

[derinasderun]

i help coach the h.s. girls golf team here. we tell the ones that need it, you can play bad golf fast. at our club the greens and tees can be far apart so we use carts and play twosomes to speed things up for the members, we put our two low hcps in front and expect other groups to keep up. (4 groups of 2) then coach and i each take a cart so we can observe and help the girls.we almost always play in under 2 hrs(9 holes), but the girls know the members have the right-of -way and MUST let them play thru. we use the course once a week and practice area the rest. the bad part is there are several members that play poorly, alone in a cart, start after us and want to play 18 as fast as possible. so we always end up letting several onesomes thru these adults are usually not very good models (huffy and rude) as we also try and teach the girls how to act properly on the course.

[treawittelf]

I would suggest that a rude person is a role model as well as a polite person. Tell your girls not to model themselves after the rude and huffy members. You can learn a lot about people on the golf course. Golf's a great game that way.

Kevin

[enrisaabsotte]

i help coach the h.s. girls golf team here. we tell the ones that need it, you can play bad golf fast. at our club the greens and tees can be far apart so we use carts and play twosomes to speed things up for the members, we put our two low hcps in front and expect other groups to keep up. (4 groups of 2) then coach and i each take a cart so we can observe and help the girls.we almost always play in under 2 hrs(9 holes), but the girls know the members have the right-of -way and MUST let them play thru. we use the course once a week and practice area the rest. the bad part is there are several members that play poorly, alone in a cart, start after us and want to play 18 as fast as possible. so we always end up letting several onesomes thru these adults are usually not very good models (huffy and rude) as we also try and teach the girls how to act properly on the course.

Mike-

I've always been curious about H.S. (and college for that matter) golf coaches. I hope you don't mind me asking (and if you do, feel free to simply not answer.)

Are H.S. golf coaches generally teachers at the H.S. or are they independent from the school? Are they generally golf pros (PGA or otherwise) that work with the players on their swings, or is their role mostly administrative (not sure if that is the right word) - i.e., organizing events, overseeing practice, handling scheduling and transportation, etc.?

[Adeniinteme]

Harry - I know you were asking Mike, but I know two HS golf coaches - one in CT and one in GA. The one in CT is not a teacher - she was hired by the school to coach the girl's team. She is not a pro, but competed as an amateur when she was younger - she serves both roles you mentioned. The one in GA is a Spanish teacher at the school where he coaches the boys team. He is a average player so he oversees the boys practices and handles the administrative tasks.

[ImmimiFruff]

Our golf coach was a teacher one year and our Athletic Director (also a teacher) the other years. The assistant coaches were generally just a couple of teachers who wanted to play free golf. The first year, the coach was actually pretty good, and could shoot in the low 80s with just one arm (he broke an arm before golf season). He usually shot in the mid 70s. The A.D. was an older guy in his 60s who took over coaching duties because no one wanted to be the head coach.

[Muhabsssa]

I would suggest that a rude person is a role model as well as a polite person. Tell your girls not to model themselves after the rude and huffy members. You can learn a lot about people on the golf course. Golf's a great game that way.

Kevin

I'm not about to coach Boo Girl on her swing, but I figure I can teach her the rules of golf, etiquette, course management, etc. I'm a stickler for being considerate of the other golfers. She knows that if she doesn't behave properly, the round is over.

[treawittelf]

I'm not about to coach Boo Girl on her swing, but I figure I can teach her the rules of golf, etiquette, course management, etc. I'm a stickler for being considerate of the other golfers. She knows that if she doesn't behave properly, the round is over.

At ten, she'll be ahead of a lot of golfers in that regard.

Harry, the duties of golf coaches vary. Most do not do a significant amount of teaching of the golf swing. Some have the ability to do so, but at least here in Cheeseland, most don't. They run the program. As can be expected, most successful programs are in what can be considered affluent communities, i.e. country club kids. Many have some teaching duties, at the very least in the district in which they coach, if not at the school. In two years my daughter will play in a program that has been historically very successful, though we're not country clubbers. More like semi-private clubbers. The coach does some teaching, but mainly is very good at finding out which families play golf and cultivating that to get good players. He's a junior high phy ed teacher.

I was fortunate to play 30 years ago for a golf coach that was a history teacher, but also a certified PGA professional. That was very rare for WI. He coached here in WI for many years, and has put many kids into college programs. He was very influential in how state high school golf evolved here in WI. He is now retired as a teacher and H.S. coach, but teaches golf privately.

He is my daughter's coach.

Kevin