A little background:

About a month ago we bought a house on a public course here in the Dallas area. Our property stretches from about 160 in to the front of the green. I've seen a couple of the locals in the neighborhood out at around sunset tinkering around on the greens. I myself have walked out and played from about 100 in about 4 or 5 times.

Today I put my clubs on and walked out and started on the tee and played the hole in its entirety. I was playing 2 balls and after I was done I was putting from multiple spots on the green. It should be noted that the only reason I was doing this is because I handn't seen anyone come through in about 40 minutes, and I could see from the previous holes that were visible from my yard that nobody was coming.

As I was walking off the green I see a golf cart come barreling toward me with one of the staff members from the course. His first question to me was "did you check in to the pro shop?"

I told him that I lived in the house directly on the green and that I honestly didn't think it would be a problem if I was out there doing what I was doing

His response "you have to pay to play golf here"

At this point in time, I was annoyed, but remained polite and respectful. I told him I was sorry and as a resident on the course that I didn't think it would be a problem. I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers and I apologized. He said "its fine" and then barreled off. He wasn't nice and was still pissed.

Now I know what I was doing isn't exactly right per se, but I didn't think it was that big of a deal either. I kind of figured that if you lived on a course it was kind of an understood thing that the golf staff would allow residents of the courses to kind of use the course in the off times.

Kind of curious of y'alls opinion on the matter and how you would have handled the situation

No first hand input here, as I've never lived on a course, but I'm curious to see what people say.

The other part of me wonders which course this is in the Dallas area, too.

I was thinking something along this line as well.

Sherrill Park in Richardson.

This happened to us once at plantation. Some guy was playing some major twilight golf and called the pro shop on us. He was yelling and drove into us and everything. Very strange. The club guy and I are on first name basis. So he just sat with us till the guy played through and said they don't really care if you are respectful.

Just depends on who ya deal with.

powerbelly51 said:

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Does living on the course come with playing privileges? If not, you are just stealing.

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Again, thats why I'm asking. I fully admitted that if you look at it, yes, I'm indeed stealing.

However, growing up around this game, I know its not as simple as that. I've always kind of thought that the relationship between the residents of a course and the owners of the course needed to be as symbiotic as possible. I myself have gone out and repaired some divots on the greens and replaced some turf in front of the house. I've also noted some very crappy behavior in and around the greens and I've spoken with the players to repair the damage they've done. I always assumed that the trade off is for them to allow residents to use whats in front of them as long as its doesn't damage the course or hold up the paying customers.

I think I probably screwed up by not going and talking to the pro-shop when I moved in. I will say that if they aren't cool I'm going to be a lot less willing to take care of the course like its my own back yard.

I personally feel that is expecting too much without discussing with the pro first.

TresPuertas said:

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Sherrill Park in Richardson.

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Knowing that staff very well you won't get much leeway. Pros won't be around the course much later in the evening though so you may be able to just avoid everyone.

Some semi-private courses have memberships..

And when I say semi-private, it really means public.

With some sort of a paying playing membership, you should be able to tink around the greens.. but for real, golf course is a private property and unless you check in and pay to play, you're trespassing.

You don't have much of a case unfortunately. I would see if there's some sort of unlimited golf membership but other than that you're out of luck unless you don't get caught.

I live on a course in N W Houston and they tend to frown on house owners jumping on the course to play and practice. I know the guys in the club house very well and the problem was that too many people were doing it. Primarily it was early evening but it got to the point where it was interfering with members and paying customers playing twilight hours. So the course clamped down on it fairly hard.

Can you imagine playing a hole and the guy on the green waives you up but there's like 30 balls already on the green from his chipping practice?

aggiedent said:

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I live on a course in N W Houston and they tend to frown on house owners jumping on the course to play and practice. I know the guys in the club house very well and the problem was that too many people were doing it. Primarily it was early evening but it got to the point where it was interfering with members and paying customers playing twilight hours. So the course clamped down on it fairly hard.

Can you imagine playing a hole and the guy on the green waives you up but there's like 30 balls already on the green from his chipping practice?

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I live in a golf course neighborhood and i'm a member at the course and I even feel out of place sometimes when I head out to practice on a nearby hole. I haven't done it in a while due to kids, but I used to head out and play a few holes around dark. The thing with twilight players is that they're usually turning and burning so they don't want to have to wait for me to grab my clubs and balls to get out of the way.

Have you looked into buying a resident punch card? It is a very good value. $210 will get you at least 10+ rounds out there - any time and day of the week (excludes cart). That's if you play them all on course 1. Mix in course 2 which is cheaper, and you can squeeze a few more rounds out of the punch card.

It's basically half-price for full weekend rates or 2/3 the price for weekday.

The pros at Sherrill are a mixed bag. Most are extremely nice. Others, like the head pro Ronny Glanton, can be huge d***s if they don't know you or decide they don't like you. I've played out there a ton over the years and have a good relationship with them all, including Ronny, but I do think they hold a pretty firm policy of not allowing non-payers on the course. I play a lot of twilight there, and while I'll come across the occasional stray ball that was probably hit from someone's backyard, I pretty much never see anyone hopping on the course.

I live on a semi-private course and don't feel like I have the right to go play. Occasionally I will take the kids out there near dusk though, just to hit a few balls and screw around.

However, I also have a golf cart and let my 15-year old daughter drive it down to the lake (across a few holes) to meet friends who fish there (they are members). One time, she was stopped by an assistant pro and told, quite rudely, that we need to join and pay the trail fee. I told her to ignore him, but to try to avoid times and locations she is likely to be seen.

So, I guess my take is inconsistent. But in my mind it's not like I'm depriving them of any green fees, and technically I would say she's a guest of members when she drives down to the lake.

Further background is that I am a member at a much nicer private club here in town, and the guys in the pro shop know it. I think they have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to my club. I'm also not afraid of there being any consequences if they call the cops, so I'm not afraid to give them the middle finger.

Which hole/course(1 or 2) do you live on? I've been meaning to work on my fade and would love to be able to just walk into a backyard and retrieve my balls.

I play Sherrill at least once a week as I work 5 minutes away.

I'd like to know as well so I could retrieve one of my screaming hooks. Particularly if you are on #7 or #14 of course 1.

This is almost to the detail my situation:

I'm a member of a private club across town and when I the bought the house, the golf course was just an added bonus. It wasn't THE reason we bought it.

I have never played more than 1 hole, but I guess its more frowned upon that I realized. There is a lake directly behind us that I have fished in and I'll probably go ballistic if they say I can't use it because its city owned.

I understand their aggrivation for the use of the golf course and will avoid it from here on out.

Ah, you are in the danger zone.

If I hit it into someone's yard, I don't even consider retrieving it. Instead of allowing me to come get my ball, I'd probably appreciate it more if you put up a really high net that is great at directing any errant hooks back toward the fairway.

I do see plenty out there fishing. They don't seem to run them off.

Surprisingly, I don't get as many balls as I thought i would. I think it has to do with the landing area, and if you hook one off the tee, it usually isn't getting to my yard.

Which kind of sucks because I was planning on never having to buy a golf ball ever again.

Also, I really don't care if anyone reading this comes and gets their ball particlarly on the side of the yard that opens to the green. Like I said, if I'm out there just mention you saw this thread.

IMO you are in the wrong. Even though it's a public course, there are fees required in order to have access.

My family goes for evening walks on our semi-private course. We walk on the golf course because it's safer (no car traffic), scenic, and my kids like to hunt for golf balls and unbroken tees. Every now and then, I'll bring my putter or a wedge and practice around the green. No one has ever said anything to me. If they did, I'm not sure how I would respond.

The only time I've been confronted on a course was when my youngest daughter (6 y/o) was steering the golf cart while sitting on my lap. I was a paying customer, and for some reason a member went nuclear for reasons I couldn't understand. I thanked him for looking out for the safety of everyone on the course around us (the place was totally empty...I was being extremely sarcastic). The old man threatened to call the cops and then challenged me to a fight.

Golf should be fun. Some people surely need to be reminded of that.

I have lived on two golf courses, Eagle Harbor in Jacksonville, and Riverfront in Suffolk. It was never, not once, a problem to go out and play a few holes in the late afternoon!. Hell, every Friday night me and all the neighbors on 18 would meet up and hit all the balls from our yard back into the creek, while drinking a bunch of beer!

This sounds awesome. Where do I sign up?

I live on a private course (of which I'm a member) and still don't do this. Just think it is bad business.

grego said:

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I live on a private course (of which I'm a member) and still don't do this. Just think it is bad business.

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How is it bad business if you're a member?

There's a guy who lives on 17 at a club I'm a member of. Not frequently but occasionally you you get on the tee and 10 or 15 balls are out in the fairway. Rather than drive to range, short game area he practices chipping and pitching on the fairway. Not only do you have to wait on him to pick up his balls but the fairway is chewed up with way too many divots. The golf course isn't the practice area.

On a public course I think the fact it's private property and ownership of an adjacent home gives you no rights to that private property makes it pretty clear.

jja79 said:

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There's a guy who lives on 17 at a club I'm a member of. Not frequently but occasionally you you get on the tee and 10 or 15 balls are out in the fairway. Rather than drive to range, short game area he practices chipping and pitching on the fairway. Not only do you have to wait on him to pick up his balls but the fairway is chewed up with way too many divots. The golf course isn't the practice area.

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I would say that's pretty bad...but not comparable to going out at dusk and dropping 3 balls on the 17th green for some putting or chipping.

One is holding up play and causing unnecessary wear & tear on the course. The other isn't.

To me the real issue is the course is private property. If you've got a goal in your drive is it ok for kids you didn't invite to use it to practice shooting?