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Posted 6/15/2008 8:06:08 AM -
I will never play this course again. I had several bad impressions during my 5 hour experience on this course.
1. The KC area has experienced a lot of rain this season. I expected some wet conditions but, several of the fairways had a lot of standing water. I should have realized this immediately on the first tee. There was standing water for about the 1/4 of the fairway.
2. There were lots of errant balls on the first tee. I am assuming that these were from the driving range located directly perpendicular to the first fairway. The only seperating the 1st fairway and the driving range was the cart path and few medium size (at best) trees. Great!!! I can get nailed in the back of the head by someone on the first hole. In all honesty, that might have been preferable to my experience of playing there.
3. We had an 8 am tee time. The foursome in front of us was dropping many ball, spending 15 minutes on the greens dropping multiple-multiple balls. This was mentioned to the marshall as he drove by twice but, it didn't seem to make any difference. So, on the turn when the group in front of us went to the clubhouse and the group in front of them were still in the clubhouse, we played on. The play was much more enjoyable after that but, especially considering it took us 3+ hours to play the front nine. We completed the back nine in 1 hour and 10 minutes. We still had the occassional wait but nothing like experienced on the front nine.
4. The group in front of us may have been the extreme but, the it is not an exaggeration to say that 50% of the players we met on the course seemed to consist of the golf-so-I-can-drink in the AM crowd. We are positive the group we caught up on the 13th hole was standing in the woods for 10-15 minutes enjoying some non-store bought cigarettes.
5. The last straw was after the round. We went into the club house to ask if we could get a KCMetroGolf card. They are listed on the site as someone supported by KCMetroGolf however, they looked at us like we were insane. "I have no idea what you are talking about." is a direct quote from the 2 people working the desk.
6. The men's restroom was very poorly maintained. It had running water however, the stench and cleanliness was that of a port-a-potty. We didn't even try to wash our hands. We just go in and out.
The positives to the course were:
1. The greens were challenging and well maintained.
2. The Yamaha golf carts were reliable and very capably handled he swamp like areas of the course.
3. The Marshall was very friendly.
4. If the water issue was cleared up, the course looks like it would be enjoyable. There were several challenges and natural hazards to test your golf strategy.
I golf approximately twice a week. Taken the positives into consideration, I have never walked out of a clubhouse so dissappointed and upset with a golfing experience. This is especially saddening because we recently added an individual to our golf circle who is from Gardner. We were hoping that we could use the Gardner course as his home course and use it when we play in his area. We will have to continue to look for a different course.
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LOCAL GOLF