News & Updates for Birkdale Golf Club
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- 8/6/10, Review by outliar - B-man you are being too polite regarding the slow play issue. In my opinion the BIGGEST IMPAIRMENT to playing more rounds is the pace of play. It is downright RUDE and arrogant for some hack shooting 105 to wait until the green clears (from 280 away) before hitting a shot. AND THEN circling a putt for 8 minutes from 45 feet for triple bogey. I REALLY WISH folks would understand THEY are not on tour and we do not have 6 hours to devote to playing a round. I don't advocate rushing folks, BUT a REALITY CHECK IS CERTAINLY IN ORDER for folks who think it is OK to take 5+ hours for a casual round.
- 6/11/10 - Msg Board Posting
| Re: Don't Go to Birkdale |
The B-Man |
I posted this comment on the review and I'll repost it here. I got in touch with Wes Jones about this one and received a quick response.
Paraphrasing:
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. At Birkdale our goal is to have all players enjoy themselves and feel they have received a good value. It is difficult to please all the people all the time and unfortunately we were not able to do that with Mr. Looney's group... a group teed off at 8:23 and then the first of Mr. Looney's three foursomes teed off at 8:35, 12 minutes later... his group played the front nine in 2:38. His group had been warned for slow play twice in the first seven holes. This forced me to make the difficult decision of asking his group to skip the 10th hole. We ! want our guests to enjoy themselves but not at the expense of our other guests... the two groups following Mr. Looney's group played the front nine in 2 1/2 hours and well under two hours on the back nine after his group left.
On June 4th we had 182 rounds played and 144 players after Mr. Looney's group at 8:35. If I had allowed his group to continue on their pace we would have had our other rounds in the 5 1/2 hour range or worse. I do not want Birkdale to have a slow play reputation. In short, we would like people to play Birkdale. You will find the course conditions very nice, we take pace of play seriously and as Mr. Looney said, we have a friendly staff.
Sincerely,
Wesley Jones
Birkdale Golf Club
General Manager
Pace of play is a touchy subject. Obviously, you hate to be playing fast and easy, then get caught up in a logjam where you are waiting on every shot. On the other hand, if you are having fun but get behind because of a few stray shots where you lose time trying to find a lost ball or get back in play, it can be nearly impossible to catch up and get back on time with other groups on the course. So it is indeed a tough situation for the general manager. It's a bit of a Catch-22 -- which is worse: disappointing one or two groups by having them skip a hole to keep up pace of play or angering half a day's worth of groups that play 5 hour rounds?
I think in this situation you've got to be 100% sure that groups are truly backing up and tee times are running late before you ask a group to skip holes. If the groups behind are not complaining, not waiting, then there shouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure whether the GM made the right decision in this case, but it does seem like he carefully considered everything before speaking to the group.
I can certainly understand why you guys left. This has only happened to me once or twice in my 11 years of playing and I was very angry. I'm glad you had a good experience over at Fox Den. I've yet to play it, but keep hearing great things.
Thanks for the feedback. |
- 6/4/10, Review by geoirv - The bad rating is due to the General Manager and not the course itself. The front nine was very nice. Our group of 12 didn't get the opportunity to play the back nine.
Wes Jones, the GM met us at hole 10 and asked us to skip that hole and move on to hole 11 because we were 25 minutes behind his GPS schedule. I pointed out the next party in our group was 1-1/2 holes behind us. He said that didn't matter because we were two holes behind the group in front of us. I again pointed out the group in front of us was not in our party and I watched them tee off 36 minutes before us; we had actually gained roughly 2 holes on them. Mr. Jones walked to my cart and began rudely pecking on the GPS time indicator to show me we were 25 minutes behind. At that point, I asked for a refund for nine holes, and our 12 party group left and went to Fox Den.
The Fox Den people appreciated our business and we had a great time there.
I would be remiss not to point out that the rest of the Birkdale staff was very friendly to us. Before I left the course, I asked one of the guys how it was that everyone was so nice but their leader was such a horse's patute. He replied, "they get asked that question a lot".
We were scheduled for lunch and an 18 hole replay so you decide who lost out on this deal.
Just for the record, I later asked the last group in our party if they were being pushed and they replied "no".
Irv Looney
- 4/18/10, Review by The B-Man - Enjoyed my round here today. The staff was friendly as always and we moved around the course at a good pace. Although the greens weren't pretty to look at (looks like they had to treat some areas and there were light splotches on many greens) and still a bit on the slow side (aerated last month), they rolled true and were consistent. The fairways and tees were in good shape and more lush than most courses this early in the season. A few of the bunkers needed to be raked, not just from earlier play, but because they were wet or muddy. Overall, this is a fun course, with many challenging holes but also some short par 4's and reachable par 5's where you can be aggressive. It also has a great short game practice area. If I lived closer, this would be a regular stop for me.
- 4/10/10 - Msg Board Posting
| Re: April Golf |
EA |
Love the site and knowledge B-Man
Yes - I have played Skybrook, Highland Crk and Rocky River within last two weeks. I play Highland Crk, Skybrook, Rocky River and Tradition often because I live up here. I am not positive how they are comparing to other courses in the area as I stick to northern trail and this area usually.
However with these courses - Rocky River had some serious issues with their greens last year but they seem to be much better now. Some of the greens were totally gone last year but they are back nicely, I heard they made some changes with the superintendent staff. Highland Creek I like because it is challenging, tough but fair course, relatively easy to get on, and people have a nice attitude. Highland Crk was in not so good shape last year but it seems like ownership was not investing in any of these courses last year much. It looks better this year. They recently aerated the greens but they are back to normal now. I like Skybrook the best but it is overpriced for what you get. They have had and have brown and bare spots in fairways. Rocky River does not have GPS / yardages on the carts which is odd in this day and age but I like the course, and it is typically in good shape - minus the green issue from last year.
I am down on Tradition because it is over crowded, slow, and the staff have borderline rude attitude often. But I have not played there recently. I like Birkdale, the only down side is the electrical lines. It is a nice course in good shape.
EA ratings of Northern Trail area courses below -
Skybrook and Birkdale T1
HCGC and Rocky River T3
Tradition 5 |
- 10/14/09 - Update from Chuck: Played Birkdale yesterday, in the Susan G. Komen benefit tournament. The course overall was in pretty decent condition. Fairways were nice and green with pretty decent lies for the most part. Greens were in good condition, some greens look like they have been bombarded with ball marks, but that is to be expected when a course gets alot of play, such as this one. The greens were pretty quick which I like. Hopefully with the cooler weather coming some of the greens with alot of ball marks will have time to heal. Overall, not too bad. Definitely should go play it, if you haven't.
- 7/30/09 - Msg Board Posting
| Birkdale |
Jamie |
| Played Birkdale today (7/30). Course was in good shape, although wet because of recent rains. Only negative is that all the pin placements were tucked at the edges of the greens. Seems to be a popular trend lately. |
- 7/11/09 - Played 7/11. My first regular round here in quite a while -- usually I only get to play here in tournaments. I was frustrated with the greens. Inconsistent roll and a gazillion ballmarks (many fresh and not fixed). It was nearly impossible to make any putts of significant length (over 5 or 10 ft) because your ball would hit something and knock offline. It was late in the day and the greens were a little hairy and moist towards the end. The bunkers were also inconsistent, again mostly due to careless play (not raking). The rest of the course, tees and fairways, was in very good shape. I would say this course gets too much play for its own good. It's definitely a fun layout, but I expected better greens.
- 3/14/09 - Msg Board Posting
| birkdale |
Trace Mannig |
| I played birkdale on tuesday the 10th, and the only two things where the driving range is getting some work done so we had to hit off those damn mats, which get your clubs all green! Then there were the greens... just re-airated. Made your puts almost impossable. Your chips had to be rolled on, if not they bounced everywhere. other then that, had a lot of fun, and thats what it is all about right. |
- 10/19/08 - Msg Board Posting
| Birkdale |
Rob Pappalardo |
| Played today 10/18/08..Course was in good condition (Alot better than my swing..lol)..Greens were nice and fast ..The rough was ROUGH tho,we lost several balls that should have been easy to find!..Still it was pretty much top-notch for this time of year..can't go wrong here! |
- 10/11/08 - Msg Board Posting
| Birkdale Golf Club |
Jin |
Played today at 1 and finished around 5:20. The first nine was fast, no one in front of us or behind. Second nine slowed down a lot... waited about 5 mins on each tee box. Course was a little wet here and there. The right greenside bunker on #1 was gunky. Tee box on the par 3 #6 was pretty long, really long actually. There are a few short par 4's, only one I can get close to getting on the green (#7). MOst of the greens were in great condition, rolling pretty fast.
Fairways were a bit soft. Course in general was in great condition. |
- 6/26/08 - Played on 6/25. My company has an event here every summer and the course puts on a great tournament. The conditions were good. Fairways were in great shape. The greens were pretty good but very soft. A few wedge approach shots plugged in the green and you pretty much had to hit your shots on the number since there was little roll. A few bunkers had standing water from the recent rains. I don't understand why courses don't have a maintenance routine to pull the water out and rake all the bunkers each morning. Maybe it's more difficult than I think. Also, on several holes, the GPS on the carts had the pins in the wrong location and my group was only saved by the fact that in most cases we could clearly see the flag on the green and make our own adjustments to the yardage. Still, it seemed a little careless. Overall, this course is typically kept in very good shape and is probably the best of the Carolina Trail group of courses.
- 2/24/08 - Msg Board Posting
| Charlotte courses |
Earl |
| I have been coming to South Carolina for every year for about ten years with a group of eight. We have an "unwritten rule": Always play Birkdale in Huntersville, north of Charlotte. It is an Arnold Palmer course with lots of neat/challenging holes - and the pub is great with good menu. We usually end our week of golf with the golf at Birkdale and lunch. I would also give high marks for Regent Park and Waterford. |
- 6/20/07 - Played on 6/20. Course was in great shape overall, lush fairways and greens. There was a good 10-20 minute rain shower before we started, but it only left a few wet areas or puddles here and there and carts were still 90 degrees. Greens were very smooth and rolled well with good speed, not super-fast. I enjoy the layout here and it's a well-kept course with a very good practice area. It's also now a part of the Carolina Trail and Click-it offers some great rates.
- 5/21/07 - Msg Board Posting
| Birkdale |
Sandy |
| Played Birkdale today and it was in good shape. #10 green was a little beat up, but that was the only issue. All greens rolled true. The range was pretty packed, but the course played pretty quickly. |
- 8/16/06 - Msg Board Posting
| re: courses |
pete |
Played Birkdale this past weekend and the greens were really a mess. We got stuck behind a real slow group and ended up spending five hours out there... won't be going back any time soon.
Played Verdict Ridge the previous weekend and enjoyed the round. Conditions are among the best I've played in the area recently. Pricey at $74 though.
Heading to Ballantyne on Saturday morning... |
