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 Ken Capewell |
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| Posted: 02/10/08 09:04:11 11 |
| Last week I had the the total misfortune of playing Goldenhill Course Staffs with a couple of friends. Never in my life have I come across a Golf Course in such atrocious condition. It was a municipal course until Jack Barker took it over, and it has deteriorated to such an extent it is totally unplayable, in fact it shouldn't be allowed to open or advertise as a Golf Course. The course itself has been closed for around four years now, to rectify drainage problems, and it is worse now than I have ever known it. The fairways are covered in a mat of mown grass, the "semi" is over ankle depth, and the greens are like putting on shag pile carpets. The only so called member of green staff was riding around on a mower,(not mowing by the way), with a paint aerosol spraying numbers on the tees in red. Playing regularly off 14 I lost 8 balls on the so called "fairways", which have been cut up by a ploughshare also, which leaves them looking like odd carpet ends with the edges culed up. Jack Barker advertises this course as a test of Golf, he isn't kidding, golf is the last sport you could play on there. He also purchased Keele Golf Course, another municipal facility, which accomodated over 50,000 rounds of golf year in year out, this too went down the pan, although it has improved somewhat over the last 12 months. I was invited to play there with a couple of friends a month ago on a Saturday, and at one time you could not get a tee time. Now you can play whenever you like, there were only another 12 people on the course, I ask you, on a Saturday!!! and the weather was excellent. They will be lucky to get 5000 rounds a year now. What is this man up to, is he out to destroy these facilities for local golfers who are not affiliated to any club or what? because if anyone returns to these clubs after playing them once under this ownership they want there heads looking at. It can totally destroy your game and demoralise you, the games difficult enough as it is damn it. Whether any notice of these comments are read, or noted I don't know, it doesn't seem as if they are. If this man is out to make money then he's going the wrong way about it, because if these courses were kept in a reasonable condition they would be filled day in day out. It would be very interesting to visit other courses owned by Jack Barker, and see if they are suffering the same way, my guess is they are. They say that things can only get better in life, let's all hope they do, because i'm sure they can't get any worse, or can they? |
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