Advice for playing Maples of Ballantrae

[mizuno_mp37]

I'm playing Maples of Ballantrae for the first time on Friday - any tips........

[Anthony]

Don't expect much....;)

Okay course, pretty non descript overall. A couple of nice par 3's. A decent B level course......

[mizuno_mp37]

Don't expect much....;)

Okay course, pretty non descript overall. A couple of nice par 3's. A decent B level course......

Going there on a social/work outing. We are playing 4 ball scramble but 2 of my team have NEVER played golf before:eek: :eek:

Thankfully no minimum # of drives per player :)

[Anthony]

I played a few social tournaments there. It is the perfect course for it. A few tough drives, but the course is fairly open and certainly not bad at all. Not worth driving out of your way and maybe as I harp more then once a little pricey for the return, though by no means expensive.

[Bellyhungry]

Going there on a social/work outing. We are playing 4 ball scramble but 2 of my team have NEVER played golf before:eek: :eek:

Thankfully no minimum # of drives per player :)

Playing with 2 people never played golf before, you are practically playing your own ball with these two people show you the putt :rolleyes: . Just make sure your playing partners buy enough balls, the first hole alone requires carry over water.

[The Troll]

any tips........

Don't top it on the first tee.... :D

[reincarnated]

Tell the a-hole marshalls to f-off.

I will never go back there again after the way I was treated.

[Weirfan]

It is a decent course with some very good holes and a few average ones. Most people like it.

My tips are: I have not played there in 2-3 years but I think I remember well

#1 It is a bit tight so hit a 5wood or 3 wood off the tee. You only need 180 -200 at most. fairway is impoirtant on this hole.

#2 is a pretty straightforward par 5. you can get there in two if the wind is not from the west, or you play the whites, but the water comes into play right off the tee.

#3 is the old first hole....better left that right.

#4 and 5 are pretty much what you see....play a bit longer as uphill and usually into the wind.

#6 is a good par 3, bail right if you need, but not too far.

#7, need a big drive here and need to avoid the big tree in the fairway....everything rolls from L -R out there. big green sloped back to front

#8 easy par 5 to reach in two, but there used to be a big pine tree just off the tee that blocked you going down the left and playing a cut. A High draw is great here...too far right is trouble.

#9 is a short but sometimes tricky hole....don't drive it too far or you will have a downhill lie

#10 is a short par 3, can be tough to hit and most misses are long

#11 is typically a down wind par 5 and easily reachable with a good drive...BUT, the water left of the green will catch anything that is left and it comes out short alot more than you can tell from the fw.

#12 straight forward par 4

#13, dont try and cut the corner...hit it out to the flat ...150

#14 tough into the wind green to hit....good luck

#15 I have seen some big hitters drive this green so if the wind is behind and you big hitter , think about it....there is alot of sand out there so the smart play is fw.

#16 is the easiest hole on the course IMO, really just a long par 4 but scorecard says it's a 5.....downwind so usually a long iron, maybe a mid iron in. definite birdie or Eagle hole

#17.....tough driving hole, try and stay to the right centre as anything left of center will require a draw into the green.

#18. decent par three that most people miss right as there is water short and left

[golf101]

Tell the a-hole marshalls to f-off.

I will never go back there again after the way I was treated.

Don't pay attention to marshalls unless you know you are slow. Just a distraction.

Oh ya I forgot, bring a lawn mower.

[mizuno_mp37]

Don't top it on the first tee.... :D

Okay, I deserved that one :(

[reincarnated]

Don't pay attention to marshalls unless you know you are slow. Just a distraction.

Oh ya I forgot, bring a lawn mower.

Its hard to ignore marshalls when you are harassed on nearly every hole, even though there is no room to move in front of you and you finish the round in less than four hours. Seemed reasonable to me considering the suggested time to complete a round there is like 4h15m or something.

[Big Shooter]

We had a great round there last week, but we were paired-up with a Marshal & the ***'t Pro! :D (when the group in front of us got a bit slow on the 3rd hole, out came the ***'t pro's cellphone, and out came another marshal to speed things up!) ;)

[mizuno_mp37]

Tell the a-hole marshalls to f-off.

I will never go back there again after the way I was treated.

Marshall's are still something I am still coming to terms with over here. At my course in England we never had them and never needed them, no-one took more than 3.5 hours to play and if you did then you'd better watch out when you came off the course as there would be a queue of people waiting to instruct you on how to play quicker :rofl:

[reincarnated]

There is one thing to actually be playing slow and being told to hurry but if you are keeping pace with the group ahead of you and complete the round QUICKER than the suggested length of a round, then I think its a bit ridiculous.

[Feherty Fan]

Its a shame really, I do like the course but won't play there anymore do to what you describe... They cram the course full of golfers, making everyone wait at every hole and then have marshalls pushing people to go faster. Kinda ruins the day IMO...

[Anthony]

Marshall's are still something I am still coming to terms with over here. At my course in England we never had them and never needed them, no-one took more than 3.5 hours to play and if you did then you'd better watch out when you came off the course as there would be a queue of people waiting to instruct you on how to play quicker :rofl:

I want to play in England or at least have that reaction walking off the course!!!!!:D

[mizuno_mp37]

Its a shame really, I do like the course but won't play there anymore do to what you describe... They cram the course full of golfers, making everyone wait at every hole and then have marshalls pushing people to go faster. Kinda ruins the day IMO...

So let me see if I have this correct........they book the course solid with gaps between tee times that they perceive as sufficient to allow you to progress around the course in the prescribed time. When this proves incorrect instead of increasing the time between groups OR being strict with the groups early in the day that cause the backlog, they drive around reminding you to keep up, even if you are sat behind another group and can do nothing about the pace of play?

Sounds perfectly sensible to me :rofl:

[Anthony]

So let me see if I have this correct........they book the course solid with gaps between tee times that they perceive as sufficient to allow you to progress around the course in the prescribed time. When this proves incorrect instead of increasing the time between groups OR being strict with the groups early in the day that cause the backlog, they drive around reminding you to keep up, even if you are sat behind another group and can do nothing about the pace of play?

Sounds perfectly sensible to me :rofl:

How about just teaching people to play in 3.5 hours.

How many people would book good courses that enforced a 3.5 hour round????:rolleyes:

[Big Shooter]

Its a shame really, I do like the course but won't play there anymore do to what you describe... They cram the course full of golfers, making everyone wait at every hole and then have marshalls pushing people to go faster. Kinda ruins the day IMO...

No problems (at most courses) If you don't have to play at 'peak' times! :cool:

[mccho]

I'm playing Maples of Ballantrae for the first time on Friday - any tips........

It was definitely a worth while course to play last year. They raised the green fee by 40%. Not worth the drive. Why not pay 5 dollars more for a round at Westview where they actually take care of the greens and where your putts will not experience the bumpy (more like asphalt on roads) greens.

[mizuno_mp37]

It was definitely a worth while course to play last year. They raised the green fee by 40%. Not worth the drive. Why not pay 5 dollars more for a round at Westview where they actually take care of the greens and where your putts will not experience the bumpy (more like asphalt on roads) greens.

I thoroughly enjoyed West view when I played it a couple of years ago. We did a twilight round (after 4pm) for something like 40 bucks. Good value.

[golf101]

Its hard to ignore marshalls when you are harassed on nearly every hole, even though there is no room to move in front of you and you finish the round in less than four hours. Seemed reasonable to me considering the suggested time to complete a round there is like 4h15m or something.

I hear you. Some marshalls are just plain fools. I just ignore them most always as i make sur emy group keeps up etc...

I understand your frustration though so my advice is to ignore them.

[reincarnated]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention -- they threatened to kick us off the course because of slow play as well, even though we were waiting on approach shots.

[jayda]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention -- they threatened to kick us off the course because of slow play as well, even though we were waiting on approach shots.

I thought we had a thread for rude marshalls :confused: and I mentioned they push our group (first tee tiem 6:30am) to finish within 4 hrs - just because there's a 3some behind us! :mad:

[Big Shooter]

"...experience the bumpy (more like asphalt on roads) greens..."

Nuthin' like a little EXAGGERATION to make a point!? :(
...they were fine when we played last week, and we played for $45 all-in including cart at 1pm on Wednesday! ;)

[Anthony]

Yes I forgot LMG, which I like, however Ballantrae is a walking course and $30 would be a very fair walking rate.....

[mizuno_mp37]

Nuthin' like a little EXAGGERATION to make a point!? :(
...they were fine when we played last week, and we played for $45 all-in including cart at 1pm on Wednesday! ;)

It's costing us $88 inc tax and cart - sounds like we were done :(

[Big Shooter]

It's costing us $88 inc tax and cart - sounds like we were done :(

Next Time, TRY THIS: http://www.golflogic.ca/376-Maples_Of_Ballantrae.html :)

[mizuno_mp37]

For everyone who warned about the course ranger at Ballantrae.....YOU WERE RIGHT!!!!!!

OMG - We were waiting on every hole but that didn't stop him coming up to us on the 6th tee (where we had been for about 5 mins waiting for the group in front) and telling us that we had to "get a move on because we were heading for a 6 hour round and we really needed to pick up the pace of play".

I politely pointed out that perhaps he would like to explain just how we could go any faster when we were waiting on every shot but to no avail. He just repeated that we really really needed to speed up and then he drove off.

What a joke........it took us 5 hours and 10 minutes to play. I don't think I will go back there again.

[bythehour]

For everyone who warned about the course ranger at Ballantrae.....YOU WERE RIGHT!!!!!!

OMG - We were waiting on every hole but that didn't stop him coming up to us on the 6th tee (where we had been for about 5 mins waiting for the group in front) and telling us that we had to "get a move on because we were heading for a 6 hour round and we really needed to pick up the pace of play".

I politely pointed out that perhaps he would like to explain just how we could go any faster when we were waiting on every shot but to no avail. He just repeated that we really really needed to speed up and then he drove off.

What a joke........it took us 5 hours and 10 minutes to play. I don't think I will go back there again.

We made it around in 4:50, teed off at 12:55pm yesterday. It really slowed up between the 6th and the 15th holes. We had to wait on every shot....

I thought the starter and the marshall (with the yellow cap and large glasses?) very friendly. The marshall came by a few times in the back nine to shoot the breeze and tell jokes while we were waiting on the tee box.

[mizuno_mp37]

The starter was fine but it was the marshall that I didn't appreciate. Although to be fair he never came back all through the back 9 when we continued to wait. Still, I don't consider over 5 hours an acceptable duration for a relatively short and unchallenging layout.

[bythehour]

The course is short, and not a challenge...if you shoot straight :)

The tall trees lining fairways and dense underbrush make errant shots a hassle.

I think it plays slow because of ball hunting. Ban ball hunting, and we might see a 3.5 hour round...

[Big Shooter]

The course is short, and not a challenge...if you shoot straight :)

The tall trees lining fairways and dense underbrush make errant shots a hassle.

I think it plays slow because of ball hunting. Ban ball hunting, and we might see a 3.5 hour round...

um , this 'logic' applies to MOST COURSES!!! :cool: