Anybody here live on a golf course ?

[Perry Holbrook]

If you live on a golf course where people are in your back yard throughout the day, I'd like to know what your experiences have been. I'm going to build a modified par 3 course on the 5 acres in front of the new house. My plan was to only have it for personal use, but as I have discussed it with people I meet here, it's clearly possible I may want to allow others the chance to play it. While I would never turn it into a real pay for play thing, I just wonder how invasive you feel when you have people playing in your back yard from time to time.

[Tom M King]

Who is going to fix all the divots?

[Jim Becker]

Along the lines of what Tom mentions, there's a huge amount of maintenance required to keep something like that nice and it's daily in some cases.

That said, personally haven't lived on one but my previous inlaws did for awhile. They didn't have too much problem, although every once in awhile an errant shot might hit the house or the pool. Folks playing were generally respectful, but they were also advised when they paid their fees that it was a residential golf community and courtesy was expected.

[Perry Holbrook]

I know how crazy it sounds, but the reason I'm doing this is to help reduce the maintenance on maintaining 5 acres of landscaped lawn. As I said it is a modified course. Little hard to explain , but I'll try. The one and only green is artificial grass. Scattered over the 5 acres are 7 native grass areas totaling about 2 acres. These areas will have native flowers and grasses that require very little maintenance. They will be treated as "hazard" areas (think of them as 7 small ponds). Around the natural/hazard areas will be common bermuda grass which will need normal mowing. Scattered in the bermuda "fairways" will be 10 tee boxes/ landing areas. These areas may or may not have fake grass mats, depending on how bad the divots are. Tee shots will range from 30 yards to 160 yards.

You can make it into an 18 hole course by hitting from one tee box area to another than back to the green. Any number of ways to put together a round.

Anyway, that's my idea. I just didn't want to plant it in fescue and let it grow for hay for the neighbor cattle farmer or have to mow it for a standard looking lawn. Just want something a little different that takes some thought. I think it's a good idea, but will admit it's hard for some to see my vision, especially non-golfers.

[Tom M King]

Will the hole/holes always be on the same place on the green? How long is the longest shot?

[Perry Holbrook]

I plan to have 5 or 6 hole locations on the green, pretty much like any practice putting green. Longest shot will be around 160 yds.

[Tom M King]

I think you will get bored with it fairly quickly. Longest club a 9 iron, and the green will get like the back of your hand.

5 acres is really not that much to mow with the right mower. We have several times that much here, and all of it is Bermuda, or similar. 5 acres would be a little over an hour if it’s all not nice and flat.

[Tom M King]

6’ cut mower that can go 14 mph cuts the flat acre and a half in front of our house in less than 15 minutes. It’s graded really smoothly though, since it used to be our jumping ring.

[Tom M King]

We’re lucky enough to have a nice golf course a couple of miles from our place though, but any golf would be better than none.

[Jim Koepke]

I know how crazy it sounds, but the reason I'm doing this is to help reduce the maintenance on maintaining 5 acres of landscaped lawn.

If anything a golf course is likely to cause "the maintenance on maintaining" to increase.

Golfers do not want to play on dead grass or bare ground. You will need to have sprinklers.

The golfers are not going to mow the grass for you.

You might also want to check with your insurance agent. Broken windows are likely to happen.

jtk

[Stan Calow]

Insurance!

People get hurt on golf courses.
A cousin had a house on a golf course in NM. He had to put up a giant net to deflect the errant balls. Back of the house had many dings and dents on siding, even though it should not have been in the line of fire. He hated it, and said he got no pleasure out of being that close.

[Alan Lightstone]

Lived on one for 21 years. Expect a few broken windows. And in 21 years, no one ever knocked on the door saying they broke our window / french doors. Cars hit with golf balls, neighbors hit with golf balls. I've seen it all.

I'd collect balls on our lawn that people hit and couldn't find. There were hundreds per year (and this is for about 100 ft x 35 feet of lawn. Pretty small.)

My favorite was when I'd see people hit balls onto our lawn (out-of-bounds on the course), and move the ball acting like they found it inbounds. Every once in a while I'd shout (he's out of bounds). Always a crown pleaser. And dumping 100 balls on the fairway in the landing area was always a crowd pleaser. But I digress.

Unlimited maintenance on a golf course. When you call up the USGA asking for advice on how to have a lawn like a golf course in your back yard, supposedly their response always is "Don't do it!!"

[Dave Anderson NH]

The biggest question becomes how long it will be before you get really really really tired of the maintenance? Then how hard will it be to wean yourself and more importantly others away from expecting you to continue "their" golf course.

[Roger Feeley]

I had the best of all worlds fora while. My house backed up to a 9 hole course that had been abandoned. Basically, I had a 9 acre zoysia back yard. Maintenance was pretty easy and all the neighbors pitched in. We didn’t do anything with the green because that might attract golfers. We mowed the fairway three or four times a year. We also sprayed with some herbicide once a year. It was great for pickup touch football games and general running around.

[Tom M King]

I had a driving range in a pasture we weren't using for the horses. There was a local guy I hired, who didn't have his bubble between the lines, but loved to cut grass with a riding mower. The ball picker pulled behind that mower. I'd have him pick up the balls as another job on top of cutting the grass. That worked really good until one day he got smart, and decided he could save time by cutting grass at the same time that he picked up balls. Fortunately, all the balls were cheap reconditioned ones.

[Perry Holbrook]

Thanks for all the encouragement. We layed out the hazard areas today, will start the seed bed prep for the very expensive native wildflower and grasses seed tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing my native meadow come to life. Bermuda seed goes down late May. The green comes next year.

[Bill Dufour]

My cousin bought a house that backs onto a golf course. After the first year the insurance agent called and cancelled the broken window and tile roof insurance portion.
Bill D

[Clifford McGuire]

To answer your first question...we moved to a house on a course about 18 months ago. It's on the side of a tee box, so we don't get balls hit into our yard.

But we do have people milling around, waiting to hit their shot. It's maybe 40 feet from the lot line to the tee. So, we can hear them and they can hear us. The worst is some of the comments when I'm grilling. If I hear one more "What time will it be ready?" it will be too soon. We will look into some screening, perhaps a tall hedge.

The course is closed from Nov - mid April, so that's great!

I knew those things going into the purchase. Otherwise, it's a great house.

[Jim Koepke]

The worst is some of the comments when I'm grilling. If I hear one more "What time will it be ready?" it will be too soon.

Yell back, "It will be done when you take three strokes to get out of the sand trap on the 7th hole." (or other hole depending on where you are on the course)

This will jinx enough of them they will spread the word about the guy grilling in his back yard casting sand trap spells to wise butt golfers.

jtk

[Alan Lightstone]

And if you live next to a tee, you won't get hit with golf balls, but trust me, you will here a lot of obscenities after poor shots.

[Kev Williams]

And if you live next to a tee, you won't get hit with golf balls...

--you haven't seen ME golf... ;)

[Jim Koepke]

And if you live next to a tee, you won't get hit with golf balls

Having been a caddy at one time I can tell you that is no defense against someone with a wicked hook or slice.

One time standing behind a golfer addressing his ball, his shot hit me ~30 yards away. He seemed mad at me because it gave his ball a terrible lie and he would have been better off if his ball had gone out of bounds.

jtk

[Michael Schuch]

A friend bought a house with 30 acres and a DIY golf course on it. The previous owner had a donation box to help defray the cost of the up keep. The local golf course had him (the previous owner) shut down because they believed it took away from their profits. Just something to look into/consider.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Anybody here live on a golf course ? (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?297384-Anybody-here-live-on-a-golf-course)
No...but I did pass out in a cow pasture once...

[Clifford McGuire]

Yell back, "It will be done when you take three strokes to get out of the sand trap on the 7th hole." (or other hole depending on where you are on the course)

This will jinx enough of them they will spread the word about the guy grilling in his back yard casting sand trap spells to wise butt golfers.

jtk

:D:D

We're considering putting a 'Swear Jar' at the edge of our property. Partly as a joke. But it's the older (60+) people that do most of the cussing. Women are as bad as the men.

It's entertaining watching them rolling up in the carts. Choosing a club form their $1000 set, take out their visual distance finder, take 5 practice strokes.........


....and then barely hit it to the ladies tee.

[Brian Elfert]

:D:D
It's entertaining watching them rolling up in the carts. Choosing a club form their $1000 set, take out their visual distance finder, take 5 practice strokes.........


There is no shortage of players in pretty much any "sport" that think that buying a bunch of gadgets is going to compensate for their lack of ability. Manufacturers love the money they make selling all those gadgets.

[Dave Anderson NH]

True enough Brian. Woodworkers are not immune from that "disease."

[Derek Meyer]

--you haven't seen ME golf... ;)

I played golf years ago with some friends that were just getting into the game. One guy teed off, and the ball went straight right....BEHIND all the people on the driving range and into the pond on the other side. He must have it it 10 yards forward and 100 yards straight right.

The course I grew up playing on had houses along some of the holes, and there was no shortage of CRRRRRACCKKKs as someone would pull one off the tee and smack a house. Most people had impact glass on the windows that faced the course. I did see one guy hit a ball that went into someones garage, as they had their door open. I don't know if it did any damage to anything in there.