Ball Tube

[Hole 19]

The current rumours are that the ball tube will go..in favour of the computerised tee time.I personally believe the ball tube is a great idea, I waited nearly an hour for the comp yesterday , but it gives you time to chat and get to know the members with a fair smattering of humour flying around, the reason for this topic is last week I invited 2 guests to the club , ball in the tube Nos 3, the ball in front of me(nos 2) was retrived and 9 members appeared on the tee box, and you wonder why the ball tube might go ..I rest my case.

[kevnixon]

Fair point but a lot of members play before/after work and have young families and are on tight time scales and can't afford to wait an hour to even begin a round

[daveconway]

I hope the the tube does go, it seems to be the wish of the majority. certainly most of the hour or so spent "chatting" is taken up with complaining about an antiquated, unwanted system and i would suspect most people sometimes struggle to find the time to play a round let alone stand around wasting up to 90minutes. DOWN WITH THE TUBE!!!!!

[kevnixon]

Down with the tube I like that. How about a vote on the matter? On the idea of start sheets I know a lot of clubs are moving to an online system. Tyneside for example

[Hole 19]

The ball tube is abused on a regular basis...fact...and I,m telling you now that the online system will be abused as well..it is at clubs with the system...fact....doesn't matter what happens whatever the club decides it wont keep everybody happy..fact...I will be happy with anything that works correctly...I am 100% behind the committee whichever system is put in place....I wait in anticipation for replies

[Johnny Miller]

I was at Burgham Park for many years, the last three of which were with the use of a very succesful online booking system. Members had the ability to book tee times a maximum of seven days in advance and were restricted to a single tee time per calender day. Competition tee times were booked on the same basis and had the added benefit of giving visibility of two ball pairings which a single player could then add his name two and be sure that he/she would be able to play in that competition at a specified time and not simply turn up and sit on a bench in the rain hoping that they may get a game. (Which incidentally I will be doing on Saturday afternoon, since my son has buckled his knee, unless someone has sympathy and calls me on 07505583338 to save me getting wet for nothing:-)

Of course there will be a few who attempt to manipulate any system to suit themselves, but on the whole surely it is better to have a competition that is organised so that even players whose normal partners are unavailable can still arrange themselves a slot in advance and not waste their time hoping for a game.

Personally I have found that the only real problem with the ball tube has been on Saturdays, when I have seen up to 13 groups waiting to tee off, and a couple of times, though less acutely, late on Wednesday afternoon when their is a midweek event on.

I agree with the earlier comment that the only benefit in waiting around on a Saturday afternoon is that you can confirm that you are not the only ome berating the ball tube on competition days, so on that basis why not introduce a system for competition use only in the first instance. From that we should be able to gauge a true appraisal of it's merits.

[Hole 19]

I fully agree with you JM ,I have heard the system at Burgham does work very well , and your final paragraph is put very well and to the point.The club will probably come under criticism no matter what they decide,they cannot keep everybody happy. I wish them well in whatever they decide.

[supersonic0asis]

All very fair points, and the general feeling is that whatever is put in place there are going to be flaws with the system, i guess it is a case of the one with the least wins. The idea of the online booking will have a positive impact on those who may avoid the situation of turning up and trying to find a playing partner or group to enter the competition with and therefore may find it much easier to join a group online possibly increasing the amount of competitors in the competition which cant be a bad thing.

[dbainbridge]

Last season we had 2 trial Starting Sheet "Fridays" average of 20 people at each , on those 2 competitions numerous "scratches"on the starting sheet .

Committee asked all members to write in either in favor or not regarding keeping ball tube, 36 in favor 5 against .

Members just recently asked to respond to whether or not they wished a new method of starting comps out of 160 returned votes almost 60% voted to keep system we currently and for many many years use now .

No online booking system will increase competitor numbers .

Surely the "FACTS " above prove that the large majority of members " new and old" wish to retain the current system .

[kevnixon]

I dont recall being offered such a vote? I think the issue is that the average age of the club is very high hence there are a lot of retired members who are happy to turn up at whatever to time and have a chat before their game. As posted before a lot of members who work haven't got the time nor luxury to do this. I honestly can't see how hard it would be to add your name to a start time be it by phone, online or in person for any member. We need to move with the times as a club.

[member4891]

I believe that a 'happy medium' would be the answer. Why not use the ball tube on normal playing days and introduce the booking system for competitions at weekends and mid-week medals etc?

[Johnny Miller]

That is exactly where I think we should go. I believe there should be some structure to competitions. As far as people scratching, as long as they do it within stipulated guidelines and not simply fail to turn up I don't see the issue. If you get a few who just don't bother then I'm sure a system of imposing a ban from competition for a given period could be implemented to deter the minority.

[dbainbridge]

'Kevin" you may not remember the vote but the 160 members who took tim to return the piece of paper did .

All full members pay the same subs , this is not a age issue , and would suggest after 6 years doing competitions and knowing the names of most of the "comp" players on a Sat that less than 10% are"retired" so lets put that theory to bed .

As to the complex thoughts of some members "with little or no time to hang around" I would not like to comment on there social / family timescale commitments.What i would say is that it is of little or no concern to other playing groups who managed to organize time to suit there sport.

As to the thoughts of "member 4891" the "problem " for some members only arises on a Competition Saturday .

Finally one last comment , would it not be a bad idea for all those posting on this forum to have their "name " on their profile rather than a "aka" .

[disco]

i voted to keep the ball tube cos it is better suited for our club and its members. as mentioned in the above posts the only busy times are saturday morning and even then from about 9:30 to 10:30 its quite quiet and wednesday nights when comps are on. it has been proved from past captains day's and club champs tht people cant abide to tee times set to them so theres not point at the end of the day


disco will NEVER reveal his true identity!!!! hahahhhaha

[kevnixon]

"bob" I would just like to say that you seem to have taken offence by my remarks regarding the age of our members. If that is the case I apologise it was not meant to cause offence. I was not aware of any vote rather than not being bothered to send the form in. I was just voicing the opinion of many members through my none "aka" username trying to use the forum in the way it was designed to be used. Unfortunately I have not been playing golf today as I was working at a football match (all members don't work weekdays 9 till 5 as your time management comments seem to imply). I will continue to tee off in competitions at 0630 am with my other "comp" mates in order to play a round of golf in less than 3.5 hours.
Again apologies for any offence caused