Sneaking onto a private course
 

I have 6 full 18 hole private courses within 2 miles of where I live, and one of the posts in the 'Google Golf' thread got me thinking...

What advice/experience do you people have sneaking onto a course? I'll go putt in the dark, that's easy. But if you were going to sneak on and play a hole or two, how late do you wait?

And any good stories about getting arrested, chased off, etc?

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

Really depends on how crowded the course is. There's a private course near me that I regularly play pretty much whenever because it's absolutely empty.

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If you're young enough you can try going on Monday and pretend you're a caddy. Not sure how closely they check.

I Can hit off the grass range at a local club with no one bothering me.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

Once your on and playing I can't see anybody bothering you.

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go practice late one evening around 630 or so and just putt and chip or w/e and scope out when the starters leave or when other ppl start going off the 1st hole w/o anyone questioning them

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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If you're young enough you can try going on Monday and pretend you're a caddy. Not sure how closely they check.

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I can't speak for other courses, but at the country club I caddy at, you just write your name down. There's a guy watching to make sure nobody plays without signing the list, but he has no interaction with the caddies(other than when they play golf) so he has no idea who's a caddy and who isn't.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

I play a three hole loop by my house all the time. Great fun. No one has ever said a word. I just do it an hour before dark.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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The operating policies of 2+2 set forth the rules that govern your activity on the 2+2 website. While using 2+2 website, you may not post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, profane, or otherwise objectionable information of any kind; including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international laws.

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Well, we all discuss how to make monetary transfers to online gambling sites, so I'm not sure how closely that policy is adhered to on this website. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I can understand it holding when talking about underground clubs, underage gambling, etc., but playing a private course after hours is a right of passage. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

Very lame.

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Did Bi-Tor seriously quote this site's T&C in an attempt to say the OP is breaking the rules here? What a tard.

I live on a decent course, luckily on the third hole so usually it's empty a couple of hours before sunset as the final groups have gone through. I have no problem going out there to practice and never get bothered - hell, some of the time I walk the flagstick over to the kid picking them up. People go for walks and walk their dogs on this part of the course regularly around sunset. Bottom line, if you're not doing anything that looks like it's harming the course they'll leave you alone. The kids are making like $8/hour anyway, what do they care?

However, this isn't in the spirit of the thread as the course is only semi-private. Not sure how much more aggressively private courses go after harmless trespassing like that though...

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

hypocrite

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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Did Bi-Tor seriously quote this site's T&C in an attempt to say the OP is breaking the rules here? What a tard.


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Maybe By_Tard can quote for us the local, state, or federal laws that I would be breaking? Or perhaps point me to civil litigation from "sneaking onto a private course". He really only went halfway to making a legit point.

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when you trespass onto private property, do you still need to count all your strokes?

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SAYING what others are thinking

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I beg to differ.

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when you trespass onto private property, do you still need to count all your strokes?

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foot tapping...still waiting.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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However, this isn't in the spirit of the thread as the course is only semi-private. Not sure how much more aggressively private courses go after harmless trespassing like that though...



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My trespassing policy would be easy: shoot to kill [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

Racers that would be murder. At least 2nd degree.

By-tor - you can count your strokes or not. It's not like you're playing a full round and reporting it to USGA handicap. If you're not too bad of a hack you're not going to damage the course - and most people do this a couple times only. Like an earlier poster said, it's kind of a rite of passage.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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when you trespass onto private property, do you still need to count all your strokes?

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not surprised people don't want to answer this question since the answer makes you look very bad.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

why?

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when you trespass onto private property, do you still need to count all your strokes?

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not surprised people don't want to answer this question since the answer makes you look very bad.

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The laws of golf are more important, and must be adhered to more strictly, than the laws of man.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

I have never snuck on to a private course.
However in my younger days when my moral compass was not fully developed we did sneak on to our share of public courses.

My grandmother lived on a golf course and owned a golf cart. Since it was a retirement community in AZ, everybody closed down the pro shop at 3:00 PM because it was too hot for the old folks to play in the summer.

My brother and I used to take Grandma's cart and play as many holes as we wanted and would not see a soul. Granted we looked very out of place being 16 and the average age was 65.

Our other scam was a golf course where the first hole was out of the line of sight from the pro shop. Two of us would walk in to pay for a round and request separate carts so we could play faster. Then we would meet our other two friends on the first tee and play as a foursome.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

I was once meeting some guys at a cheap 9 hole course I had never played before. I turn onto the road where the course is supposed to be and I see golf holes on my left so I pull into the parking lot. Don't see the guys, so I head over to the putting green. Starter comes over to me and we start talking, he then asks me if I would like a caddy or a cart. I look him in the eye and say...

"I must have the wrong course." Closest I ever came.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

about 6 years ago i caddied for a friend at a AJGA tournament. We were juniors in HS at the time and i didnt play poker or have a job back then. The tourney was at copperstone or something in tampa or jacksonville, there was a resort course and the normal course so early evenign we sneak on to the course and are having a blast, the course is immaculate, reminded me of watching the masters and seeing augusta. so after about 5 holes a ranger approaches us and in a loud stern voice says" That will be $350 per person" we were stunned, worried, scared everythign for about 20 seconds till he laughed, told us to finsih the hole and get off the course.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

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[censored] you evan.

golf is based primarily on the honor system. if you want to play for free, go to the practice area.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

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[censored] you evan.

golf is based primarily on the honor system. if you want to play for free, go to the practice area.

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Golf is based on the ideal of hitting something around on public lands by royal decree open to all, even commoners. The originators of the game didn't have to sneak onto [censored] but it was open and free to all.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

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[censored] you evan.

golf is based primarily on the honor system. if you want to play for free, go to the practice area.

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Based on this and a PM exchange I banned him for 2 days. Lesson: Don't be an effing dick here.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

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Amen! We don't tolerate not tolerating trespassing! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[censored] you evan.

golf is based primarily on the honor system. if you want to play for free, go to the practice area.

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Based on this and a PM exchange I banned him for 2 days. Lesson: Don't be an effing dick here.

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Amen! We don't tolerate not tolerating trespassing!

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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Amen! We don't tolerate not tolerating trespassing!

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As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

At the place I caddied at the pros and the caddy master pretty much know every person that plays the course, so if they saw someone they didn't recognize they would definitely question them. (which I've never seen happen) So it would only work on this course if you just played holes that were out of sight from the clubhouse.

But on my local public course it would be super easy to sneak on cuz there are no rangers and only a starter there some of the time.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

I don't post much--but wow, By-Tor is a complete f*cking douchebag.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

If you are really adventurous, just walk up to the course like you know what you are doing and walk to the first tee and tee off. Make sure to wave to people and maybe even into the proshop as you walk by. There are plenty of members that get forgotten and a lot of workers, except for the douchey ones, really can't remember exactly who everyone is and don't really care to find out. Just make sure to be dressed very appropriately and don't get in anyones way or play at a busy time.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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If you are really adventurous, just walk up to the course like you know what you are doing and walk to the first tee and tee off. Make sure to wave to people and maybe even into the proshop as you walk by. There are plenty of members that get forgotten and a lot of workers, except for the douchey ones, really can't remember exactly who everyone is and don't really care to find out. Just make sure to be dressed very appropriately and don't get in anyones way or play at a busy time.

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At the course I used to work at this method would work about 0% of the time. This isn't to say it would never work, but I'd be careful about picking your spots.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

yeah you definitely have to have the right club to try this. In my area, most of the private clubs don't take tee times except for during really busy times like on saturday/sunday morning and such. If the club has a starter, this is a no go.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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At the course I used to work at this method would work about 0% of the time. This isn't to say it would never work, but I'd be careful about picking your spots.

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No doubt it's club-dependent. But still, I've walked onto plenty of private courses without being questioned (it's uncouth of a country club's employees to grill its guests, which is to the trespasser's advantage), and always believed that I could have my way with the facilities on more than one of these occasions.

For example, I show up, they check my clubs, put them on a cart, I go to the driving range, then eventually proceed to a nearby hole or the 10th tee or whatever. Even if I get caught it's not like they're gonna call the cops, most clubs are too big for anyone to figure this out, and if I'm pleasant enough I'm not likely to get interrogated. Such is my take on a couple of the places here, anyway.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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No doubt it's club-dependent. But still, I've walked onto plenty of private courses without being questioned (it's uncouth of a country club's employees to grill its guests, which is to the trespasser's advantage), and always believed that I could have my way with the facilities on more than one of these occasions.

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I worked as a caddy and bag room attendant at a country club through high school and college; here is how I would imagine your situation playing out:

_you walking down to the staging area with you bag_

"good afternoon sir, may I take that for you? who will you be playing with today?"

"oh, I'm Mr. X, I'll just be playing a few holes by myself"

"of course Mr X" _putting bag on cart_

go into bag room, check the list of names with storage (since I didn't recognize him or the name, and we need to keep track of who's playing even if we don't take reservations, and I don't want to misspell it or anything), see that Mr X isn't listed, get annoyed.

go to the starter shed, look at membership book to see if you have a country club membership rather than a golf membership (since i would have seen approximately zero of those people before), see that you are again not listed.

tell the starter what's going on and have him go over and make sure I didn't mishear your name before throwing you out.

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on the other hand, our clubhouse and the first and 18th holes were on one side of the road, with 2-17 across it ... if you snuck onto 2, you would almost never get caught.

edited to add:

fwiw, we had about 350 golf members, i probably recognized 250 or so by face and almost all of the rest by name, and about 50 by the car they drove to drop off and pick up clubs.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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No doubt it's club-dependent. But still, I've walked onto plenty of private courses without being questioned (it's uncouth of a country club's employees to grill its guests, which is to the trespasser's advantage), and always believed that I could have my way with the facilities on more than one of these occasions.

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I worked as a caddy and bag room attendant at a country club through high school and college; here is how I would imagine your situation playing out:

_you walking down to the staging area with you bag_

"good afternoon sir, may I take that for you? who will you be playing with today?"

"oh, I'm Mr. X, I'll just be playing a few holes by myself"

"of course Mr X" _putting bag on cart_

go into bag room, check the list of names with storage (since I didn't recognize him or the name, and we need to keep track of who's playing even if we don't take reservations, and I don't want to misspell it or anything), see that Mr X isn't listed, get annoyed.

go to the starter shed, look at membership book to see if you have a country club membership rather than a golf membership (since i would have seen approximately zero of those people before), see that you are again not listed.

tell the starter what's going on and have him go over and make sure I didn't mishear your name before throwing you out.

___________________________


on the other hand, our clubhouse and the first and 18th holes were on one side of the road, with 2-17 across it ... if you snuck onto 2, you would almost never get caught.

edited to add:

fwiw, we had about 350 golf members, i probably recognized 250 or so by face and almost all of the rest by name, and about 50 by the car they drove to drop off and pick up clubs.

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I worked with Ed and I agree. I don't know how big/small the membership there is relative to other clubs, but I'd say that those 250 people who we knew by name, face and reasonable familiarity made up 97% of the rounds of golf played. When someone was there that we didn't recognize they would stand out on that fact alone.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

edtost, Evan,

No doubt it's club dependent. I'm just going off of my experiences.

For example, a couple of months ago I played at a private CC that was allowing reciprocity to another club since that club had a tournament. I showed up, dropped my bag off at the valet, parked, and walked out to my cart where the bag was. I proceeded to the range, hit balls, and went back to the first tee. At no point did anybody ask me who I was or why I was there, and the range is adjacent to a series of holes I could have just jumped on.

Furthermore, I was playing as someone else and his member number at the other club in order to gain access to this course. As no member was required to play with me so long as I was a member of the other one, I could have given a bogus name and member number and off I went.

Anyway, I just see a lot of potential loopholes is all. The very next day I went to the club that was hosting the tournament to see the horse race. I wasn't a member nor guest but I parked, grabbed a cart and drove out to the event without anyone stopping me. This also got me access to the drink cart, which was open bar haha, and the dinner afterwards, where I started to feel a bit guilty so left. I just think that some clubs are disinclined to interrogate people which opens the door to them getting away with stuff.

Re: Sneaking onto a private course
 

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By-Tor, stop dude. Yes it's illegal, we get it. If Mat or Mason has a problem with it then it can stop, but based on the other stuff people are allowed to talk about it makes no sense to censor this. Stop trolling.

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Amen! We don't tolerate not tolerating trespassing! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[censored] you evan.

golf is based primarily on the honor system. if you want to play for free, go to the practice area.

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Based on this and a PM exchange I banned him for 2 days. Lesson: Don't be an effing dick here.

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Amen! We don't tolerate not tolerating trespassing!

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Smiles