luv2golf1954

Played here 2 years ago and enjoyed it. At that time we all decided to grab some breakfast before playing. Our food took an inordinate length of time to the extent that we didn't have time to warm up on the range. This year we teed off at 9;12. I am always curious about pace of play and I noted that we played the front 9 in 1 hour and 58 minutes. Two of our players each ordered a hot dog. It took 15 minutes. Half way down the 10th fairway the marshal came by and told us we were 2 holes behind. I pointed out to him our time for the first nine and that getting a hot dog at the turn delayed us. It didn't matter to him, he just said 'pick it up'. We played the back nine in 1 hour and 51 minutes. We're not slow. After, we went into the pro shop to pay for a 'replay'. The one and only pro shop employee was on the telephone for ten minutes and it was clear to us that this was not a business related call. He was in no hurry to take care of us. We patiently waited. We teed off and right from the get/go it was slow going. On the 3rd tee we waited 15 minutes. We got to the 4th tee, a par 3, and there were 4 groups on the hole. The same marshal came by and I will say, we gave him the business back. We were on pace for a 5 1/2 hour round and he was seemingly incapable of getting the slow groups to get moving. The operation has kinks...look in the mirror. From a hospitality standpoint TPC Champions misses the mark. Too bad, it's a good golf course. They need to know they need to work on all aspects of the experience.

Let me first say that we enjoy the course, the greens are good, love the after golf set up. We played here 2 years ago when in town for golf. This year we played two days at McDowell Mtn. We teed off the first day at 12:30. The group we were behind took 15 minutes from their 2nd shots just to get to the green. As we were waiting, the marshal (Norman) came by and I gave him a heads up that if the group in front of us continued at this pace, it would make for a long day. He said he really didn't want to say anything as it was just the first hole. Eventually the pace picked up some and we were enjoying our round of golf. On the 15th tee we were approached by Norman at which time he asked if we would skip a hole. He said he was concerned that a few groups, several holes behind us (who by the way were members), would not be able to complete their rounds before sundown. We politely declined. The more we thought about it, we got a little upset about that notion. It's not our fault that the people behind us didn't get earlier tee times. And the fact that they were members suggests to me that they know when the sun goes down, so don't gripe about now having adequate time for your round. But most importantly, why should we have to cut our golf short. We paid our fees. We played again 2 days later with good pace of play and got 36 holes in.