Justinvw

If I had spent any more than the $17 plus convenience fees on a hot deal through Golf Now, I would have requested a refund. My experience was on par for the low cost of the round.

I arrived at 10:40a for a 11:30 tee time and checked in at the club house. The employee informed me that my tee time was a foursome, and I asked if there was a possibility of going off earlier. He told me they were booked up and suggested going to the driving range to kill time. Wow, there were foursomes booked straight for an entire hour? I guess good for them, but hard to believe.

Being my first time playing Lane Creek and seeing carts in multiple locations, I asked where I should get a cart from and he said to wait until 11:15a to get a cart because he wasn't sure that there were enough for the tee times before me. What?! How are there not enough carts to get you until noon, let alone 11:30?

I went to the range and made it back to the office at 11:20 to get a cart. I asked if the other three had checked in yet and he told me I had just missed them walking out. I asked if they had carts or anything yet and the employee couldn't tell me anything. He just told me to grab a cart and meet them and the starter at the first hole. I grab my bag and a cart to arrive to the first tee at 11:25a to see a foursome starting down the fairway and no starter in sight. I yell out asking them what tee time they had with them replying 11:30. Confused that it was a foursome for my tee time, not wanting to make it a fivesome, I let them go and started back to the clubhouse to sort out the miscommunication. The starter pulls around the corner in a cart and I catch him up to speed. His sheet still has my name as one of the four for 11:30, but I reiterate that he (or his absence) just let four tee off claiming they were the 11:30. The guy has one job. Starter calls the front office to sort things out and nobody has a good reason how there's a foresome teeing off early when I was still clearly scheduled to be one of the four. Either the fourth guy didn't pay with the starter not checking, the front office booked five, or somebody just took upon themselves to jump into someone else's tee time.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, Lane Creek. I arrive almost an hour early, told to wait for my tee time, have the others for my tee time tee off early (wit his an additional person mind you) causing me to miss the tee time, all due to mismanagement by staff. This kind of confusion can easily be avoided.

The cart: seats wet from the rain the night prior, dirt in the floor board, trash in the cup holders and cubbies, steering wheel had graffiti on it and the scorecard holder was broken off, and the parking break didnt work causing me to have to park it in odd positions to ensure it didn't roll away. Is there no once over given to this carts the morning of? I understand if they're washed the night prior and staged for the next day, but there needs to be better oversight and due diligence.

The course: cart paths were rough to say the least (missing sections throughout, large puddles and mud pits throughout, huge cracks, roots coming through, some parts were so bumpy and unlevel they caused me to be almost thrown from the cart). The fairways were in rough condition with visible tire tracks and worn spots from heavy cart traffic throughout...sometimes right up to the green (most likely from people knowing to avoid the cart paths altogether). Tee boxes weren't blown off, debris was everywhere on them and the blue tees had been set a yard from the back edge of the box. Greens were very bumpy and inconsistent. I found cigarette butts consistently throughout the course. No indication for pin placement on the scorecard or given by staff which made play difficult for a first time guest. There's not even a course map on the scorecard.

Even though this is one of the more reasonably priced courses in the Athens area, I wouldn't pay full price to play here again from my experience today...it would be tough to justify taking advantage of another discounted rate even.