Golf Cart and Pull Cart Etiquette

I remember back to "the streak" when Cal Ripken Jr. played almost his entire career without missing a game.  Here in the world of Highland Meadows Grounds Department, we have a streak of our own.  I call it the "consecutive grounds committee meetings where members bitch about where other members drive their carts/pull carts" streak.  I think we are somewhere in the low 200's with this streak at last check.



At a club as busy as ours, cart traffic and even foot traffic can become a very real barrier to course conditions and playability.  Carts and foot traffic cause turf health issues, aesthetic issues and playability issues. While many members seem to think I police the daily play, I don't see nearly as many offenses as members do. The only real way I can help is by directing traffic with ropes, stakes, and signs and most importantly - educating.  I have written newsletters, blog posts, and even contemplated hiring a skywriter on a busy Saturday to get the word out, but players continue to place carts where they shouldn't.  



And now for something completely different -  I have a video.  In an effort to continue my due diligence towards better understanding in cart rules and etiquette, I have tapped the information available from the USGA's "Fore the Golfer" series of videos.  While a bit cheesy and obvious at times (I'm pretty sure they resurrected the narrator from every 1950's era educational video to do the voice work) , they do a decent job of illustrating some of our core cart traffic principles.  Also,  If everyone thought about just these few core principles, the course would look better and I could save about 20 minutes in every committee meeting.