Rude Course Marshaller at MGBC

I believe we all at one point or another will come into contact with unfriendly marshaller at the golf course, but never will i ever dream of meeting one that is outrageously rude as this particular one at MBGC...

This was what happened today at MBGC...
This morning, i was in a 4-ball flight that teed-off from the 10th tee, we were the first flt and it was still dark with flood lights on. Behind us was a 3-ball flt (all female) playing off red tee, and after a while we found out there were no one behind those ladies. My flt mates consist a 8hcp, two 15hcp and a 20hcp, we played off Blue tee.

After completing the first hole while proceeding to the 11th tee, we were approached the first marshaller (malay chap) telling us to try to speed up play cuz we were already 2mins late - we were quite puzzled but b'cos he was polite, we unwillingly agreed to speed up our play, the time indicated on the buggy system was -- (dash - which means we are ok right?). During the next few holes, we tried every means to speed up play i.e. buggy mates split up to our respective balls, proceed when ready instead of abiding to the usual protocols etc. During this time, we were constantly pushed by the 3 ladies behind... this is why we tried to play as fast as we could, without impacting our game...

After completing hole 13 (par 3 island green), the 2nd marshaller (Chinese chap named James) came over and asked us to speed up, again. I immediately took a quick look at the system time and it indicated --! So out of curiosity we asked him why is he rushing us when we are on time and there weren't anyone behind the flt behind us? Not too sure what happened to this chap, maybe he had a bad morning or whatever... i remember clearly we queried why is he pushing us and also showed him that we are on time based on their system... the reply we got from him was that the system time is not accurate and we have no other option but to speed up play or else we will be issued with a warning letter or worst case banned from playing at MBGC. He even proceed to tell us that if we do not finish the game in 2hr 10mins, we will be kicked out of the course!?!? we felt kind of pissed and tried to reason with him, this is when he started to shout at us to follow his instruction and stop questioning him. He even gave his name and suggested that we complain to the management... One of my flt mates was pissed and told him that he should be polite and no matter what we are guests, then this chap started to point at my friend and shouted at him to proceed and follow his instructions, and blah blah blah, pointing his index finger at us every time speaks... what a jerk! he acted just like a guy asking for a fight at the kopitiam.. after a good 5mins exchange of "pleasantries", we decided to ignore this guy and continue game... my flt mates were really upset that we were treated this way.

We eventually finished the first 9 within 2hr 5mins, and ended our game by 1120am, which is what we usually take to finish 18 holes... after the game, we were contemplating if we should approach the manager and complain, but after some thoughts, we decided not to cuz we concluded that it will be useless and as usual, they will side their staffs...

Thinking back, i really felt that people with his kind of mannerism and mentality do not do justice to the rest of the staff at MBGC (not that they are extremely polite and helpful, although the lady in-charge of the locker counter was extremely polite and eloquent).

What would you guys do when you are met with such character? hmm... i do hope this is the first and last time we have to bear with such unpleasant experiences in a game we know as "a gentleman's game"...

Happy lunar new year to all and many birdies and eagles to come!

Simple.. STOMP him lor...

Bro, disappointed to learn abt it n felt fr u guys!
Golf is a game consisted on both mental n physical strength. Hence its such a pity the course management gets e wrong pple to operate e flow!
I will stop wherever hole I'm in n bring him to e office! Whether or nt a refund or re-proposg another date game, an apology is a must l!
If every flights tat he managed to get away, somehow some innocent chap wil still get his nonsense correct? So why needed to protect if u re damn right?

Use hp video his actions. Then post on YouTube!! Send video to straights time.

Marshalls like this should be given 1 x good good!!

Actually, what are d qualifications required to become a marshall .... with low handicap?

hwdq wrote:

Actually, what are d qualifications required to become a marshall .... with low handicap?

as long as you can tell time maybe?

then again from the happenings in this thread, maybe even that is not a criteria!

Played 18 at mbgc today afternoon ... we were consistantly 6-9 mins behind (due to the flights ahead of us) ... Dont think the marshalls intervened ... Still ended up finishing in just over 4 hrs!

A rude marshall should definately be complained against ... Management may decide to side with the marshall today, but after repeated complaints , management will eventually take some action!

I encourage you to write a note to management and get it on record!

Just curious cause I don't play in Singapore. What is the usual time taken to finish 18 holes here for a flight of 4?

If I were in your position, I would carry on my game without being bothered by him (as long as I am within the time limit). After the game, i would make a report to the management together with the rest of my flightmates to lodge an official complaint. Less than professional behavior from a marshall should not tolerated. They are there to assist the flow of game for all players but that does not mean they should be rude. Such bad behavior if gone unattended will only encourage more such bad behaviour in the future. Just my personal opinion.

That's MBGC for you.

I've had several encounters with these marshals where common sense obviously ain't common.

We are playing our game. Not slow, not fast either. No one behind us. No one in front of us. Yet the marshal will come along and ask us to speed up because we are not playing to the set timing. So, it forces us to be quick for the sake of being quick.

Like I said, we were not slow and we were maybe a minute or two behind our schedule but given that there was no one behind us (this was a weekday afternoon), what's the big rush? As it turns out, the next flight behind us was some 3 holes behind.

Oh well...

Honestly, if not for the lo hei game, I wudn't bother w that course too much.

Mickey mouse layout and said overzealous marshals w BA.

If it happens durin the 8th Feb game, I'm def complaining to mgmt.


Lease expiring soon rite?

Everyone's talking abt Keppel so I tot we shd turn our attention to them.

That is one course I dun have any affinity or fond memories of.

Technospaz wrote:

That's MBGC for you.

I've had several encounters with these marshals where common sense obviously ain't common.

We are playing our game. Not slow, not fast either. No one behind us. No one in front of us. Yet the marshal will come along and ask us to speed up because we are not playing to the set timing. So, it forces us to be quick for the sake of being quick.

Like I said, we were not slow and we were maybe a minute or two behind our schedule but given that there was no one behind us (this was a weekday afternoon), what's the big rush? As it turns out, the next flight behind us was some 3 holes behind.

Oh well...

my fastest 4 ball 18 hole is at MBGC.. 7am tee off finish by 11am...

I think keppel marshals are the friendliest i ever encounter .

Funny... Complain here but didn't complain to MBGC. Must complain lah... The guy even challenged you to complain already... Demand an explanation fr mgt why a staff is allowed to treat a paying guest this way?!

Write in and complain.

If there r several golfers complaining about this marshal then mgt should know who is right.

eiji wrote:

Technospaz wrote:

That's MBGC for you.

I've had several encounters with these marshals where common sense obviously ain't common.

We are playing our game. Not slow, not fast either. No one behind us. No one in front of us. Yet the marshal will come along and ask us to speed up because we are not playing to the set timing. So, it forces us to be quick for the sake of being quick.

Like I said, we were not slow and we were maybe a minute or two behind our schedule but given that there was no one behind us (this was a weekday afternoon), what's the big rush? As it turns out, the next flight behind us was some 3 holes behind.

Oh well...

my fastest 4 ball 18 hole is at MBGC.. 7am tee off finish by 11am...

LOL! Yeah... and we weren't even playing that fast. Had time to look for balls, tcss etc

Back to topic, lodge a formal complain to MBGC, regardless of what u guys feel at the end of the day, there will be others that will continue to suffer under this rude marshal.

eiji wrote:

Back to topic, lodge a formal complain to MBGC, regardless of what u guys feel at the end of the day, there will be others that will continue to suffer under this rude marshal.

I agree.

Getting people to follow course rules/timing is one thing. Doing so in a rude and unprofessional fashion is quite another.

Service std in Sg really...:FAIL!

Bro..having been on the receiving end of some pretty bizarre behaviour from over-zealous marshals myself, I can empathise with your experience. However, it is common for courses with GPS to be particular about slow play/keeping time. I guess it becomes a very obvious KPI for the marshals and caddies. With MBGC's lease running down, the marshals are probably getting a lot of heat from the management to drive efficiency and get a decent ROI. As much as I don't like to stand between a man and his pay-cheque, if this marshal threatened you, it would only be right if you gave some feedback to the management.

The strange thing about mbgc is that they will chase a flight even if there is no flight behind in sight. When I asked the marshal why he chase us, he used the maximum time rule on us and threatened to make us skip hole! When there is no one behind!

I mean, for goodness' sake, the time limit is there so that flights don't get slowed down by slow flights in front. I dont see what the problem is if the course is bloody empty.

Seriously, WTF man.

Ok rant over. Peace.

I guess the green fees are time based... and also the electricity for charging the buggies... the longer u use, the more the buggies discharge.... not cost effective

That's the Sg system: doing things for the sake of doing with no thought given.

Dun really blame them. We were taught in schools to memorise and follow instructions, not think.

I have a question here, guys..

Supposing the marshall is going through motion to ask us to speed up when there is no one in front or behind us but we are couple of minutes behind time. After arguing with the marshall, he demanded we skip a hole to catch up on the schedule. Do we have to accede to his demand? What will happen if we choose to ignore him??