How to Check Golf Course Conditions Before You Play

Nothing deflates a round faster than discovering in the parking lot that the greens were punched Monday, the fairways are soup, and the carts are path only. Conditions change week to week, and the information golfers need rarely lives in one place. Here are the five ways to check, ranked by how much they actually tell you.

1. Call the pro shop

Still a good way. The shop knows today's cart policy, recent aeration, and closures. Ask direct questions: How are the greens rolling? Any aeration recently or coming up? The catch: you have to remember to call, and a busy counter will not always volunteer bad news.

2. Check the course website and Facebook

Well run courses post aeration dates, renovations, and closures. Many post rarely, so treat this as a source for official notices, not a picture of how the course plays this week.

3. Read recent reviews

A Google or GolfNow review from the past week can help, but most reviews never mention conditions, and a three week old rave says nothing about Tuesday's storm.

4. Watch the weather

Two inches of rain on a course that drains poorly means cart path only for days. This works for your home course. On one you have never played, you are guessing.

5. Check golfer-reported conditions

The best source is a golfer who walked off 18 an hour ago. That is what we built into LinksCoach Golf: every DFW course page has a Conditions tab combining a daily scan of public reports with ratings from members who just played. Members score greens, fairways, tees, bunkers, and pace, flag alerts like aerated greens or cart path only, and add a note. You see how the course plays right now, a two week recap, and a trend arrow. Member reports always outrank the web scan.

The 30 second routine: the night before, check the trend arrow, scan the scores and alerts, read the newest report. If something looks off, call the pro shop with a specific question.

Frequently asked questions

How often do conditions change? Meaningfully, about weekly. After rain or during aeration season, daily. Anything older than two weeks is expired.

What does cart path only mean? Carts stay on the paved path all round, usually because fairways are too wet. Expect a longer round.

Are golfer-reported conditions reliable? More than any single source, because they come from people who just played. LinksCoach Golf averages recent ratings and dates every report.

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Check your course before your next round. Course Conditions is free with a LinksCoach Golf account, and your own 30 second report after the round helps the next golfer. Create your free account