Sweetwater Country Club Review as of 2014

[snagy2000]

I’ve been a member at Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land for almost 4 years. When I first joined, I really enjoyed the courses and the overall club and services. However, over the last 2 years those things have dramatically taken a turn for the worse. IMO, it appears club management (Arnold Palmer Golf Management Company i.e. Century Golf Partners) has decided maximizing their profit is more important than providing services of value to their Membership. Local club management gets very defensive when Members question them regarding the state of the club, and blames their corporate bosses instead of being accountable and spearheading the drive for a change for the better. Believe me when I say, there are a lot of Members asking questions. For a golf club where your monthly membership dues (including cart fee) average out to a little over $90 per round if you play 8 times a month, again IMO, the courses as of late are kept in no better shape than your average municipality course. The greens are spotty, bumpy and a mixture of sand and dead grass. The fairways are made up of very thin grass, dry and extremely hard on your body. Rough? Good luck with that! I’ve never had any kind of issues with my elbows until earlier this year when a doctor diagnosed me with both golfers and tennis elbow. He stated he’s “never seen a patient have both.” I can only chalk this honor up to playing a lot of rounds over the last 2 years in the above stated conditions. Last week, when much of the Houston area received a good amount of rain, SWCC received somewhere between 7-9 inches according to our grounds keeper. BTW, he’s a lovely gent to communicate with, uh…Believe it or not, all the rain has actually made the course look a little better, except for the fact the club management has now made all the bunkers on the courses ground under repair and still have not fixed any of them a week after the rain has stopped with word that this will be the norm for the near term. Members are hoping they would realize the beauty of what a little water on the course does, but then again, IMO, they’ve spent the last 2 years seeing how low they can drain all of the lakes on the courses before Members complain. There’s nothing better than being able to play out of a water hazard at SWCC. Talk about home course advantage…Bombs away! As you can tell, I’m frustrated and I know a lot of Members who are in the same boat and currently negotiating a large membership transfer to another club. Unfortunately this seems the only avenue to go down, but enough is enough. My advice for someone interested in joining this club is to really take a detailed look around the club and courses and make sure you understand what you’re getting for your membership dues. IMO, they do a great job of prettying the pig up to get new Members!

[kgk]

Sorry to hear that. It's been a couple years since I have played there, but I always enjoyed it.
Seriously, if you can't grow grass this year... Give up.

[txeconomist]

That's too bad. I am a member at Riverbend around the corner and while I don't absolutely love the golf course, they keep it in awesome shape. If you don't need all the bells and whistles and really only care about golf and a pretty cool mens locker room you may want to check it out.

[Aggowl7995]

I agree with snagy2000 and would recommend AVOIDING SWEETWATER COUNTRY CLUB!

I am also a member at Sweetwater and have a lot of the same issues. I have been a member for over 6 years. I am hearing a lot more concern and disgust among the members as it relates to the condition of the golf course.

The course is a disgrace compared to many others in town. Greens surfaces are terrible, mow lines, gouges from mover blades ALL over the greens, especially the perimeter, old cup locations all die within weeks of replacing so you have 4" dead circles all over the greens. The cart paths are almost impassable in many areas, bridges are failing, lakes do not hold water. They are about to loose some greens due to failing bulkheads creating areas that are unplayable within a few feet of the putting surface. EVERYTHING they do is second class in an effort to increase profits. They even scrimp on the green and divot sand as it has many stones in it up to 1" in diameter .

There is NEVER a manager present on weekends. I have asked. Today we got to the halfway house at 10:50 and it was not open... no one there. Last week we did not see a cart girl until 10:15 on #9. I asked who her supervisor was that day. She said there was none. I asked the girl behind the counter at the snack bar. She said they make a schedule but don’t know who is responsible for getting things prepared until they arrive. I was told by another employee they cut back hours on the staff at certain times during the year to save money... they tell them NOT to come in.

I have 2 members I know that moved here from North Houston to be close to grandkids. They were really disappointed. They have both asked me more than once if Sweetwater has always been this bad and when did it get so. I cannot in good faith recommend this place to anyone and also am embarrassed to bring clients or guests.

CGP provides a service that we pay for, plain and simple. If this service were another business, such as a restaurant or salon, we would NOT tolerate these conditions. We would go somewhere else, or ask for our money back. We certainly would not recommend it to friends or take them there.

The problem with the course is there has been little or no real maintenance over the last 10 years. But the maintenance is drastically different around the clubhouse so i "shows" well. I have seen several potential members being escorted around the club. I feel I have a personal duty to advise them, if they are there for golf, make sure they look at the golf course NOT just the area around the clubhouse. I've done so a few times and they have thanked me for the advice. I don’t want anyone else to feel like they were trapped into something they will be disappointed with.

I have personally sent emails to all of the partners at Century Golf and have been told they received them. Not one of them has the backbone to respond to any correspondence. Representation for the members is non existent as the Board of Governors is a joke. All they are is a buffer for management from membership. The biggest problem is the members that agree but will not speak up about how they feel.

That being said I do understand a bit more than I did. CGP is NO LONGER in charge. There is a Hedge Fund that is now controlling the purse strings of the club. Their MO is to cut the services as much as possible and squeeze every dime from the operation until it fails. That is what hedge funds do. I fully expect the course and club to go into complete ruin and be sold at auction before it gets better.

[xplyboy]

That's a complete and utter shame. So surprising with it being in such an affluent neighborhood with million dollar homes. I've played there in the past (last was probably 2-3 years ago) and while it was nice, it wasn't anything to write home about. I remember it being the equivalent of a $50-60 course.

[jaybeekay]

played sweetwater over the weekend.

greens were in great shape.
bunkers were shot...ground under repair
fairways were good
practice area...left a lot to be desired
overall average shape right now...

[snagy2000]

[quote name='Aggowl7995' timestamp='1403466021' post='9552159']
I agree with snagy2000 and would recommend AVOIDING SWEETWATER COUNTRY CLUB!

I am also a member at Sweetwater and have a lot of the same issues. I have been a member for over 6 years. I am hearing a lot more concern and disgust among the members as it relates to the condition of the golf course.

The course is a disgrace compared to many others in town. Greens surfaces are terrible, mow lines, gouges from mover blades ALL over the greens, especially the perimeter, old cup locations all die within weeks of replacing so you have 4" dead circles all over the greens. The cart paths are almost impassable in many areas, bridges are failing, lakes do not hold water. They are about to loose some greens due to failing bulkheads creating areas that are unplayable within a few feet of the putting surface. EVERYTHING they do is second class in an effort to increase profits. They even scrimp on the green and divot sand as it has many stones in it up to 1" in diameter .

There is NEVER a manager present on weekends. I have asked. Today we got to the halfway house at 10:50 and it was not open... no one there. Last week we did not see a cart girl until 10:15 on #9. I asked who her supervisor was that day. She said there was none. I asked the girl behind the counter at the snack bar. She said they make a schedule but don’t know who is responsible for getting things prepared until they arrive. I was told by another employee they cut back hours on the staff at certain times during the year to save money... they tell them NOT to come in.

I have 2 members I know that moved here from North Houston to be close to grandkids. They were really disappointed. They have both asked me more than once if Sweetwater has always been this bad and when did it get so. I cannot in good faith recommend this place to anyone and also am embarrassed to bring clients or guests.

CGP provides a service that we pay for, plain and simple. If this service were another business, such as a restaurant or salon, we would NOT tolerate these conditions. We would go somewhere else, or ask for our money back. We certainly would not recommend it to friends or take them there.

The problem with the course is there has been little or no real maintenance over the last 10 years. But the maintenance is drastically different around the clubhouse so i "shows" well. I have seen several potential members being escorted around the club. I feel I have a personal duty to advise them, if they are there for golf, make sure they look at the golf course NOT just the area around the clubhouse. I've done so a few times and they have thanked me for the advice. I don’t want anyone else to feel like they were trapped into something they will be disappointed with.

I have personally sent emails to all of the partners at Century Golf and have been told they received them. Not one of them has the backbone to respond to any correspondence. Representation for the members is non existent as the Board of Governors is a joke. All they are is a buffer for management from membership. The biggest problem is the members that agree but will not speak up about how they feel.

That being said I do understand a bit more than I did. CGP is NO LONGER in charge. There is a Hedge Fund that is now controlling the purse strings of the club. Their MO is to cut the services as much as possible and squeeze every dime from the operation until it fails. That is what hedge funds do. I fully expect the course and club to go into complete ruin and be sold at auction before it gets better.
[/quote]

Apparently the PE group who was in partnership with CGP sold their stake last week along with their stakes in Pecan Grove and Longwood. Not sure what this means for SWCC improving any as CGP is still going to manage the property. CGP is a joke! The people they have overseeing this club either don't know how to run a country club or don't care too as they are never held accountable. It's been 2 months since our bunker repairs have started and they've done a total of 4 bunkers. What was suppose to take a few months will now last at least a year with the current effort level. One thing is for sure about SWCC management, they're never lacking in the excuses department.

[Aggowl7995]

[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1406340143' post='9787631']
[quote name='Aggowl7995' timestamp='1403466021' post='9552159']
I agree with snagy2000 and would recommend AVOIDING SWEETWATER COUNTRY CLUB!

I am also a member at Sweetwater and have a lot of the same issues. I have been a member for over 6 years. I am hearing a lot more concern and disgust among the members as it relates to the condition of the golf course.

The course is a disgrace compared to many others in town. Greens surfaces are terrible, mow lines, gouges from mover blades ALL over the greens, especially the perimeter, old cup locations all die within weeks of replacing so you have 4" dead circles all over the greens. The cart paths are almost impassable in many areas, bridges are failing, lakes do not hold water. They are about to loose some greens due to failing bulkheads creating areas that are unplayable within a few feet of the putting surface. EVERYTHING they do is second class in an effort to increase profits. They even scrimp on the green and divot sand as it has many stones in it up to 1" in diameter .

There is NEVER a manager present on weekends. I have asked. Today we got to the halfway house at 10:50 and it was not open... no one there. Last week we did not see a cart girl until 10:15 on #9. I asked who her supervisor was that day. She said there was none. I asked the girl behind the counter at the snack bar. She said they make a schedule but don’t know who is responsible for getting things prepared until they arrive. I was told by another employee they cut back hours on the staff at certain times during the year to save money... they tell them NOT to come in.

I have 2 members I know that moved here from North Houston to be close to grandkids. They were really disappointed. They have both asked me more than once if Sweetwater has always been this bad and when did it get so. I cannot in good faith recommend this place to anyone and also am embarrassed to bring clients or guests.

CGP provides a service that we pay for, plain and simple. If this service were another business, such as a restaurant or salon, we would NOT tolerate these conditions. We would go somewhere else, or ask for our money back. We certainly would not recommend it to friends or take them there.

The problem with the course is there has been little or no real maintenance over the last 10 years. But the maintenance is drastically different around the clubhouse so i "shows" well. I have seen several potential members being escorted around the club. I feel I have a personal duty to advise them, if they are there for golf, make sure they look at the golf course NOT just the area around the clubhouse. I've done so a few times and they have thanked me for the advice. I don’t want anyone else to feel like they were trapped into something they will be disappointed with.

I have personally sent emails to all of the partners at Century Golf and have been told they received them. Not one of them has the backbone to respond to any correspondence. Representation for the members is non existent as the Board of Governors is a joke. All they are is a buffer for management from membership. The biggest problem is the members that agree but will not speak up about how they feel.

That being said I do understand a bit more than I did. CGP is NO LONGER in charge. There is a Hedge Fund that is now controlling the purse strings of the club. Their MO is to cut the services as much as possible and squeeze every dime from the operation until it fails. That is what hedge funds do. I fully expect the course and club to go into complete ruin and be sold at auction before it gets better.
[/quote]

Apparently the PE group who was in partnership with CGP sold their stake last week along with their stakes in Pecan Grove and Longwood. Not sure what this means for SWCC improving any as CGP is still going to manage the property. CGP is a joke! The people they have overseeing this club either don't know how to run a country club or don't care too as they are never held accountable. It's been 2 months since our bunker repairs have started and they've done a total of 4 bunkers. What was suppose to take a few months will now last at least a year with the current effort level. One thing is for sure about SWCC management, they're never lacking in the excuses department.
[/quote]

I agree completely. I heard the same thing last weekend. I am sure the sale is based on the cash flow CGP and Walton St have shown for the past several years.
If that is the new owner's expectations then things will NOT improve. I also understand the new owners are NOT American and am curious how long it takes for the culture to change.

The Club Management and the Board of Governors are there as a buffer between CGP and membership.

In six years I never saw ONE piece of communication from the BOG to the members addressing problems with the club or course. Not once have they addressed concerns of the members, but they send out a letter telling the members it is the members responsibility to bring in new members.

They work for the interest of CGP for the "perks" and status CGP provides to them individually, nothing else.
Much like the problem we have with our current federal government. They are not just useless but an obstacle whose main objective is to sustain their own existence.

What amazes me is the number of members that will not admit there is a serious problem allowed this to happen.
It is just a real shame CGP ruined what was a great place at one time.

I have since left and gone to a REAL Golf Club. It is REALLY nice to enjoy the course for a change.

[Corsair]

Played in an event there on Aug 25 and based upon what I saw, I would not join...

[snagy2000]

[quote name='Corsair' timestamp='1409504575' post='10040453']
Played in an event there on Aug 25 and based upon what I saw, I would not join...
[/quote]

The management team of SWCC is a piece of work. For over 3 years they've been promising to make various upgrades throughout the entire club and have dragged their feet. A lot of members have left or are in the process of leaving and management is trying half a$$ ways to stop it. For instance, the roof on the club is in dire need of repairs and is one of the main hot points with the current membership. What does management do? In early July they hire a company to come out and put scaffolding on a quarter of the club and send out a note stating they are fixing the roof and a bunch of minor cosmetic things, and wouldn't you know, 2 months later nothing has been done to the roof. The scaffolding is still sitting attached to the club making it even more of an eye sore. Best part of the note they sent was the part where the GM put in bold letters how the upcoming improvements are being made without assessments to the membership. I guess this clueless guy doesn't realize you really can't assess the membership since you're not an equity club. Oh an by the way, the annual dues increases you've been hitting the membership with for years now, is actually how you've been assessing the membership. They've just chosen not to put any of the increased monies back into the club all these years and now members have had enough. BTW, bunker work is going extremely slow and is being completed in a very cheap manner. They are now predicting it will be up to a year before all bunkers on both courses are completed.

[snagy2000]

Edging the greens like you would your yard, only at SWCC! This has been going on for over 2 months and DOES impact play if one needs to roll the ball off the collar of the greens. Also, continued shrinking of the greens which has been going on for a while. I'd estimate both courses greens have been downsized over 30% in the last year.

[snagy2000]

Here's the new owner of SWCC and based on reviews of their current holdings in Arizona and Las Vegas, looks like the club will continue its decline.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/c-bons-international-golf-group-200800117.html

[TheDailyDuffer]

the palmer management is a big part of the problem.

[snagy2000]

[quote name='Bottlenosedolphin' timestamp='1416185277' post='10457723']
the palmer management is a big part of the problem.
[/quote]

It's 2015 and Palmer Management is still the main problem with SWCC. They've been in penny pinching mode since 2012 and have really damaged the playability of the two courses. Since my post back in October, the greens have been reduced even more than the 30% previously mentioned. Never before would a player ever have to think about using a wedge on the greens to get from one end to another, but due to their shrinking efforts, most of the greens are now tiny awkwardly shaped greens causing this option to now come into play if you land in the wrong spot. The greens are always rock hard and protected by an extremely sticky grass on the fringe of the greens. Making it really difficulty and borderline unfair based on your approach angle. Also, the shrinking of the greens have caused greenside bunkers to not really be greenside bunkers anymore. On some of the greens, there’s 10-25 feet between the bunkers and greens. They still haven't finished bunker renovations on both of the courses, and it’s now over 8 months since they started. Albeit they're finally on the last course, but the amounts of sand they've put in the renovated bunkers makes almost every ball which goes into them a plugged lie. Also, in very Palmer Management fashion, they’ve taken the liberty to fill in and/or reduce the size of many of the bunkers which were strategic to the course design. It’s now an even more bomber friendly venue and the art of having to actually hit good irons shots to avoid trouble is all but gone. Their cart fleet is falling apart, batteries are running down and people are getting stranded all over the course. Palmer went cheap with their last cart leases both on quality of cart and length of contract, and now the members are paying the price. Overall, Palmer Management just stinks at their job. Hopefully the new owners will realize this soon and make the appropriate changes to club management and fix the courses.

[RNF]

[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1412279123' post='10225397']
Edging the greens like you would your yard, only at SWCC! This has been going on for over 2 months and DOES impact play if one needs to roll the ball off the collar of the greens. Also, continued shrinking of the greens which has been going on for a while. I'd estimate both courses greens have been downsized over 30% in the last year.
[/quote]
Edging is done to prevent one grass from over-taking another grass. Think of it as installing a barrier. The problem is always man-power and continuing to cut the barrier. That said, it appears from that shot that they are shrinking the green surface.

[snagy2000]

It's been about a year since the new owners took control of SWCC. They've invested capital into new golf carts, maintenance equipment, and a top of the line grounds superintendent to name a few things. He's had his hands full since day one as you can tell in my previous posts, APMG ran the place into the ground prior to selling out. The new guy has gotten the courses in good shape from the tees down to the greens, including improving the turf on the fairways. Its thicker, but still needs more work overall which hopefully he'll continue into next year. As far as the smaller greens, it would be nice if they recaptured the lost ground and set them back to the original sizes like they are doing at Tour 18. Right now there are still some awkward shaped greens and pin placements to go along with them. Looks like they're going to address the low hanging trees over the winter in hopes of fixing the areas where grass is unable to grow. Lots of these spots around the courses. Those spots have a lot of the old sand and bunker netting from the bunker renovations managed by APMG spread across them and looks hideous. Least they could do is go around and pull out the netting from the sand while trimming up the trees. Driving range still gets too much use and has way too much sand spread on it by APMG as a quick fix. The new Super is taking steps to to overseed for winter in hopes of giving the thin grass we do have on the range a chance next spring.

[bogey_bakes]

[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1447711487' post='12607004']
It's been about a year since the new owners took control of SWCC. They've invested capital into new golf carts, maintenance equipment, and a top of the line grounds superintendent to name a few things. He's had his hands full since day one as you can tell in my previous posts, APMG ran the place into the ground prior to selling out. The new guy has gotten the courses in good shape from the tees down to the greens, including improving the turf on the fairways. Its thicker, but still needs more work overall which hopefully he'll continue into next year. As far as the smaller greens, it would be nice if they recaptured the lost ground and set them back to the original sizes like they are doing at Tour 18. Right now there are still some awkward shaped greens and pin placements to go along with them. Looks like they're going to address the low hanging trees over the winter in hopes of fixing the areas where grass is unable to grow. Lots of these spots around the courses. Those spots have a lot of the old sand and bunker netting from the bunker renovations managed by APMG spread across them and looks hideous. Least they could do is go around and pull out the netting from the sand while trimming up the trees. Driving range still gets too much use and has way too much sand spread on it by APMG as a quick fix. The new Super is taking steps to to overseed for winter in hopes of giving the thin grass we do have on the range a chance next spring.
[/quote]

You are quite critical and I am not sure what you hope to accomplish by posting here. People on the board of governors would be glad to hear from you directly, I am sure of that. The course has been in very good condition recently, and the new bunkers are great. Food in the dining room has improved, as has staff service. Landscaping has improved. Plans to repaint the clubhouse have been announced. I disagree with your comments about the greens shrinking so dramatically (certainly not by one-third, as you state).

There is still work to do, but posting very critical (and in my view overly critical) comments in this forum does nothing to improve the club. I would instead suggest speaking with Randy (the superintendent) or Bob (the head pro) face-to-face.

[snagy2000]

[quote name='bogey_bakes' timestamp='1451245801' post='12768674']
[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1447711487' post='12607004']
It's been about a year since the new owners took control of SWCC. They've invested capital into new golf carts, maintenance equipment, and a top of the line grounds superintendent to name a few things. He's had his hands full since day one as you can tell in my previous posts, APMG ran the place into the ground prior to selling out. The new guy has gotten the courses in good shape from the tees down to the greens, including improving the turf on the fairways. Its thicker, but still needs more work overall which hopefully he'll continue into next year. As far as the smaller greens, it would be nice if they recaptured the lost ground and set them back to the original sizes like they are doing at Tour 18. Right now there are still some awkward shaped greens and pin placements to go along with them. Looks like they're going to address the low hanging trees over the winter in hopes of fixing the areas where grass is unable to grow. Lots of these spots around the courses. Those spots have a lot of the old sand and bunker netting from the bunker renovations managed by APMG spread across them and looks hideous. Least they could do is go around and pull out the netting from the sand while trimming up the trees. Driving range still gets too much use and has way too much sand spread on it by APMG as a quick fix. The new Super is taking steps to to overseed for winter in hopes of giving the thin grass we do have on the range a chance next spring.
[/quote]

You are quite critical and I am not sure what you hope to accomplish by posting here. People on the board of governors would be glad to hear from you directly, I am sure of that. The course has been in very good condition recently, and the new bunkers are great. Food in the dining room has improved, as has staff service. Landscaping has improved. Plans to repaint the clubhouse have been announced. I disagree with your comments about the greens shrinking so dramatically (certainly not by one-third, as you state).

There is still work to do, but posting very critical (and in my view overly critical) comments in this forum does nothing to improve the club. I would instead suggest speaking with Randy (the superintendent) or Bob (the head pro) face-to-face.
[/quote]

I'd say my last post was positive towards the new ownership and where they plan on taking the courses. Members like me who are die-hard golfers at SWCC are encouraged by the improved course conditions. My older posts were driven by the lack of care shown by APMG, including Bob, towards many Member's vocal and written concerns regarding the deterioration we saw at SWCC from 2013-2014. I've had numerous conversations "face to face" with SWCC management personnel, including Bob, and Board of Governors members regarding various concerns to no avail. In my opinion, the BOG is pretty much powerless to do anything of substance since we're not an equity club. The owners, who are the money behind the club, dictate what happens at SWCC rightfully so. Too many of the BOG are rah rah folks with heavy rose-colored glasses on about SWCC. I guess its because APMG use to send them on a trip to Latrobe Country Club or Bayhill to spend time with Arnie once a year. Seems like you're affiliated to them in some way based on your post. In the end, for what we are paying monthly, we should expect a higher end club with top level course conditions. Anything less should warrant comments from the Membership.

[jflores8]

[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1451268441' post='12769990']
[quote name='bogey_bakes' timestamp='1451245801' post='12768674']
[quote name='snagy2000' timestamp='1447711487' post='12607004']
It's been about a year since the new owners took control of SWCC. They've invested capital into new golf carts, maintenance equipment, and a top of the line grounds superintendent to name a few things. He's had his hands full since day one as you can tell in my previous posts, APMG ran the place into the ground prior to selling out. The new guy has gotten the courses in good shape from the tees down to the greens, including improving the turf on the fairways. Its thicker, but still needs more work overall which hopefully he'll continue into next year. As far as the smaller greens, it would be nice if they recaptured the lost ground and set them back to the original sizes like they are doing at Tour 18. Right now there are still some awkward shaped greens and pin placements to go along with them. Looks like they're going to address the low hanging trees over the winter in hopes of fixing the areas where grass is unable to grow. Lots of these spots around the courses. Those spots have a lot of the old sand and bunker netting from the bunker renovations managed by APMG spread across them and looks hideous. Least they could do is go around and pull out the netting from the sand while trimming up the trees. Driving range still gets too much use and has way too much sand spread on it by APMG as a quick fix. The new Super is taking steps to to overseed for winter in hopes of giving the thin grass we do have on the range a chance next spring.
[/quote]

You are quite critical and I am not sure what you hope to accomplish by posting here. People on the board of governors would be glad to hear from you directly, I am sure of that. The course has been in very good condition recently, and the new bunkers are great. Food in the dining room has improved, as has staff service. Landscaping has improved. Plans to repaint the clubhouse have been announced. I disagree with your comments about the greens shrinking so dramatically (certainly not by one-third, as you state).

There is still work to do, but posting very critical (and in my view overly critical) comments in this forum does nothing to improve the club. I would instead suggest speaking with Randy (the superintendent) or Bob (the head pro) face-to-face.
[/quote]

I'd say my last post was positive towards the new ownership and where they plan on taking the courses. Members like me who are die-hard golfers at SWCC are encouraged by the improved course conditions. My older posts were driven by the lack of care shown by APMG, including Bob, towards many Member's vocal and written concerns regarding the deterioration we saw at SWCC from 2013-2014. I've had numerous conversations "face to face" with SWCC management personnel, including Bob, and Board of Governors members regarding various concerns to no avail. In my opinion, the BOG is pretty much powerless to do anything of substance since we're not an equity club. The owners, who are the money behind the club, dictate what happens at SWCC rightfully so. Too many of the BOG are rah rah folks with heavy rose-colored glasses on about SWCC. I guess its because APMG use to send them on a trip to Latrobe Country Club or Bayhill to spend time with Arnie once a year. Seems like you're affiliated to them in some way based on your post. In the end, for what we are paying monthly, we should expect a higher end club with top level course conditions. Anything less should warrant comments from the Membership.
[/quote]

Come join Riverbend

[Wolf Point]

If I lived in that area I'd put Sweetwater third behind Riverbend and Sugar Creek.

[CougarRed]

On 11/16/2015 at 11:04 AM, snagy2000 said:

It's been about a year since the new owners took control of SWCC. They've invested capital into new golf carts, maintenance equipment, and a top of the line grounds superintendent to name a few things. He's had his hands full since day one as you can tell in my previous posts, APMG ran the place into the ground prior to selling out. The new guy has gotten the courses in good shape from the tees down to the greens, including improving the turf on the fairways. Its thicker, but still needs more work overall which hopefully he'll continue into next year. As far as the smaller greens, it would be nice if they recaptured the lost ground and set them back to the original sizes like they are doing at Tour 18. Right now there are still some awkward shaped greens and pin placements to go along with them. Looks like they're going to address the low hanging trees over the winter in hopes of fixing the areas where grass is unable to grow. Lots of these spots around the courses. Those spots have a lot of the old sand and bunker netting from the bunker renovations managed by APMG spread across them and looks hideous. Least they could do is go around and pull out the netting from the sand while trimming up the trees. Driving range still gets too much use and has way too much sand spread on it by APMG as a quick fix. The new Super is taking steps to to overseed for winter in hopes of giving the thin grass we do have on the range a chance next spring.

 

What's the latest on Sweetwater?  People seem to prefer River Bend even though Sweetwater has 36 holes...

[snagy2000]

Sweetwater has gone through a lot of changes to the courses, mostly bunker and green renovations. However, the current management team is still in place and they're trying to sell the club. From what I understand, whoever they're trying to sell it to is still going to let a lot of the current management run the club under a new management company. I still know quite a few people who are still members there and they hate the current regime. Membership dues are constantly being increased and they're cutting back on services from what I'm being told. I know a ton of people who have left for the surrounding clubs in the Sugar Land area. Mostly Blackhawk, Sugar Creek and Riverbend. Guess it all depends on what you're looking for in a club. Each of those clubs I just mentioned is very different in their own unique way. 

[Fatboy Golf]

I am a member at Sweetwater's sister course -- Willow Fork. We were excited to find out that the course was being sold, but that excitement waned a soon as we heard the same CBIGG leadership is going to stay around. So I suspect nothing will improve --- only the ownership's bottom line. The CBIGG group managed by P&L and not by member satisfaction. Same old crap!