Is there such a thing as too much golf as a club member or passholder?

Is it possible to play too much golf at one's home course?

Most sane golfers would say no. One of the all-time great tongue-in-cheek quotations about the game comes from six-time Open Champion Harry Vardon, who once said, “Don’t play too much golf. Two rounds a day are plenty.”

But one golfer is facing the possible limits of his home course’s hospitality.

Redditor and golf nut ‘Potatoguard’ filed a post about taking his local Nevada course up on an attractive offer of a summer golf course access pass: unlimited tee times at any time of day Monday through Friday and after 10 am on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as unlimited range balls, for $1,500 from May 1 until October 1.

To take full advantage, Mr. Potatoguard has been teeing it up at 5:30 am each weekday morning, finishing his rounds in time to report to his remote job. Between the equivalent green fees for the rounds he has played and the post-round range balls he has hit, he calculates that he has extracted more than $800 of value in the first 10 days of his pass, putting him well on his way towards realizing its full value before Memorial Day.

But in recent days, the relationship between golfer and course has begun to sour. “Today when I checked in,” he writes, “the Pro Shop, who is the same 2 guys every morning, told me that while the pass is unlimited for the duration, that they were worried it was getting abused.”

The post goes on to explain that the pro shop staff suggested the terms of the summer membership may need to be amended, either to reduce Mr. Potatoguard’s access to the course or to charge him more for that access.

Responses to the post overwhelmingly sit on the side of the poster, who appears to be taking full advantage of the offer in good faith as someone who describes himself as “addicted to golf.” Any seller’s remorse on the part of the golf course should not be any of Mr. Potatoguard’s concern.

It is disappointing to hear of this nameless Nevada golf course’s poor attitude towards its most loyal customer. A more creative response would be to lean into this intrepid golfer’s desire to play as much as possible, and perhaps even use it to market the course. Give him a special parking space. Leave a scorecard and pencil by the first tee with his name already written in. Send a monthly email reporting to other golfers on how many rounds he’s played and encourage them to join or try to exceed his total. Donate a dollar to a local charity for every hole Mr. Potatoguard plays each month. Let the obviously sour shop attendants tee it up with him once or twice. Anything but raining on his parade would be a smart move.

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If the question of whether it is conceivable to overuse a summer pass to the local course is settled, is it therefore impossible to abuse a private golf membership? When it comes to certain high-end national clubs, I have heard the occasional, possibly apocryphal tale of members being asked to ration their use of the course, but by and large, it seems to be the case that golf facilities want to cultivate a core group of regulars, and potentially reward them for their loyalty.

One of my favorite signs in golf is located in the parking lot of Sanctuary Golf Club near St. Simons Island, Georgia. It recognizes the achievements of local golfer Jim Mahoney, who played a then-world-record 502 rounds of golf in the year 2007. A year later, the course installed an addendum after Mahoney shattered his previous mark, logging an incredible 711 rounds in 2008. They didn’t run him off; they embraced and even honored his dedication. The operators of Mr. Potatoguard’s home course would do well to act accordingly.