Glen Oak Golf Club — Attraction in Town of Amherst

I am retired, a disabled veteran and golf is my one real paid hobby. I don't make much so going to a nice course is a real treat for me. Unfortunately last week did not go well.

I paid the $2 to book online and showed up at 7:00am with my golfing buddy to check in. We paid and went on our way to practice putting. About 5 minutes later the Marshall comes over, a real nice man, and said the clubhouse states that we have to go pay. We told him we just did and he radio's back in that info. They replied that we did not pay, the guy on the other end was the same guy we just paid literally 5 min ago. We showed the Marshall our debit card statements that we did indeed pay. He radio's that back to the clubhouse guy and that was still not good enough. He made us get back in our carts to go back to pay. We are furious now.

We go back and show the guy we just paid 5 min ago that yes, we just paid you . . . 5 min ago and showed him our statements. Reminding him we just talked to him. Still not enough. He made us wait even longer while he did something on the cpu for 5-10 mins, all while telling him we paid and that we would not pay again with him responding that the cpu says we didn't pay. He somehow pulls up our individual debit card payments to confirm we did indeed pay him just minutes ago. Absolutely ridiculous. We were both aggravated and it took us 9 holes to calm down. The clubhouse guy could not care less and was rude the entire time.

Cost us a nice round at what I would call a more expensive course. THEN I get an email saying I did NOT show up for my tee time and may be charged the greens fees. Now I'm even more angry. I then email the course a while ago of what transpired and that I did show up to my tee time and to not charge me and they never even replied to me. Absolutely unreal. They just do not care.

Edit: they wrote back the morning after I wrote saying...

I wish this course wasn't 2 min from my house because I would never play it. Unfortunately the convenience factor brings me back.

First there is no potable water on the course. How hard is it to put a few jugs of water out there? The cheapest munis have water on the course. If you're not going to have water on the course have a drink cart girl. I've never seen one in all the times I've played.

The one man bathrooms are disgusting. It's like a bathroom in a public park.

The halfway house usually is never open until 11ish on the weekends. The club house offers no food or snacks. So if you're an early morning player you better back a lunch with lots of water.

The starters are terrible. One round this year they held up the entire tee sheet while a group waited for their fourth to show up. We teed off 15-20 min late. The starter kept saying he had a full sheet until 1pm. Then why hold everything up?

This week we were playing with an inexperienced golfer who was very nervous on the first tee. He took two swings and misses and the starter was shouting "he has to pick up". Those two swings took about 15 seconds. The starter came over and told us he had to pick up because he had tee times every 7 minutes and the next group was waiting. I looked back and there was no one anywhere near the first tee.

The fact that they still charge $55 is a crime. The value just isn't there.

This place is really resting on it's reputation and has done nothing to improve the course over the past few years.

I wish Arrowhead and Glen Oak would...

I've played here for the first time last week and it is one of the best golf courses I've played in Buffalo and it is now my new favorite course in Buffalo. This course is maintained as well as some private courses in the area. Greens are fantastic & in great shape. Fairways are in excellent shape & not rock hard like other courses. There were some wet spots but Buffalo has had some soaking heavy rains the past week. They have 8 tees you can shoot from which is odd, but doesn't affect the quality of play. Sand bunkers are well maintained. There are some dead ash trees scattered throughout the course but it is not overwhelming. Plenty of water holes as well has bunker holes. Beautiful homes line the edge of the course throughout. GPS equipped golf carts, though they are programmed to not allow players to drive into the parking lot to pick up/drop off equipment, which was aggravating. The course itself can be challenging. I am a 15 handicap and shot from the #3 tees. Bogey golfers should be fine playing this course. This course is dangerous for beginner golfers as there are plenty of water/sand hazards as well as homes with plenty of windows. Overall I would highly recommend this course. I will definitely be coming back. Keep up...