Lakewood Golf Club — Local services in Statesville

👎(Lakewood Golf Club)👎

I recently had the unfortunate experience of playing a round of golf at Lakewood Golf Club, and I must say, it was one of the most disappointing and frustrating experiences I have ever had on a golf course. To begin with, the actual course conditions were abysmal. It appeared as though there was no maintenance staff employed at all. There was trash scattered across almost every hole, with Walmart bags blowing across the fairways. On hole 10, I had to hit my second shot from behind a beer can that was just lying there in the fairway. The roughs on the course were incredibly thick, reminiscent of the singer Lizzo – real thick! Keeping the ball in the fairway was a challenge, as the fairways were narrow and short, with more rough than fairway. If you do end up in the rough, you might as well have a hockey stick like Happy Gilmore, because it will take an extra shot just to get to the green. It looked like they only mowed the grass every other week, possibly using a herd of goats and cows to graze the grass, which clearly wasn’t effective. The course was in such poor condition that it seemed like they needed more cows to help with the maintenance. The course conditions alone would be enough to warrant a poor review, but my experience was further marred by an encounter with the owner. I had made a tee time on Tuesday, and nothing was mentioned about being short on carts or not being able to have a rider. As I finished the front nine and headed to the clubhouse to get a drink and a hotdog, the woman owner literally jumped in front of my golf cart, screaming in my face that there were supposed to be no extra riders on the carts because they were short on carts and “so” busy, despite there being plenty of empty carts in front of the clubhouse. She then demanded the keys to the golf cart and, as I was trying to hand them to her, she snatched them out of my hand, cutting my finger with the key. Which she also refused to provide first aid for my wound. Not a super major cut, but was bleeding bad and needed a band-aid at least. She then demanded an additional $10 because I had my wife with me, even though I explained that we were never informed about the no-rider policy. Begrudgingly, I paid the $10 and then asked to order a hotdog and a cold beverage, as it was a scorching hot day. She flatly refused to sell me any food or drink. As I proceeded to the back nine, just as I was teeing up on hole 10, she sped down in a golf cart, yelling and screaming, trying to kick me off the course and not allowing me to play the back nine, despite having already paid for it. Her customer service was atrocious, and she clearly had issues treating paying customers with respect. I have never been so disrespected in my life, especially on a golf course. To make matters worse, when she pulled up in her golf cart, she almost hit me and then began calling me racist names. I am deeply hurt, upset, and extremely unsatisfied with both the course conditions and the owner’s behavior. This place should be shut down indefinitely. If you are looking for a golf course where the conditions are as horrible as the customer service from the racist owners, then you have found the right place. I wish I could give less than zero stars. If you still decide to play at this course, I hope you do not have the same or a similar experience. I wouldn’t wish this on my...

I’ve played well over 100 rounds at Lakewood, but today was my last forever. I simply made a suggestion that the man mowing the greens shouldn’t be following my group every hole and that was enough for the owner to kick my son and I off the course. I’m 59 and have played for 46 years, worked as a club pro after playing D1 college golf and simply made the suggestion that the guy mowing should go the opposite direction, start on 9 and then mow 8,7,6,5,4,etc. That way he only bothers a group one time, not every single hole. We finished the front 9 and the owner confronted us as we got ready to play number 10. He came up and got loud immediately without even asking me what happened. I had called Jerry, the nice man in the clubhouse, from number 8 tee to let him know we didn’t like being followed every hole by the mower because the guy came right up to the green each time with the loud mower running while we tried to putt. Jerry understood why I was bothered by that. Next thing we know, a lady, another man, and a young man come out while we tee off on #9 and asked us what was happening and they also understood why we were bothered by the mower guy following us. Then, the mower guy and the owner confront us at #10 tee and got in my face to the point I though I was going to need to defend myself from a physical altercation. I explained to them that golf protocol is to mow going the opposite direction of the players and they couldn’t care less. He quickly stated “I don’t have a dozen Mexicans out there. Common sense tells you that it doesn’t take more time to mow the correct way versus following a group and having to wait on them each green. The owner told us we should leave, so we got our money back and left and won’t be back. It’s a shame that a business owner has that little respect for paying, loyal customers who have played there for over 10 years straight. Talk about not being able to take constructive criticism! My son and I can’t believe a simple, logical suggestion escalated into that confrontation. I will say that Jerry, Tom, Jaden and Hunter have always been very pleasant to us; it’s a shame that the owner, who I’ve never met until today, has a power trip and kicks people off the course who actually know how real courses operate and...

November 18th, 2023. Where do I start. Our cart would not climb the hills on #5-8. We had to get out and push it up while pressing the pedal. Got back after nine and switched carts. Guy at clubhouse said probably old batteries. Jeez. Carts are ancient, slick tires and lean hard in turns due to bad suspension.

On to course condition. Leaves everywhere in fairways. I use fairway term with reluctance. No grass. Once was weeds but died and dead brown with lots of dirt barren spots. Greens have not been aerated in a long time. They would not hold an approach shot or even have a mark from the ball. Most of the greens were completely covered in large oak leaves so we hit on and picked up, that is if we located the greens on the front nine. Tee boxes were so hard it broke our tees attempting to put them in the ground. Obviously the owner has no pride in providing a quality product. I assume the same Statesville, NC people play the course. Everyone we saw playing was very old. Maybe they don’t know any better.

People this is not a golf course. It is a cow pasture that has not seen an aerator or fertilizer in decades. Nor grass seed. So many leaves in the fairways it took everyone a long time to find center cut drives. The staff is very unfriendly. Not even close to having manners. Girl behind counter is rude. Way over priced for the experience. Play was extremely slow. Everyone was looking for balls due to leaves and towel blooming greens to attempt putts. We just picked up and took 2 putts. Please rename this place LAKEWEED. Could be worse course in America. Definitely been to more than a hundred fifty courses in my life and this is by far the worse I have...