If you got all the world’s golfers together and asked them what their pet peeves were, probably 90 percent of them would include a tirade about horrendous green conditions and golf club officials who neither give discounts nor warn golfers.

I played the City Club of Marietta with a threesome recently, and the greens looked like something a Bagdad, Iraq course might resemble after a good strafing by FA-18s. They were bumpy, and that may have been their best quality. Large, bare patches were found on many of them. It was impossible to make a putt, unless it was simply blind luck.

Even one of the cart guys said afterward: “Yeah, they should warn people about it.”

Yes, they should. BEFORE we pay our green fees.

This was a course that does a booming business; at least it was on the day I played it. It’s right beside the ritzy-looking Marietta Conference Center and Resort. You would think they could afford to take care of their greens.

I paid more than $100 for two green fees. I’ve paid much less to play on courses with far better greens.

Only a handful of courses I’ve played – and as a traveling golfer, I’ve played hundreds – have warned me about sub-par greens before I teed off. I need to start keeping a list of those courses to honor them.

Which is a shame, because it should be standard procedure.

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