[tomwed]

I am a very experienced golfer and before coming to the villages I was used to the ball sitting on top of the grass. I almost always had about a half inch room for error to hit the ball. If I scraped the ground the ball would go up in the air. If I was a half of an inch higher I would still have the same results.
Don't get me wrong, I love playing everyday but I know that my score will be higher on many of the executive courses I play on the south end of town because the ball is lying flat on the ground.

I played Bogart or Bacall last week and missed all but 1 green, but the grass was fluffy so I could chip. It was very rewarding.

I played Pelican today and the only thing I could do if I missed a green was to whack it with a putter. Whether it got close to the pin or not had more to do with luck than skill.

I don't understand why the grass is not fluffy all over.

I don't think a chipper is the solution but I should give it a try. [anyone selling a left handed chipper?]

If you are a beginner I would suggest teeing it up in the drop zone. Don't think of it as cheating. You are working on your swing and not trying to perfect hitting from an almost impossible lie. It's easier to hit out of the sand.

The fun of golf, for me, is the walk, the camaraderie, the park like setting and to a minor extent the game. So a bad score means very little to me.

But all things being equal including the age of the course, why are the conditions so different?

Do the courses on the north end of town have fluffier lies?