Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Cruise the golf courses without playing golf
View Single Post
 
Old 05-20-2017, 08:31 AM
golfing eagles's Avatar
golfing eagles golfing eagles is offline
Sage
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: The Villages
Posts: 13,722
Thanks: 1,396
Thanked 14,810 Times in 4,916 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by twoplanekid View Post
For those of us who don’t golf, is there a way to drive a golf cart around the golf courses to take a look. Everyone in TV pays amenity fees to support the maintenance of these beautiful courses. Yet, those of us who don’t or can’t golf miss the beautiful views taken in by those that do.

So, can’t there be a time when non-golfers can sneak a peek at the courses. Maybe I have missed events such as this in the past as I am only now a full time resident. Of course this should be done in such a way as to minimize the inconveniences it might create for golfers and only take place a few times in the year. One event could be a caravan of carts following leaders who know the way. Some might even want to take up golf after seeing firsthand the fields of play.

This is my suggestion that I posted on the Villages survey for others and you to think about.
Sounds good in theory, but the practicable application might be difficult. If done at dusk, there is a safety factor. People in a "caravan" will want to stop and look or take pictures, as a result they will pull off the cart paths. Since we are talking about non-golfers, they will have no idea where they are not permitted to drive and will inevitably drive across a green, near (or into) a bunker or drown their cart in an environmental area.

As far as closing a course for this purpose, exec tee times are generally at a premium---they don't even close them as they should for proper maintenance. I think there might be a lot of unhappy golfers if they can't get a tee time because of tourists on the course

Yes, our amenity fee goes in part to maintain these courses. I'm paying for this, and although I golf, I don't play exec courses. I'm also paying to maintain pickleball and tennis courts, even though I don't play, sports pools even though I don't swim laps, and meeting rooms for the Univ. of Southern Idaho alumni club, even though I don't belong. The fee goes to support a wide variety of activities, even though no one participates in all of them.

Best suggestion, Rick, is that I am available for golf lessons. That way you can learn to play as bad as I do