[Challenger]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

What makes you think that verticutting is the answer?

Verticutting is a procedure that is usually done once or twice a year depending on the amount of thatch in the greens..

While I agree, the courses in TV are in less than desirable condition, I would be reluctant to talk specifically about what procedures are needed to improve them as that is not my area of expertise.

My feeing is that the problem stems from the fact that the maintenance is contracted out rather than having our own in-house GCSAA superintendents on staff.

When work like this is contracted out, the goal of the contractor is usually to maximize profits by doing the job with as little output as necessary.

I would also like to see the rates reduced to the extreme in the summer months. It makes not sense to not be taking in some money. These golf courses are empty for the most part. I would lower the rates until I saw that we had a group going off every nine minutes from 7:00 until 4:00 pm.

It also seems to me that we have an awful lot of staff in the shops. It's always amazing to me that I walk into a shop and there are two or three people standing behind the counter doing nothing, but waiting for someone to show up.

What I don't understand is that The Villages does everything so well except for golf course maintenance. The flowers in the common areas, the cleanliness, and maintenance of the rec centers and pools and everything else are pretty much first class. The golf course, IMHO range from mediocre to deplorable.

Again, I have to wonder if this is because the golf course maintenance is contracted out while everything is done in house.

Hope the golf powers are reading this- I don't think that golf course maintenance and low bidder contracts are compatible. Good post "Doc"