[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

What I don't understand is that The Villages does everything so well, except for golf. The landscaping in the common areas is impeccable. The streets are clean. The Town Squares are beautiful. The golf cart paths are well maintained and well designed.

The golf courses tend to run from deplorable to mediocre.

I mostly play executive courses and most are in pretty bad shape. A few have very good greens while the fairways and areas around the greens are terrible. On most, the areas from tee to green are OK and the greens are awful.

I've played several of the regulation courses, (they shouldn't be called championship courses) and they are just not in the kind of condition that justifies their green fee. Again, some are pretty bad and the best of them are fair.

I've played some regulation courses outside The Villages that are in much better condition and the green fees are less money. And I'm tired of hearing that they get so much play. Number one, if they're getting that much play, then they are getting a lot of revenue. Number two, ALL golf courses in Florida get a lot of play in the winter. I've worked at several courses in Florida and the starting times have always been filled from dawn to dusk seven days a week from December through April. None of the courses were in the kind of condition that The Villages courses are.

The layouts of the regulation course, for the most part, are pretty good. The execs have some holes that are beyond explanation.

I understand that other than Lopez and Palmer, all of the golf courses have been designed by one person.

The operations are also unlike anything I've ever encountered. I've arrived at my starting time 20 minutes early only to be told that they are running way ahead and that they sent my group without me. The ambassadors are nothing more than water and sand stations. They do nothing to maintain the pace of play. I walked off a course a few days ago because we got to the third hole and there were three groups on the tee. The ambassador came by and said that it was going to be slow because there were people on every hole. I'm sorry, but someone is causing the play to be that slow and it is affecting everyone else on the golf course. I certainly understand that a busy course can get a bit backed up, but three groups waiting on a tee while we were about to become the fourth is unacceptable.

I wonder if the people in charge of the golf courses have any experience outside of The Villages in designing, maintaining and operating golf courses.

I would love to see them sell the courses to a golf course management firm. or at least get some professionals in here with experience from outside to change some of the policies and procedures.