It’s unfortunate they had to close. I will tell you this though, everyone that is involved with golf courses works their asses off to try to keep the courses in good shape. You think Eric Van Gorder, The Villages, or The District wants courses to be in bad shape? If the courses are in good shape, they will not have to deal with complaints thus making their lives/jobs easier. The executive courses in that area average over 60,000 rounds of golf a year which is absolutely unreal. Absolutely no where in the world runs that many rounds of golf through courses, let alone courses setup to be played as 9’s!! The average golfer takes 48 steps on a green according to the GCSAA. So let’s round that up to 50 because we know that there are more on the executive courses, that’s 3 million steps per green a year. That does not include any maintenance, ambassadors, and others who are out on the course. The fact that there is any grass in any area is amazing. You also have to remember things don’t always go as planned in life or a job. Before you all retired, did everything go perfectly and smooth at your previously place of employment?Or did you have to deal with speed bumps and some challenges along the way? Do you feel perfectly healthy all year? Or do you get sick from time to time? Same thing. All the courses are their own animals with different issues good or bad. They will get better and all the courses that are looking rough will also look better. But there will ALWAYS be issues and problems that arise when you are dealing with a line of work that is affected by an amazing amount of people, tough conditions, and the biggest factor Mother Nature!!!
Sincerely,
Former golf course superintendent
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