[golfnut]

You obviously don't play much golf. # 1, the courses here aren't that great. Cane Garden, Mallory and Havana have nice layouts, but the fairways this time of year are like concrete. Hopefully this rain will help some. Glenview, Tierra, Lopez, and Orange Blossom are generally in decent shape, as is Palmer which is very expensive to play.

#2. Executive courses are free, but they are not "real" golf to people who golf a lot. They are short, and basically aimed at beginners or elderly people who can't play the longer courses for a variety of reasons. However, there are a number of golfers, myself included, that have started playing the 9 hole exec courses simply to help out with expenses. And they are not "free" they are subsidised by our amenity fees.

#3. I have been a member of various golf clubs over the years, including some high end private country clubs, and have never had to pay to make a tee time. That's utterly ridiculous. Your ability to make tee times is always included in your membership fee. I think if you're a priority member, that online ability should be included. When you're managing a group for example and checking out tee times for various days, or researching openings to see if women or men are playing, it would be tedious if not impossible to have to do that over the phone, so online access is necessary.

#4. As far as making a profit, I feel the Villages makes plenty of profits off of us. My original post stated that I have no problem with them making a profit, but at some point I think they've gone over the line.

You're entitled to your opinion, but we disagree.

As far as having 2 email addresses, and access to Villages events, who cares? We have our email with comcast and see the events listed in the rec center papers.

Obviously we'll pony up the $$; there is no alternative. But the system doesn't seem fair to me compared to how golf country clubs normally work. They're just taking advantage of people. Some Villagers will sit back and take it. Others, like myself, will question things. To each his own. Stay in the short grass....Rekop

Quotes above are from rekop, following are my responses, keep in mind these are just my opinions, you are entitled to yours.

#1 I play golf here everyday and also play courses outside TV and think our courses for the most part are superior, if you don't like the courses why would you play them?
#2 executive courses, first you say they are free then you say they are not free, is that your final answer? IMO they are free since everyone pays the same monthly fee. As far as being real golf , IMO they are very challenging and not aimed strictly at beginners or the elderly, however, since you have belonged to a high end country club I will have to defer to your opinion.
# 3 the online system here is different than anything I've seen before, but then I've never belonged to a high end country club, you might want to look at going back to your high end private country club to get your free tee time system, it's not an option here but I'd be curious to know what your yearly cost was at your high end country club.

IMHO you seem very disenchanted with the setup here and I am curious why you came here as opposed to all the other choices that are out there, if it sounds like I'm having a hard time understanding your responses, well I am....GN