[sheena0904]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

First of all, a weed is any plant that is growing where you don't want it to grow. We see fields of wild flowers that we may think are beautiful but they're popping up on your nicely manicured lawn, you'd call them a weed.

Secondly, there are perhaps hundreds of different strains of Bermuda grass. Some are great for golf courses and others are not.

Most golf courses in Florida and most of the southern US are planted primarily with Bermuda. Most greens are Bermuda but it is not the same Bermuda that you may have on you lawn.

Bermuda is a warm season grass that goes dormant in the winter. That means that it basically goes to sleep and doesn't grow. The existing plants turn brown and are not bad to play on. Most golf courses in the south over seed with an annual rye grass. There are two reason for doing this. One, is that it is aesthetically pleasing. But also because when divots are taken from the dormant Bermuda, it doesn't grow back and fill in. Also the damage done to the turf while it is dormant doesn't repair itself as northern grasses and southern grasses do in their respective seasons.

I think that the reason that The Villages courses are in such bad shape is that they don't over seed. It doesn't matter how much you water and fertilize dormant Bermuda, it's not going to grow and it's not going to turn green. Watering and fertilizing dormant grass might be be beneficial to them once they begin to awaken but it won't make playing conditions any better during the dormant season.

It all comes down to money. But that doesn't explain why there are courses just outside The Villages that we can play for a lower green fee and better conditions and The Villages courses.

I love The Villages and am amazed at how well everything is done here, except for golf.

The rec centers and pools are beautiful, the tennis courts, MM paths, flowers every where. It's all spectacular until you walk onto a golf course. This is very surprising to me, especially since The Villages promotes the idea of "Free Golf" as a huge selling point. You would think that where they take so much pride in every other aspect of this community, they would put a bit more effort into the golf courses.

You say the same thing in every golf course thread. Why don’t you take care of the courses or help if you are so knowledgeable?