Quote:
Originally Posted by BB14616
Please don't assume that all the Championship courses are in good condition. It just is not so. I played Orange Blossom a couple of weeks ago and it was horrible. Their greens used to be the best around, since the course is mature, but no longer. I happened to play with a fellow who personally knows the crew chief from OneSource who maintains the course, and apparently the chief was told to cut back this year on the overseeding(the courses are overseeded with rye in the winter. The rye is cold hardy, and gives us green fairways, greens and teeboxes in the winter when the bermuda or whatever the undergrass is, goes dormant). You really can see it on OB - the greens and fairways look like they have the measles - little spots of rye on the dormant undergrass. Mallory is in okay condition - I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Hacienda is pretty good but there are some bare spots on the greens, Cane is pretty good - maybe an 8 out of 10. Palmer charges the premium greens fees and they put the potential home buyers out there so they're going to keep up the conditions of that golf course. If you notice, other greens on golf courses in the area are in better condition than those in The Villages, and they have all experienced the frost. As the guy from OneSource said, if they had been overseeded properly, the frost would not be much of a factor. I noticed that the practice putting green at Sarasota is in fine shape, so they must have overseeded it properly, and obviously it wasn't hurt by the frost.
I think OneSource cut back on the overseeding to save some money, and I hope to heck someone is keeping an eye on them.
Another maintenance issue I noticed the other day was out at Lopez. I don't remember which hole it was, but I was in a greenside bunker and the sand was completely filled with little pebbles, probably one about every 2-3 inches. That is a real no no. You can damage your club, and you can't hit the sand before the ball - you'll hit a pebble instead. They must have gotten a cheap load of sand somewhere. The other bunkers were fine, and I've never noticed that problem anywhere else in The Villages, but again, possibly another cost cutting measure. The Villages pays OneSource to maintain these courses, and if they do a crummy job, we need to either let them know, or else find another company that can do a better job.
I don't play Executive golf so I can't comment on the conditions, but this place is advertised as a golfing community. If they don't maintain the courses, our properties will lose value to communities that have nice courses. I'm a golfer, and frankly, if all the courses are going to be like this, I will be moving. I don't think it is a question of us paying more - I think it is a question of having OneSource do the job they are already paid to do. The sad thing is - if you let things go, it becomes harder to get them back in good shape. Kind of lilke maintaining your house - if you keep at it and do the upkeep its much easier than having to replace things down the road. Sorry if I seem grumpy - I love The Villages and the golf here has been wonderful, but I'm really disappointed in the conditions this year.
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Excellent Post. I played OB for the first time two weeks ago and do not care if I ever play there again. The greens were horrible. Played Palmer today. Greens are very fast due to lack of grass. They are very green like the tees due apparently from green paint.
What is weird is some exec's like saddlebrook and el santiago, as well as their practice greens have great greens while other exec's like Belmont, Amberwood etc suck.
We are new and have guest coming down cause we raved about the place (which everything but the greens is true) but will be totally embarrassed by these greens. Many villages report good greens on courses outside of the villages. They had the same weather so what happened? To me, this is an extremely important issue.