Quote:
Originally Posted by nitehawk
i bought long before Havana and Bonifay were built. Maybe they are a step up from where some people are used to playing. sorry to have upset some people "enjoy"
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I think what bothers is the characterization of the courses as cow pastures. Hyperbole is an accepted form of writing, but, in this discussion, it paints an erroneous picture of the courses and their condition. Personally, I think it is a misnomer to call most of these courses "country clubs". To me, only Glenview really fits that name, with practice facilities, lockers, tennis courts, and dining in addition to the courses. But I can't think of a different term that adequately describes them.
But you have to keep in mind the different usage that courses here get as compared to private courses. None of the private clubs that I belonged to or played were filled every day from the earliest tee time till dusk. All of them closed entirely for a day to allow maintenance crews unfettered access. When you design, construct, and run a course that will be used as heavily as these are, you must make compromises that allow the courses to withstand that traffic. I think if you put the kind of volume of players we have on any high end private club, you would see conditions rapidly deteriorate. That is why you will see greens that run slightly slower than at a lot of private clubs. Think about it. We have a population under 100K, have 11 regulation courses and 29 executives and they are all full of players. There is no city of similar population with that number of courses and that number of players.
People will say they played X, Y, or Z, and they were in better shape than TV's courses. Again, what is the volume of play. I subscribe to an internet tee time system for Florida, and I get options for foursomes to play on many courses with 24 hour availability at reasonable times. Try that in TV.
Then you have to consider the players. We have a lot of players that have played golf for years. But we also have people fairly new to the game. A course architect designing a course for TV has to keep that in mind. The way to do that is with length, not hazards. That is why you will see holes laid out in a straightforward manner with multiple tees. That is why you won't see heavy rough or narrow fairways.
The courses in TV are what they are. Considering the amount of play, and the type of players they are designed for, calling them cow pastures is unfair and inaccurate.