I had never heard of the "the wave' until coming to The Villages. Most courses I played had 18 holes so we call it split tees when half of the field teed off from hole #1 and half from the hole #10. This is how Orange Blossom and Tierra Del Sol work here in TV as they only have 18 holes (except for Sunday where they have straight tee times, but that is another story
).
TV's 27 hole courses are really 3 18 hole combinations, so a third of "the field" will start on each nine.
Course 1: a -> b
Course 2: b -> c
Course 3: c -> a
From page 12 of
Golfing in The Villages
Wave: The method we use to schedule available tee times on the
Championship Golf Courses the vast majority of the time. Waves
refer to the time tee times are available. The “morning wave”
begins at 7:28 and ends at 9:28. The “afternoon wave” begins at
11:56 and ends at 1:56. There are no tee times between the waves
or after the “afternoon wave.” Therefore, if you request a tee
time between 9:30 and 11:50, you’ll never ever receive a tee time.
Waves are sometimes referred to as “double tee starts” or “cross-overs" at other golf courses outside The Villages.