No Grass

[bgalster]

I moved to TV Nov. 2014 and was not excited that grass was dead or missing on courses. Now that it is May 11th and courses such as Evans Prairie, Mallory to name a few still have no grass in fairways, ground is like concrete and is often difficult to even put your tee in the ground. Greens are burning up and brown grass of hills. Why not water these courses ? I was playing Mallory two weeks ago with no grass in fairways and a guy was riding a mower in the fairways in an attempt to cut what I don't know. Went to Ocala Golf Club yesterday and fairways are lush like a carpet / ball sits up and was a pleasant diversion from TV course.:blahblahblah:

[billethkid]

The condition of the executive courses has been in significant deterioration for the past 3 or 4 years.
Terrible, run down, weed infested greens.
Tarpon boil tee boxes a couple of weeks ago....grass was non-existent......a relatively new course!
When one goes off the reservation to play, most corses conditions put TV to shame.
Give yourself a treat and play at Dell Webbs to get an idea of what grass at different cut levels is supposed to be like.
It is a shame how much deterioration there is and allowed.

[bgalster]

Ambassadors are never asked for sand as it is impossible to take a divot. TV courses to the north are lush and green when you ride by. What's wrong with us. There is no discernible cut line between fairway and rough. No longer grass on hills to prevent balls from rolling down hill into water or far off back of green. A disgrace

[ajbrown]

I have heard the same thing about Evans, but I was surprised you felt that way about Mallory.

I played Mallory and Palmer this past weekend and did not feel the same way. In fact we are headed back to Mallory on Friday. Palmer will be aerated.

The courses I played were actually pretty good during the grass transition season IMO.

[fred53]

Someone call the waaambulance!

Happened every year since coming here....and we've not had enough rain...now factor in the change from winter rye over seed to bermuda...oh never mind...you can't please constant complainers who don't understand golf course condition variables who, want perfect conditions all the time, have zero patience and don't bother to check with the course supers before flaming...

[bagboy]

Someone call the waaambulance!

Happened every year since coming here....and we've not had enough rain...now factor in the change from winter rye over seed to bermuda...oh never mind...you can't please constant complainers who don't understand golf course condition variables who, want perfect conditions all the time, have zero patience and don't bother to check with the course supers before flaming...

If I can add to that, many golf courses have access to water from various sources that most likely our courses do not have. Deep wells and ponds, a river or a lake, etc. Our lawns and golf courses suffer this time of the year, every year. By the end of July, once the rainy season hits and the aerification is complete, most of our courses will be just fine.
I am quite sure that if management had an unlimited source of water for irrigation, the courses would softer and greener. As for the executive courses, I think the maintenance company changes have had a positive impact. With the incredible amount of players on these courses day after day, I'm surprised there is any grass left anywhere.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Someone call the waaambulance!

Happened every year since coming here....and we've not had enough rain...now factor in the change from winter rye over seed to bermuda...oh never mind...you can't please constant complainers who don't understand golf course condition variables who, want perfect conditions all the time, have zero patience and don't bother to check with the course supers before flaming...

:agree: Most people want to use the excuse of "no grass" or "horrible course conditions" due to their lack of game. To shoot a good score on pristine conditions is one thing; to do it on less than ideal conditions is another. All it takes is P.R.A.C.T.I.C.E.

[Bay Kid]

They will be great by the time I am back in October!

[rjn5656]

I play golf all year. I play a lot off site during both seasons. Conditions here are far worst than any comparable course I play off site i.e. Palmer versus Red Tail

Mallory vs Arlington Ridge

etc.

I hear the excuses of why our's arent better but I don't buy it.

We need a new management team on both championship and executive to improve conditons.

[Ozzello]

Thin shot? Not enough grass.
Fat shot? Too wet.
Short putt? Slow greens.
Scored a double bogey? The tee boxes are in bad shape.
Didn't get your sandy? Bad sand in the bunker.

Water is a commodity we should not be wasting. I say water the greens and play off of what ever native weed will grow natural in the fairways and adjust your clubs and swing to suit. Spoiled rotten fat cat Americans should be something they call us overseas, not how we live.

[Uberschaf]

Yesterday we played Pelican and the 7th hole was closed.The green had been completely striped of any grass and reseeded because of fungus.I was wondering if it was infected by using a mower on a course that had fungus and not cleaned before using it on 7.I don't know if they are cleaning the mowers or not but not cleaning them could spread the fungus.Or it could have been the black feral pig we saw.

[Mikeod]

Yesterday we played Pelican and the 7th hole was closed.The green had been completely striped of any grass and reseeded because of fungus.I was wondering if it was infected by using a mower on a course that had fungus and not cleaned before using it on 7.I don't know if they are cleaning the mowers or not but not cleaning them could spread the fungus.Or it could have been the black feral pig we saw.
The problem on #7 was under the green killing the grass on the left side. They had to re-do the base to get rid of it causing the closure. Not fungus. Note the other greens are not affected. If it was transmitted by a contaminated mower, the problem would be more widespread.

[Bogie Shooter]

Yesterday we played Pelican and the 7th hole was closed.The green had been completely striped of any grass and reseeded because of fungus.I was wondering if it was infected by using a mower on a course that had fungus and not cleaned before using it on 7.I don't know if they are cleaning the mowers or not but not cleaning them could spread the fungus.Or it could have been the black feral pig we saw.

Who told you this?

[ROCKETMAN]

I play golf all year. I play a lot off site during both seasons. Conditions here are far worst than any comparable course I play off site i.e. Palmer versus Red Tail

Mallory vs Arlington Ridge

etc.

I hear the excuses of why our's arent better but I don't buy it.

We need a new management team on both championship and executive to improve conditons.

I agree with your comments. Have lived here ten years and del webb always has lush fairways and grass around greens. Village courses are very inconsistent. For instance played hacienda 3 times last week because fairways and greens are very good compared to some of the other courses. Don't know if it comes down to money or management, but some courses do it better than others even in the dry season.:grumpy:

[Thnonne]

If the grass is brown and there are bare spots, why are they still mowing? I always thought that plants needed their leaves to do photosynthesis to survive. If you keep cutting off their leaves or mowing too short how can the grass survive?

[Mikeod]

If the grass is brown and there are bare spots, why are they still mowing? I always thought that plants needed their leaves to do photosynthesis to survive. If you keep cutting off their leaves or mowing too short how can the grass survive?
Cutting bermuda grass low promotes spreading, resulting in better coverage. It also encourages the roots to go deeper.

One of the problems here is the habit of driving carts down the fairways despite the recommendation to use the 90 degree rule. That compacts the turf resulting in the thin lies people complain about. All one has to do is compare the fairway turf with the turf within the area carts are prohibited. Consider that all the courses have carts on the fairways dawn to dusk, essentially seven days a week. That is why I'm not a fan of the summer program of cheap fees after 5PM from a course condition aspect. I understand it gives more residents an opportunity to play the "big" courses, but at a cost to conditions. Personally, I would like to see the courses closed one day a week and occasionally for an entire week on a rotating schedule over the summer to recover and maintain.

[jimmemac]

Way too many weeds on many of the executive courses and that has nothing to do with the watering situation or the number of players-it's just plain poor management!!!

[waynet]

I agree with Mike very much. Why not close an entire course for a month during the summer? Let it recover. We don't need all these courses open now. Water,seed, aeration and no carts.

[Uberschaf]

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