El Diablo greens in terrible shape

[The Mountaineer]

Today I played El Diablo, as I have for all of my 4 winters in The Villages. 7 tee shots were either on the green or the fringe. I had FIVE 3-putt greens. The greens are like putting on miniature cobblestones. Bare spots. Sparse grass. Bumpity putts. Silver Lake and Hill Top are in respectable shape. El Diablo greens are like a shabby unkempt cousin. I was a golf caddy for 10 years in West Virginia, as a teenager and a collegian, so I know the difference between well-kept greens and poorly managed greens. I know the hurricane was tough on Villages greens, but Silver Lake was battered badly and has recovered. Am I the only one noticing how El Diablo greens are because of their condition? I shot a 34 despite the atrocious putting conditions so it's not like I'm the world's worst golfer.

[MrGolf]

Probably no worse than Sweetgum. 6 of the nine greens should have been closed. Looks remarkably close to last years greens when they decided to close the course for a number of months to ..... you got it, rebuild the greens. Still shot 30 but it was like playing in a stone parking lot.

[DonH57]

Today I played El Diablo, as I have for all of my 4 winters in The Villages. 7 tee shots were either on the green or the fringe. I had FIVE 3-putt greens. The greens are like putting on miniature cobblestones. Bare spots. Sparse grass. Bumpity putts. Silver Lake and Hill Top are in respectable shape. El Diablo greens are like a shabby unkempt cousin. I was a golf caddy for 10 years in West Virginia, as a teenager and a collegian, so I know the difference between well-kept greens and poorly managed greens. I know the hurricane was tough on Villages greens, but Silver Lake was battered badly and has recovered. Am I the only one noticing how El Diablo greens are because of their condition? I shot a 34 despite the atrocious putting conditions so it's not like I'm the world's worst golfer.

Played El Diablo today as well. I agree the greens were bumpy and had a lot of bald spots that were a very dark brown or black in color.

[stan the man]

played sweetgum, three days ago -- terrible - still managed to shoot a 28

[UpNorth]

Sweetgum had a mower malfunction problem that messed up several greens a couple of weeks ago. Chemical burn stripes all over the place. I think they had to aerate and top dress the greens to help it to recover. Don't hold your breath - these chemical burns (hydraulic fluid or gasoline) are hard to overcome.

[The Mountaineer]

Played El Diablo again today. Had FIVE 3-putt greens, including 2 that I drove. But the greens weren't quite as bad as last time. I was worse. Guess my game is bumpy, too. Golf, the yo-yo game (you know, up and down).

[DonH57]

Played El Diablo again today. Had FIVE 3-putt greens, including 2 that I drove. But the greens weren't quite as bad as last time. I was worse. Guess my game is bumpy, too. Golf, the yo-yo game (you know, up and down).

I don't know how it happened but at least 7 of the 9 greens you could see like a one inch cube indentation across at least 80 percent of the green. Asking any greens keeping expert, is this normal or and malfunction of the equipment being used by the crew?

[sheena0904]

Certain type of quad tine for aerification most likely. Probably trying to get the greens to breath a little because of the heavy play and the fact that they are new. Haven’t seen it with my own eyes but that’s probably what it is most likely.

[DonH57]

Certain type of quad tine for aerification most likely. Probably trying to get the greens to breath a little because of the heavy play and the fact that they are new. Haven’t seen it with my own eyes but that’s probably what it is most likely.

That may be it.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Today I played El Diablo, as I have for all of my 4 winters in The Villages. 7 tee shots were either on the green or the fringe. I had FIVE 3-putt greens. The greens are like putting on miniature cobblestones. Bare spots. Sparse grass. Bumpity putts. Silver Lake and Hill Top are in respectable shape. El Diablo greens are like a shabby unkempt cousin. I was a golf caddy for 10 years in West Virginia, as a teenager and a collegian, so I know the difference between well-kept greens and poorly managed greens. I know the hurricane was tough on Villages greens, but Silver Lake was battered badly and has recovered. Am I the only one noticing how El Diablo greens are because of their condition? I shot a 34 despite the atrocious putting conditions so it's not like I'm the world's worst golfer.

What's really sad is that this course was closed for a long time to "redo" the greens. I don't know what they're doing when they say they redo the greens but they often are worse after the redoing. It seems that The Villages loves to waste money rebuilding greens as opposed to maintaining them.

They also closed Mira Mesa for a long time to rebuild the greens. I was hoping that they'd completely redesign the ninth green there as it is an OK green for a 100 yard wedge shot, but the hole plays 180 yards. I've hit a few perfect shots into that green and every time, have been over it. I'd fix my ball mark on the front edge of the green and pitched the ball from behind it. And once again after closing the course for rebuilding, the greens are as bad as ever.

[DonH57]

What's really sad is that this course was closed for a long time to "redo" the greens. I don't know what they're doing when they say they redo the greens but they often are worse after the redoing. It seems that The Villages loves to waste money rebuilding greens as opposed to maintaining them.

They also closed Mira Mesa for a long time to rebuild the greens. I was hoping that they'd completely redesign the ninth green there as it is an OK green for a 100 yard wedge shot, but the hole plays 180 yards. I've hit a few perfect shots into that green and every time, have been over it. I'd fix my ball mark on the front edge of the green and pitched the ball from behind it. And once again after closing the course for rebuilding, the greens are as bad as ever.

The greens at Hilltop aren't any better than they were 2 weeks ago. They were punched and top dressed. I'm amazed at how a golf ball can bounce like it's rolling on cobblestone. Oh well.:shrug: