Christmas Golf

[NJblue]

Has anyone golfed on the Champioships courses on Christmas before? As they have done in the past, the courses will be free on a first-come first-to-tee basis. I spoke with someone at one of the courses and they said that there have been 3 hour waits in the past. Is that what you experienced? Is there a better time to go to have shorter waits?

[dhs9099]

I'm new as well and would love to hear the tips and tricks around best way to avoid a wait.

[Mallory]

Play on Sunday.

[golfnut]

I've golfed free on xmas on the championship courses the last three years, average wait was just under one hour....gn

[chili557]

If you want to play Palmer be prepared for a long wait,only 9 holes go to Riley Grove,might be a short wait.

[golf2140]

Spend a few bucks, go another day. :boom:

[ron56]

I golfed last Christmas at Havanna. Kilamanjaro to Kenya. Got there around 2:00 and walked right up to the tee. No wait. I figure most people are eating sometime close to noon so the courses would be quiet. Guess I just gave away my secret.

[aln]

3 years ago it rained all day - I doubt anyone golfed

2 years ago we played Amelia at Mallory at 9:30 ish and wainted 45 minutes

last year we went to Glenview 9:30 ish again and wainted 1 1/2 hours

[Ohiogirl]

sounds like the later you go, the less you wait. Does anyone know if the open golf (and free for guests) also applies at the executive courses?

We have relatives visiting for the day who like to golf, but none of us like to wait. Christmas Day is the only day they'll have available to golf as they will be travelling on the 24th and 26th.

[Bogie Shooter]

sounds like the later you go, the less you wait. Does anyone know if the open golf (and free for guests) also applies at the executive courses?

We have relatives visiting for the day who like to golf, but none of us like to wait. Christmas Day is the only day they'll have available to golf as they will be travelling on the 24th and 26th.

In todays Daily Sun sports section there is a full explanation of the Christmas day free golf.

[villages07]

But, to OhioGirls's question .... the sports section today says that the Executive Courses are closed on Saturday (and you can't make any online reservations).

Are the exec course truly closed or are they also first come/first served on Saturday?

[Bogie Shooter]

In the same article at the bottom is the phone number for The Villages Golf and Country Club Administration Office.....I bet they can answer you question.

[LittleDog]

sounds like the later you go, the less you wait. Does anyone know if the open golf (and free for guests) also applies at the executive courses?

We have relatives visiting for the day who like to golf, but none of us like to wait. Christmas Day is the only day they'll have available to golf as they will be travelling on the 24th and 26th.

Executive courses are not open on Xmas day.

John

[villages07]

I was just up at Bacall and asked the starter. He said the exec courses won't be staffed on Christmas but are open on first-come, first-served basis (self-policing, yikes!!!).

On an unrelated note, I had grabbed one empty spot in the system to play this morning and the 3 other people didn't show up. Rather than play alone and having no other partial groups around to join, I headed home.:cus:

The starter was miffed too....they get calls all day looking for empty tee times. If these three golfers had done the courteous thing and cancelled their tee times, 3 other people (well, actually 4, including me) would have been able to play.

So, a reminder.... on a day with playable conditions, if you decide not to play, please do the right thing and call the starter shack to cancel. It'll save you points and potentially open up tee times for others.

dismounting soapbox...

[mac9]

Villages07, why not play alone?

[villages07]

mac...I could have and sometimes do in the heat of the summer when the courses aren't busy.

But, not much fun and spend a lot of time waiting for the group ahead.

Manana, manana .... there's always tomorrow in The Villages. Golf can wait a day.

[Ohiogirl]

I was just up at Bacall and asked the starter. He said the exec courses won't be staffed on Christmas but are open on first-come, first-served basis (self-policing, yikes!!!).

On an unrelated note, I had grabbed one empty spot in the system to play this morning and the 3 other people didn't show up. Rather than play alone and having no other partial groups around to join, I headed home.:cus:

The starter was miffed too....they get calls all day looking for empty tee times. If these three golfers had done the courteous thing and cancelled their tee times, 3 other people (well, actually 4, including me) would have been able to play.

So, a reminder.... on a day with playable conditions, if you decide not to play, please do the right thing and call the starter shack to cancel. It'll save you points and potentially open up tee times for others.

dismounting soapbox...

I called too, and confirmed the exec courses are available to play, just a roaming ambassador to doublecheck that you are a resident or a resident guest (no outsiders without passes).

And I strongly agree with Villages 07. I play alone a lot - not all by myself, but sign up by myself and play with strangers. Sometimes I call a course the day of play looking for lone spot. There are probably more of these, but people don't call in to cancel, very rude IMO.

Played Pimlico a week or 2 ago with nice people, but when signing in, the group ahead of me just told the started that one of their group would not be coming - I think they didn't want to play with a stranger and that's why no one called, but definitely not the thing to do. And it cost someone points, either the resident who didn't show up or whomever made the reservation. At least I hope so.

[golfnut]

if you want to play and haven't signed up, go to the starter shack and ask the starter to put you in if someone doesn't show, even if someone waits until the last minute to cancel they will still put you in. i have done this many times and usually get to play, i pass the time waiting on the practice green...gn

[Pturner]

We just rolled into town! Yeah! We plan to try free golf on Saturday since it is supposed to be a beautiful day.

Fore!

[zcaveman]

mac...I could have and sometimes do in the heat of the summer when the courses aren't busy.

But, not much fun and spend a lot of time waiting for the group ahead.

Manana, manana .... there's always tomorrow in The Villages. Golf can wait a day.

Play two balls and keep two separate scores. It will slow you down and give you some exercise.

And if you are like me you can harass your "playing partner" if you are playing better than him/her. Of course if you aren't, you can listen to him/her needle you.

[Pturner]

Played Lopez this morning and had a great time. The group ahead of us was slow at first, but picked up the pace after the ambassador told them they were a hole behind. It was smooth sailing after that.

[villages07]

Played exec at about 3pm. First, checked out Roosevelt... 3 groups queued up. Went over to Truman...just one group at the tee. But, then saw them hitting tee shots while the group ahead was still searching for balls around the first green. Yikes. Decided not to follow them and ended up at Sandhill. Paced nicely but certainly noticed more ball marks than usual on the greens and unraked sand.... not that I ended up in the sand or anything.

Lots of kids and visitors out there.

Thank goodness for our tee time system and ambassadors to maintain order!!!

[Taj44]

We played one of the Championship courses - waited over an hour to pay 9 holes; plus the pace of play was brutal - about 2 3/4 hours. Definitely amateur hour - loads of people who I'd guess normally play exec. golf and played qite badly and were slow. I loved getting together with my friends on Xmas, but probably won't do it again next year.

[gongoozler]

I figured that everyone would be playing the championship courses today so my son and I played an exec course and got in 18 holes in about 3 hours and we played two balls on each hole and there were no problems! Great day!!!

:beer3: Merry Christmas!

[Pturner]

Wow, sounds like some courses were definitely worse than others. Our foursome got off around 8:30 and finished 18 holes at 12:30.

Oh, maybe I shouldn't tell anyone.

[Bosoxfan]

Amazing!! On Christmas people still complain about pace of play!!:shrug:

[ajbrown]

My Dad lives in Chatham. He and I played Amberwood before Christmas dinner around 11 AM yesterday. What a beautiful day and to use a line like that credit card slogan:

......playing golf with your Dad on Christmas day........ priceless.

[MelZ]

Played 9 holes at Bacall yesterday, No wait seemed like our own personal golf course.

I want to personally thank everyone who went to a championship course.:BigApplause:

[Whalen]

Amazing!! On Christmas people still complain about pace of play!!:shrug:

Worth repeating.

Meanwhile, we played Red Fish Run at about 3 o'clock with friends from NJ... no wait, no rush, and had a great time.


Merry Christmas!

[Taj44]

Amazing!! On Christmas people still complain about pace of play!!:shrug:


I think Gracie Girl said it well when she stated on a previous thread about pace of play: "Play on any golf course is a cooperative effort of all players to maximize enjoyment of all. Groups that fall well behind reduce the enjoyment of all who play immediately behind them and for the rest of the day....Etiquette is simply consideration for others. "

I personally don't think that because its Christmas, or Valentine's day or Labor Day that its okay for people to be discourteous to others on the golf course. An almost 3 hour round of 9 holes is reallly pushing the limit on pace of play.

MelZ - you're welcome!...Next year I'll do an executive course as well, sounds like much more fun!..:angel:

[actor]

Amazing!! On Christmas people still complain about pace of play!!:shrug:

it is. Standing around waiting to hit a shot while slow players hold everyone up is not fun.

[Pturner]

Played 9 holes at Bacall yesterday, No wait seemed like our own personal golf course.

I want to personally thank everyone who went to a championship course.:BigApplause:

Hi MelZ,
You are more than welcome! :)

:beer3:

[NJblue]

We went to Havana at about 9:15 and there was about an hour wait in both of their lines so we went over to Roosevelt and got right on. Shortly after we started more people came, but nothing serious. I'm glad for all the visiting families that the weather on Christmas Day was great. I felt bad for the few intrepid souls who braved the elements yesterday. It must be very discouraging to look forward to a trip to "sunny" Florida to visit mom/dad or grandpa/grandma and be faced with such miserable weather.

[ajbrown]

I felt bad for the few intrepid souls who braved the elements yesterday. It must be very discouraging to look forward to a trip to "sunny" Florida to visit mom/dad or grandpa/grandma and be faced with such miserable weather.

:agree: I saw a group playing Havana yesterday around 10 AM. I thought to myself, these poor folks must only be here for the day! I could think of no other explanation to play :). With that wind, it must really have felt cold.....