Golf course conditions and time of play?

[Jrs1958]

My wife and I are thinking of moving to TV in the near future. I'm an avid golfer with a 4 handicap. My concern is slow play in the winter or peak season. I plan on joining various groups or leagues and playing 4 or 5 times a week. Is slow play in the winter an issue and will it help that I play in leagues so the tee times are blocked off? I can't stand slow play especially anything taking over 4 hours.

Another concern is the condition of the golf courses. Lots of people voicing concerns about the condition of some of the courses. Is this a legit complaint?

[deltaguy]

My wife and I are thinking of moving to TV in the near future. I'm an avid golfer with a 4 handicap. My concern is slow play in the winter or peak season. I plan on joining various groups or leagues and playing 4 or 5 times a week. Is slow play in the winter an issue and will it help that I play in leagues so the tee times are blocked off? I can't stand slow play especially anything taking over 4 hours.

Another concern is the condition of the golf courses. Lots of people voicing concerns about the condition of some of the courses. Is this a legit complaint?

Playing in four hours in TV is a rarity. Playing on courses that might resemble anything like the quality you might be used to is unlikely.

[Bogie Shooter]

My wife and I are thinking of moving to TV in the near future. I'm an avid golfer with a 4 handicap. My concern is slow play in the winter or peak season. I plan on joining various groups or leagues and playing 4 or 5 times a week. Is slow play in the winter an issue and will it help that I play in leagues so the tee times are blocked off? I can't stand slow play especially anything taking over 4 hours.

Another concern is the condition of the golf courses. Lots of people voicing concerns about the condition of some of the courses. Is this a legit complaint?

Have you visited TV? Why not see for yourself?

[mickey100]

Pace of place is definitely a problem in The Villages. Don't expect anything equal to or less than 4 hours in high season. In fact if you look at the scorecards, the expected pace of play is generally 4 hours 15 minutes or so at a minimum. The ambassadors don't seem to have any power, and they may give warnings, but that's about it. You'll probably average around 4 1/4 - 4 1/2 hours per round. As far as golf course conditions, do a search of threads and you'll see the postings on conditions. There is a lot of variation. There always seem to be some courses that are in pretty good condition, and an equal number that are just atrocious. Some Villagers don't even bother with our courses in the high season, they are so busy and high priced. If you are willing to drive your car, there are some beautiful courses outside The Villages that get less play and offer good deals. Be careful of the Koolaid people - those are the ones that claim The Villages is perfect and are just not seeing reality. This place has a lot going for it, but as golfers who like to play 18 holes, we've found the championship golf to be a mixed bag. Ladies Day and Mens Day are well organized, though, and there are plenty of tournaments if you are into that sort of thing. If you are an Executive course golfer, you'll find lots of courses you'll like, and most are in pretty good shape. But pace of play, again, is quite slow, especially in the high season.

[Jrs1958]

Thanks for the honest input. We are planing a trip in October.

[billethkid]

there are very many golf courses close by outside the villages with reasonable green fees and carts.

Pace of play as most eventually find out is a function of ones age......and not really as important as just being able to get out and play....regardless of the pace......after all we are retired what's the hurry?

btk

[mickey100]

Thanks for the honest input. We are planing a trip in October.

Great - best idea is to check it out yourself and see if it meets your expectations!

[Bay Kid]

Pace of play is slow, but when in TVs what is the hurry! I guess I'm a Kool-Aid still.

[jnieman]

My husband's Tuesday league plays off the villages property all winter long. They enjoy it. So many courses to choose from. Some of them include breakfast and/or lunch and cart with the green fees.

[graciegirl]

I am a proud Kool-Aid person. I am also a staunch advocate of Pace of Play, while I'm still young.

I think our courses are a bargain compared to the price of golf that we had paid our whole adult life.

Our courses are well used, in fact over used and pretty o.k. for what I consider a pretty reasonable green fee without restaurant fees, monthly fees and a huge price to join.

It isn't what you are used to. AT ALL. There are water restrictions throughout the most of Florida and in the winter the ground is as hard as rock. There are many people who have handicap stickers, most of them are handicapped, and they are allowed to drive their cart right up to the green. There are many who are very new to golf and very entitled and feel that they can take all of the time in the world and the ambassadors have NO authority to get after them. In fact the ambassadors can be fired for making someone mad. They are ambassadors and not marshals. How I miss the marshals.

In the winter you can't call the night before or the morning of and make a tee time. You need to make your tee time several days ahead and may not get the course you want.

I think more than anything that I find different is the lack of experience of many golfers and the lack of etiquette that I have been used to all of my adult life.

Maybe I am just used to golf back home, but some of folks who play golf here are rude, inconsiderate and never repair a ball mark or a divot and hit into people. I would like to take my trusted six iron to the back of some of their heads.

Other than that, Our Village won the Bridgeport cup on Monday. My sweetie won his match. I no longer play championship golf courses but every once in awhile I hit a shot and play a round like that young girl who lives inside of me.

Hurry down and see if you love this place like we do.

[John_W]

Getting a little more specific when it comes to courses. Palmer, Glenview and Lopez are in a league of their own and are usually really nice and I try and play one of those three every week. Since I live close to 466A, Palmer is only a 20 minute cart ride, the other two are about 30 to 35 minute ride each way. All three of those have driving ranges. In my immediate area is Cane Garden and a few minutes away are Mallory and Havana. I like Havana best of those three although it's fairways can be dry and hard. I played Cane Garden yesterday and it was in nice condition for that course.

The two newest courses are south of 466A, that is Bonifay and it's about two years old and Evans Prairie which is less than a year old. Those two we might play once every 2 or 3 months just to see if they've improved. Normally we don't play them, Bonifay is alright at times but the other six courses are usually so much better that it's easy to skip the two new ones.

My neighbor and I usually play the championship courses from the blue tees about twice a week. The blue tees are about equal to the white tees off campus, about 6200 yards. He normally shots 75 to 78 and I normally shot 80 to 85 although I've broken 80 five times, but I've only been playing since 2009. That's one reason I like playing here, I can play 12 months a year and get better that much quicker. In the winter when green fees get really high, especially at Palmer, we will play the executive courses and walk using a push cart, I have a Clicgear 3.0. It makes it seem like you've done more when you walk and it's absolutely free. We'll also go off campus more in the winter to play a championship, in fact tomorrow were playing in Gainesville.

[mickey100]

One last thing, if you plan on playing a lot in the high season, you really need to have a priority membership, or you won't be able to get a teetime. Its also a requirement if you play in any men's groups or on men's day. golfthevillages.com website
has a section explaining the fees.

[ouatiny]

if you are still reading these comments ill adresss pace of play on the championship courses. the pace of play on each nine is printed on the scorecard on each hole and the result is the pace to play nine holes is 2:11 to 2:15 on every nine on every course. now here is the reason starting times are set up in waves morning wavew afternoon wave morning wave is tea times from 7:28 to 9:28 give or take a minute or two for every course wne you finsh one nine you roll to another nine the afternoon wave starts 11:56 to 1:56 or so SO now Looking at the very first tee time of 7:28 it does not mater how fast you are capable of playing-----BECAUSE you cnat tee off on the second none till about 9:36 so if you are a fast foursome and play in one hour and 30 minutes you hve to wait til after 9:28 till all boopked tee times have teed off. period repeat PERIOD its not about time or pace of play its all about the Benjermins...... There is fact and fiction in all of the above the othe fact is ther are ove 2.5 million rounds of golf played on all village courses yes 2.5 million most negative coments you will hear would apply to their "back home " courses if they had this volume of play when you visit you need to play a couple courses and Lopez Palmer are currently in great shape enjoy your visit but if speed of play is that much a factor then you need a private course will high fees and dwindling membership that will go public like so many have been forced to do so if you are filthy rich Trump has some wonderfull courses that im sure can accomadate........

[deltaguy]

if you are still reading these comments ill adresss pace of play on the championship courses. the pace of play on each nine is printed on the scorecard on each hole and the result is the pace to play nine holes is 2:11 to 2:15 on every nine on every course. now here is the reason starting times are set up in waves morning wavew afternoon wave morning wave is tea times from 7:28 to 9:28 give or take a minute or two for every course wne you finsh one nine you roll to another nine the afternoon wave starts 11:56 to 1:56 or so SO now Looking at the very first tee time of 7:28 it does not mater how fast you are capable of playing-----BECAUSE you cnat tee off on the second none till about 9:36 so if you are a fast foursome and play in one hour and 30 minutes you hve to wait til after 9:28 till all boopked tee times have teed off. period repeat PERIOD its not about time or pace of play its all about the Benjermins...... There is fact and fiction in all of the above the othe fact is ther are ove 2.5 million rounds of golf played on all village courses yes 2.5 million most negative coments you will hear would apply to their "back home " courses if they had this volume of play when you visit you need to play a couple courses and Lopez Palmer are currently in great shape enjoy your visit but if speed of play is that much a factor then you need a private course will high fees and dwindling membership that will go public like so many have been forced to do so if you are filthy rich Trump has some wonderfull courses that im sure can accomadate........

Some comments:

- "Recommended) pace of play is printed on scorecards
- Your numbers are not correct. Nine hole pace of play on many courses is
as low as 2:06
- 2.5 million rounds is a worthless number as it includes all 18, 27 and par 3 courses. And if the amount of play is the reason, as you say, for poor course conditions, how is it that Bonifay was pristine this week for the Villages Cup and how come Lopez was Pristine for the LPGA Legends a few months ago. Answer is that they won't spend the time or money to keep all of the courses in tournament condition. Your assessment is simply off base. Go to other courses in the area that get extremely heavy Florida play. Most are in far superior condition than normal Villages conditions.

[ajbrown]

Thanks for the honest input. We are planing a trip in October.

Sounds like you are a pretty good stick, so you have to try for yourself. Be aware that October may be overseed time, so check golfthevillages web site for schedules. IMO what one person finds to be good conditions may not match what you like. The same way I like my .... (oh never mind), I like my courses tight, fast and firm, some like them soft so a ball mark looks like a crater and cushy so you can scoop an iron off the fairway, yuck.

The key is that conditions change quickly, so it is nice to have a resource like TOTV so you can get opinions and plan tee times. There is a thread out here about golf course conditions tht has been around for years for some history

One observation for me is that Palmer is "ALMOST always" a notch above the others. Greens seem 18 inches faster, fairways nice, maybe cause it cost more?

In my experience pace of play is usually within the allotted time on cards. I have mentioned the following to the golf office. SOMETIMES starters seem to be part of the problem on courses that have issues. They compress the course by sending folks out early. For a 9:28 tee time the send you at 9:18 and then you wait on the third hole. Pace of play is complicated, not always the golfers fault entirely. You need proper spacing so that a group that runs into trouble (we all do) does not cause a pile up.

Then you finish nine at 11:36 and the ambassador on the back says you finished in 2:08, you are right on time. To which I ask my partner if he remembered to bring beer for the back :beer3:

[Fourpar]

Sounds like you are a pretty good stick, so you have to try for yourself. Be aware that October may be overseed time, so check golfthevillages web site for schedules. IMO what one person finds to be good conditions may not match what you like. The same way I like my .... (oh never mind), I like my courses tight, fast and firm, some like them soft so a ball mark looks like a crater and cushy so you can scoop an iron off the fairway, yuck.

The key is that conditions change quickly, so it is nice to have a resource like TOTV so you can get opinions and plan tee times. There is a thread out here about golf course conditions tht has been around for years for some history

One observation for me is that Palmer is "ALMOST always" a notch above the others. Greens seem 18 inches faster, fairways nice, maybe cause it cost more?

In my experience pace of play is usually within the allotted time on cards. I have mentioned the following to the golf office. SOMETIMES starters seem to be part of the problem on courses that have issues. They compress the course by sending folks out early. For a 9:28 tee time the send you at 9:18 and then you wait on the third hole. Pace of play is complicated, not always the golfers fault entirely. You need proper spacing so that a group that runs into trouble (we all do) does not cause a pile up.

Then you finish nine at 11:36 and the ambassador on the back says you finished in 2:08, you are right on time. To which I ask my partner if he remembered to bring beer for the back :beer3:
...As usual, you are right on target. :clap2:
Look forward to your return.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Playing in four hours in TV is a rarity. Playing on courses that might resemble anything like the quality you might be used to is unlikely.

Sorry, but playing in four hours is a rarity no matter where you are. Slow play is something that people in the golf industry are always fighting. Unless yo join some ultra exclusive country club that has 5,000 rounds a year, and you play by yourself or with a handful of friends that also play fast, you are not going to play in under four hours no matter where you go.

[Moderator]

Please stay on topic and avoid directing comments at each other. Many posts have been removed.

Our apologies to the OP, a new member asking simple questions. Behavior exhibited by some in this thread is not typical of The Villages or TOTV.

[Jrs1958]

I am looking forward to my visit and appreciate all the input. It's great that Tv has so many golf choices but it does appear to be busy during the winter. I agree that the only way to play on a course that is not jammed packed is if it is totally private. That gets rid of the casual golfer as it isn't worth them paying the higher fees. As with most things in life it's a trade off.

[nitehawk]

The Villages motto -------"If its Free its for Me"------Its so hard to get a tee time

[chili557]

Having been an Ambassador for 10 years, I know that Ambassadors not fired for making someone mad.Any Ambassador that allows to pace of play to get out of hand is not doing his job. Most of the time it is one person in the foursome that causes the slow down, looking for a ball they bought at Marion Markets for $.50.

[jnieman]

I so agree about looking for a ball they paid .50 for. If I think I may end up in the lake I use an old ball. That way I don't worry about it. I think sometimes too it is the golfers that hit into the sand trap time after time and take 3 or 4 shots trying to get out then have to rake the entire trap. Not complaining here, because most of the time I enjoy my golf and if it's slow we just find a spot under a tree and talk. A bad day at golf in the Villages is better than a good day in the winter in Ohio. :-)