Course conditions
 

Players not looking for pristine conditions, just decent playing conditions. Our group played Cane and Havana this week. Terrible conditions, weeds all over fairways , bare,dirt tee boxes, greens a total disaster. Haciena no better ,same as Bonifay and Belle Glade. Other area courses priced the same ,much better. They keep cutting maintenance budgets ( no more overseeing),you see the results.

Based on your anti-recommendation, I played Allamanda & Hibiscus tonight. On a positive note, I played a "2 man scramble" with myself from the Blues & shot 72 in 2.5 hours. That was the only positive.

I haven't played Cane Gardens in a couple of weeks and its condition is abysmal. What I don't think many players realize (I ran a large facility that's had a LIV Tour event), lack of maintenance is cumulative. It's compounded every year that poor maintenance continues. You can't just turn around bad conditions in a couple of months. Bandaids only last so long.

I think they could throw $1,000,000 each, at Palmer, Mallory, Cane Garden & Mallory and still not have what most would consider "acceptable conditions". Tomorrow I start my search for a new retirement home, someplace that takes pride in their golf courses.

$1,000,000 on 27 holes won’t do much, then goal should be good grass - more like $5,000,000 o 10,000,0000 at each of them, that’s without touching the irrigation or bunkers.

Played Kenya and Kilimanjaro Friday and Saturday and the Greens are coming back. Really enjoy all three courses.

:BigApplause::BigApplause:

You mention ,in general no complaints on championship courses. I played Cane Garden last week, hard to believe ,conditions worse than Havana. Belle Glade, Bonifay has sparse grass on the greens, high weeds on fringes , Hacienda Hills is terrible condition , Mallory greens a mess. Did you not play them ?

Tis the Season.

We are coming "out of winter".

EVERY year, the condition whining posts start in February.

EVERY year, the Spring months bring better golfing conditions.

:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:

Played there 2/22/23 and it is still terrible 😞

Played Glenview yesterday & today.

I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone and had been transported off campus.

Greens on Stirrup Cup had been Top Dressed. Fertilizer on the Greens at Fox Run & Tally Ho.

Far and away, the best conditions in the bubble.

On a Scale of 1- 10 (Augusta National is a (10), Havana is a 3.0), I'd give Glenview a 6.5.

I agree with your comments - in particular I always see golfers leave the path as soon as they are past the last tee and drive up the fairway. They have no clue as to the concept of a 90 degree rule.

Having said that - the fact that one course is far worse than others tells me that there are other factors in play here. If it were just the folks driving on the fairways, all the courses would be horrible... and this does not account for the conditions of the greens themselves. These issues can be laid directly at the feet of those that care (read "they do NOT take care") for the course.

Close Hemingway
 

Our group played Hemingway to Killamajaro yesterday. Hemingway is in horrendous condition and should be closed until serious issues are corrected. The Villages should be embarrassed to allow play. Describing the greens as "terrible" would be an understatement. For instance, the 8th green looks like a quilt with numerous patches 4' X 4' in size.

[QUOTE=dewilson58;2189622]Tis the Season.

We are coming "out of winter".

EVERY year, the condition whining posts start in February.

EVERY year, the Spring months bring better golfing conditions.



Area courses much better , same weather. Priced about the same. Can’t blame weather for weeds all over ,including greens, fringes. Very poor maintenance ,it’s. Been a deterioration each year for the last five years.

Played Belle Glade this morning, and Bonifay last week - they were in great shape.

Area courses much better , same weather. Priced about the same. Can’t blame weather for weeds all over ,including greens, fringes. Very poor maintenance ,it’s. Been a deterioration each year for the last five years.[/QUOTE]

What looks like weeds is actually poa annua grass, that sprouts in clumps and grows quickly at this time of year. Any course that has it has a problem, since you can't selectively get rid of it and it spreads easily. Suppressants, and cutting the greens every day would make it playable, but don't expect it to be done here. Killing the grass and replanting is the other answer. Don't expect that to happen either. Mowers can carry it from green to green, and I've seen areas what we cut out and replanted with sod in an effort to stop it from moving across the green. It will turn yellow and die soon, but not before distributing countless seeds that will once again sprout in the Fall and next Spring. A greenskeeper's nightmare. The Villages have let this problem get out of hand. Plenty of area courses don't have this going on.

We played Hemingway -Kilimanjaro yesterday and it was greatly improved from 3 weeks ago. It was obvious that someone has taken notice. I was expecting awful conditions and I was wrong. I would go back.