[DrBrutyle109]

You sir are 1,000% correct

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Edjkoz

5/8 of an inch? I doubt they ever let it grow that long.

would love to see 5/8.
if that's 5/8, i vote for two inches

[manhattan]

Appreciate the update on champ courses will play the ones that are in better condition from your posts. Would think with all the villagers paying monthly dues the budget for maintaining and hiring qualified personnel would not be an issue.

[jarodrig]

Originally Posted by manhattan

Appreciate the update on champ courses will play the ones that are in better condition from your posts. Would think with all the villagers paying monthly dues the budget for maintaining and hiring qualified personnel would not be an issue.

Our amenity fees are not “dues” and have nothing to do with maintenance of the Championship courses .....

[DanBrew]

Please, please, please let the flippin bermuda grass grow in the fairways. Why is there a need to have short burlap on concrete. Not mowing so frequently will save a few bucks as well. It would also be nice if greenside bunkers were groomed once in awhile. I'm really wondering if the people in charge of these courses know what they are doing. I played Evans Prairie and one of the tee boxes were nothing but dirt where the markers were. They clearly had not been moved for weeks as the rest of the tee had grass on it. I mean really.

[calibantwo]

A major cause of the no-grass problem is that the fairways and tee boxes are cut too short. The fairways on some courses look like the greens.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Conclusions. If Tierra Del Sol was a real Country Club its members would have the ground crew and greenkeeper fired. Whoever did the aerification has no clue how to do the job correctly. Or worse, they don't care.

A greens aerifier is a very slow moving machine and it takes a long time to properly aerify a green. In order to do the job in much less time, some companies will use a fairways aerifier or the type of aerfifer that is used on lawns.

With a greens aerifier you might be able to do five to nine greens in a day. With a fairway aerifier they can do 18 greens in less than eight hours.

I'm not saying that this is what's happening because I haven't seen it myself. I'm simply speculating on what might be the cause.

Unfortunately, when owners of a golf course contract out the maintenance the company is going to try to do the job as inexpensively as possible.

What is surprising to me is that The Villages does everything so well except golf. The pools, tennis and pickleball courts, rec centers, cart paths, flowers and everything else seem perfect until you get onto a golf course. What many here call excellent conditions are simply mediocre public course conditions. I've played golf all over this country and in some other countries and I've never seen conditions as bad as I see here then they are bad.

I've also heard he excuse that these courses get so much play in the winter. I've worked and played at many courses in Florida and guess what? They all get a huge amount of play in the winter. Yet most of the places that I've worked and played have been able to maintain decent conditions year round.

I think that part of the problem is that some of the courses were poorly designed. Most people don't understand that 75% of a golf course is underground. If what's under the grass isn't done correctly to begin with you never have a chance of maintaining it properly. This is especially true of the older courses north of 466.

They can keep sodding over problem areas, but unless they correct what's underground the new sod will always fail.

The problem is, I'm afraid they simply don't care. They're not making any profit from the executive courses to they no motivation whatsoever to keep them maintained. The so called championship courses have an almost captive audience so there is little to motivate them to attract golfers with excellent conditions. I realize that some people play off campus, but most do not. For most, it is simply too convenient to get into your golf cart, drive to your nearest 18-27 hole course, pay you fee and play. As long as the courses are full, they have no reason to improve conditions.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by donassaid

Good to know. I played Evan's Prairie on Thursday. Greens were "fair" and fairways were awful. Lopez yesterday. Greens were magnificent but a tad firm. Fairways and tee boxes were very poor. According to David Williams, Director of Golf, the mowers are set to cut fairways at 5/8" but that is a joke. More like 1/8". I realize it has been dry but they are watering everyday and we have been blessed with cool nights and warm days - ideal grass growing conditions. They should just quit mowing altogether for a couple of weeks and let the grass grow.

I haven't had a lot of experience with Bermuda fairways, but 5/8" seems pretty low. What most good players complain about is fairways being too long and hitting fliers.

That was the one thing that I loved when I first came to Florida from the northeast. I played a lot of bluegrass fairways where you never knew what you were going to get. You could hit a pitching wedge 120 on one shot and 150 on the next. That was the main reason that Jack Nicklaus refused to play in many events in in New England.

I came to Florida and the ball was sitting like it was on a table top with not grass growing up around it.

Now that's not to say that is was sitting on dirt like so many of the lies that you get in The Villages. There was a bit of a cushion under it. But, you could catch it cleanly. And you knew how far it was going to fly every time.

Higher handicap golfers from areas where fairways are cut higher have learned to scoop the ball with their irons and have a lot of trouble learning how to hit a ball properly. I often hear them comment that they didn't get "under it". That's the problem. You are not supposed to get under the ball. You are supposed to hit it with a slight descending blow and allow the loft of the club to get the ball in the air. I've seen players hit wedges off of concrete. They were not getting the club under that ball.

I recall the correct fairway height as being 3/4" but that was for bluegrass, fescue and bent fairways. I think that Bermuda needs to be cut shorter. But it's not just the height of cut. The quality of the lie has to do with a lot of other things.

For people that are saying that they'd like to see 2", believe me, you'd never want to see your ball in 2" of Bermuda.

[bilcon]

Remind me to skip your critiques.

[anothersteve]

https://www.usga.org/course-care/201...474858685.html


"Summer months bring warm, humid conditions that cause the turf to grow at an accelerated pace. Some golf facilities maintain slightly lower mowing heights during the summer months to improve aesthetics and playability. Fairways can be mowed from 0.38 to 0.45 inches while roughs are maintained between 1.0 to 1.25 inches in summer. Mowing heights are raised slightly in the fall, as soil temperatures decrease and the turf thins from peak season cart traffic. Mowing height can be increased to as high as 0.7 inches in fairways and up to 2.0 inches in roughs to improve conditions for the peak golfing season."

"Fairways are generally maintained at 0.5 inch throughout most of the year. Lower mowing increases shoot tillering which increases leaf density, and this provides a “tighter” playing surface as the golf ball sits higher in the turf canopy. Conversely, higher mowing provides a more cushioned ball lie where the ball nestles down further into the turf canopy."

Steve

[John_W]

Played Bonifay (Ft. Walton > Destin) yesterday, it was the same it has been for the last few years. I like the course, not so crazy about Pensacola, but the other two are some of my favorites. Fairways were close, so don't play if you can't hit the ball first. Greens has faint images of spike marks but were healed enough that it didn't effect the putts.

We played from the whites, we moved up from the blues two years ago when my neighbor had hip replacement surgery. He did good yesterday, he normally shoots 75 and yesterday he had 35 & 35 for a 70, didn't break his age, he's 66. I had a 41 and 39 for 80 and the third guy had a 41 and a 42 for 83. It was a little windy, cost me 2 or 3 strokes and was pretty hot 12:32 teetime, but I'm use to it.

[Golfgrammie02]

I totally agree that some golfers do not help to take care of the courses. I think because of lack of grass on fairways and poor tee boxes the price is way out of line. I have started to play outside as well. I would say this should be of concern as it shows a trend that could eventually hurt the Villages. They should pay attention. It is a shame that ambassors can no longer do their job because some baby complains. It bothers me that I am starting to see so many people moving here that think they are entitled and the rules do not apply to them. I feel we are living in a very sad time. Where is respect for the game and the course? Saddened.

[jarodrig]

Our group payed Mallory yesterday, first time since the reopening.

You’all have heard my completely justified criticism of the pretty bad conditions on most of the courses here in The Villages.

I have to say that Mallory is in pretty good shape . Fairways had some cushion vs the usual hard pan , rough was not bad and the fringes around the greens actually had some grass so chipping from close to the greens was a pleasure. Greens a little slow but overall good .

I guess what it takes is closing a course for 6 months to give them a chance to heal ....

[jenistaf]

I was looking forward to your weekly updates, so.... Where's the week of May 18 report?

[sloanst]

The Villages raised the green fees of the championship courses by ~18% this year. You tell me if you think they have the $ to get the job done properly?