Well, this past week I played Silver Lake, Oakleigh, Amberwood, Chula Vista, Mira Mesa, OBH and Heron and I can tell you that, with the exception of OBH, they all are equally bad. Strangely, Silver Lake and Hilltop have the best greens.

OBH is in bad condition, the rest are deplorable. Hitting a fairway on a par four is no advantage whatsoever. Miss a green by a few feet and you are usually in a horrible position. On most course, the tees are pretty bad, but they are a low priority area to me since we are teeing up the ball.

I agree with you. The courses within a 30 mile radius didn't get rain either and they are PERFECT. Why are they so different???

What bothers me as much as the poor condition is the design of some of these holes.
I played Mira Mesa a few days ago and vowed I will not play it again. Besides the fact that the fairways on the two par fours are in deplorable condition, there are two holes, #2 and #6 where I could not aim my ball at the green. From the back tees, these two holes are literally, dogleg to the left par threes. In order to hit the green, you must hit a ten to fifteen-yard draw. This is absurd. I might be a bit prejudiced because I have been working hard on hitting a baby fade. But, there is simply no excuse for a par three where the ball cannot be aimed at the flagstick.

The ninth hole at Mira Mesa is a 180-yard par three but the green is designed for a short iron. Besides the fact that the green is only 17 yards front to back, the back 30% of it slopes away. I have hit many very good high spinning four hybrids to that hole only to be chipping from the back rough. I get the impression that this back tee was added sometime after the course was completed as it makes no sense to have a shot of that length to such a small green. I also notice that the back tee yardage on the scorecard is from the middle tee.

I have heard that this green was completely torn up and redone a few years ago. I can't imagine what the people who did the re-design were thinking.

I will not play Mira Mesa again. That's a real shame because except for these few problems it's a really nice track. As much as I hate the idea, one can always take a preferred lie on the bad fairways, But the two holes where the ball can be aimed at the green are a deal breaker for me. I play golf to enjoy myself. I get enough aggravation with some of the people that I play with who talk while I'm playing, walk on my line, don't fix ball mark or fill divots. I really don't need to be aggravated by holes that are all but impossible to play.

The eighth hole at Silver Lake and the ninth at Hilltop have the same problem. Sometimes, the tee markers on these two are moved far enough to the right to allow the hole to be playable, but there are some days where the holes have to be played for a chip and a putt.


I also noticed this on the sixth hole at Oakleigh. This time it's a par four and there are some palm trees planted directly in front of the middle tee. The ball has to be aimed at the big fairway bunker. If you can not turn it over, you have no play other than to hit it in the bunker.

The fairway of the second hole at Silver Lake needs to be totally dug up and re-done. It will never come back with the patchwork repairs that they are doing. The same for the third at Mira Mesa. The sixth at Mira Mesa may be able to come back with some care but the other's need to be totally redone.

I was playing Silver Lake last week and noticed that they are taking out some sod that it along the woods next to the fourth tee. I had to wonder what is in the minds of the people that are in charge that this is a priority to them while so many other things on these courses need attention.

I also noticed that it appears that they might be cutting the large tee on number six into two smaller tees. This makes no sense from two perspectives. Number one, it takes away area where the tee markers may be moved in order to disperse the wear and tear. Also, mowing two smaller tees will take more time than mowing one large one as more turns will be required and the mowers will have to be raised and then lowered again.

Dr. Boogie,

I can see your frustration, being an experienced golfer before even getting here. Now, for someone taking up the sport in retirement it's a disaster. I can't play consistently because the exec courses are wildly different. For example, if you played south of 466A, you would encounter wavy & hilly greens, greens that are above or below eyesight, and hazards that are completely out of eyesight.

If all the execs were the same this would be a very boring set of courses. And since their difficulty is defined so we know what level we are playing not sure what the issue is.

So????? That's what makes golf interesting and challenging. But if you don't like hills and blinds shots, here's a list of courses I've played that you will want to avoid at all costs:

Bethpage Black
Bethpage Red
Bethpage Blue
Winged Foot
Baltusrol
Pine Valley
Pinehurst #2 and #5
US Air Force Academy (Blue and Silver)
and many others

But, if you want flat, try:

Eisenhower Park, Long Island (any of the 3 courses)
Just about any course in Myrtle Beach
Just about any course in South Florida
Antler Creek, Colorado Springs

Doggone. I feel a lobster bet approaching! (I haven't played any of these.) But I have played a few hilly, narrow fairway courses in New England. Do those count? (I didn't think so.) [emoji41]


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I know you're going to find it hard to believe but I played twice at Baltusrol. It was slightly different than the local public courses. Boy those were the day's. At least I have my memories. The rough was brutal and the greens.....Forgetabouit. I finished but there were a few snowmen on the card. Good Times.

I just knew you and GE were pros. What was your real name on The Tour?


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Please name some of these perfect courses (not in Howey in the Hills).

.

Are all golf courses in central Florida villages or not under the same water restrictions since so many private use wells exists? On the subject of how easy a golf course should be I only took up golf when I came here was because I wanted to be challenged by a new endeavor. I have met my match for which I'm grateful!

Two words.........thank you.........

Played Bonifay today...decent shape except the sand traps had water in them...and i hit them all.

Bad information!

As "informative" as that was, some of the rest of us might be interested in just what information you think was bad

Please elaborate.

What exactly do you believe is... "bad information?" :confused:

Ahhhh cripes...not again. :oops:

Truly frightening:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: