Originally Posted by Love2Swim (Post 1719446)

Are you taking into account the cost of the priority membership, the cost of your golf cart, and wear and tear on the golf cart? And depending on where you live in The Villages, it may take the same amount of time to drive to Palmer in a golf cart as it does to drive to Ocala in a car.

Originally Posted by alwann (Post 1719451)

Played Bonifay Destin-Ft. Walton Tuesday. Every green on both nines had been treated with some kind of black dust that made putting almost impossible, ruined your golf towel by wiping all the black residue off of your ball, and made your golf shoes look like you had walked through a coal mine. For this, I paid $47-- the Priority rate. I must admit, the Ambassador had empathy and handed out good golfer coupons to my group. My partner joked with him about whether the reward could be used to pay for dry cleaning.

Okay, courses must be maintained. But is it fair to charge full price to play a course that's getting a face lift? If I had wanted to putt on mud, I might have played Lake Miona for half the price.

Originally Posted by anothersteve (Post 1718693)

"One complaint will get them fired"?

Let me tell you what the Ambassadors do, and would take more than one complaint to get them fired

They "try" to keep pace of play, even though the elitist a holes think they are pros, and think pace of play is that the ones in front of them are playing too slow, even when they are shown that everyone is either ahead of, or on time.
They sand the freaking divots for the lazy asses that don't
They repair the freaking ball marks for the lazy asses that don't
They rake the bunkers for the lazy asses that don't.
They keep placing the rakes in the proper positions, which if people would attend "Good Golf School", would know the why and how.
They fill divots on the tee's for the lazy asses that don't
They police the tee's and pick up cigarette and cigar butts for the lazy asses that just toss them on the ground.
They pick up your garbage......there are garbage receptacles on every hole ya know.
They keep you hydrated
They fill your sand bottles
They get grief for pin placements beyond their control
They get grief for the course conditions
They try to make your day of golf as enjoyable as they can.
All this and more for minimum wage.....and a smile............. why?
Steve

Originally Posted by ROCKETMAN (Post 1718569)

If you don’t have a priority, it’s really dumb to play in the villages. Del Webb, 36 holes on saturdays 33 bucks with lunch. Fairways have much more grass and greens no worse than villages. Harbor hills 45 bucks and great layout. Stone creek in Ocala 49 bucks with great lunch. Many more just chrck adds in sub:a040:

Originally Posted by pinchme54 (Post 1718641)

I have lived in the Villages full time for 18 months. I am not a priority member and have played several Championship courses paying the necessary green fees. Being an avid golfer, I have taken numerous guys to a golf mecca in Myrtle Beach with over a 100 courses. Green fees with cart, including lunch and beer usually runs between $35 and $60 dollars. In over ten years of going to Myrtle Beach, we have never had an issue with bad conditions on any of the courses. Since most of us living here who play golf, we all have a sense of the seasonal conditions necessary to maintain the courses, including sanding, punching, fertilizing and maintenance. All you have to do is ask the question prior to paying your green fees, is the course in good shape? If the response is not, just say I do not desire to play a course not in decent shape. Most courses outside of the Villages even go so far as to discount green fees if certain conditions exist at time of play. I call that professional integrity. If we ask the question enough times and get the proper answer, I would think we would see a better set of conditions on the courses. Remember, there is power in numbers.

Originally Posted by alwann (Post 1719451)

Played Bonifay Destin-Ft. Walton Tuesday. Every green on both nines had been treated with some kind of black dust that made putting almost impossible, ruined your golf towel by wiping all the black residue off of your ball, and made your golf shoes look like you had walked through a coal mine. For this, I paid $47-- the Priority rate. I must admit, the Ambassador had empathy and handed out good golfer coupons to my group. My partner joked with him about whether the reward could be used to pay for dry cleaning.

Okay, courses must be maintained. But is it fair to charge full price to play a course that's getting a face lift? If I had wanted to putt on mud, I might have played Lake Miona for half the price.

Originally Posted by dewilson58 (Post 1719991)

Wonder what the "black" was. Played there this week as well, no black stuff.



Any body know what the black could be???

Originally Posted by waynet (Post 1718202)

Terrible conditions on the greens. Very little grass, mostly dirt with tire tracks all over the greens. Very bumpy almost not puttable. A disgrace that these conditions are allowed here. Bad part was it was our fifth choice Some went into the golf shop after to express our concerns. He acted surprised by our comments. I asked him if he ever left his office to look at the conditions. He just smiled said nothing and walked away. They know they have a captive audience and really do not care. Too bad so much pride taken in the buildings ,homes ,circles, and roads and so little on the golf courses.