[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Dilligas

That depends on how well the golfers fill divots, rake traps after use, and repair ball marks on the greens. If all golfers leave the course in better shape than when they found it, courses will remain in as good a shape as Mother Nature can supply.

That's the same nonsense that's used over & over again, to justify lousy lousy maintenance practices in TV.

Do you ever watch golf on TV? Have you ever seen anyone, fit a ball mark on a Green? Did you ever see a Caddy filling a divot? Have you ever seen what a golf course looks like, the day after a PGA Tournament is done ... & then a week later, when all is back to pristine?

Management is responsible for the condition of the courses, player abuse is minor contributor.

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

That's the same nonsense that's used over & over again, to justify lousy lousy maintenance practices in TV.

Do you ever watch golf on TV? Have you ever seen anyone, fit a ball mark on a Green? Did you ever see a Caddy filling a divot? Have you ever seen what a golf course looks like, the day after a PGA Tournament is done ... & then a week later, when all is back to pristine?

Management is responsible for the condition of the courses, player abuse is minor contributor.

I don't feel player abuse is a minor contributor. Witnessing what I see when I play on our executives it's the laziness or entitlement that's the major problem. I don't believe the cameras are going to focus on what the caddy's or course staff are doing during a tournament. They focus on the players. I personally can't see golf staff following behind players like their mothers picking up after them like they were children. I have seen ambassadors come by and pick up broken tees and fill divots on the tee boxes

I don't blame the course workers. They only go out and do what they're told. Overall I feel the course management folks and the golfers need to do better.

[cjrjck]

I've seen executive courses struggle in the summer heat if there is a lack of substantial rain for a two week or so period. The executive courses are not as well irrigated. In the winter, much of the grass will go dormant and I do not think the executive courses are overseeded to a great degree. Still, for the most part they are in decent shape much of the year.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

That's the same nonsense that's used over & over again, to justify lousy lousy maintenance practices in TV.

Do you ever watch golf on TV? Have you ever seen anyone, fit a ball mark on a Green? Did you ever see a Caddy filling a divot? Have you ever seen what a golf course looks like, the day after a PGA Tournament is done ... & then a week later, when all is back to pristine?

Management is responsible for the condition of the courses, player abuse is minor contributor.

I'll have to disagree. Ever see a caddy replace a divot---many times. Ever see a player throw a divot back to his caddy to replace----many times. And remember, the TV cameras are showing birdie putts and great shots, not the routine work of caddies. Have you ever seen a caddy rake a bunker---many times. In fact, and you may not know this, but if a caddy does a poor job of raking, both he and his player are fined.

As far as "management being responsible, they are not playing---they cannot be there to fill divots, rake bunkers and repair ball marks---and that is the major source of wear and tear on the course, other than maniac cart drivers that pull right up to greens and tees. "Management" can supply adequate water, fertilizer and mowing, the rest is up to the players.

[TomSpasm]

I've played 70 rounds on 33 executive courses in the Villages this year, all north of 44, and with maybe an exception or two, the condition of the course has been more than adequate. A lot of the moaning here seems to come from those who "have heard" that the courses are not good.

My biggest complaint about executive golf is they cram you out onto the course 10 or 15 minutes before your t-time, resulting in backups that slow everyone down, and at times, ruin the experience. But if you're complaining about the condition of these Executive courses, for a cost of $150 a year, you should choose another game to play.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by JSR22

My husband feels the exec courses are practice ranges not golf courses.

Aren’t all golf courses practice ranges unless you playing for money?

[JerryLBell]

Given that over three and a half million rounds of golf are played per year now in The Villages, mostly on Executive courses and given that everybody complains loudly whenever any course is shut down for maintenance, much less for a total makeover (as three courses currently are, at a cost of nearly three million dollars), I'd have to say that the Executive courses are maintained at as high a level as can be reasonably expected. If they opened up another 10 or 20 courses, people would still complain when they closed any of them for work. If they closed current ones down more often and did serious maintenance on them, people would complain A) that they are closed down and B) that they are "wasting" money trying to make these courses look so nice. It's like every dollar spent on new facilities or fixing up existing facilities comes out of the pockets of just those who complain. As I understand it, building new facilities comes out of our bonds (which are really not that much) or out of the monthly HOA-type fees (which are dirt cheap compared to almost every other retirement community I've ever researched).

I sometimes play outside of The Bubble at, for example, Pennbrooke Fairways. They have two 9-hole Executive courses and one 9-hole Championship course and they are always in great shape. But then, the locals in the retirement community containing these courses just don't seem to play golf. My buddies and I seem to be able to get tee times whenever we want. And when I play, I find myself thinking, "I can't believe I'm paying this much to play here instead of for free at The Villages, just because the grass is a little nicer." Yep, I'm a Villager, all right.

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by TomSpasm

I've played 70 rounds on 33 executive courses in the Villages this year, all north of 44, and with maybe an exception or two, the condition of the course has been more than adequate. A lot of the moaning here seems to come from those who "have heard" that the courses are not good.

My biggest complaint about executive golf is they cram you out onto the course 10 or 15 minutes before your t-time, resulting in backups that slow everyone down, and at times, ruin the experience. But if you're complaining about the condition of these Executive courses, for a cost of $150 a year, you should choose another game to play.

Overall I find most of the courses in generally good shape with apparent irrigation problems during the summer months. I do agree the pushing out of golfers mostly this time of year is the worst. You end up getting backed up by the 3rd to 5th hole because the starter hasn't checked the status of the group if they are on the green and tells the following group to hit. Luckily some other starters watch what's going on when they send groups out.

[JSR22]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Aren’t all golf courses practice ranges unless you playing for money?

He plays for money.

[justjim]

The last couple of years I have played many executive courses where the tee boxes were in very poor shape. That is primarily because of the many “beginner” golfers in The Villages. Covid got some on the golf course that never played before. Many beginners hit the ground before they hit the golf ball. Sometimes they fail to hit the golf ball at all. The divots could hold a small squirrel! Few fix their divots on the courses or ball marks on the greens. They do their best, but Maintenance just can’t keep up with the number of golfers playing so called “free golf” here in The Villages.

[ROCKETMAN]

Played Bonita pass yesterday Dec. 22, greens were terrible, dirt and sand.

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze

You should see Briarwood! It looks like a museum! Of course, we mere golfers have not been allowed to use it for about 6 months. I guess they're just preserving it as a showpiece.

On they day they intentionally killed the tees and greens and started the $5 million dollar project to dig up and replace all the dirt, grass, and sand on every green, tee, and bunker, it was in better shape than any Southern executive course I've ever played. For the money they've blown on this one little mediocre par-3 on the Northside, I bet they could have fixed the divots and ball marks on every other course in the system.

So if you get disgusted with the shape of your local course, come on up and have a gander at mine! Just leave your clubs at home!

Just played Walnut Grove wednesday and observed they are also pulling up and repairing broken parts of the cart paths on Briarwood.

[RCMill531@comcast.net]

True

[UpNorth]

Played Bonita Pass last week and greens were in decent shape. Played this morning and the greens seem to be hit with some sort of disease. Terrible shape in only a weeks' time. Unlikely to improve over the winter. I would expect to see them use that green copper fungicide spray before long.

[biker1]

I played there this morning also. I agree that the greens are not in good shape. When fixing ball marks, I noticed that there wasn't much in the way of any root structure.

Originally Posted by UpNorth

Played Bonita Pass last week and greens were in decent shape. Played this morning and the greens seem to be hit with some sort of disease. Terrible shape in only a weeks' time. Unlikely to improve over the winter. I would expect to see them use that green copper fungicide spray before long.