You have no idea what the course were up north that I played nor the traffic they experienced. There have been drought conditions up north as well as down south. We can play golf at areas surrounding The Villages for the same $$ or less, and have better conditions. And as far as conditions being a lot worse, have you played Cane Garden in the past few weeks? It is nice to be able to bring our own golf carts - but we PAY for that in maintenance, price of electric or gas fuel, and wear and tear on the carts. You have to take that into consideration when calculating total golf costs.

On the plus side, I think there has been progress made on the condition of the Executive courses. They really do seem better overall than they used to be a few years ago. I'd love to see a resident's committee review or have input on championship course conditions. And, IMHO, there needs to be better communication regarding conditions. The blurb on golfthevillages.com about Mallory and Glenview was helpful. It would have been nice if they posted something similar about Tierra, for example, to explain why the course was being closed and exactly what improvements they were making.

Sorry, but it's your bed not mine and I've got no complaints.

The Nancy Lopez course was a beautiful emerald green when we were there........
Everything , including golf courses looked green that October and November......
That was in Marion County, in the northwest quadrant of The Villages.
The quiet, non busy area.....no crowds at the supermarket, etc.

Didn't realize Florida has had such a draught thereafter?

I've seen really brown looking golf courses when looking at other 55+ retirement communities both directly above TV and directly below TV......

Also, besides the brown looking golf courses, noticed also that they are not really close to major shopping (such as food, various products, services, etc.); whereas TV does have so many needed services close by.

Mike,

Where did you get these numbers? I was renting a home on Bailey Trail in May of 2009. We had over 10 inches of rain in 4 days with lots of flooded areas and all the golf course sprinklers had to be turned on 24/7 for a couple of days. So I at least know that the May 2009 total you posted is incorrect. Are these numbers your own?

I don't reject your premise but remember that the local area has hundreds of golf courses and we all receive about the same rainfall.

Another Thought
 

Could it be that "other" courses have only one (1) course to maintain instead of the many that are here? Not all maintenance crews are the same, either. Most of them are paid very well and are well trained at others. Don't know about here. The CC's back home were also closed down one day a week, too.

These courses are also played year-round, not just the summer months. That could also make a significant difference.

Dunno. Just thinking.:mornincoffee:

Russ,
That's true. Was that TS Fay? I got the figures from a search for historic weather data for TV. The site for the actual rainfall was weather-warehouse dot com. The source for the average rainfall per month was from weather dot com I believe.

Makes me wonder if a decimal point was misplaced on the site. I have rechecked the site and I transposed the figures correctly to my spreadsheet.

Carl Loper at WVLG made the same comment about all of TV receiving about the same rainfall, but there are times when it comes down in buckets in Spanish Springs and the sun is shining at Lake Sumter. But I guess it all evens out.

Thanks.

:wave: Thank you! So many other posts seem to be ignoring that and other crucial points. So many nearby courses have better rates and better conditions which is why we golf off base in winter months. Water management for the courses in TV is incompetent. No matter how many times people defend the system of running irrigation systems around the clock to prevent flooding in times of heavy rainfall it still adds up to nonsense. Three weeks after heavy rain and constant irrigation discharge you'll see how low the ponds are and needed irrigation has to be cut back. We've seen courses get in great shape for a special event. After the event it's back to deteriorating conditions. The Palmer course along Buena Vista is well maintained for the sake of visibility by those considering a move here. If many choose to accept and defend substandard conditions that's fine with me. I choose to seek management that is sincere in making conditions better.:wave:

djl,I couldn't agree more. It just seems that the powers to be don't care. Excuse after excuse.

.........................

New --- excuse -- too much rain in too short a time ---

Maybe it would be nice, if we could get Maintenance to get on Talk of The Villages, and explain to us the problems (or not so many problems) about our golf courses. I to see some problems with some courses (championship) but also see some nice conditioned courses also. I guess water can be one problem. I'm told, that cart wheels can bring diseases to grasses, just like the lawn people bring them to our lawns. Hopefully everything will work out, and we can give praise to our maintenance people for doing such a good job!! Hopefully that's the case. Does anyone know how much it costs (about) to replace the greens at Tierra Del Sol? Per Green?

Has anyone played Harbor Hills Country Club in Lady Lake FL lately
Can anyone tell me a golf course, 18 holes outside The Villages, that the fairmways and all are in good shape right now?

Thanks

Vegas girl

Mission Inn -both courses. Ocala National Golf Club - Excellent as of last week.

Harbor Hills
 

I played that course about a month ago and was extremely dissappointed in its condition. It used to always be in pristine condition don't know what has happened there.

Played Fox Run @ Glenview yesterday & found it to be in great shape.

"Does anyone know how much it costs (about) to replace the greens "
 

You can quite easily google your question and with a minimum of reading determine a ball park figure to completely replace a green. It will include labor of course and the type of see can very from inexpensive to over $100/lb. for seeds that are genetically modified to suit the conditions of the area. It's not like sodding a lawn.

You found Los Colinas nine excellent? Must have come a long, long way in the last 6 weeks. Ocala is almost always in great shape, at least when I've played it or from friend's reports.

I played Glenview yesterday and it was great.

Not quite sure what you are trying to say about timing. Played Las Colinas on July 29th and it was in great condition. Greens had been aerated about 3 weeks earlier and were smooth and true. Ball sat up in fairways. By the way, Las Colinas is an 18 hole course, not 9. Are you sure we are talking about the same golf course?

Not sure why I said 9 - my bad. I don't mind the greens but the ball just sails when it hits the fairway and the rough isn't rough enough to hold anything - all somewhat errant balls end up in or near the tree line. Maybe I'm just not a fan of that course. Played there 3 times without any success. Don't seem to have that problem at other courses. I don't like courses where the rough consists of a lot of hard pan thin areas (doesn't catch my bad shots:))

We played Orange Blossom Hills (back 9) yesterday for the first time.

Pretty sad is all I can say.