Palmer again
 

Played Palmer again today, still in great shape, greens just a touch slower than last week, left a few 2 inches short. Shot 72. Reccomend snowbirds to play it before leaving.

Played Glenview this past Thursday and it is in very good condition as it has been for the last several times we played it

Played Nancy Lopez Friday and cannot say enough about the fantastic shape the greens were in. Very, very nice. Fairways also were in good shape. Made for a very enjoyable round

Today's rain will help all the courses.

The rain today will help all courses. This is the first rain in many weeks. I can't remember the last rain.

did the rain help?
 

I've been following this thread with great interest since it began. Thanks RCT for starting it. I'm renting in TV for a month beginning April 1, and course conditions are very important to me. This will be my first visit, except for a half day stop in December driving thru the state, and I plan to get in lots of golf, hopefully at least once at each of the championship courses, as well as many of the execs.
Does anyone have any more info on current conditions at courses you've played recently? Have overall conditions improved with the rain? Thanks to all of you who have contributed so far.

sdgolfer :2excited:

Mallory's Amelia & Not So Sweet Caroline were very good today. Grass growing well on the fairways and provided good lies although still pretty hard; rough is still hard pan. Greens were also in very good condition.

Played Hacienda Hills today. Course is in very good condition from tee boxes to the greens. The greens are in terrific condition.

Played Orange Blossom Wed and it is is not in the best of conditions. No grass in the rough , only hard ground. Fairways fair but several greens in bad shape; one in particular(can't remember which hole) is burnt brown in spots.

Played Nancy Lopez Thursday and found it to be in only fair conditions. Several greens with "large bad spots" Fairways were good and so were most greens but no rough.

wishing all were as good as Baseline..
 

I am sure there is a reason out there somewhere and no doubt it is $$$ related but if anyone has played that little old course just north of the Villages (Baseline) I am sure you are wondering like me......why cant the Villages courses be in that kind of shape??? I love the way no mater when you go the ball really stands up on the fairways and the greens are so plush.
But dont get me wrong...I love the Villages....Just an observation

There have been other good comments about Baseline. Sounds like something I should try.

Gracie
Thats not a putter , its a three wood .....

Fumar

I played Palmer on Friday it is in great shape. Fairways were like hitting off a carpet and greens were in very good shape. I had 2 guests that are good golfers one shot a 76 the other shot a 78. That was the first time they had played in The Villages as both live several hours South of here. They said the fairways at Palmer were the best they have played this season in FL.

We played Mallory on Saturday it is in nice shape but after playing Palmer we were spoiled.

I played Cane Garden today and I thought it was in a little better shape than Mallory was on Saturday.

Baseline (northeast side of Bellview) is a course that everyone should play at least once for the experience .....Its a Mini Augusta , with cart paths lined with palms and greens surrounded by flowers .......
It is owned by a man who has a large landscaping business and does a lot of work here in the Villages.....He knows how to make trees , grass, and flower's grow........the course has waterfalls , ponds and fountains and looks like cypress gardens with golf greens .......If you haven't played it , put it on your MUST list......The course is a little short but fun to play , take it from old fumar ,

FORE goodness sake , play it , Fumar ....:coolsmiley:

Baseline
 

I agree...Baseline golf course is wonderful. We take all of our company up there. Beautiful flowers & trees too. No tee time required, just wait in line

Mallory: Greens are getting better, just a few bad spots now, and rolling pretty fast. Still not happy with other things, rough is shorter than the fairways, and such bare tight lies around many greens, takes wedges for chipping out of most players hands. See most people putting or using hybrids instead of wedges.
Hacienda: In pretty good shape all around, very lush. Only complaint is in consistency of bunkers, too much sand in some, very fluffy, but, then again, a good way to combat that is to stay out of them!!
Palmer: In as good a shape as I have seen it since moving here. Just about perfect.
Havana: About the same as Mallory, with fairways still hard and faster than Mallory, though. Greens are better than they have been all winter.

Played Glenview today. As has been the case every time I have played there, it was in excellent shape from tee boxes to the greens.

I agree. Glenview is the best of all the courses, with the exception of Palmer. Have always enjoyed playing Glenview.

Played Havana today and was disappointed. The fairways are green but they are very hard, like concrete, and greens were not all that receptive. If you roll off the green, the ball will roll quite a ways and you are chipping off a really tight lie. Hacienda is lush on the fairways, but off the fairways you can get some really horrible lies. In some places just a foot or so off the fairways there is just dust, absolutely no grass. But the grass directly in front of the greens is nice to chip off of, and the greens at Hacienda are pretty speedy, but very consistent throughout the entire course.

Played Havana Monday. As previous posters stated, course was like playing on concrete. Playing partner hit a drive 301 yards where his normal drives are 240-250 yards. Impossible to stop a ball on the greens unless hit so high it "brought rain"

Played Cane Garden Wednesday and was pleasantly surprised. Other than tee boxes being very hard course was in good condition. Fairways were very green and plush and there was actually some "rough" though it was short,but better than bare ground. Greens were fast and fairly hard but it was possible to stay on them on your approach shots.

Played Palmer yesterday and found course to be in very good condition considering the lack of rain we have had The rough is actually green. There are some bare spots but all in all course is in very good shape. Greens very fast, at least for me they were.

Played Hacienda Hills Friday and found course to be in pretty good shape considering our drought conditions. Several greens had some brown spots but not too bad. Greens were slow' maybe not cutting them as short due to lack of rain.

Played Mallory Sunday and it is very much improved from 2-3 weeks ago. Greens are in very good condition. One green has some areas that appear to have been a leak in the mowing equipment but not a major issue. Still not a lot of rough but the rain we are getting should help.

Glenview
 

Played Glenview this morning. First two holes were modified to par 3's because of heavy ponding at front end of fairway. Should be back to normal sometime this week according to ambassador. Call first

Greens - horrible - recent airation and sand made direction and distance an adventure

Fairways - generally good

All water hazards flooded and bigger than usual

Playing a round in well under 4 hours with no one in front of you or behind you....priceless

Played Palmer today and the greens were terrible; burned to crisp and hard as a rock. Hard to believe with all the rain we have been lucky enough to receive that the greens could be in this bad of condition. Must be something other than lack of water causing this. Riley Grove greens were the worst I have seen here since I have been here.

Played TREETOPS yesterday and the course conditions were fabulous ...Truly one of the best Golf Courses in the country.....

Well,,,,,,, you didn't say where !!!!

Fumar

Played Cane Garden today and was pleasantly surprised with the great condition the entire course was in. Greens were excellent but much slower than the burnt out greens at Palmer and Havana.

Played Palmer Laural Valley / Riley Grove yesterday greens are still in poor condition. Perhaps a couple of weeks away from back to near where they should be they have been working on them alot. Fairways are in great condition.

Cane Garden is perhaps the best shape that I have ever seen it.

The Championship 5:30 all you can play for $5.00 is getting alot of play. Play is slow as I think that many that don't normally play the Championship Courses are taking advantage of the $5.00 rate. I understand that this was to be a June only thing but with the play it has gotten perhaps they will extend it. Also needs to be noted that there are no rain checks and no computer tee times.

I agree - played Cane last week, and it was terrific. Played Lopez as well, and have to say was disappointed. Fairways were good, but greens on Torri were awful. I've heard Mallory is good as well. How are conditions at Tierra, anyone play there lately?

Cane is beautiful right now for sure, Mallory also close to that. Taz, played Tierra, and is playing a 7.5 out of 10, I'd say. Haven't been to Palmer, and won't until I hear the greens are back to where they usually are. Playing Havana tomorrow, hopefully. Will report on that then. Sorry, haven't been contributing to the thread that I started much lately. Was away, then haven't been playing too much recently. Will be back to normal after the 4th with my take on the courses more.

Is Rick Smith still there, Fumar?

Played Mallory this afternoon in the rain and I have to admit that the course is in very good condition. Greens are the best I have seen there(Mallory) in a while. A couple blothes on some but all in all very good. Play Cane Garden Thursday and Glenview Friday.

Played Havana on Tuesday, is in very nice shape. Best I have seen it in the year i have lived here.

Fumar, although I admit this is a belated reply, have you ever played Threetops??......GN

golfnut......funny you should mention it...
 

Funny you should mention treetops .......I have two free passes on my dresser as we speak........Will try to get there sometime in the next three weeks.......will let you know what I think of it ..

Fumar

Played Mallory Virginia/Amelia yesterday both 9 are in good condition.

Since there has been so much talk about the courses conditions latel,I thought I would resurrect this old thread. Beartrack started a thread about the executive courses green conditions and it got hijacked to everything else . This old thread can be for the Championship courses if you like. I am playing Cane Garden tomorrow and I will posts it's condition afterwards.

This will be very subjective to one's experience(s), but could be fun. I played Jacaranda to Allamanda yesterday (only 4 holes on Allamanda due to rain :cus:)

My rating:
1 - being I would go in and ask for my money back
5 - Would not come back unless I had no choices.
10 - being a PGA Tour championship course played the week a tournament in town.

Most of my rating is about the greens. I am not too picky about fairways as long as whatever grass is there is short.

IMO Cane was a 7, which is acceptable to me this winter as I do believe weather matters and am providing some slack.

Are the greens pristine? No, and a few pin placements were in the worst conditioned part of the green. The placer could have been better by moving 6-8 feet in either direction without changing the characteristics of the hole.

Did I miss a putt because the greens? No and I missed plenty ;)

I will go back there without issue.

I agree. Of the championship courses I've played lately, Cane is about the best other than Lopez. I played Mallory last week, Caroline to Virginia. Would give it about a 6. Greens had a lot of rough areas, pretty bumpy, and fairways were splotchy. Bunkers didn't seem to have enough sand in them, or they needed to be raked deeper. It wouldn't be my choice to play there again for awhile. Hacienda has been about a 7. The greens were decent, fairways needed work. If you get off the fairways you can run into areas with little or no grass. Lopez was about and 8. Most greens were very good and fairways good. One bad bunker full of stones. Lopez practice green is pretty rough, but on the course the greens were better. Orange Blossm I'd give a 2. Awful, just awful. Greeens and fairways were bad, not enough sand in bunkers, areas with no grass at all just dust.

If you are concerned about the golf course conditions, I contacted the District Board (on golfthevillages.com) a few days ago and the email went out to all the members, asking them who to contact regarding golf course conditions. Most of the members got back to me and told me to contact Country Club Administration at 753-3396 and they would be able to point me in the right direction. Mr. Basso is at that number, and is the Golf Opoerations Manager of the Villages, and works closely with each facilities manager. I suggest that all of us who have concerns, let Mr. Basso know, so they cannot say that people are satisfied.

As stated earlier we (a foursome) played Cane Garden today and to say the least, I was pleasantly surprised. The greens were in good shape with only a couple showing thin grass in a couple of spots. Pristine, no but good for the amount of play they are getting now and the time of year and weather conditions we are subject to. My only quetion is, if Cane Garden can provide us with a course in this codition, then why can't they all?

Thank you for this post.I have guests coming next week and really would appreciate feedback from people playing the championship courses.Thanks again!!:thumbup: