[schotzyb]

Well, this much needed rain should help considerably but some courses are already in such bad shape , it will take many more rains like today to bring them back to Championship caliber.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by schotzyb

Well, this much needed rain should help considerably but some courses are already in such bad shape , it will take many more rains like today to bring them back to Championship caliber.

Don't be so optimistic.

[schotzyb]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Don't be so optimistic.

Do you really believe one rain will bring Cane Garden or Mallory Hills back to Championship quality?Have to be one helluva rain!

[Taj44]

Originally Posted by bmar723

Why can the Villages use the lack of water(rain) as an excuse for the poor, or atrocious,conditions of the courses? If water is in such short supply, why can they water the medians on Morse and BV Blvd? Why are they allowed to build unchecked all the way down to 44 and yet tell us there is no water? When the latest parts of The Villages are built, what can we expect for conditions when water will be spread even thinner than now. As much as I love living here(now), I am sorely disappointed in what is going on this summer with the lack of care for the courses. I played Mallory yesterdaay,6/13, and it was a disgrace. The course should not even have been opened. And to make matter worse, the $6 evening rate is drawing even more people to trample the turf.(notice I did not say grass).

I imagine they have watering quotas and priorities i.e. medians get higher priority than golf courses, because they want the place to look good so they can sell more homes.

I was watching them water a grassy area near the Mallory gate last night, right across from the clubhouse. The majority of the water was going in the road - it only hit about a 3 foot patch of the grass along the side of the road. What a waste of water. When I was driving to Tierra yesterday morning, same deal - a row of sprinklers were on for over 2 hours - I hit them on my way over and on my way back, watering some grass along the side of the cart path near the church on Morse just after crossing 466. What a waste.

I also agree with you about the $6 rates and turf damage. These people have not paid for a priority membership, yet they are allowed to go out and essentially damage the already stressed golf courses. And many times you get inexperienced golfers who don't know the etiquette trying to take advantage of a "cheap deal" and they don't fill their divots or repair ball marks on the greens, etc. I wish golf course management would consider closing down the courses after a certain time of day or if the income from those $6 fees is so important, make sure players after a certain time are cart path only.

[bmar723]

Having paid over $700 for a priority membership, the cheap evening golf bothers me. It cheapens my membership as residents without one are allowed to play cheaper than me. If I play at 4 PM, it costs me $16-21 to play 18 but if I wait until 5 PM I can play for $6 and most likely still get in 18 holes.
I am also bothered by the fact that there are a bunch of "executive" course players out there taking advantage of the cheap situation. As mentioned by Taj, many of them know little of course etiquette and taking care of the course. How can I make this statement? Just play an exec course and see how many ball marks are fixed or traps are raked for example.
If conditions don't improve soon on our courses, I am going to be visiting off-Villages course more often.

[aljetmet]

As a wannabee who would play the majority of the time on the championship courses, this is scary. I have some time to go before arriving at TV so I hope this thread is kept up and eventually has more positive comments.

Seems questionable to have a priority membership especially in the summer.

[Mikeod]

Originally Posted by bmar723

Having paid over $700 for a priority membership, the cheap evening golf bothers me. It cheapens my membership as residents without one are allowed to play cheaper than me. If I play at 4 PM, it costs me $16-21 to play 18 but if I wait until 5 PM I can play for $6 and most likely still get in 18 holes.
I am also bothered by the fact that there are a bunch of "executive" course players out there taking advantage of the cheap situation. As mentioned by Taj, many of them know little of course etiquette and taking care of the course. How can I make this statement? Just play an exec course and see how many ball marks are fixed or traps are raked for example.
If conditions don't improve soon on our courses, I am going to be visiting off-Villages course more often.

Please explain how these people play for less than you. If you choose to play at 4PM for the PM rate, that's your choice (as is the one to become a priority member) and it's not available to those who wish to pay $6. But, you can also play any other time of the day for less than a non-priority member, so these people are not paying less than you. If you're including the cost of a priority membership, remember, it was your choice to do that. A priority membership only provides better access to the courses/tee times, club tournaments, and access to the pools. Others have done the math and figured it wasn't worth it for a single golfer.

As both a championship and "executive course player", I take offense at your characterization of the "executive course players" as less worthy to be on "your" course. Remember that owning a home in TV makes everyone a "member" at all the championship courses.

As for conditions, remember that some players on executive courses are new to the game and don't yet understand all the facets of course maintenance, so the conditions there may be worse than on the championship courses. However, I encounter the same problems on the championship courses. Divots and ball marks unrepaired. Sand traps that show little attempt to smooth either divot or footprints. Perhaps not as frequent, but still there. And this is before those $6 "executive players" have a chance to play.

[Mudder]

Mikeod, I agree with you what you said. Another reason they do the $6 rate is so that perhaps people will then move up to championship course play in the fall, winter and spring. We played with a couple who were on championship course for first time, they told us that before we started. They were eager to learn all they could about playing the courses, they wanted to do the right things. They were good golfers and respected the beatiful course. Don't forget.....everyone has to start somewhere

[Taj44]

Originally Posted by Mudder

Mikeod, I agree with you what you said. Another reason they do the $6 rate is so that perhaps people will then move up to championship course play in the fall, winter and spring. We played with a couple who were on championship course for first time, they told us that before we started. They were eager to learn all they could about playing the courses, they wanted to do the right things. They were good golfers and respected the beatiful course. Don't forget.....everyone has to start somewhere

That's nice when that happens. I've also met beginners who are anxious to learn the right things. I don't have a problem with people paying $6 to play late in the day. We've tried it in the past, and the pace of play is so slow, we have been unable to get 18 in. Its more like 10 or maybe 12 holes. But I still think if the courses are stressed out, that is one place they could look at "un-stressing" things, by having the people playing at a really discounted rate having to play cart path only.

[bmar723]

Originally Posted by mikeod

Please explain how these people play for less than you. If you choose to play at 4PM for the PM rate, that's your choice (as is the one to become a priority member) and it's not available to those who wish to pay $6. But, you can also play any other time of the day for less than a non-priority member, so these people are not paying less than you. If you're including the cost of a priority membership, remember, it was your choice to do that. A priority membership only provides better access to the courses/tee times, club tournaments, and access to the pools. Others have done the math and figured it wasn't worth it for a single golfer.

As both a championship and "executive course player", I take offense at your characterization of the "executive course players" as less worthy to be on "your" course. Remember that owning a home in TV makes everyone a "member" at all the championship courses.

As for conditions, remember that some players on executive courses are new to the game and don't yet understand all the facets of course maintenance, so the conditions there may be worse than on the championship courses. However, I encounter the same problems on the championship courses. Divots and ball marks unrepaired. Sand traps that show little attempt to smooth either divot or footprints. Perhaps not as frequent, but still there. And this is before those $6 "executive players" have a chance to play.

I believe I did explain how their price is cheaper if you consider the 1 hour time difference. If residents want to play cheap golf, they can play nine in the summer at a very reasonable rate, and that would include AM or PM times.
And I too am a both courses player and there is NO comparison to the number of problems in care on the courses. Being a new player is no excuse for not knowing how to treat a course. TV offers good golf school to help these folks learn about it. I did not infer that they are, in your words, less worthy to play on "my" course.
And I have done the Math and find the priority membership well worth it because I play 3 times a week on champ courses. Remember, the priority mem also includes my trail fee for exec courses and a pool mem for country club pools which we use all the time. So if you subtract those fees from Priority, you can see it is a good deal....if you play more than once a week. And by the way, I have a single mem because my wife does not play golf.

[schotzyb]

What would help the conditions of the fairways all year long would be if all golfers would use the 90 degree rule all the time, not just when instructed to. Use the cart path up to a spot around where your or your partners ball lies and then exit the path and return to the path after hitting. This helps the fairways and the rough both have less traffic. Many times you will see golfers leave the T box and drive right down the middle of the fairway to where their ball is positioned. Heavy golf cart traffic is a killer to the fairway and rough grass regardless of how much rain we receive

[schotzyb]

Played Glenview today; Strrup Cup to Tally Ho. Much improvement since we last played it about 4 weeks ago. Greens are healing nicely from the aeration and the " patchwork". Fairways are also getting better. One hole on each nine was cart path only to allow some bad spots to heal. Several other were cart path only up to the 150 yard marker. Good to see the conditions improving at Glenview since it is one of my favorite courses.

[ajbrown]

Played Havana this AM, Kil to Ken. Very playable. Off to Lopez on Sunday hoping for the same.

Question?? Does anyone know if Palmers greens have healed since the aeration? They seemd to be struggling to come back and I was curious. Looking to play there next Friday

[schotzyb]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Played Havana this AM, Kil to Ken. Very playable. Off to Lopez on Sunday hoping for the same.

Question?? Does anyone know if Palmers greens have healed since the aeration? They seemd to be struggling to come back and I was curious. Looking to play there next Friday

Cherry Hill greens were good lat Friday but Riley Groves were really bumpy.

[rubicon]

Maintenance guys over fertilized number 7 on cherry Hill burned a portion of the fairway