[cabo35]

Originally Posted by rubicon

Let's face it the courses in TV get alot of play and of course dry conditions don't help. My group has decided to play off site and discovered there are some wonderful courses out there. Played Ocala Country Club Wow! Now those are houses. Reasonable rates at all the courses we have played plus amenities. Ran into a guy from TV who liked it so much he joined Black Bear. Challenging course.

Course play is steady off site

What are some of the better public access Ocala area courses you've played? We enjoyed World Woods down in Brooksville but it is a long ride. Played Orange County Golf and thought it was good but not quite as good as it is billed. World Woods was much better.

[schotzyb]

I would think with this amount of rain, we should see a vast improvement in all the golf courses. Cart Path only for a day or two most likely.

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by schotzyb

I would think with this amount of rain, we should see a vast improvement in all the golf courses. Cart Path only for a day or two most likely.

Looks like your post #98 did the trick!!

[schotzyb]

Glad to see it. Maybe Cane and Hacienda will improve now.

[cabo35]

Played Palmer, Riley/Cherry this morning......great condition.......fast true greens.....carpath only in am........rough only in afternoon. Greenskeeper said they just double cut greens and that is why they are so fast.

[cabo35]

Played Tierra Del Sol this morning (Monday). Course generally in good shape. Rain definately helped. Greens were slow. 2-3 greens had various degrees of burn out but playable. The rest ok. Front nine in just two hours....moved well. Back nine a llittle slower but not bad.

[ajbrown]

Played Palmer Cherry/Laurel again Saturday (4/2) with a friend from MA. Even after all that rain, it was still fast and smooth.

Played Mallory (Virginia/Amelia) yesterday (4/3) for first time in long time. The greens are better than I expected, no Palmer, but no complaints. The only complaint I had were some of the fairways on Amelia are not great. They are not bare like Cane was.... the best I can describe it is they are clumpy, little sprouts of grass, which IMO is worse then no grass as sometimes you cannot get to the back of the ball if it settles between two clumps.

Overall, I found Mallory very playable, and if you struggling with the driver like me you hardly notice the fairways on Amelia because you are never in them

[cabo35]

Palmer still very good. Greens lightly fertilized but still fast.

[cabo35]

Played Havana Kil/Ken yesterday. Course and greens in good shape. Enjoyable round. Pace of play was very good all the way around.

[ajbrown]

Originally Posted by cabo35

Played Havana Kil/Ken yesterday. Course and greens in good shape. Enjoyable round. Pace of play was very good all the way around.

Had a 12:04 tee time at Havana (Kenya/Hemingway) yesterday (4/15). Arrived and starter said we was running a bit late, 12:04 is the second tee time. Must have been a doozie of a morning wave!!!! Round was 4:35 (recommended pace, which IMO is generous, is 4:16).

I agree with Cabo on conditions with one comment. I thought the greens were quite slow. They looked nice enough, but were sticky, maybe growth in afternoon wave, unlikely, but?? Not asking for Augusta or even Palmer, but just a bit more speed. With that said it is not a reason to NOT play there, but I think the $8 uptick is worth it for Palmer for the rest of the month.

PS. Summer rates are around the corner

[spk7951]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

PS. Summer rates are around the corner

It is interesting to see that some of the "off property" courses in the area have already started reducing their rates.

[schotzyb]

We are playing Eagle Ridge this afternoon. Will see what their rates are. Played there a few weeks ago and it was~$32

[schotzyb]

Eagle Ridge greens have worsened since our last visit. Some, not all have been sanded and some some pretty bad diseased spots but all in all still a good deal for $30 + tax.

[schotzyb]

Played Havana yesterday and even though it is still in good shape , it appears as though they have slacked off on watering the fairways. Starting to see some brown spots such as you see more evident on Mallory's fairways. All the retention ponds look full so I really don't understand the lack of watering.

[ncr2482]

I played Cane (Jacaranda to Allamanda) this morning. The nicest thing I can say about the course...we played on pace. The course needs water and some grass. I hope it rains soon.