[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by JGVillages

Management stated to a friend of mine that because some of the new (and obviously superior) strains of grass requiring different maintenance it would be to confusing for the maintenance staff to handle. DA!!!!! Personally I would not hire these maintenance people to do my lawn unless I was trying to kill it!

Hearsay?

[dbussone]

I played Harbor Hills today. Fairways were great. Greens just aerated and were terrible. $22 for 18 holes. Lunch was very good.

[folkh]

Originally Posted by marting163

I guess I should have been more clear when I posted " Why are the greens so bad " I meant why are they not given the care we deserve as villagers! To be "playable" a green needs to roll at an 8 on a meter, and they need rolled to be true. I guess the answer I'm going to be given is that Eric and the other greens keepers either don't know how to do their job or won't do it or aren't given the funds to do it. At least my money gets me new flowers every month at the turnabouts, what a joke golf is in TV.

I just played Lopez, Glenview, Mallory and Palmer. Not a great golfer but not bad shoot mid 80's. What are you use to playing it certainly cannot be public courses up North!! The only thing that compares to the courses I have played in The Villages are private courses up north. Please take a chill pill and enjoy the wonderful life you are living.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by The Mountaineer

So why can't the greens be first classs? Excuses don't fix greens. Time, money and expertise do.

Are you suggesting that our amenities be increased so more money can be spent on improving golf courses?

[JGVillages]

Don't know what private courses you played up north but Where we lived (Wisconsin) My course and the Private courses in our district had greens that stimped no less that 8 and usually around 10. The fairways had healthy grass and the fringes of the greens were always shorter than the rough adjoining them. If these basic standards were not met the superintendent would be gone. I played about 3 times a week and still do. My dues up north and what I pay here for Priority and green fees were very close. Considering my past Golf Club experiences I just like to get what I pay for. By the way: Outside of golf, everything else The Villages does is first class and I wish that standard would apply to the Golf Division.

[fred53]

Originally Posted by JGVillages

Don't know what private courses you played up north but Where we lived (Wisconsin) My course and the Private courses in our district had greens that stimped no less that 8 and usually around 10. The fairways had healthy grass and the fringes of the greens were always shorter than the rough adjoining them. If these basic standards were not met the superintendent would be gone. I played about 3 times a week and still do. My dues up north and what I pay here for Priority and green fees were very close. Considering my past Golf Club experiences I just like to get what I pay for. By the way: Outside of golf, everything else The Villages does is first class and I wish that standard would apply to the Golf Division.

and it would be a nice bonus where you get your information. Having worked on courses since the early 70's(private and public)the speed of greens has no bearing on how good they are....neither do fringe, fairway or rough length....those are "basics" made up by watching and listening to television telecasts of professional golf.

Please don't ever visit the wonderful local courses overseas....you'd think you were robbed blind...myself? I loved the variation and talent it takes to adapt.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by fred53

and it would be a nice bonus where you get your information. Having worked on courses since the early 70's(private and public)the speed of greens has no bearing on how good they are....neither do fringe, fairway or rough length....those are "basics" made up by watching and listening to television telecasts of professional golf.

Please don't ever visit the wonderful local courses overseas....you'd think you were robbed blind...myself? I loved the variation and talent it takes to adapt.

If we had "talent" we'd be pros. "Choke!"

[waynet]

the speeds of greens, and the conditions of the fairways,rough and fringes all are factors in how good a golf course is. There are other factors of course but to say that these do not matter is not correct.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by waynet

the speeds of greens, and the conditions of the fairways,rough and fringes all are factors in how good a golf course is. There are other factors of course but to say that these do not matter is not correct.

but it all boils down to how good YOU are.

[mickey100]

Originally Posted by The Mountaineer

I know I'm an outsider, but I plan to play golf in The Villages for three months when Paula and I rent a home on Rainbow Drive (off Silver Lake's No. 5 green) for three months in January-March 2015, so maybe I qualify to comment.

When I played the greens in December 2014 during our two-week test drive of The Villages, my ball bounced more than any green that I play in Ohio -- or West Virginia, for that matter.

Greens should be smooth so that the line is true. If the golfer putts accurately the ball should go in or be close to the hole, and not be bounced off track to the right or left, or even toward the sky.

The Villages' greens that I experienced need a lot of improvement. I don't expect country club greens, but certainly greens that match the public courses in Ohio. But I do think The Villages' management should take enough pride in what is a fabulous collection of villages to make the greens smooth enough to roll true. I don't know what the problem is, and that's the greenkeeper's job to figure out whether it's the way the grass grows, or doesn't, or how the greens are rolled when they are mowed, to keep everything as flat as possible

But there's one truism in golf. A putt should NOT be kicked off course by the way the green is kept up, or not kept up, any more than a putt should be detoured by an inconsiderate golfer not fixing his ball-landing pockmarks. We'll all in this to enjoy the golf, and each other's company.

The folks who are worth $2.5 billion running The Villages should pay attention to this problem. It's the ONLY area I found wanting during my admittedly short visit. Everything else is first class in The Villages. So why can't the greens be first classs? Excuses don't fix greens. Time, money and expertise do.

Good post. There are so many comments from a wide variety of posters, people who rarely if ever post, regarding the poor conditions of the greens and the courses themselves. Whether or not someone is a 3 handicap or a 33 handicap is irrelevant. The Villages markets itself as a golfing community and we bought with the understanding that we'd have decent golfing conditions. As others have said, why is this occurring? The Villages manages to get most everything right, with a few exceptions, so you'd think golf, which is a priority for a lot of residents, would be great too. But its far from it.

[graciegirl]

Anyone know how Orange Blossom Hills is coming along?

It is supposed to reopen this fall. Wonder if some of the new homes will be built and the restaurant leased?

[Grill Meister]

I agree with you regarding the greens, as well as the courses in toto. I firmly believe that Golf Management Systems (GMS), which controls all of the courses, championship and executive as well, contracts out to landscapers, not greens keeping companies that know how to maintain a golf course. I am also told by one of the employees with the maintenance companies, that GMS dictates to the contractors the amount of money that will be spent on maintaining the greens. He told me that the latest professional greens keeper companies (1 Source) complained to GMS that they were not allowed to do a quality job at the price dictated.....they are now gone.

[Grill Meister]

The executive courses are NOT owned by the "developer". They owned by the various CD Districts.

[Mikeod]

Originally Posted by Grill Meister

The executive courses are NOT owned by the "developer". They owned by the various CD Districts.

Depends on which courses you are talking about. All courses north of 466 plus the Pimlico group are owned by the central CDDs (VCCDD or SLCDD). The other courses are still owned by the developer. When the IRS situation is finally settled, the amenities south of 466, including the executive courses, will be sold to the central CDDs.

The residential CDDs will not own the courses.

[mdticket]

Originally Posted by mikeod

Depends on which courses you are talking about. All courses north of 466 plus the Pimlico group are owned by the central CDDs (VCCDD or SLCDD). The other courses are still owned by the developer. When the IRS situation is finally settled, the amenities south of 466, including the executive courses, will be sold to the central CDDs.

The residential CDDs will not own the courses.

Not true!