Talk of The Villages Florida - Tired of bad greens

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)

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- - Tired of bad greens (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/golf-villages-216/tired-bad-greens-243339/)

All these comments, both good and bad, should be directed to Country Club Administration: Golf The Villages
Or even call.
Posting on here and hoping that someone is reading the posts...is wasted effort.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr (Post 1419256)

What makes you think that verticutting is the answer?

Verticutting is a procedure that is usually done once or twice a year depending on the amount of thatch in the greens..

While I agree, the courses in TV are in less than desirable condition, I would be reluctant to talk specifically about what procedures are needed to improve them as that is not my area of expertise.

My feeing is that the problem stems from the fact that the maintenance is contracted out rather than having our own in-house GCSAA superintendents on staff.

When work like this is contracted out, the goal of the contractor is usually to maximize profits by doing the job with as little output as necessary.

I would also like to see the rates reduced to the extreme in the summer months. It makes not sense to not be taking in some money. These golf courses are empty for the most part. I would lower the rates until I saw that we had a group going off every nine minutes from 7:00 until 4:00 pm.

It also seems to me that we have an awful lot of staff in the shops. It's always amazing to me that I walk into a shop and there are two or three people standing behind the counter doing nothing, but waiting for someone to show up.

What I don't understand is that The Villages does everything so well except for golf course maintenance. The flowers in the common areas, the cleanliness, and maintenance of the rec centers and pools and everything else are pretty much first class. The golf course, IMHO range from mediocre to deplorable.

Again, I have to wonder if this is because the golf course maintenance is contracted out while everything is done in house.

I am always amazed how one discussion about greens can go in so many directions.

BTW,, the Villages contract out the maintenance of the flowers in the common areas, the pool maintenance etc. Most likely to the lowest bidder.

I do no understand the point about the golf shops. When I check in, I am glad there are more then one person available. I guess I leave the staffing to the people in charge. It is like going to a restaurant, you my see lots of staff during slow times, but not enough when crowd comes in, again I allow the management to do the job. I for one think the shops are run GREAT!!!

Your point about rates is interesting in the summer. I do not know what the break even cost is for courses. Conditions can not be compared because of the number of rounds the villages do. It is like trying to compare apples and oranges. But most people on here don't want to hear that.

The point is if you do not like the conditions don't play. It is that simple!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 1419277)

Excellent point
:BigApplause:

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcar (Post 1419292)

:BigApplause::BigApplause::BigApplause::bigbow::bi gbow::bigbow:

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcar (Post 1419218)

And how my I ask would you do that?

My point was that I would love to fix the greens but the people reading these posts do not fix the greens. Voice your concerns to someone who can fix the problem, otherwise it is just complaining.

Who do we complain to?

I agree with an earlier post. Some greens are great, some are ok, and some a pitiful (Tierra del sol, Belle Glade). I think the original point is there should be some accountability by the villages organizations, greenskeeper, etc.

Played Belle Glade last night-twilight-Calusa. Greens are unplayable, at least if you are trying to play golf. Fairways and Tees, acceptable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjn5656 (Post 1419598)

Who do we complain to?

see post #31

Quote:

Originally Posted by perrjojo (Post 1419597)

My point was that I would love to fix the greens but the people reading these posts do not fix the greens. Voice your concerns to someone who can fix the problem, otherwise it is just complaining.

Thanks, I agree with you. Posting on here can't fix the problem. Call GMS, the company that runs the operations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcar (Post 1419292)

Do you believe that more rounds are played on the Villages championship golf courses in the winter than on other Florida courses in the winter?

I've worked at several Florida courses in the winter and I can tell you that starting times began at 7:00 and were completely full until 2:00 in the afternoon. Many days we'd have people come in for nine holes after 2:00.

I worked here in the winter because they needed extra staff. Staffs were cut to the bare minimum in the summer season as the courses weren't making enough money to justify have a lot of people hanging around. While you might like having three people to wait on you when you go into a pro shop, it is not economically smart to be paying people to do nothing when your revenues are at their lowest.

You shouldn't be staffing for your peak periods year round.

As far as what the break even point is, it is always better top have people coming to play golf. They often spend more money on the range, restaurant and golf shops. I'd rather have ten groups at $80 each than five at $160 each.

The additional wear on the golf course would be minimal and more people generate more revenue.

As far as contracting out other work, planting flowers is not the same as maintaining a golf course. You can do a mediocre job of planting flowers and hardly anyone would notice. Do a mediocre job on a golf course and you have tons of complaints.

What I don't understand is that The Villages does such a good job on every other aspect of this community. When I began playing golf about 14 months ago, I expected that the golf courses would be maintained at the same standard as the rest of this wonderful community. I am deeply disappointed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dwyane Johnson (Post 1419155)

From what I've seen, cane garden was the only champ course not to overseed the greens last winter and have the best greens in the villages right now. Looks like cane is verticutting and grooming the right way. Best I've seen cane in a long time!

Those greens are in great shape!

I do agree with the sentiment of this thread, especially about having guests. I want to say that Mallory has been more consistent than other courses. I was told they hired a new greens keeper a year or 2 ago and I have seen the difference.

We played today and the greens were a bit slow with sand on them, but IMO putting sand on a green in time smooths it out, so someone is paying attention.

:thumbup: to Mallory IMO