Golf outside of The Villages
 

We have a group that plays the championship courses and we have found the courses throughout TV to be in other than championship condition. The greens have little grass, the fairways are not so hot and the tee boxes are all chopped up. We have come to the conclusion that GMS (Golf Management Systems, which is in charge of the condition of all the courses) is not only contracting with the lowest bidder to take care of the courses, but is hiring landscapers and not greens keepers. You will hear them offer as an excuse that the conditions are due to excessive play....that's a bunch of hooey. We have elected to eschew TV courses and play "outside campus" and what a good decision. We played Mission Inn, Howey in The Hills, and man, oh man, what a difference. The greens were immaculate, the fairways where in great shape, rolling hills, rolling greens....it is what a real golf course is supposed to look like. It's a challenging course and I just loved it. I won't tell you my score, but I got two birdies and an eagle.

Before that we played Black Bear, and again, what a contrast to TV courses. Beautiful greens, lush fairways, kempt tee boxes, rolling fairways.

If you really love golf and really enjoy playing great courses.....dump The Village's courses. Go off campus.....there really are good golf courses outside and they are very reasonable priced.....certainly competitive with the greens fees here. I have been a priority member since moving here a little over 8 years ago and I am thinking that I won't renew my priority membership. It cost me over $700 per year to play with a group, get the courses and tee times we want........to play on sub-par courses. With the $700 I will save, I can buy a new set of clubs:wave:

I hear you. Unfortunately, convenience matters to my golf group, so we put up with the crummy conditions in order to save driving. We have cut way back on the amount of times we play per week, though.

don't miss Julliette Falls and Red Tail. They are fabulous.

World Woods near Homasasa Springs has 2 18's that have been in the top 100 public courses in the country for years. Summer rate around $40, sometimes including lunch.

Shhhh....let's keep this just between us!

hubby "sweaty" has complained for years about the sloppy level of greenskeeping on TV golf courses. but no one listens to him.

Me thinks you've hit the nail on the head...:sing:

I total agree--- I have and will continue to post reviews of TV courses as below par and overpriced. I love golf and will drive to play a decent course with good conditions and use their cart. If the conditions improve (been here for 9 years and only gotten worse) and TV stops advertising itself as a golf community, will i stop giving bad reviews. You must hit them in their pocketbook -- complaints to management seem to do nothing - but maybe social media may do something, I have given up drinking kool-aid ---farmer on the west side of rt 301 will let you play his cow pasture for $4 - golf cart accessible :girlneener:

first it's really a shame that Mickey and his group have to put up with the awful conditions. I'm sure that some of us would have thought twice about moving here had we known the conditions would go downhill like they have. For Grillmeister, Orange County National recently redid all their greens to the newer grasses and they are spectacular. Well worth the trip.

Homes are selling well, right now...........................

Harbor Hills is a great course and it doesn't take much time to get there. We really need to get a message to Golf Management Systems and the "developer" that they need to take some positive action...we're sick and tired of the conditions and we ain't gonna take it any more.

I'm playing there tomorrow with 3 TV buddies. And plan to play outside on a more frequent basis. Also have dropped my priority status.

Unfortunately, OP is spot on regarding the overall shape of TV'S championship courses. Somebody needs to be fired IMHO. The design of TV courses are great and just right for senior's of all skill levels to play, but the maintenance leaves a lot to be desired.

It's fixable----so just do it!

maybe new owners like dancing with their "sweetie" at the square and not playing golf on decent courses

Golfing is our family's game
But we two don't golf the same
He is good and I'm just o.k.
But we both just love to play.

He began to golf when he was young.
As a new wife I held my tongue
He played at every opportunity
And left the kids back home with me.

Then we built in a golf community
And there was nothing left for me
But to join the madness and try it out
Other wives were giving me the shout.

For most of our life golf was the start
Of what we did and who took part
Lived on courses and breathed the game
Moved here to TV to continue the same.

It is what it is. You play the game
No two golf courses will be the same
Glad to have all the courses to play
at much less price than we used to pay

Poem over.

He has played some fine course on this planet.
He has played some fine players too.
He has racked up five holes in one.
one an eagle on a dog leg over the trees


He is happy and doesn't want to switch.
And he doesn't post on here but I will listen to you bitch.

I am happy that the real golfer in my family finally has the time to play all he wants to, and I am happy he is happy.

Homes will continue to sell easily in TV. There are so many amenities excluding golf to attract people here. If I was here strictly for golf I would be greatly disappointed because the course conditions are not up to my standards. With that said I believe the course conditions are acceptable to many Villagers standards, so considering this debate, we will always have many opinions on both sides of the fence. For me this is certain; I have been here going on 9 years and course conditions have deteriorated during that time. The Golf Division always has excuses for this but for 8+ years I have periodically played nearby courses (World Woods/Juliette Falls/RedTail/Mission Inn/Golden Ocala/Deer Island/Black Bear/Orange County National) that have kept consistent course conditions so why can't TV?

Harbor Hills is very close and it's in good shape

I don't know much about golf, so there may be a reason for this, but at TooJays they had the British Open on the TV, and there were lots of burned-out places on the course. It looked pretty awful. Worse than any of the courses we drive by down here around 466A.

Because those courses outside the villages...
 

only have 18 to 27 holes to manage...not 100+. They will get there, but not as quickly as the nay sayers would like. To bad there are so many complainers as doing so online rarely accomplishes anything.

I think that a lot of us take up playing golf after we move to The Villages.
Therefore, we don't have "golf standards".
I'm happy to be able to have free golf for life at over 30 executive golf courses.
Occasionally the courses are in less than stellar condition, but who can complain about free golf?

Yes, but for many of us playing nine as we age, and we all will age if we're lucky. Those nine hole courses? The price is right.

The greens have just been aerated. I played there Thursday.

I thought if you moved to TV, golf was free.

Grillmeister you are spot on . My golfing buddies prefer off campus play. I learned after 8 years that priority membership is a huge waste of money but there are a few exceptions such as those competing on the champion courses. compute $700 x 8 years and that adds up to a lot of play on quality courses. Prices are higher here especially prime season and the kicker is players provide their own carts

:bigbow::bigbow:

This thread is representative of the ongoing conversation/complaints going on since my arrival 8 years ago. And in all that time little, if anything has changed. I believe the reason to be that The Villages has a captive audience

Only on the executive 9 hole courses.

"captive audience" a term used by those who don't understand that you can....
 

drive a car to courses off the villages. Strangely enough the courses get in the best conditions "before" they over seed with winter rye grass(about Nov.). I've played quite a few courses(championship and exec)in late summer early fall and they are in wonderful condition compared to off site courses. Naturally if you compare everything here to what the pros play you will most likely be let down unless you pay >$100 for green fees.

All a person has to do is use some common sense when it comes to course conditions and they'd realize that courses that get this much play are hard to keep up...I think they do a fine job so far and find the complainers to be in the minority....mostly because they don't really know about what they are talking. :popcorn:

Ive been here for four years, and lived in a golf course community in Ocala for 10 years prior to that. I can tell you that these courses here are in fair shape. Harbor Hills is a great tract, however, that being said, I have a friend who lives there who drools over the Villages Courses and has given up his membership there. Most of the off-campus courses go thru their transitional peruods, twice a year when the conditions are awful. I played Orange Country National a few weeks ago and it was n phenomenal shape, I've also asked for my money back at the same facility several years back. There isnt a course in Central Florida that I havent played, and I can tell you to a course, they ALL have had their problems. On a 1-10 scale, Id give TV Courses a 7.5 and some of the others mentioned above surely an 8 or an 8.5. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Harbor Hills: First year non-refundable initiation fee, $12,500 + $395.00 a month. Want to use your cart? Add another $1400.00 annually. Want to use the range? $250.00 annually. I only play once a week on our Championship Courses and once a week on the Executive Courses and for that reason do not prioritize my membership. Ive often found over the years, that where the grass seems a little greener, is because of what's underneath.

Only the executive course are free, that's the 9 hole par 3's, and only if you walk the course. The executives are great for newer golfers to learn the game and for older golfers who can only play for about 90 minutes. Experienced golfers, especially those who have been playing since they were young, normally want to play an 18 hole par 72 course, which is the championship courses. GolfTheVillages.com has all the info and fees.

Before I moved here, in the northeast Baltimore area I had 7 courses within a 30 minute drive that was between $30 and $37 and were all in much better shape than any of these courses, and the $37 course included lunch. Also with the hills and trees they were much more challenging. Right now, if you'll play during the heat of the day after 11am, you can play a round for about $20 - $24, and that's while driving you own cart. Courses outside TV and up north, had to provide you a golf cart. Come Oct 15th, the 11am discount will be gone and you'll pay about $32 and come January 1st the green fee will go up again to about $50 until the end of April. While these fees are the highest during the winter, the courses in the north have no fees coming in, since they're usually closed for 2 to 4 months for the weather.

You can get a discount of $10 or $15 here off the winter rates and about $3 in the summer if you're a priority member, but that's an $800 or so, lump sum payment every year in addition to the green fees and you providing your own cart.