Orange Blossom Hills
 

Played it tonight on the after 5:00 rate. If I had paid any more than $5.00 I would have been really upset.

The greens are horrendous. Most of the fairways are pretty bad but a few were in decent shape.

So far this summer I have played Belle Glade, Hacienda, Palmer, Glenview and OBH. Not one of them is in respectable shape. The after 5:00 rate should be in effect all day.

Dr. Winston, with all due respect, I have not read a post where you complimented the golf course conditions, only complaints. I agree that the conditions are not always ideal, but everything is not always bad either. For the most part, I usually find the golf coursed in reasonably good playing conditions. Perhaps my standard are not the same as yours? Seasonal transitions and green airification are a necessary temporary condition that makes course less than ideal, but I always enjoy golfing none the less. Life is too short to not find the positives in every round of golf we get to play, we are are always a injury or other unfortunate health condition away from not being able to get in the next planned round of golf. A not so good round of golf on less than perfect conditions is way better than not being able to get onto the links. Golf On!

Played Cane today. it's in great shape. It takes time for the courses to recover from over seeding. Give them a break

Great post.

Again, for those of you that have nothing to do but complain about the courses, I doubt anyone from the Golf and Country Club Division reads TOTV. Take the time it takes you to write a post about how horrible the conditions are and call the folks at 352.753.3396 and express your displeasure to them; no one on TOTV can solve your issues.

I don’t golf, don’t care. But they’re nice to look at. [emoji16]


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Totally Agree!!!!!!:wave:

Sorry folks, but I tend to agree with the good DR. For what is supposed to be a golfing community, the conditions we play do not meet that standard. I have never seen anyone here roll the greens. They are always bumpy and slow. Sand traps almost always need to be raked. My ball usually ends up in a foot print.

I can go to many courses just outside the Villages and find better course conditions. With the number of golf courses we have here, they should have the funds to hire the best groundskeeper in the world. And because of the economy of scale, that groundskeeper should be able to maintain pretty great conditions year round by closing 9 and doing the necessary maintenance. They continue to use the big plug punching here while most courses have moved to needle punching on greens.

IMHO they are going to take this place to a very second class golf community because they give the maintenance to the lowest bidder who doesn't seem to have a clue how to do it right. Golf courses need lots of maintenance. And it is very obvious that a lot of necessary maintenance is done very shoddy or at the very least not as often as it should be.

I posted a very nice comment about Briarwood a while ago. If I see something positive I'll comment on it. So far, these golf courses are in deplorable conditions. It'snot a question of being ideal. Mediocre would be fine.

These so-called championship courses remind me of some of the worst municipal course I played up north.

I hear all the excuses. Heavy play in the winter time, the weather is not cooperating and on and on. I've worked at and played many golf courses in Florida and they all get heavy play in the winter and deal with the same conditions yet they were in very good condition. The condition of these courses is due to one factor. Not spending enough money on them.

I had an assistant manager of one course tell me that the maintenance budget for that course is $52,000. That's completely absurd. I've worked at good 18 hole private clubs where the maintenance budget was $1,000,000 and that was back in the 80s and 90s.

I don't know what the income level is on these courses but if they're only spending $52,000 to maintain 18 or 27 holes they have no idea what they're doing. The money from green fees has to be going somewhere else.

I was also told that the golf course maintenance is controlled by the districts. They have people who know nothing about golf or golf courses holding the purse strings.

I don't know where you've played golf in the past, but if you call these conditions "reasonably good" it seems that you might have played lower end public courses.

These courses are poorly designed, poorly maintained and poorly managed.

They need to get some people that have experience in running golf courses here. And I'm not talking about the managers, professionals or superintendents. I'm sure they are pulling their hair out dealing with this situation.

Orange Blossom
 

To the critical OPs: I say, if you pays your money, you gotta right to complain. And if you don't play golf, stay out of the debate.

Last Friday I played Palmer (Laurel to Riley) and it's the plushest I've seen a golf course here since I came in 2011. Especially after you play Evans Prairie or Bonifay where the fairways and even the rough is cut to the bone. All the other couses should take note of how Arnold Palmer is kept.

I had found Cane Garden and Havana to be in fairly good shape considering the heat of the summer, just not as green and plush as Palmer. I'm playing Mallory (Caroline to Virginia) this Friday. Of the three newest courses, it seems Belle Glade is usually the best, the fairways there are at the level that it took Bonifay five years to reach, and in some cases still haven't reached. Plus on Bonifay Pensacola the Par 5 ninth hole is a temporary par 4 until they reopen the green, which was scheduled for August 1st.

I think if Doc played a rotation of Havana, Mallory, Palmer and Cane Garden he would find overall better conditions. That's where we mainly play plus the three newest, which we know going in are a little skimpy on the grass.

I now see new meaning in the lyrics.

beatles fixing a hole - Google Search

I played Copperhead in Palm Harbor last week. I don't have any expectations of TV courses as compared to that. I just view TV courses as being out on a nice day. Are people allowed to smoke cigars on TV courses?

As far as I know they are. Smell cigar smoke quite often when I'm playing. I would think trying to smoke a stogie and swinging a club at the same time would be hard to do.:D

Yeah good point it has to be a Tony Soprano type!

I played Palmer last week and was very disappointed. For the most part, the fairways were OK. I hit it into the fairway on the second hole of Cherry Hill however and was on hard dirt. The greens were atrocious but they had been aerified and topdressed recently. Many had large bare patches which are going to take a long time to come back. I'll try those other three courses and let you know what I think.

What I notice on a lot of our golf courses is that the greens don't have much of a root system. It's almost impossible to properly fix a ball mark because the turf just comes right out of the ground when you try to pull it toward the depression.

If you honestly believe whoever told you their budget is 52,000 for maintaining whatever course you were at, shows your lack of knowledge that you claim you have so much of about golf courses.

Why not try Frolf instead?

My husband is a priority member and plays 3 days a week. He belonged to a private club in NJ. He has told me the courses are pretty good ( I play executive). There are some great courses outside of TV. He has played Golden Ocala numerous times and conditions are outstanding. The course gets very little play most of the year. The catch green fees are $150. He plays Disney courses and they are in very good shape. He likes the convenience of play in TV. When you go off site it turns into a very long day. He is satisfied with the TV courses and feels the green fees are reasonable.

Somebody (?) is full of x454.... applesauce!

You might want to check out the name of this sub-forum.

I played Mallory (Virgina Course) and apparently Shaq O'Neil or Sasquatch was in the bunker previously! Holy Hannah ..size 23 Banana boats..Apparently NONE OF THAT PARTY HAD ATTENDED GOOD GOLF SHOOL!

It's rumored Sasquatch does pass between here and up north. A reverse snowbird you could say!

I have to agree with you on a couple of points. This forum is for opinions to be posted. And you are correct some of the courses are in poor shape. But when you post your opinions as fact, or what you are told, you are wrong.

Fact: Depending on the size of the championship course the maintenance budget is about $1,000,000 per year.

Fact: You stated "I was also told that the golf course maintenance is controlled by the districts. They have people who know nothing about golf or golf courses holding the purse strings." The Championship courses budget have nothing to do with the districts. The districts control the exec courses.

Fact: Lack of water, which is controlled by the water district is a major problem.

Fact: you stated in another post the ambassadors have no power other then to give out water and sand. Again you are not correct. The the power to move players when needed based on need and issues.

Fact: You stated that a starter sent your group out before you came to starter building. THAT is wrong on the starters part, but did you go and see a manager?

Fact: the Villages Championship courses had almost 1,000,000 rounds of golf last year, SOMEBODY must find them " reasonably good".

Fact: These are NOT private courses, they are public courses.

Fact: Bunkers have footprints in them, unfixed marks and non filled divots, but that is NOT the fault of the owners. That is the fault of golfers that think ambassadors will fix it.

You are correct, you have the right to voice your opinion, and you have the right to be wrong. But myself and many others have asked you if you complaining to the proper people.

And you always have the right to play elsewhere, that would leave more tee times for me.

Sometimes it works better to voice your opinion with your wallet, not unfounded facts and misleading statements.

Well said
 

Well said, I agree completely.

But what good are they doing complaining on TOTV? The people on here cannot make any changes to greenkeeping procedures that the complainers think need to be made.

If the complainers do not like the conditions of the courses here, and it's just their opinion, they can go elsewhere and pay the gas to get there and pay the green fees to play there. It's a simple decision for them; all the roads out of TV leads to a golf course somewhere for them to play.

Thanks for taking the time to post this.:coolsmiley:

#1 & 2, I was only relaying what I was told by an assistant manager at one of the regulation courses.

#3, Water shouldn't be a problem this time of year. It rains almost every day and most of the courses I've played have areas that are too wet for golf carts to pass.

#4, It is highly unusual to see an ambassador speak to anyone about slow play. I was told by an ambassador that I know that they are told not to disturb people if it can be avoided. When a group has two holes open in front of them and there are two groups waiting on a tee, something should be said. When I complained to an ambassador that a guy in front of us was teaching his wife on every tee, he shrugged and did nothing. The woman was hitting two or three shots from every tee while her husband stood and corrected her.

#5, No, I did not see the manager. It was an executive course and it has happened twice to me now.

#6, I'm sure that they are reasonably good at sometimes. I've seen some of them in decent conditions. Is 1,000,000 rounds a lot for the number of holes that we have. Most of those rounds are done in the winter season when the population swells by 50%. How many more rounds could they be doing if the courses were in better shape or the prices were commensurate with the quality of the courses. The courses are almost empty in the summer. Have they ever thought to lower the prices to fill up the courses in the summer? I realize that the prices are lowered but how about taking them down to where the courses are full? And if they're doing that many rounds they should have a lot of income.

#7, Yes, they are public courses. I never said that they were private courses. But they are marketed as high-end public courses. They are more like low-end municipal courses. If they're not going to maintain them properly, they shouldn't be charging for better quality courses.

#8, The bunkers I complained about did not have footprints. They were uneven and had low spots due to rain and other factors. Courses that I worked at had someone with a sandhog go through the bunker every morning.

There is nothing unfounded about anything I said except that I might have been lied to by an assistant manager. $52,000 is a ridiculous amount of money. A crappy nine-hole course couldn't be maintained for that. He might have confused the golf course maintenance budget with the golf shop budget or the starter/ranger budget.

:bigbow: This is a (novice) golf community... I post conditions of the villages courses on social media as often as i can. Yes i can move and probably will. I would rather have one 18 or one 27 hole course then 11 sub par courses. Yes the door will hit me in the . Enjoy you line dancing

I did have a face to face meeting with Mr.Basso ,Rick Craig and one other getleman to discuss our displeasure with the conditions of the championship golf course. We talked about the bunkers and how bad they were. They agreed saying the wrong(cheap) sand was put in them and said that the sand at Havana would be replaced. They also stated that there were toomany bukers and some would be taken out. Tierra Del Sol is being totally redone with a new type of grass that should help. Yes, they just did Tierra a whlie ago but they screwed it up so here we go again. All of the champ golf courses will be redone with the newer grasses eventually. Fromthe timeline I have heard we unfortunately will all be dead before this happens. Usage of manpower was also talked about. How many of you have seen 4 guys raking a bunker that gets no play. Some of these I never knew were on the course! The people in charge know the golf courses could be in better shape, they admitted it. Many other issues were discussed at this meeting but my post is long already. I must say that after the meeting, I am not convinced that for me at least these courses will be any better. They will just keep nickle and diming us to death and we will pay and keep playing and complaining.

:thumbup:...:thumbup:...:thumbup:

:bigbow:

The bottom line is that the convenience to jump in our golf carts and drive to the course, is a strong draw to put up with conditions that would be unacceptable at commiserate priced courses where you drive to...and have a bag drop.

Not saying that we're a 'captured audience,' but there is no doubt that 'THEY' know...we'll still play and that obviously has an impact on how much they spend on maintenance.

As to those who are "sick & tired" of those complaining about course conditions, might I suggest you show some self-restraint...and just quit reading any posts in the "THE VILLAGES GOLF COURSE CONDITIONS" FORUM? :oops:


Hint: That's THIS forum. :ho:

I read a lot of stuff on TOTV that I don't agree with. Complaints about one thing or another, people who go the opposite route and find everything about The Villages to be perfect. The bottom line is, if a person doesn't like reading about golf course complaints, then just go to another forum. Golf course conditions generally in The Villages are mediocre, residents need a place to vent, and this is it.

Ahh the golf. The price is right and the availability is lovely and all golf cart accessible. Golf here is not the Golf of our past, but it is fine.

I played OBH on Tuesday and I'm happy to report the greens were in excellent shape. No weeds, few, if any bare spots, and the grass was lush. The ball rolled very well, but unfortunately for me, they were pretty slow and I never got the speed right all day. My group all commented that the course was in very good condition compared to past years.

rain, rain

Rain music

Lyrics
If the rain comes
They run and hide their heads
They might as well be dead
If the rain comes
If the rain comes....

Don't ruin my trip to there Doc, we are coming down in the next week or so to make an offer on a home in the Orange Blossom Country Club area.....I hope Lyle is ready for us.....We have been waiting for 4 years to move down to this area.