Championship Conditions
 

Being a pretty good golfer with a handicap in single digits I get somewhat picky on certain course conditions. My primary pet peeve is green and cup conditions.

Why cant the cups be installed correctly with nice crisp cut edges so puts will go inside the hole and not rim out because of rounded edges. This is normally a condition caused by not changing the location of the hole on a daily basis. Also...how many times do I see putts tracking perfectly to the hole only to see it veer off course at the very end because of a crowned cup? Its frustrating because the greens now are in a dormant stage of growth and very fast. Putts, especially longer ones say over 10 feet cannot be hit firm or youll have another 5 footer coming back.

OK Im done.Opinions please.

Suggest you start here with your concerns. I doubt if anyone on here can address what bothers you.

Country Club Administration 352-753-3396 1030 Lake Sumter Landing

or

The CC pro.

Right on

Ball pickers, jerking the pin out to retrieve the ball, dragging feet...just to name three reasons

Private Country Clubs cost more & have a better product.


TV is nice, but "you" need to lower "your" expectations........they are "public" courses.


Enjoy the retirement journey.


A putt is only a putt.

Yep.

notice when people step up to the cup, to take out their ball, that they step right near the hole, leaving an imprint next to the hole, thus the appearance of a crowned hole

What goes around usually also comes around. I have had good puts veer away from at the hole and had not so good puts veer into the hole. It all seems to balance out at the end of the day. It is just always much easier to remember the "what if" puts than the "that was a lucky break" puts. At this point in my life I am just happy to be healthy enough to get out often and enjoy another day on the links. Golf On : )

For the many people who really enjoy golf, including very many that used to belong to a country clubs, the course conditions here are disappointing. They do seem to have gotten better in the last few years. The fairways have more grass and the greens have improved. But, I agree with the original author. I would gladly pay a fee more dollars for a course where greens are kept fast and cups are crisper so that we can enjoy one of our favorite activities the way that we spent many years enjoying it. At least one course please. How much money can that cost? Very many people would be really happy.

Oh my bad. I thought a golf course was supposed to be challenging and golfers ability to read the grass a sign of a good golfer.

A lot to think about
 

I think the conditions could be a little better overall. Course to course they are decent for the most part, but still s little inconsistent. I’d be more concerned about the rising fees. Okay, don’t jump on me. I know they didn’t raise them for next year, but extending the “winter” rates THROUGH MAY!!!!!
I would hope between amenity fees and the amount of play, they could keep the fees at least fair. Oh.....and what happened to play as much as you want after 3:00 in the summer

Doughnut effect when the hole is cut. That is my excuse.

Even more frustrating are those who step up to cup, pull out ball and then step over cup leaving a major heel print next to cup. See it on pga as well. Should be a penalty. Greens keeper told me years ago it takes up to 4 hours for foot impressions to fully recover.

Agree with the crowned cups, a putt killer particularly when putting from above the hole and you're depending on the slope to do the job to get the ball to the hole, but any putt struck that's just making ot to the hole. I think the holes are cut clean, but too many players remove their ball from the cup by using their putter head, not a good result.

My golf group has the same problem with crowned cups. They do not correctly tamp down the area when they install the cup. We have gotten into the habit of tamping the area around the cup with our putter to level it. This seems to work pretty well. I see ragged cut cups all the time an attribute that to dull cup cutters. TV is not known for professional cup setters. I've complained many times to golf administration and pro shop managers, all to no resolving changes. So, we tamp the cups when we get on the green. Actually, we've looked at USGA rules, and you can interpret the rule that says "unnatural green interruptions may be repaired" to allow for cup tamping since it's not natural for a cup to be crowned...at least that's what our group has decided.

You are not in a sanctioned tourney........just tap it down and play the recreational game you are attempting to play. :ohdear:

If you think the championship course conditions are bad, try the executive courses. Same problems with the cups and the greens are no where near as consistent. There are just too many people playing golf here. Try some of the 'out-of-the-bubble' courses if you want a better game.

I wish my putts got close enough to the hole for this to be a problem I’m just trying to get it within the circle of love!!! How lucky are we that this would be an issue.

Not to mention those who shove the grips of their putters with suction cups down into the cup and Jenkins them out. Actually nearly every green in the Villages is in top shape right now, smooth and fast. One thing that did bother me was playing at Havana last week and noticing several old cups that were sunken below the green surface by about a quarter of an inch. Have never seen that here before.

Same for everyone! So being a single digit handicap golfer means you're immune to missing putts?

It is only a game but many of us take pride in our handicaps (the non sandbaggers). You cannot properly tamp down the volcano around a golf hole with your putter. Greenskeepers need only take a few extra seconds to cut and prepare the holes correctly. :clap2:

Nope, jus looking for excuses. :1rotfl:

That is just not true. A priority member playing 3 times a week pays roughly $7,000/year. If the spouse does the same it’s doubled. Most clubs within 45 minutes of TV cost $4-500/month for a membership. You are paying a large premium for golf cart access and multi-course availability.

You forgot the $25,000 private club buy-in. You forgot a private club only has 18 or 36 holes. You forgot you get to play the executive courses free. You forgot there are no
special assessments to golf at TV.



AND the great thing is you don't have to pay or play at TV.


:cryin2::cryin2::cryin2:

Did you actually read my post?

I know of only one course reasonably close by the charges more than a $5000 initiation fee. If there are two players in the household, he would recoup your investment in one year. As to the executive courses being free, well, they ought to be because they really aren’t golf courses. They are simply a nice recreational area for retirees to get outside and enjoy.

That is what all courses are in TV. :ohdear:

I feel your pain. The cause can be found in maintenance. The employees are landscaping crews and not trained grounds keepers. When I see a poorly cut cup, I take a picture and show it to the pro or manager after my round and always get a positive response and thanks. The pros know who to contact and in my experience they are truly concerned about keeping their course in top condition. Sadly, I am not a single digit handicap player but I can’t blame that on anything or anyone

What?
 

Your comment has nothing to do with the discussion. It is obvious by your comment you are not a golfer. You may play the game of golf but you are not A Golfer.

In TV, you need to putt to the back of the hole rather than die the putt at the hole. With the amount of play these courses get, and the golfers who think its the maintainance job to fix ball marks, rake traps, and fix divots, we have to play em as we find em.

My whole reason for this post are to make aware of the cup installation conditions only. Not ball marks or other noticeable intangibles of the courses. There is NO reason why cups cant be properly installed with crisp cut edges to give the golfer the best opportunity to make a putt. . There is a science to this process and no cost at all involved to do it properly. For me there is no excuse other than inexperience or laziness. If maintenance workers are installing the cups, please teach them how to do it properly. Every golfer would appreciate this effort. Thank you

Here we go. You can find anything on youtube.

Golf Course Maintenance - Cutting Cups 101 - YouTube

First of all, I don't play the execs much, as I enjoy the championship courses more. That being said, I wholeheartedly disagree with your description of the executive courses. I challenge anyone to play any of the Category 4 courses in The Villages from the back tees and then describe any of them as simply "nice recreational area(s) for retirees".

If you're a good player and are used to playing on good conditions, you won't be happy with these golf courses. Conditions range from mediocre to horrible. As another poster said, they are public courses. I would add that they are not the best conditioned public courses that I have seen.

if you're going to play here and want to stay in The Villages you eventually have to learn to accept that what it is.

There are some decent public courses within an hours drive of The Villages. Many have lower green fees as well. The Villages courses are under maintained and over priced. But they are convenient.

I agree. From the back tees, some of the executive courses are extremely difficult. I played the two course at Fenney about a year ago. I started on the back tees on one moved up after three holes. I'm 69 years old and obviously don't hit as far as I used to but I don't get a lot of pleasure hitting three wood on par threes.

Are TV courses ready to host a U.S. Open? Not quite. :)

But I played golf at the college level and have played many of the best courses in the country. I thoroughly enjoy playing the champ courses in TV.

The conditions vary some as is typical with most courses. But I disagree absolutely with those who describe TV courses as horrible and inferior to other courses in the area.

Keep it in the short grass. :)

That's unfortunate, there are a few Villagers that think they are ready for it.


:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I certainly agree about the back tees.
Wife and I play with so many who still insist on playing from the Back, when in skill level, the front Tees would be a challenge to them.
Ego is hard to overcome!

Not sure this is true but, I think they don’t tap down that area around the cup enough. At home they did and putts rolled truer and did not hang on the edge of the cup. I thought is that they don’t have a personal to do it fast enough every day, so they just don’t do it.

I guess the only reason they’re complaining — I mean, everybody has got to play the same golf course,” Koepka said. “So it really doesn’t make a difference. It doesn’t make a difference if you put it in the fairway and you hit every green, there’s really no problem, is there? So obviously they’re not doing what they’re supposed to do. So they’re not playing good enough. If they put it in the fairway, you shouldn’t have to complain about the rough. You hit the greens and you hit it close, you shouldn’t have to complain about the greens.

"I’ve just been never one to complain, make excuses. It doesn’t matter. Nobody wants to hear anybody’s excuse. I find it annoying even when I play with guys and they’re dropping clubs or throwing them or complaining, like telling me how bad the golf course is or how bad this is. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. It’s just something we’ve all got to deal with. If you play good enough, you shouldn’t have a problem.”



This from someone who must make money at what we call an "activity". Told by my original coach, my father, that if you complain about the course, stop playing!!

Improper installation of cups, is not a 'challenging' green. It's just laziness!