Country Club Rates for 2011
 

Sitting here in MA on a rainy day counting the days until our migration south. I am renewing my priority membership for 2011, reading the new Country Club rates for winter 2011 and I noticed some changes. It has always been my assumption that greens fees for GV, CG, MH and Havana would be the same price, Lopez had a $1 up charge and Palmer had a $10 up charge.

This year my assumption fell apart. I found it interesting that some clubs went up and some stayed the same. As an example I notice Havana went up $2, Cane up $1, Palmer and Mallory stayed the same.

I am not complaining about the increase (in this thread at least :sigh:), but it made me wonder who sets the price and what criteria they used to raise Havana $2 and leave Mallory the same?

In a back handed way it makes Palmer more affordable as it is just $8 more than Havana.

I agree with you. I was quite suprised to see Havana go up so much - last winter I didn't think it was in all that great shape. Its still relatively new, and the fairways and greens tend to be pretty hard in the dry months. I heard, don't know if this is true, that Havana and Cane get a lot of play, and they're trying to disperse play to other courses, hence the rise in rates. Makes sense to me - the newer Villages are near Cane and Havana, a younger crowd more likely to be playing 18 hole golf.

Supply and demand !!!!!!

Country Club Administration sets the fees. Generally, it goes up about $1/yr. to cover increases in maintenance costs. I think the idea is that if a course is not being used as much as another, it makes sense to not raise the fee at that course, but make up the difference on another course. You can look at it as discouraging play at the more popular course, or encouraging more play at the one with less play. Either way, the clubs stay self-sufficient overall.

We tend to play the courses that are in the best shape, with the exception of Palmer, which I find a little too pricey for my budget. In previous years some of the older, more mature courses like Tierra and Orange Blossom were in great shape. Last year, not so much. OB in particular was just awful - I hear they had a problem with their overseeding. I'm hoping things will be better this year.

:agree: with all of that. I play Tierra almost every Sunday. I like the straight tee times with no wave.

OB sure was a struggle last year. To be honest a few of our CCs struggled last year. I am hopeful it was because of the terrible winter.

Who knows, this is our 4th winter upcoming and memory says winters went like this:

2007 - 2008: Pretty nice, December was really warm.
2008 - 2009: :cold: Folks that lived here for years said it was one of the worst winters they could remember in central FL.
2009 - 2010: :cold::cold::cold: Are you kidding me?

2010 - 2011: I think we are due :2excited:

After reading the article in the Sun today about this years overseeding it did not give me a good feelings about what we can expect on the golf courses this winter.

I do not like the sounds of that, for us that do not get the Sun until we get back is it easy to summarize what gives you concern?

I looked online but could not find an article regarding overseeding.

This morning's paper said that water restrictions were going to interfere with a full over seeding schedule. It's been a dry summer.

Thankyou. Will keep my hopes up.

As was already mentioned the issue is with watering restrictions due to low pond water levels. Therefore only greens and tee boxes will be overseeded and watered. Fairways will not be overseeded which could mean less grass on the fairways during the winter.

This may not be much of an issue on executive courses but I think this could be a problem on the championship courses if we continue to have a dry weather.

Unlike last winter during which El Nino was in effect (which gives cold, wet winters in this area) this year La Nina is in play. That should make for warmer than average winters (yeah!) but also much drier - not good for the courses.

Did Tierra, Hacienda and OB green fees stay the same? Anyone know? Thanks.

I know Tierra (now $30) and Hacianda (now $27) went up $1. Looks like OB stayed the same at $24.

Sorry, guys, but maybe you'll understand one of the many reasons why I don't chase a little white ball! :pepper2:

SWR
:beer3:

Sorry SWR, but I'll never understand why you don't chase the little white ball!

AJ, thanks for the info. I suspected when I saw this thread that Tierra and Hacienda, two of our favorites, would have gone up. :sigh:

If you choose to spend your money elsewhere that is your choice. But I don't see it as a reason to not play golf. Besides you could still play the exec's. And you already pay the $135 a month to do so.

I would love to play the Execs, but have had too many times when I get hooked up with people who have no idea how to play golf. This week, the first time in months on an Exec. course, we played with 2 lovely gentlemen, but its the first time I've seen the ball struck then go in almost a backward direction. It was pretty funny, actually, I didn't know where to stand when they were hitting , the ball could go anywhere. They didn't know basic courtesies of marking your ball on the green, repairing ballmarks, filling divots with sand. etc. There were 3 or 4 whiffs per hole. I'd say about 80 percent of the time I end up with a group of golfers that golf at a very beginner type level. Now they may have been golfing for 20 years, but they've never progressed beyond a certain point. To each his/her own, but that type of golf is not fun for me. My friends all play the championship courses, so that's where I golf as a result. I think you tend to get the more experienced golfers there, and I just find it more fun, as I'm a lower handicapper. The other thing is the pace of play is very slow, probably because many of the golfers have beginner type skills. On the exec. this week, the carts were all backed up, and we were warned by the starter that it was going to be a 2 hour round of golf -- much too long for one of those short little courses. My golfing friends all voice the same thoughts - I guess that's why we stick to the championship courses.

I understand that sometimes you will run into a NEWBEE golfer on the execs, and really that is where they should play, I'm a low-handicap and find the execs a great place to work on my short game and have played with some
great Villagers whose golf game is less than desirable but enjoyed great fellowship and that is what "it's all about", Right?.....Always wished a "Newbee Golf Etiquette Video" would be provided, BUT, life's good here in paradise, so who cares...

For some golfers, myself included, golf is more about the sport of golf. Fellowship is a nice byproduct. I do enjoy the company of many golfers - most Villagers are lovely people, but when I play a sport, I prefer to play with someone at or near my skill/experience level. I agree, the Execs are a great place to work on different aspects of your game, but the baggage that comes with them is difficult for me to deal with. If I had to golf every day with people who whiff every other shot, don't fill their divots, don't know enough to mark their balls on the greens, it would drive me crazy. The guys we played with must have had a 10 on each hole. I find that very distracting, so i stick to the Championship courses. To each his/her own.

Taj - have you tried to form your own circle of golfing friends to play with instead of just taking what the tee time system gives you? I know that many people in TV play with 'like' golfers. I'm just north of a 12 handicap (trending towards 20 it seems:)) and sometimes I play in groups of friends who are beginners. What we do is a exec scramble and that seems to work fine. They get 3-4 foursomes and play scramble with one or two experienced players and two newer ones in each group. We have great fun and usually a nice lunch afterward. Can't wait to move perm so we can play every week.

Thanks Russ, that's exactly what I do. I'm in several different golfing groups, on the championship courses. Most of my friends dont' seem to have the inclination to golf on the Exec. courses, or else our schedules don't jive, we have so many other activities going on.

Golf
 

Haven't visited VT yet, planning on Nov 2010. Thought golf was included in monthly HOA fee. Yet saw posts on country club membership rates going up. Please explain... Thanks

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http://www.golfthevillages.com/