How do we stop the addition of Pitch and Putt courses?
 

Three pitch and putt courses south of 44. These courses are the last to get booked which is a clear indicator that they are least desirable for home owners. This activity of building non-desirable pitch and putt courses south of 44 continues to put pressure on executive courses north of 44. How do we stop this bad behavior? I sent a mail to villages.com but wonder if there is a better way.

Dan

:popcorn::popcorn:

I don’t know why they built Richmond as a pitch & putt instead of as an executive. It is 18 holes and the total length is about 1300 yards. You could easily put a nine hole executive on the piece of land.

I agree Rainger99. Same could be said for Marsh View. So how do we stop their bad behavior? Build what home owners want or The Villages will decline.

Waste of resources. Executive courses from green tees are the same thing as pitch putt

Babubhat, I don’t understand your reply. Could you elaborate?

Let’s cut to the chase. It is a fact that the pitch and putt courses book last, thus they are the least desirable courses to play. Why? It is a fact that 190 yd tee shots are harder than 90 yd tee shots. Contrary to what others may imply. People want to play courses that offer challenges. If you are ok with pitch and putt courses. Or if you are ok with people south of 44 driving north to play then please push back on my post. Otherwise, I am simply asking if there are ways to help influence the developers to build what home owners want.

You're right, since there are now more people playing Pickleball than golf, those resources should be devoted to more Pickleball facilities.

Covered with lights would be really great.

Not a reply that I expected. But it is respected. 😊

There are thousands of people on TOTV. People should post their preferences - executive courses or pitch & putts.

If you want the developer to build more executive courses, post that.

If you want the developer to build more pitch & putts, post that.

We can send the results to the developer. I would think he might be interested in the results.

What do you expect? If the developer has a choice of building an Executive course on a piece of land or jamming it with saleable houses, it's no surprise what takes preference. They would put in mini golf if they thought it would fool enough people.

Yep…. If people don’t stand up they will go to virtual golf. What could be cheaper? I have contacted them, is there batter suggestions?

Didn’t realize that the pitch and putts needed tee times. As for anyone south playing up north, that is what the courses are there for. Anyone can play anywhere.

Have you played Richmond? I have. The total length might be 1300 yards, but there's no way there's enough real estate there to make it an executive or at least one worth playing. When you start building holes over 150 yards you actually need a reasonable width for a fairway. Richmond is already extremely tight even for a pitch n putt. The width allotted for each hole is quite narrow. In fact there's at least 3 holes on that course where it's not difficult to accidentally land your drive on a different green than you're aiming for.

Playing on Richmond it's very obvious it was built as a buffer to the turnpike. Seems like that's why March Bend Pitch n Putt was built as well. In the case of Richmond though, they probably could've made it an Executive but it would probably mean an extra 20 homes not being built to create the extra space. Of course that means less profit for the developer. Would've been a great location for an executive though.

The least they could do is treat the Pitch and Putt courses as a separate category in the reservation system like they do with Executive and Championship courses. I would actually play them if it did not add a point to my Executive play totals. It is a point that impacts getting group reservations in the system and should not be considered as having played an Executive course.

P & P’s
 

How did you arrive at the conclusion that they are the last to be booked? What was your source of info?

Such an odd take. It's not like The Villages invented the game for selfish reasons. Pitch N Putt is an internationally recognized game.

For those of us that moved to The Villages and have no golfing experience, we're finding the PNP's to be really enjoyable and helpful to ease us into the game.

I'll bet the same people complaining about the PNP's would be REALLY complaining if they had me in from of them on an executive course holding them up as I learn what the heck I'm doing.

So golfers hit every green from 90 yards in... Therefore, we don't need pitch and putts and green tees on exec courses. Okay. There are beginners out there. The courses are built for all levels.

Short game
 

PNPs assist many with their short game. Wedges, 9s and putters are used the for the majority of the shots on a course or in a game. I guess you could ask, “ Why are all the driving ranges north of 466 A? “ too, and people would still complain.

I've played it. I don't really like them. I don't think that 3 regular tee boxes and even a short fairway for each hole and cart paths could have been put in that area though.

I love the pitch/putts and play them at least 3-4 times per week. It’s at these types of courses where you really improve your short golf game, get great exercise, and meet new people. I have not observed these courses to be the last ones booked. Sometimes I call the morning of play looking for an open tee time…usually, it’s just before dusk before I get a time. So glad to see MickeyLee open…I’ve played it twice, and love it!

1 put it in the suggestion box at your postal station
2 write it in the yearly residents survey
3 then go to Katie Belle's and wait while sipping a tall glass of water with lemon

:evil6:

My source of information is the tee time reservation system. Simply try booking a tee time for 2 people two days out or for the next day. You will see that the vast majority if not only open tee times between 9:00 and 4:00 are on pitch and putt courses. The same was true last winter when we only had Marsh Bend. It was always the last course with open time slots.

Of course there is value in pitch and putt courses. I played Marsh Bend last year and enjoyed it. However prefer playing longer holes with grass tee boxes. And based on the reservation system the majority of other golfers within the villages feel the same way.

The last two executive courses built by T&V have been pitch and putt. If you want to see the trend continue then fine. Personally though I have sent a note to the villages.com and asked them to stop building new pitch and putt based on the information I shared above.

You can easily confirm that what Swanson says is true .

Log on to the tee times system and look for open tee times . Select the option to look courses by time .

What you’ll see repeatedly is that most of the executives are not available during mid morning through late afternoon. In other words , these most desirable tee times are gone.

However , you’ll see that there will be many, many tee times an available through most of the day on the Pitch and Putt courses.

Conclusion ? Yes, they ARE last to be booked if booked at all !

Totally agree. Glad we have PNPs, but we have enough of them (maybe 1 too many). We do need more executive 9 hole courses. But unfortunately TV is not a democracy.

It's all about land use..be happy or move.. trying to keep everyone happy is really hard these days..wanting more...

pitch and putt courses south of 44
 

Be Thankful "The Morse Clan" has given you a few activities South of CR-44.
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As you well know by now living South of CR-44 definitely does not have the number of activities as up North. Do you?
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Perhaps your Village Sales person did not tell you everything. For some reason, they are told WHAT TO SAY and what not to MENTION.
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People will buy South of CR-44 and do not know what they are in for.
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Just how many Publix stores do you have to shop in in the South?
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Might you have more than one shopping center for how many people?
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You need to drive North to Shop, and Dine, and to a Town Square overloading them. When they were designed it was for the number of homes being developed near them. Seems the Morse Clan does not care other than selling homes for huge profits.
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Before buying South of CR-44 do yourself a favor and talk to Real Estate Brokers not affiliated with The Villages as there are many for thier views.

A few pitch and putt courses are okay. The number is becoming excessive. Bottom line, cheaper to build a pitch and put then an executive course. Also, more houses can be squeezed in.

Not everyone can walk a pitch and putt course. They exclude many people from playing.

The number of courses south of 44 is simply concerning despite the map showing future courses.

There is one more P&P in the planning, Live Oak. just south of Monarch Grove. Laural Oak, A new executive of planned just south of that.

Yep, kinda like the beautiful Brownwood theater is a building most likely collecting mold in the duct work now. The Developer has left the building...

I think there are many more people playing the PNPs than shown on the tee time reservation system. I think many people just walk up to the starter shack without a tee time and sign-in. Every time we go to Edna’s the PNP seems to have a lot of play! If you are a person who has never played golf, or is starting out as a beginner and don’t want to slow down the play on an executive course, would you sign up and pay for the tee time system if you were starting out and trying it out? The only way to find out now many people are actually playing the PNPs is to go to the starter shack and see how many have signed up on the tally sheets, or call the golf administration office and ask, they know.

Disappointed that the closest executive course to Citrus Grove is over a half hour away. More than the one or two planned on the other side of the Turnpike would be better than several more pitch and putts.

Actually, six executive courses are planned south of the turnpike.

Oh, I did not realize you speak for all homeowners.

I'm stunned at how many people here think the world revolves around them. Fortunately, I doubt the developer has any interest in what a few self absorbed individuals want.

Is there parking for cars at all these pitch and putt courses.?

Per the Daily Sun on Jan. 3 -
two executive, 2 championship, one pitch and putt.

Pitch & Putt golf courses...
 

The Developers are planning 20 years out, so the global picture is different than what people complain about today. Oddly enough, not everyone of the 140,000 living in "The Bubble" play golf, so other activities are also needed. There are 13 Championship courses, 41 executive courses, 3 pitch & putts, and 3 putt & plays - that's a whole lot of golf! There are plenty of opportunities to play executive courses, if you consider all 41 + 3 as options. And why not, The Bubble is a unique and amazing place to live - getting out and seeing everything above "44" may just enhance one's appreciation for the exceptional job the developers have done, are doing now, and are planning for the future.

Booking 4-some tee times for playing 4 times a week and 8 couples for Saturdays, I've experienced not getting the requested time/courses out of a list of 12 in each Request. And yes, there are tee times available 3 days in advance to provide play the Pitch & Putts - but they are full, on game day, too. We've never had to sit home, without a tee time, which, to me, is amazing. Our 8 couples were scheduled to El Diablo yesterday, so travel is not out of the question (playing in the rain is, though).

The day the Developers stop making money is the day I put my house on the market. Forbes says each of the family members are billionaires - they don't HAVE to do this, so they must ENJOY doing it.

Three new championship courses, (two 18’s and one 27), six executives, one additional pitch and putt and a golf academy.

Continuing The Dream: Volume 15

Convert and build
 

Convert 1 or 2 executive courses way north to pitch and putt or just putt And build more executive south. The older population enjoy the shorter holes, maybe not the walking.
There seems to be plenty of pickle ball courts. Indoor or covered courts a good idea but costly idea.

The business model for the current expansion has changed.
Spanish Springs was built BEFORE the surrounding villages. Same with Sumter. Same with Brownwood. Build it and they will come!
Now its …………..They will come anyway!

Sawgrass is a new concept. While a more casual idea it is NOT A SQUARE. The newer villages are waiting for a REAL SQUARE and courses. The number of homes is putting pressure on current infrastructure to the north. Villages south of 44 are hiring bands and entertainment and holding block parties ! It shouldn’t be this way.
However , as long as demand remains high, the developer is going to build in a way that makes them the most profit. More $$$ in houses then golf courses.

Growth brings new challenges and problems. Chose your area to buy wisely