Palmer Legends Golf Conditions disappointing today Thursday March 14,2024
 

The Palmer Course has lost its long held reputation as one of the best courses to play in the Villages.

Today the greens were at best a C-, most had bare (disease spots) and have had light sand applied recently. If you look closely many areas need some care and attention..... from tee boxes ti fairways..... its past .... its glory days it seems.

Need more attention everyday by course management.....

It's really too bad what they did to Riley. Over watered turned greens into mud . The people who are in charge of the course should be fired.

Didn't you read the front page headline in today's Daily Sun about The Villages "pristine" (!) golf courses? ;0

Where did that information come from?

Laurel Valley greens are better than most in The Villages and have been, for the last 2 weeks. A little slower than I prefer, but excellent putting surfaces.

I believe Riley Groves greens are diseased, but they have been improving over the last 10 days.

Cherry's are old and not in great condition.

Someone's ying yang

I just finished playing there and they were not as bad as I was expecting. Riley Grove was much better than Cherry Hill but both need a few weeks of good weather.

I don't know how true this is but the starter said they were closing Cherry Hill in two weeks.

I don't know the date, but it's Cherry Hills' turn for renovation. Laurel was last year, Riley the year before. It usually happens the end of April.

Hmm, I stopped by there today to purchase a shirt and the golf shop was full of people checking in to play; probably common folk that does not have your expectations.

Played Laurel to Riley last Monday and the greens on Laurel were great. The greens on Riley were not nearly as good, they appear to have some sort of turf disease. Some greens were better than others, but the ones on the last 4 holes playing along Lake Sumter had large patches of bumpy dirt with no grass and were very difficult to put across if they were in your line. Certainly not what one would expect from greens that were just completely renovated during last years growing season. Hopefully they can be fixed soon now that we are coming out of the difficult winter season.

MY golf group played Laurel to Riley two days ago and we found Laurel in very good condition although the greens a bit slow. Riley has a few greens sanded...probably all of them by now...and there were some spots that were bad on some greens. Otherwise a good experience. It really seems unfair to our group that golf administration can tell us their plugging schedule but cannot tell us when they slit and sand the greens. We've asked them and they claim it doesn't affect play...yeah, right...maybe for them but for all of us it does. We think we should be able to avoid sanded and slitted greens and they should tell us when they're doing that...but apparently it doesn't affect play.

This can not be true. I just read in the Daily Sun that the golf courses are Pristine.

My information came from another greenskeeper at a different golf course. No names do not want to get him in trouble.

The sad part is that I played laurel literally 3 hours after it re-opened post renovation. Already, there were a few dozen unrepaired ball marks and unfilled divots. Footprints in the bunkers were plentiful, including my favorite---footprints that lead right back to a rake(I wonder if that "golfer" tripped over the rake on the way in or out). Maintenance crews cannot repair all the damage that hundreds of bozo golfers cause. I suggest that there should be significant penalties for any of the above infractions.

Palmer
 

I will bet the pro didn't come out and pat you on the head and give you a balloon after your round either. :boom::ho:

Palmer, particularly the (2) nines the King designed (supposedly), is the absolute wrong design for The Villages.

Huge, slope-face bunkers, designed to funnel the balls back towards the center of the bunkers (making the shot easier), but leading to a situation that it's difficult (& time-consuming) for older folks to rake their entry and exit foot prints.

I played in a group last year. On the 4th hole on Laurel Valley, bunker on the right-side, 30+ yards from the green ... lost a guy in the bunker.

He was not in optimal health or condition and carried way too much weight above his waist. He slipped on the side slope of the bunker, rolled down to the center (him, not his ball). Took us about 20 minutes to get him out of the bunker. Finally got him out, by "rolling" him towards the lower edge, dragging him out and then "levering" him upright. I wish I had video, but I didn't want to be "one of those", that standby watching & filming the travails of unfortunate circumstances. Would have garnered 1,000,000 views on YouTube.

I'm not defending those who don't rake bunkers, but the Palmer design leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion, for this type of golf environment.

A recent article in The Villages magazine stated the closure of Cherry Hills for the same renovation that Laurel and Riley Grove had done.

If he was that frail, perhaps you could have raked the bunker for him????? Or someone else in the foursome??? 20 minutes to get him out---could have called 911 quicker.

I have heard that some of the greens have a disease. The product that treats it is not effective until soil temperatures are warmer.
Soil science is ever changing.

I played Laurel valley on Monday it was in great condition

Regarding the steep slope of some of the bunkers and the difficulty in raking entry and exit footprints: What I have noticed everywhere I have played over my many years of golf is people don't know how to enter and exit a bunker. Regardless of where your ball is in the bunker you should always enter from the LOW side. Too many people enter from the spot nearest to their ball and if it's a steep slope they either leave massive deep footprints or "slide" down to their ball. Then they try to climb that same steep slope to get out. Entering from the LOW side you walk in, hit your shot and walk out the same way you went in, raking your footprints as you leave (I hope!).

That hole has 12 bunkers on it I tell everybody if you just avoid the bunkers it was well played

He didn't fall from "raking", he fell from making a shot.

Try standing on the side slope on that bunker and making a shot. Someone who's been playing for for a long time could do it, but that doesn't represent the typical TV golfer.

OK. Got it

It’s long way to top, many peons must go before head chopped off. Why there are many layers of supervision and management. 30/70 rule.

Ya, but then where would they bring the poor guy? He would be better off being left in the bunker!

He was a nice guy. About 5'10". Weighed at least 280. 250 lbs, above the waist. Just not built for climbing a steep bunker slope.

It was funny, but it wasn't. It took the other 3 guys in the group, plus a Ambassador, to roll him to the bottom (low side of course), to get him out. 2 guys with golf clubs to pull him up, with one guy behind him, pushing up.

It was definitely a 3 Stooges type moment ... & it wasn't Larry or Moe in the bunker.

I failed to ask and so did others-----Was he OK???

As OK as one can be, after making a triple bogey.

He kind of lucked out. For the rest of the round, if he hit it in a bunker, someone would go get it for him, toss it out & it only cost him 1 stroke. USGA investigated his posted score, but no one talked.

He quit after 9, I haven't seen him since.

Hopefully, if turf disease, they just treat all the courses for it, since people will just track it from one course to another.

Was optimistic after Laurel and Riley were renovated. Looks like the low bidder won as they are now in worse condition than before,