Condition of greens 6/24/14
 

Played Heron this morning in my normal Men's day exec scramble (with fellow TOTVer BarryRX). We had a non-heated debate between us regarding the condition of the greens. For years I've been reading about 1. too much play 2. not enough rain 3. not fixing ball marks et. al.


But we've had at least adequate rainfall for the past two years. The exec's are almost free of golfers from 12:00 to 5:00PM every day. Ball marks don't cause the kind of problems that I see on many of the greens.


At least 6 of the greens today had what I'll refer to as fungus growth issues. At least that is my opinion. And the majority of the problem was in the first 5-6 feet of the edges of the greens. Hardly any 'good' grass in these areas. I know that they closed Southern Star for over a month to try and fix the same type of grass condition.


I'm going to contact golf management to see if I can get a handle on what the issue is. I don't see this too much on the championship greens but the vast majority of execs have issues at this time.


I often play at non-TV courses and a couple of them have switched to champions Bermuda grass. It's almost perfect. I'm wondering if it's time for a switch here.


Stone Creek Golf Club - Ocala, FL


Champion Turf Farms | Specializing in Bermudagrass Greens Since 1966

Left this message with the golf administration this morning

Hi ,
As a resident of the villages I'm trying to get my voice & many others voices heard on our concern for the conditions of all the courses throuhgout our community. In the past 6 weeks I have been playing various courses both executives & championships and have yet to find a course I would rate over a 2 on a 1 to five scale. What's the problem? The courses I have played just outside The Villages are exceptional & I don't understand why ours can't be. In fact we should be the standard for all other courses within a 100 mile radius of The Villages.Please consider firing those responsible for these conditions & hiring companies & leaders on your staff that can rectify this situation. This is not acceptible! Thank You for listening . Correspondence in return is appreciated. Thank You

Was a good message up until the Please..........sentence.

Why's that? Do you have a problem with the word please used in this context or with the whole sentence asking for a change?

I tend to agree.

My hat is off to both Bosoxfan and Russ for taking the time to contact management. I've done it several times in the past, and didn't feel I got results. Please let us know how you make out. I haven't played any exec courses lately, so thanks for the update RB. Your points regarding amount of play, rainfall, etc., are well taken.

The Starter at Southern Star told our group they didn't have any idea when SS would re-open. He said that the greens and tee boxes had areas that were badly diseased, and they were still trying to figure out how to repair it. It's been closed for over a month now. Seems to me it might have been easier to replace those areas with new sod like they have done on several other courses.

:agree:

The funny thing is that when I came here almost 4 years ago I was told "the greens were perfect up until last year - it's just been a bad summer". Then I was told "it's been too dry - they were great 2 years ago". Then it was "we had a cold winter - tough to recover from that - but they were great 3 years ago".


Almost laughable. I don't think they really care to tell you the truth. If the Villages didn't have this captive audience I think the general public would have not revisited and these courses would be a ghost land if they had to stand up to competitive competition. But just like everyone else I still play them day in and day out since it's part of my monthly dues. I guess we just have to take it and shut up. I get the same answer from golf mgt. every time: "we're aware and trying to take steps". In almost any business I know of if you try and take steps but fail you are out on your as*!

Just received this response from the golf administration:::

Thanks for taking the time to share your concerns and thoughts. What we are experiencing (and we are frustrated as well) is a more intense and prolonged transition period than normal. May and June will always be challenging months with transition, followed by aerfication, but this year in particular, it’s been more challenging than any we can remember. Our contractors are working diligently to return all the courses to acceptable condition ASAP, several have already made it back, and the others are well on their way. I can assure you that accountability is in full measure with our contractors. Good news, this should all be behind us soon. We appreciate your patience and support, and certainly understand your frustration and concern.

the Morse family does not want to spend the money. Everything is done on the cheap.

A walk through Eisenhower Rec Center shows the absurdity of that statement. Hyperbole does not support a point of view.

Great quote - can I use that?

We played Hacienda Hills yesterday and found many of the greens to have major problems. The edges seem to have a fungus problem (I'm guessing here), with dead grass and a white colored substance where the grass should be. Plus there was a lot of weed growth within the greens, which I believe is goose grass. Putting was an adventure, as you really couldn't read breaks unless you were obviously on the side of a fall line, and most putts could be counted on to bounce at least a few times. We are going back to Mallory on Friday, as it was in pretty good condition last week.

I also played heron last Saturday...if it was up to me I would close it , the greens were terrible, just awful....my group played cane garden yesterday and the conditions were just as bad...the greens are bumpy, sparse with many bare spots and impossible to get a true roll....and for the life of me I can't understand why they mow the fairways so tight...no wonder they burn out in the summer there is no grass to speak of on them in the first place....I have been a resident since 08 and and I have seen a steady decline in the maintenance and conditions of our golf courses....new strains of Bermuda are available and maybe management should train the people who mow the greens not to scalp them and leave oil and grease drips all over them and the fairways......we are playing off campus more and more and not just during snowbird season.......