Poor condition of TV golf course greens
 

Why are the greens in TV the worst around? I'm told the same company takes care of all golf courses, is this true? The poa annua grass is taking over all the greens including the entire 9th green at Mira Mesa! The championship courses are almost unplayable to anyone with a single digit handicap or anyone that understands the ball needs to roll, not bounce to the hole! There is no reason TV greens should be in such poor shape, other than the fact that we are dumb enough to allow it!

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I agree with you. Only greens that are not horrible are on Palmer. :sing:

Greens
 

Send a letter to the person who manages the golf courses. His name is Eric. His email can be found on golfthevillages.com

If enough people start complaining, maybe he will do something

A couple of questions. How do you know TV greens "are the worst around"? Which local courses are you using for your comparison? Also, why are the greens unplayable to a single handicap golfer. I'll acknowledge I'm no single handicap, but I play the championship courses twice a week, and I know there are some problems, but never "unplayable". Interesting first post . . . .

I played Glenview about a month ago and a golfer in my group was a villager who works cutting grass at Lopez. He said this year to save money they switched brands in the chemicals they use to treat the greens and that is why all the greens are burned up. That's all the details he gave.

I find that the better a golfer is, the less he complains about course conditions. Your playing partners are playing that course at that time and have equal challenges.

Now why this is happening is very curious. And may be due to stinginess and may be due to lack of skill in caring for a golf course, and it may be due to overplaying. But I read with interest all that is said.

We knew when we moved here we were leaving the private country club life.

Eric VanGorder is the Director of Executive Golf Maintenance and is responsible for the executive courses north of 466 plus the Pimlico group. The courses south are the responsibility of GMS since they are still developer owned.

Eric is well aware of the course conditions and is no happier than you are about the greens. But there is no magic treatment that will accelerate growth. The important consideration is determining what precipitated the conditions in the first place and that has been undertaken. Some answers have been determined. One thing is that the overseed died out before the base bermuda had enough heat/sun to take over. That, coupled with the use of the large tines in aeration, resulted in a delayed recovery and bare spots. The use of the smaller tines on the four execs around Lopez resulted in better recovery.

I guess I should have been more clear when I posted " Why are the greens so bad " I meant why are they not given the care we deserve as villagers! To be "playable" a green needs to roll at an 8 on a meter, and they need rolled to be true. I guess the answer I'm going to be given is that Eric and the other greens keepers either don't know how to do their job or won't do it or aren't given the funds to do it. At least my money gets me new flowers every month at the turnabouts, what a joke golf is in TV.

I don't see an email link for Eric anywhere? Can you guide through the site or tell me where the link is?

It's only when we return to our northern home that I realize how great we have it in The Villages.

A choice of over 30 free golf courses, wow. :pepper2:

Go to golf thevillages.com and go the turf talk column. His address is there.

When, and on what course/green, did you take these readings?

This year has seen green conditions poorer than previous years. In an effort to repair the greens, I believe they have avoided cutting them as low as normal so they are slower than they will be. Conditions are improving, but it will not happen overnight.

Anyone who tells you that Eric doesn't know how to maintain a golf course or won't do it, or doesn't have the funds to do it is stating an opinion not supported by facts. Remember, Eric's responsibility is to the executive courses north of 466, not the championship courses. For those, you need to contact GMS. Remember the championship courses are not part of your amenities. They are privately owned.

As I read your post I wonder if you know what the name is of the meter or measuring device you are referring to and do you know what the number 8 equates to.

You describe it as a meter and you describe it as it needs to roll an 8 to be playable. The 8 that you are referring to is 8 feet and the name of the meter or measuring device is the Stimpmeter. Perhaps you forgot to inform those who may have had no clue what you were talking about.

Below is an explanation of the Stimpmeter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2sbeRMnU_0

Stimpmeter: The Device for Measuring Green Speeds in Golf

STIMP METER

I have played in a 20+ player group of golfers with a handicap range of scratch to 6 for 8 1/2 years. Golfers who moved to The Villages that were "Country Club" members elsewhere would soon find out that course conditions in TV were considerably inferior to where they came from. With that said most of the golfers in TV did not experience the "finer conditions" before moving here so they don't know what they are missing and don't care. Played Palmer today and the fairways are a mixture of thin grass & mud. For myself and our group the conditions in TV in general are probably 5 on a 1-10 scale. TV does such a fabulous job of giving us great, well maintained amenities (to include the Clubhouses and Pro Shops) in everything they do, it is too bad that they can't continue that standard to the maintenance of the golf courses.