The bad conditions continue
 

Played Palmer Cherry Hill and Laurel Valley last night. if this is supposed to be the Villages showcase course, it's sad.

First of all there is something that bothers me on almost every course I play in The Villages. Why is it that the practice greens are never the same as the greens on the golf course? Palmer has 30 greens. They should all be the same. Last night I went and spent twenty minutes on the practice green to get a feel for the speed. It was decent, moderately fast pace. I get on the first green and have about 25 feet for birdie and I leave it 5 feet short. I hit a good putt. It was simply that I had great feel for a green that was 2-3 feet faster than the greens on the golf course. I don't understand why this is so difficult for The Villages. This is the case on almost every course, both Executive and Regulation in TV. It's almost as if they do it on purpose.

Palmer was in decent shape, but not great as the premier golf course in The Villages should be. Greens were slow and bumpy. Again, many of them, like so many other greens in TV had bare spots or areas where the grass was very sparse.

On the second hole I missed the fairway by a couple of feet and instead of being in rough, I was in a hole in an area that had almost no grass.

The fairways and tees were in good shape, no complaints. I did notice a lot of areas around the greens that were worn down to bare dirt and many of the bunkers look like they hadn't been raked in days.

In many areas, the rough is the same height as the fairways. In those cases, the rough has very little or sometimes no grass. You don't have to let Bermuda rough get very tall, but there should be a noticeable difference between the rough and fairways.

There were some areas where if you missed a green, you were on almost hardpan or at least very tight lies which make it difficult to pitch from. If you chose to putt, you'd have to putt through the fringe which was higher than the rough.

I don't know what it's going to take to get The Villages to start getting these courses in decent shape. Maybe they never will.

Your complaint is valid. Courses are not in great shape. I played Bonifay yesterday and noted the same things. And like you, I have never understood why the practice greens are always different. However it will never change as long as the folks are lining up for tee times. It's a business and if they can spend less and still get the revenue, they will.

Same as Shinnecock Hills.


:shocked:

I became very discouraged with the golf course conditions a few years ago, and dropped out of Villages golf. I really think the problem is the maintenance companies the Villages hires. Some are good, others are not. If the Villages really cared, they could set up their own Maintenance teams, buy some equipment and hire someone to oversee. That way they'd have better control over the quality of work, and they'd probably save money too.

I agree. Contracting this work out is the worst possible idea. They've got 40 golf courses here with over 600 holes of golf. They ought to be able to attract the best talent in the world of golf course maintenance to keep them in the best shape possible.

As far as it being a business and people are lining up to play them, I agree that it's a business but I don't know that people are lining up to play them. You can play the regulation courses at almost any time this time of year. There is usually a line of people at 5:00 when you can pay between $5 and $8 dollars. I am not privy to the details, but I have to wonder if they got the courses in better shape and lowered the price would they be more profitable.

I just wonder if the reason they are not fielding their own team to bring the courses into better shape is because they don't want to spend the money it would cost to do that. Contracting the best talent available may not come at a price they want to pay. :(

Agreed. In my opinion, these are "factory" golf courses. Built to churn out the rounds. Everything is designed for ease of maintenance. The turfgrass is not Championship turf, its durable. The greens fees collected cover the maintenance of the courses and staff and turn a reasonable profit. I do not miss paying 7k a year in dues to be a member of a private club. When I want to just play golf, TV is fine. When I am looking for great conditions, I go off campus. I'm ok with that. I also find that I enjoy using the other amenities much more than I thought I would. In my previous life it was golf only. Now pickleball, water volleyball, different clubs. I love it.

Do any of you that complain about the golf course conditions ever contact the Golf and Country Club Division at 352-753-3396? If not, why?

You'll probably will get more legitimate answers from calling them vs. the wannabe greenskeepers here on TOTV.

Selling homes is #1 priority

Common sense dictates that if you're playing golf for free (walking executives)...then one should not expect top-notch conditions.

Unfortunately, the same attitude (in spite of paying for them) seems to have bled over...to the championship courses. :(

It's my opinion that the developer is simply trying to maximize profits on the bigger courses and will keep lowering the bar on maintenance... until such time they feel it in the pocketbook.

Given the convenience of taking your own cart from your driveway to the course and having a plethora of choices to play...means that there's still enough folks that accept the less than ideal conditions.

So far, 'they' haven't felt it in their pocketbooks...so there's no real reason to make any changes. :ohdear:

The amount of traffic these courses are subjected to combined with patrons treating them badly it's amazing they are playable at all.

In my opinion the problem originates with improper course construction. For example the FACT is that replacement of the Greens on Lopez/Ashley happening now. FACT is these greens were supposed to originally be constructed to USGA specifications but the construction never came close, so here they are with an expensive re-construction as opposed to a no-till process that could have been accomplished if the greens were built properly the first time. This begs the question how many other construction shortcuts were made over the years. Hard to grow grass on an improperly prepared under-surface