Championship Golf Conditions
 

I just returned North from a wonderful 12 days at our Villages home. I managed to get in 10 rounds of Championship golf during the trip and was very pleased with the course conditions. I played every course except for Glenview and Bonifay. The overall conditions were as good as I have experienced in a long time. I would say that Tierra Del Sol was in the best overall condition, especially the greens, and every other course, with the exception of Havana, was in excellent shape. Havana, for some reason, was the only course where the conditions were not excellent. I hit several fairways with my drive only to find my ball on a lie with little to no grass underneath it. The course seemed kind of dry and burnt. I am not sure if it is because of the elevation changes on that particular course or if the course lacks adequate irrigation, but the conditions were noticeably different from the other 9 courses I played. The conditions at Havana were not horrible, just not up to par with the other courses.

Here are some other observations. You just can't beat Laurel to Riley at Palmer as the best 18 in the Villages, but I will also give a shout out to Calusa to Tequista at Belle Glade and Osprey to Egret at Evans Prairie as excellent 18 hole rotations. My favorite 9 holes are Riley at Palmer, Hibiscus at Cane Garden, the back 9 at Tierra Del Sol, Egret at Evans Prairie, and the Palms at Hacienda Hills. Also, Torri Pines at Nancy Lopez and the back 9 at Orange Blossom Hills are interesting layouts with some different kind of holes.

I also managed to sneak in one round at my favorite executive course, Pelican, which was in good shape. Can't wait till the Holidays are over so we can get back to the Villages and play some more golf : )

Great to hear. Playing Tierra Del Sol tomorrow.

Conditions vs. winter pricing
 

Seasonal owner, Sounds like the majority of the CC are finally in better shape then in the past couple of years. Congrats to whomever is responsible, however I just saw the rates for the 4 winter months, am surprised at the rates posted. There is no way the majority of courses are worth $64/round as a resident (and this is with your own cart). Last year I played several courses off the reservation that were in great condition and saved $20/$30 per round vs. CC golf. I guess myself and the group will continue to play on those courses and save even a larger amount of dollars this year . One has to wonder if the powers at be, have been planning on these increases for years, since there currently are no CC in the new areas and do not appear to be plans to build some. Just think about it. So much for the largest golf community.

Darn it. I wanted to be the first to post how cruddy and overpriced TV golf courses are...you know...just to save some others the time and effort. But I see somebody beat me too it.

Thank you for playing off site....helps all of us that believe in supporting this place get tee times. Enjoy.

Nah. Not worth my time to think about it. We play offsite in the winter and allow our seasonal neighbors have TV courses while they are here. BTW - shhhhhh. I folks keep talking about going offsite, more people will do it.

Conditions have been great at the CC's, but don't think the price is worth it for the winter.

I try to jump in with "Developer's fault" as early as possible to cut off the Debbie Downers as well. They appear on almost every topic.


:ho:

I hope we can all remember the current conditions when early Spring comes and things aren't growing as fast as we wish. It's seasonal. Happens every year.

With the arrival of Spring, the "Crappy Course Condition" posts will come. Don't get me started on overseeding comments.


'tis the season, not snowbird or developer fault.


:popcorn:

Hear that a lot, what a shame. Would not be able to enjoy this place if the Developers had not built it.

Too late sorry

Have to disagree with TOPHFCA- played Havana today (Dec 8) - Hemingway to Kilimanjaro and it WAS HORRIBLE. The fairways have no grass at all. Avoid this course if at all possible.

I refuse to take the time to review all the previous posts since this subject is probably only number two to dog poop. But scanning the last few post about no grass on the fairways - not hearsay - The last few weeks I've played is like hitting the ball off a billiard table.

Have said in the past and will say again, play the ball where it lies and stop complaining about the course. Oh its wet, oh its dry, oh the sand is hard, oh the sand is soft, the grass is too deep, oh the grass is too short, oh the greens are too fast, oh the greens are to slow. Have you ever thought it is the player and not the course. Go out and practice or accept the fact as Michael Phelps was told by Hank Haney " face it, you are not that good". Played Mallory today and it was absolutely horrible!!!! There was earth on the course that was uneven, the sun was too beautiful, the ball was round and it rolled too much, the hole on the green was round and not big enough and it had a flag in it. I hit into a sand trap and the sand was way too white. I got so far away from the clubhouse bar that I had to keep hitting that stupid round ball just to get back to the bar and pay those ridiculously cheap prices for beer. Oh yeah and towards the end of this miserable day the beautiful missus and I had 4 guys two holes behind us that was really irritating. Then to top it all off I had to drive 8 minutes in my golf cart back to my house. If this kind of life keeps up I think I will just have to move up north to a place that has 6 feet of snow where all I have to do is dream about what golf is about in January.

This is just too darned funny.