De La Vista
 

Wife and I had opportunity to play here this week course in only good condition considering it was closed for such a long time. What really tees me off is how many ball marks are left unfixed. We should all leave the golf courses in better condition than what we found it in please rake all traps, fill all your divots and ball marks plus one. I would like to add from PGA golf ediquette.

Maintaining the course:
Replace your divots.
Turf tends to explode on impact, making it difficult, if not impossible, to replace the divot. In this case, you have two options:
- You can use the toe of your shoe to kick in the turf around the edges of the divot.
- Many courses often put containers of a soil/seed mixture on their carts and tees. If this is the case, simply fill in the divot with the mixture.
Bring a rake into the bunker with you -- remembering that you should always enter the bunker from the low side at a point nearest to the ball.
Whenever possible, avoid walking on the steep face of a bunker.
After hitting your shot, rake the area you played from, as well as all your footprints and any others within reach.
Rakes should be left either in or nearby the bunker.
Important to repair any pitch marks or indentations caused by the ball hitting the green.
Using a tee, knife, key or repair tool, repair the mark by working the edges towards the center, without lifting the center of the mark. Don't tear the grass. Finish by smoothing the area with a club or your foot. Try to get the area smooth enough to putt over.

People should learn you can easily use your putter to fix a ball mark on the green. No need to bend over just use the blade of your putter to bring the mark forward.

Tip: For those seniors that hit shots with no spin that go over the green. The ball still leaves a mark on the green. Take the time to fix it.

I was playing with 3 golfers from the Empire State and they are renters. I lamented about how many ball marks were on the greens. They said “isn’t that what you guys pay for in your amenity fee”? Attitude....

That is possibly the worst piece of advice I've ever seen on golf. You might as well not repair it to do what you're suggesting.

In order for a ball mark to heal properly, it must be repaired properly. What you're suggesting will not allow it to heal.

There are ball mark repair tools that fit onto the end of a putter for those that have trouble bending over.

Here is how to do it properly.

https://www.usga.org/articles/2018/0...20indentation.

Deaf ears

Sadly, been going on for years. When we first built here I was really shocked; had seen some incidents of abuse on public courses occasionally but nothing like here, and never at our home county club or any golf resort where we were vacationing. I "get it" that "ambassador" just "sounds" better than "marshal", but I think we all pay a high price for not having marshals who report abuse and stop it. Don't think anyone I know of has ever lost golfing privileges from repeated warning. Unlike our former club where that could happen and NO refund of annual dues either ! Today as I saw a person make repeated attempts to step out of a particularly steep sand trap at the highest point (eventually he made it after 4 tries, but the lip of the trap completely collapsed into the trap)and I thought to myself, has there ever been a week where I have not see this ? Also used to be really stunning to see "handicap" cart drive between a trap and the green, and of course I'm not the only one who has witnessed people parking RIGHT on the apron and even a few inches onto the green at times. Now, it's only when we have guests that we even notice such things... a green with at least 50 and even more unfixed ball marks and people walk away so casual you'd think they had no idea ! Kind of like taking your dog to "poop" in someone else's yard instead of your own I guess.... some of the sights in the villages are, to say the least, puzzling..... what is it really, mental "slipping" of us elderly, arrogance that rules are only for "others", too many "ambassadors" and no marshals, too many people who see no reason to take golf etiquette class, etc. etc. Have no idea, only know over the last 15-16 years it certainly has not tapered off for sure ! Wonder just how much that adds to time and expense over an entire year for this many courses ? Kind of sad to think so many people don't care, of course you are always going to have one here or there, but 50, 60 ball marks on a green, if I hadn't see it I would think it was an exaggeration !

Great message! Hopefully people listen.
 

Great message! Hopefully people listen.

Perfectly said. Imagine the greens keepers frustrations when they see this everyday.

I've played De La Vista several times in the past few weeks and it's in the best shape I've ever seen it.

I do have to say that the greens are very strange. It must be that they are very grainy because the ball often doesn't break when there is an obvious slope and sometimes break when you don't expect.

I'm a pretty decent green reader but these have me baffled. And it's not just me. The people that I've played with have said the same things.

LOL.... thanks but sure have not seen any progress in that direction in the last 15 or so years..... people are people and change is not common. To that point, in this time of virus, many comments on here about encroachments on someone's personal space, at the grocery, the squares, etc. Like the lack of personal responsibility concerning care of the golf courses, to me it is all a basic link, fact. For example, way before the pandemic, when anyone steps outside their front door, they are going into a risky, unknown world they CAN NOT control. When I sst down at any counter in a diner, there was always the chance that someone with a cold, or with a VERY serious condition, might sit down at the next seat. I can't control that any more than I can control how far from ME the person in the line for a Disney ride moves (rather it states 6" minimum or not). No matter how angry people get, or how they "feel" things should be, a certain number of people have a mind set they simply can not break. They will not fix ball marks, enter and leave traps at the lowest point, and there will always be those who move up as close to others as possible in a line, or step in front of them and block their view of a parade or other event. There are always going to be people who will walk pets for blocks in order to avoid messes in their own lawns, and there are always going to be people who think speed signs apply only to "others". In the minds of others, this is simply "not right", and they are correct, but when you make a decision to venture into public, on a golf course or in a restaurant, or even on The Villages town squares, you will encounter these people and much could be learned from making a plan on how you personally will deal with this. You can live your life in frustration and disappointment, and even stress, or you can learn to live with it as the old saying goes. Some believe this is the same as accepting less than respectful behavior, and that may be true, but it is a fact of life in most societies. Remember what Orwell said in Animal Farm, "we are ALL equal here, it's just that some of us are more equal than others".... like ALL places, The V's have some who actually are "more equal than others", on the golf courses and on the paths and squares, but at least we have a choice in how much we are going to allow those folks to affect us ! Say, that might make a good New Year's resolution.... as you wait to make your putt, fix a couple ball marks even though YOU didn't make one this hole ? If someone walks right up to you in the grocery without a mask, walk away, make 2021 a much better year !

Yes, I can imagine it ! I don't care that some say "well it's their JOB", they get paid ! You know we all get/got paid, but that does not make it any less disheartening or depressing to see our "work" so disrespected. To me it's just like a long long ago remark from my young son when I told him to pick up paper towels he dropped on the floor of the restroom at the BB stadium, deposit them in the proper container, and RE-wash his hands. He replied, "oh, it's okay mommy, that lady over there picks them up". We had a VERY serious talk at that point and he claims to this day he actually does remember it (because the Cardinals won that day maybe....LOL...LOL !) but seriously, that's like opening your garbage sacks on your drive and letting it spill out.... after all, that's what you pay for right, people to clean it up ? Some have that exact way of thinking...

Gravity vortex can cause this

It might have to do with the rotation of the earth.

Beyond being ‘free’ was unimpressed with ‘restoration’