Are executive golf courses maintained at a high standard??
 

According to the Villages website, “Unlike many "executive courses" outside The Villages, ours are maintained at a high standard.”

Is this true??

The last couple of executives that I played were in very bad condition. The tee boxes were mostly dirt and the greens were in very bad shape with quite a few weeds in the green - but at least I had an excuse for my poor putting!

Was it ever true??

And won’t it get worse in the winter with the snow birds returning?

I don't suppose anyone ever expected The Villages website to state: "Our executive courses are usually in terrible condition", did they?

And all golf courses in Florida tend to get worse in winter with dormant Bermuda grass and increased play, not to mention the lack of etiquette and care of the course by some of the golfers.

If the truth is bad, don’t say anything about the condition of the course and focus on how we have 700+ holes in a beautiful park like setting where the golf is free.

However, I don’t expect that they will lie. And some executives are in great shape. Not sure why some are great and some are horrible.

Depends on where came from, how much traffic, level of golfers, and how high standards you have. I came from okieland and nothing like playing on hard pan clay. Like hitting approach shot off concrete.

I find executives courses in great shape for level and amount of traffic. Now where else in world has many holes as villages. I would think golfers would be very happen here. But like some say, where you get something for little of nothing you don’t take care of it.

No matter what the condition, it sure beats shoveling snow during the winter months.:a040:

About in the same condition as a $15 Muni in the real world. 3-4 on a scale of 1-10. I've heard some may approach "5" on a good week.

They are definitely maintained.

No. They're not.

You should see Briarwood! It looks like a museum! Of course, we mere golfers have not been allowed to use it for about 6 months. I guess they're just preserving it as a showpiece.

On they day they intentionally killed the tees and greens and started the $5 million dollar project to dig up and replace all the dirt, grass, and sand on every green, tee, and bunker, it was in better shape than any Southern executive course I've ever played. For the money they've blown on this one little mediocre par-3 on the Northside, I bet they could have fixed the divots and ball marks on every other course in the system.

So if you get disgusted with the shape of your local course, come on up and have a gander at mine! Just leave your clubs at home!

OK, $5 million and 6 months to put it in good condition. How long do think that will last????

Over the years we have observed a head scratching lack of consistency of conditions. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as conditions vary both between courses and at the same courses at different times, with no distinct seasonal patterns. It’s hard to figure out, but logic dictates it’s either incompetence or lack of consistent funding. There are some courses that do appear to be both better and worse, than average, most of the time. Since I think they all have similar maintenance budgets, it’s reasonable to conclude there is a lack of consistency between the capabilities of maintenance staffs. The lack of consistency doesn’t particularly bother us, my wife is not an overly serious golfer and finds the conditions good enough. I am a more serious golfer, but don’t care how I score on executive courses as I view them more as practicing ball striking with the shorter clubs in my bag. I certainly have much higher expectations for the Championship courses, especially given the expensive high season rates while using my own cart.

My husband feels the exec courses are practice ranges not golf courses.

Good for him.

The way I chip, just one visit :)

That depends on how well the golfers fill divots, rake traps after use, and repair ball marks on the greens. If all golfers leave the course in better shape than when they found it, courses will remain in as good a shape as Mother Nature can supply.