Revenue from Championship Golf in The Villages
 

Revenue from a group of 20 Residents who play 2 x week, year round based on a low-average of 16/20 players.

Enhancement Memberships $16,160
Winter - Greens Fees $34,608
Summer - Green Fees $37,120
Restaurant - $32,000
Total Revenue $119,888

1. First there was a cut-back in how often our sand traps were raked.
2. Now there are several courses that are practically unplayable due to the condition of the greens.
3. We are experiencing 5-hour rounds of golf since some Ambassadors who when are asked why 3, 4-somes are on the same hole they reply with "Everyone's On Time" - Obviously not true.

Which leads us to the question -
1. Why has David Williams, our Golf Operations Manager and the Course Superintendents allowed this to happen and what is being done to correct it?
2. Do you think they would care more if our group, like others, decided to play "out-side" of The Villages and lose the $120,000 of revenue ?

1. Your guess is as bad as mine. Why not go talk to the guy and report back?
2. They can care less about your group’s puny amount of money. This is a multi billion organization and your total is probably less than 3 new home sales of profit. If a massive number of people don’t play and there is a hit to profits then the developer could easily sell the championship courses and be done with them and focus on what they do, build houses.

Not going to get the answers here.

Probably need to ask Mr. Williams or his boss. :wave:

They never follow this advice and report back.🤷

Sometimes I think they really don't want answers...............they jus want to complain.

:pepper2::pepper2:

Good ideas but you night check your #s. If you played elsewhere enhancement fees do not go to the other courses. Your summer green fees exceed winter fees. Summer is +/- 20% less and probably less players. Bet course restaurants/bars are contracted and restaurant loses the money. Worst part is that if demand stays high other people will take your place. Who ever takes care of Glenview should take over all of the other courses. Best place to play in TV

It's declined fast.

There's apparently a new contractor handling GlenView. It was top notch a month ago, now it's falling down the list. On a positive note, they did invest in some more green paint last week.

I suspect other groups are already taking their business elsewhere as you suggested. I have noticed two things about getting t times this winter. First, it has never been more difficult to get t times at Executives. Second, it has never been easier to get times at the Championship courses. I have guests coming tomorrow and have already gotten my requests filled for the next three days at Championship courses. On each request I got my first choice of courses at the exact time I requested, with three guests and I am not a priority member. That’s never happened before which has to mean something?

You need to look deeper into the Golf Ops Org where those decisions are made to get your answers.

The Villages big marketing ploy is free (very cheap) golf on executive courses and nothing more. The golf courses are probably a pain to maintain and operate. They'd probably get rid of most golf courses if they were certain it wouldn't effect home sales.

It feels like a ripoff when you play a course like Palmer, Evans or Havana right now. Online reviews are helpful in knowing what courses to avoid. It’s unfortunate that one has to exercise such diligence to play in TV nowadays. I’ve had good experiences with Continental, Eagle Ridge, The Links at Spruce Creek, Harbor Hills, CC of Mt Dora, and Black Bear. There are others out there, but you’ve got to check for recent reviews to avoid potentially poor conditions.

Did you contact David Williams to ask him your questions before making this post?

If you notice, the words "championship golf" is in the title of this thread.

The championship courses bring in over $75,000,000 year in revenue. That's a real pain, huh?

The golf courses are part of the civil engineering water management. They need the open space to handle the water for large rains of hurricanes.
It doesn’t hurt that the “retention ponds” (i.e. golf courses) help sell the lifestyle and the homes.

It seems like you do not realize the championship courses are privately run not the Villages run. The executive courses are run by the districts and are free golf what do you expect. I live on an executive golf course and there are at least 2 people out there everyday doing maintenance. If the golfers stayed off the grass, fixed their pock marks, sanded their divots on the tees and raked the trap the courses might be in better shape. I would say only about 10% do those things and most of the golfers do none of them.