Bulldozer Required!
 

Played Cane Garden yesterday (Allamanda and Hibiscus). Don't believe I have ever seen fairways in worse condition in the last 18 years. Fixing them will require a bulldozer and lots of grass seed. Then hire someone who knows how to maintain a golf course. The Greens were nothing to write home about but the fairways are outrageously bad. Lunch however was great as we went to Sonny's BBQ downtown. Would you believe they had a table for 16 ready for us and treated us as welcome guests. (A lesson to be learned at the CC Restaurants)

What terrible thing happened to Cane in the short time we have been gone?

It's the transition period. The overseed is dying off and the bermuda is not yet actively growing. The result is hard, thin fairways. It is also apparent on some greens where the overseed has punked out and the bermuda has yet to fill in.

We are just starting to get the temps needed to get the soil warm enough for the bermuda to take off.

Patience, grasshopper.:thumbup:

Saw it last year at this time as well so I thin you are correct. They begin plugging in about a month.

I don't think Cane Garden fairways every became very good from the original overseed. It was the worse conditioned golf course all winter with Hacienda Hills which didn't overseed the fairways at all coming in a close second. I thought the two good rains would help Cane Garden but they obviously didn't

We also played Cane yesterday. Today I discovered that we received a tee-time for Cane this coming Sunday. I went on-line and canceled the tee-time and scheduled another course. This issue has been going on for years with Cane. The rumor has it that they don't receive enough water to properly maintain the course. I suggested to my playing partner that they should shut down each nine for a time period to allow for the course to grow in. :boom:

I agree about the fairways at Cane Garden but I sure hope you're not saying dining at Sonny's is better than Cane Garden CC.!!:1rotfl:

That's exactly what I'm saying. Let me elaborate:
1) CG won't let you call in advance to prepare for large groups- Sonny's will
2) CG won't let large golf groups sit until everyone is present - Sonny's will and serves you as you arrive.
3) Hostesses at CG are Curt and unfriendly - Not so at Sonny's
4) After 1:00PM Sonny's lunch specials beat anything I ever had at CG for about 2/3 the price. Wednesday I had sliced Brisket (delicious), FF Potatoes (hot and crispy) and Cole Slaw (may be the best tasting in the area) Total cost including bottomless Iced Tea was $6.41 tax included.

We'll agree to disagree.I've been to Sonny's twice in my life & that was two times too many!!

Cane is in horrible condition, and has been bad all winter, along with Hacienda and Mallory. Mallory has gotten really bad the past couple weeks. Todd Basso, head of golf operations said there was a pump out of order for 2 weeks so they couldn't water properly at Mallory. They have problems at Amelia on Mallory as well, but he's not sure what is causing that. He mentioned that the turf base conditions at some of the courses are not the same as at Palmer for example, which affects how much water is needed. Sounds like Palmer had better turf base preparation when it was constructed which is why it is in such good shape, as opposed to Mallory or Cane. If that is the case, I suspect those 2 courses will never amount to much. If you have a lot of sand that just drains away everytime they water, it would take a lot of watering to keep the grass green. I would hope they learned their lesson and take the steps and money to properly prepare the new Bonifay course. If you want nice conditions on the "championship courses", and I use that term loosely becasue IMHO the Villages courses just aren't "championship" quality, the only decent courses right now are OB, Lopez, Palmer, and Havana is not too bad. The others just aren't worth the money to play. The Villages has a lot of nice things going for it, but for me the championship golf is a disappointment as far as course conditions. Its a sad state of affairs when only about 1/3 of the courses are playable.

A month of daily sea breeze showers will cure all the ills. Can anyone remember the last time it rained?????

No, I don't remember the last time it rained but a month of afternoon showers won't put a dent in improving the conditions at Cane Garden.

We hope things will improve with rain, but that doesn't change the fact that even if the courses are in good condition in the rainy season, the rest of the year they are horrible. Personally, I signed on to The villages thinking there would be championship golf available 12 months a year. I guess there is, but in very limited quantities. Now you have everyone vying for teetimes at 3 courses instead of 9. When they start aerifiying this week and next, there will be one decent course left in The Villages -- Lopez. Anyone see anything wrong with this picture????

Gosh yes.

Coming in on the 6th can you point me out to which courses are looking good before I make tee times. Thanks for the heads up!