[waynet]

Played Palmer both Friday and Monday. Where do they get the nerve to charge extra? The place is not close to what it was. Fairways half cut during play,bunkers like oatmeal,greens slow,pin placements on Monday at Riley totally ridiculous. The place is overrated.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by waynet

Played Palmer both Friday and Monday. Where do they get the nerve to charge extra? The place is not close to what it was. Fairways half cut during play,bunkers like oatmeal,greens slow,pin placements on Monday at Riley totally ridiculous. The place is overrated.

Here is the guy you should call and share your concerns with.

Palmer Legends 753-5300 1645 Palmer Way 32162

Palmer Legends - Staff

Mark Verkey PGA Professional & Facility Manager

Hometown: Rochester, New York

Mark Verkey was born and raised in Rochester, New York but moved to Titusville, Florida in 1985 where he finished high school and attended the University of Central Florida. Mark graduated from the University of Central Florida in 1995 and obtained his membership to the PGA in 1998.

Mark was introduced to the game of golf by his grandfather, competed in High School golf matches and turned pro during his sophomore year of college. Golf was always a love for him and he has had an aspiration to one day manage his own facility. Although the dream of playing on the tour was an aspiration it did not take long to realize that there is some tough competition on the PGA tour.

Previous positions Mark has held are the first assistant at Royal Oak Resort, assistant golf professional at Arnold Palmer�s Bay Hill Club, and head golf professional at ChampionsGate. All of these facilities with their experiences has groomed and prepared Mark for his current position of Facility Manager at the Palmer Legends Country Club.

[ajbrown]

Geeez.... and I just got my request filled for Friday to bring a guest.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by ajbrown

Geeez.... and I just got my request filled for Friday to bring a guest.

This could be like the restaurant threads.........some like, some don't like.
Best to see for yourself!

[waynet]

AJ, bogie might be right. My expectations for a championship golf course that is 35% more expensive than the others is probably higher than most. And Bogie I always try to speak to a person or persons in charge about issues I have. Mark is a good guy who listens.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by waynet

AJ, bogie might be right. My expectations for a championship golf course that is 35% more expensive than the others is probably higher than most. And Bogie I always try to speak to a person or persons in charge about issues I have. Mark is a good guy who listens.

So, how did he respond to your rant?

[ROCKETMAN]

Only play palmer in summer, six bucks all the holes you can play at 5pm. We always get the 1st tee time and usually get all 18 in. They do put the pins in bad places whick makes a three-put almost certain sometimes.

[Bay Kid]

I played there last week and it was great. Sorry for the bad day. Maybe glad I had a great day!

[fred53]

Give it time folks...it's the grass over seed season...they have to let it grow for a time and mow between groups...I realize it's tough for some to be patient, but it isn't magic that makes these courses nice...there are times when it won't be prime conditions(sometimes a lot less than), but common sense dictates you learn the why before you cry...

[mickey100]

Originally Posted by waynet

Played Palmer both Friday and Monday. Where do they get the nerve to charge extra? The place is not close to what it was. Fairways half cut during play,bunkers like oatmeal,greens slow,pin placements on Monday at Riley totally ridiculous. The place is overrated.

We've found that the condition and maintenance of the golf courses varies widely throughout the year. Our group played Havana yesterday. Kenya's greens were quite rough and had sand on all of them, and it was overseeded a month ago. Frankly, the overall condition of the courses in The Villages has been a disappointment to us. Up north we played a course in much better condition, for less money. As far as Palmer, we generally find it to be in good shape, but not all the time. Sorry to hear you hit it on a bad day/week.

[Bogie Shooter]

To some people things were always better "up North".

[murray607]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

To some people things were always better "up North".

"Up North" is where I live and I can assert that things are not always the best here either.

After the snow melts there is usually a recovery period with waterlogged faiways, and winter-kill greens.

It we get hot summers then the grass burns up, if the summers are wet then fairways are damaged by carts and there is constantly under GUR rules.

Every year is different, this year my member course was beautiful, two years ago it was like a war zone.

We just need to appreciate that even the best courses are subject to weather ravages.

On the the two times we played on the Palmer, the course was great and a pleasure to play. The next time we play we may be dissapointed, but that's life.

Growing up in Scotland our local course often had sheep grazing on the course and we had to contend with sheep poop all over. Not ideal, but we thought it was a great course. I visited that course 3 years ago and there were no longer sheep there and no little brown hazards, there hadn't been sheep on the course for over 25 years I was told. Sad, as it spoiled the memories as I had fully expected the same challenges to be there. Can you imagine what the number of complaints would be if we had sheep grazing on the courses here!

We need to remember that golf did not start on perfectly manicured courses, often they were on land that was not really fit for agriculture (especially the links courses). The original bunkers were where cattle and sheep had sought shelter, or bedded down for the night.

If a course presents challenges due to weather damage, so be it. I would rather put up with that, than with really slow play or bad mannered golfers.

[mickey100]

Nice post Murray. That is true - we had courses up north with goose poop, and things were not perfect, but our course, in general was in good shape most of the time. We live here full time now and I've seen quite a bit of variation in the course conditions and course maintenance. For anyone interested in following it, there are numerous threads where Villages residents have expressed the same sentiment. I think a lot of people's expectations revolve around what they are used to in terms of golf course conditions, or if they played a lot of golf and had the opportunities to experience really nice courses. That also follows for speed of play. There have been numerous posts about decrying the speed of play here.

I expect part of the problem regarding conditions is the sheer numbers of people in the high season on the courses; I've also noticed that quite a lot of golfers are not real good about repairing ball marks, or filling divots with sand. I do think a big problem is the way the maintenance is done. Its all contracted out, and I dont' expect that a maintenance company will have the same pride and take the same care, as a greenskeeper and his/her crew that will be on the course every day to observe and correct problems as they arise. Just my opinion.

[nitehawk]

i have been here for 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, years, the course conditions have gone from 8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 "IMO" --- Thank You

[waynet]

agree with Mickey. I think it is a maintenance and leadership issue. Manpower is not the issue,money is not the issue,I think it comes down to the people awarded the contracts for each course. There really is no reason for these courses being in bad shape.