[golfnut]

pt ???...gn

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by golfnut

pt ???...gn

Well, sometimes my humor falls flat.

[golfnut]

i hear ya, and i know you don't want to hear the .25 answer...gn

[Pturner]

Not unless it comes with a cup of coffee.

Sorry, hijack over and out.

[beartrack]

I would just like to make a point here. I do not believe that my entire thread has been hi-jacked but, I would remind you all that my original concern is about the condition of the greens on the executive courses. Not the layouts or the fairways or the ballwashers or anything else. Just the greens. I have never played a champion course here, as my ability is not at the championship level. The thing that drew me to The Villages is the huge selection of executive courses and the much advertised phrase " Free Golf Forever " and with my own cart for Petes sake. It doesn't get better then that but, the truth be told, and weather aside, somebody has goofed as to the condition of these greens. Golfnut states that our greens are the best around. I say that is not so and in the good spirit in which it is intended, I invite him/her to join me for a round at Baseline, and lets make a comparison on the condition of the greens. My treat.

[BB14616]

Originally Posted by beartrack

I would just like to make a point here. I do not believe that my entire thread has been hi-jacked but, I would remind you all that my original concern is about the condition of the greens on the executive courses. Not the layouts or the fairways or the ballwashers or anything else. Just the greens. I have never played a champion course here, as my ability is not at the championship level. The thing that drew me to The Villages is the huge selection of executive courses and the much advertised phrase " Free Golf Forever " and with my own cart for Petes sake. It doesn't get better then that but, the truth be told, and weather aside, somebody has goofed as to the condition of these greens. Golfnut states that our greens are the best around. I say that is not so and in the good spirit in which it is intended, I invite him/her to join me for a round at Baseline, and lets make a comparison on the condition of the greens. My treat.

Sorry beartrack. Not to take anything away from your original post - I've been ranting about Championship greens because that is what I play, and you are correct - what little I played the Exec. courses, earlier in the year, the conditions were good on some courses, but poor on others. I do think people need to get offcampus and see and play other golf courses before they compare our courses to those outside.

I contacted the District Board (on golfthevillages.com) a few days ago and the email went out to all the members, asking them who to contact regarding golf course conditions. Most of the members got back to me and told me to contact Country Club Administration at 753-3396 and they would be able to point me in the right direction. One member told me to contact Property Management in Southern Trace. He said the Championship Courses are a private business and the AAC has no jurisdiction there. I expect that would apply to the executive courses as well.

[quill]

I was not trying to hijack your thread, my comments were meant as constructive for both us and course management. As I stated the execs are run by the championships. They all are divide up and I believe each has at least 3 execs to manage. So to answer your question is the quality of maintenance of the exec green should be the same as the championship greens. Now there are other variables that are out of the maintenance guys hands and one of the big ones I believe is the amount of play. And as I have tried to point out if anyone has a problem with a course then take the time to find out which championship manages the exec you are on and give them feed back. This is not directed at anyone, but often it is earlier to complain on a forum than to actually make the effort to contact the individual responsible and get it fixed. This is not a phenomenon unique to this forum, it happens on other I frequent. But I do see it all the time here, especially in regards to restaurants. Feed back is the answer. If it falls on deaf ears then by all means, especially with restaurants, slam away because I do not want to waste my money there. But with the golf courses we need to get things fixed. As I think I said the courses and the people are the reasons we moved here. Thanks for your time

[BB14616]

Originally Posted by quill

I was not trying to hijack your thread, my comments were meant as constructive for both us and course management. As I stated the execs are run by the championships. They all are divide up and I believe each has at least 3 execs to manage. So to answer your question is the quality of maintenance of the exec green should be the same as the championship greens. Now there are other variables that are out of the maintenance guys hands and one of the big ones I believe is the amount of play. And as I have tried to point out if anyone has a problem with a course then take the time to find out which championship manages the exec you are on and give them feed back. This is not directed at anyone, but often it is earlier to complain on a forum than to actually make the effort to contact the individual responsible and get it fixed. This is not a phenomenon unique to this forum, it happens on other I frequent. But I do see it all the time here, especially in regards to restaurants. Feed back is the answer. If it falls on deaf ears then by all means, especially with restaurants, slam away because I do not want to waste my money there. But with the golf courses we need to get things fixed. As I think I said the courses and the people are the reasons we moved here. Thanks for your time

You are right on the mark with your comment about letting the courses know directly, as opposed to just complaining on a forum.

I did complain to Mallory one day, and all I got back was the answer that it was the weather this winter. As I've mentioned previously, based on conditions throughout the LadyLake area, and the better condition of a number of the courses outside The Villages, I suspect it is more than the weather, so I've elected to "go to the next level". I truly hope we can get some answers and if enough people let them know we are unhappy, it will certainly give them incentive, if they don't have it already, to make things better this upcoming year.

But the key is people must let management know their concerns. I as given this number to call: 753-3396 and ask for Mr. Basso, who is the Golf Operations Manager for the Villages. He works closely with each individual golf course facility manager. I've tried a couple times and he's out in the field but will keep trying. I urge others to do the same. Let's get our concerns out there.

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

The number of players on the exec's is far greater than on any of the champion courses. Add to that the sub freezing temps we have had....we are lucky to have grass!

Besides, remember, you could be playing in the snow someplace else.

I believe they do not have the talent to support the courses and this is witnessed by the number of complaints. If they had people in charge to oversee the courses with management and technical experience these problems should not exist. I don't profess to be real knowledgable in course maintenance but it is logical to believe that if there is high wind, dry greens,etc. the holes should be changed at least every day to prevent the grass around them being killed or harmed.
Again, it falls back on 1. Good course maintenance, 2. Good communications with players 3. funding to keep the course in good condition. Since The Villages use golf as a significant reason to buy then it is sort of lacking in sincerity to allow the main draw to become an issue with residents/players.
Since a private company is responsible for golf activities I would hope the
developer and the other internal organizations are coming down on the Golf Mgt Co. to ensure they keep up acceptable standards.

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by Regor

But don't you feel that if they had more money, they could spend more to keep the greens in better shape? I have almost always noted that if I pay $100 for a round of golf, the course is generally in better condition than say a course where I pay $15 or so.

If instead of free golf, I feel that The Villages could have much better course conditions if they charged an additional fee for golf on the executive courses.

With the cost of everything else rising, it's nice to have something that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Not all of us have big retirement dollars and that is what the original intent of establishing this community was in the first place....to allow more people the opportunity to enjoy their remaining days/years after working so hard and so long. We are comfortable, but far from rich and do have to budget. Sorry, I don't mean for this post to sound tacky, but there is supposed to be something for everyone here.

[beartrack]

For the past week or so since I started this thread, and taking the advice of some of the posters here, I have been making phone calls and sending email in an effort to discover who or what entity is responsible for the maintenance of the greens on the executive courses.

Through Thevillages.net golf site I finally got through to what I am convinced is the correct place to answer my concerns. This morning I recieved a phone call from Todd Basso, who introduced himself as the superintendant of golf course mantenance for for The Villages Executive golf courses. He told me that based on many complaints that have come across his desk about the poor condition of some of the exec. greens. He went out and investigated the alleged problems. He said that I am right about the poor conditions that exist at some of the exec greens, especially in Marion county.

He offered no excuses, just apologies for the lack of proper condition of the greens. He also explained that there are several maintenance companys with contracts to do specific courses in the villages and it appears to him that some companys are doing a better job then others. While he refused to use the unusual weather this year as an excuse, he did state that they were totaly unprepared to cope with it and that would never be the case again. He also stated that he is putting a process in place to rehabilitate our greens and that they will be back to great condition as soon as possible.

Todd also said he himself plays Baseline and there is no question that their greens are better then ours, and by next year ours will be just as good.

I would like to thank Todd Basso for his very sincere and informative phone call and I would also thank TOTV posters for helping me to get my concerns answered. I do hope that as a result of our efforts we will all be able to enjoy better golf.

By the way, told also stated to never hesitate to notify him of any concerns you may have about the executive courses. His job is answer our concerns and make the golf experience better for everyone.

[waynet]

Beartrack thank you very much for your due diligence.

[Pturner]

Originally Posted by beartrack

For the past week or so since I started this thread, and taking the advice of some of the posters here, I have been making phone calls and sending email in an effort to discover who or what entity is responsible for the maintenance of the greens on the executive courses.

Through Thevillages.net golf site I finally got through to what I am convinced is the correct place to answer my concerns. This morning I recieved a phone call from Todd Basso, who introduced himself as the superintendant of golf course mantenance for for The Villages Executive golf courses. He told me that based on many complaints that have come across his desk about the poor condition of some of the exec. greens. He went out and investigated the alleged problems. He said that I am right about the poor conditions that exist at some of the exec greens, especially in Marion county.

He offered no excuses, just apologies for the lack of proper condition of the greens. He also explained that there are several maintenance companys with contracts to do specific courses in the villages and it appears to him that some companys are doing a better job then others. While he refused to use the unusual weather this year as an excuse, he did state that they were totaly unprepared to cope with it and that would never be the case again. He also stated that he is putting a process in place to rehabilitate our greens and that they will be back to great condition as soon as possible.

Todd also said he himself plays Baseline and there is no question that their greens are better then ours, and by next year ours will be just as good.

I would like to thank Todd Basso for his very sincere and informative phone call and I would also thank TOTV posters for helping me to get my concerns answered. I do hope that as a result of our efforts we will all be able to enjoy better golf.

By the way, told also stated to never hesitate to notify him of any concerns you may have about the executive courses. His job is answer our concerns and make the golf experience better for everyone.

Excellent job, Bear



Thanks for your efforts and keeping everyone "posted".

[BB14616]

Originally Posted by beartrack

For the past week or so since I started this thread, and taking the advice of some of the posters here, I have been making phone calls and sending email in an effort to discover who or what entity is responsible for the maintenance of the greens on the executive courses.

Through Thevillages.net golf site I finally got through to what I am convinced is the correct place to answer my concerns. This morning I recieved a phone call from Todd Basso, who introduced himself as the superintendant of golf course mantenance for for The Villages Executive golf courses. He told me that based on many complaints that have come across his desk about the poor condition of some of the exec. greens. He went out and investigated the alleged problems. He said that I am right about the poor conditions that exist at some of the exec greens, especially in Marion county.

He offered no excuses, just apologies for the lack of proper condition of the greens. He also explained that there are several maintenance companys with contracts to do specific courses in the villages and it appears to him that some companys are doing a better job then others. While he refused to use the unusual weather this year as an excuse, he did state that they were totaly unprepared to cope with it and that would never be the case again. He also stated that he is putting a process in place to rehabilitate our greens and that they will be back to great condition as soon as possible.

Todd also said he himself plays Baseline and there is no question that their greens are better then ours, and by next year ours will be just as good.

I would like to thank Todd Basso for his very sincere and informative phone call and I would also thank TOTV posters for helping me to get my concerns answered. I do hope that as a result of our efforts we will all be able to enjoy better golf.

By the way, told also stated to never hesitate to notify him of any concerns you may have about the executive courses. His job is answer our concerns and make the golf experience better for everyone.

I too had a conversation with Todd Basso this morning, and he basically told me everything that you said, Beartrack. I of course had been asking him about the Championship courses. He admitted there was a problem,he did mention problems with the overseeding, and said there are a number of issues that need to be addressed, and they will be addressed. I came away very impressed with this man. I felt he was sincere, and I think he means business. From what he said it didn't sound like a money problem, it was more a maintenance issue. He also mentioned the overseeding schedule, and how they may be doing it earlier next year to make sure it is all in place by the time the bad weather comes. I'm glad I had the opportunity to speak with him, and I feel relieved that they are aware of the problems and are working on them. That's all we can ask.