[Juliebythesea]

You should probably move🤔🤔

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

After paying the required Amenity Fee, add the Trail Fees of about $144 a year and the free golf ain’t so free. If you play two rounds every weekend the “free golf” costs you almost $24 per round on the Executive courses.

[Larchap49]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

How about the third option that most Villagers take: Pay the amenity and trail fees and enjoy your golf.

Now for some remedial math:

Cost of maintaining a golf course, according to the CSGA, varies from $80,000 to close to $ 2 million/year depending on location and the course. The average is $500,000/year for a full 18 hole championship course in very good condition, or $250,000 for a 9 hole course. Our 9 hole exec courses are less than 1/2 of the length of nine holes on those courses, but the most expensive parts of a course to maintain are bunkers and greens, so let's go high and say it costs $200,000/ year to maintain each of our execs. So, 44 execs x $200,000/year = $8.8 million/year.

On the income side-----approx. 65,000 homes in TV paying about $170/MONTH amenity fees: 65,000 x 170 x 12 = $ 132.6 million/year. 8.8/132.6 = 6.6% of the amenity fee going to golf (far from 100%). We can debate these numbers a little, but they are certainly well in the ballpark, so I doubt more than 10% of the amenity fee goes for exec golf.

So.....$170/month x 6.6% = $11.22/month or $134.64/year, then add $144 trail fee (if using cart) for $278.86/year divided by 104 rounds = $2.68/round , or only $1.29/round if walking and playing twice a week-----this is the real cost of "free" golf, far from $24/round. Play 4x/ week and those costs go to $1.34 and $0.65 respectively.

(mike drop)

Finally an answer that makes sense. Oh by the way OP you forgot to add the costs of your golf cart into your calculations because I'm sure you never use it for anything else

[merrymini]

Everything should be FREE!

[Mushkie]

Originally Posted by ldovermiller

Why do we pay a trail fee when the residents own the exec courses? Where does the trail fee really go or should I say "whose pocket".

Um, where it goes is “hidden” in the name of the few- TRAIL FEE - if people want the fun and ease of using a golf cart- they need to pay for the upkeep of the trail.

Like I said in a previous post- I now know there are people in Heaven complaining that the clouds are too fluffy and the pearly gates “ain’t what they expected”.

[MSGirl]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

After paying the required Amenity Fee, add the Trail Fees of about $144 a year and the free golf ain’t so free. If you play two rounds every weekend the “free golf” costs you almost $24 per round on the Executive courses.

The amenity fee isn’t only for golf! Where do you golf and DONT pay a trail fee? “Back home” we paid $500 a month to golf at our club with a $25000 initiation fee

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Like most every other thing that is advertised as “free” exec golf in The Villages is included in the price. Many companies advertise “free” shipping or delivery. Where do you think they get the money to pay for that? As someone pointed out, only a portion of the amenity fee goes towards golf. I don’t’ know what that percentage is but you can’t use the apply the entire $150 a month to only golf.

[PurePeach]

Originally Posted by alwann

You'd better have good health insurance. Walking many of the execs., especially in the summer, is an invitation for a heart attack or heat stroke. The execs are not routed with older golfer in mind. Walk the championship courses? Maybe if you're a tri-athlete. I wonder if this was poor course design or marketing strategy.

My husband is almost 87 years old, plays execs about twice a week, and uses a pull cart. Eighteen months ago when we stilled lived in ATL, he played 18 holes 3 times a week and walked every one of them. It’s all about how you care for yourself.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

After paying the required Amenity Fee, add the Trail Fees of about $144 a year and the free golf ain’t so free. If you play two rounds every weekend the “free golf” costs you almost $24 per round on the Executive courses.

They're 9-hole courses. If you walk the trails you pay 0 in trail fees.

[Oldragbagger]

We don’t play golf at all but feel the amenities fee is money well spent for all The Villages has to offer. We ride our bikes daily and never fail to feel thankful that we have miles and miles of safe paths to ride on. We attend a “free” yoga class every week. I used to pay some hefty fees for yoga. How about jumping into your cart on a boring evening and having some fun entertainment, for “free.” A nice day by the pool, a pool I don’t have to maintain. And all of the maintenance that goes into keeping TV so beautiful so that our property values are protected.
Before coming here we lived in a planned community in Venice, FL. We had one pool, a fitness center and a clubhouse. One. An “event” usually consisted of people getting together in the clubhouse parking lot with a food truck. No golf course. Our HOA was $359 a month. We felt lucky. We had neighbors in other communities that were paying upward of $500 a month and didn’t have much more.
We live like “rich folks” here, and we are far from rich. I never in a million years thought we would have such an amazing life in retirement. So glad to have found TV.

[Slade]

Must be the "New Math"...

[tophcfa]

In the business world the amenity fee would be called a sunk cost, which is a cost that is incurred regardless of use. Some leverage the cost (get extensive use from the diversified portfolio of available amenities) and others get little to no use. Part time residents typically get extensive use of the sunk cost for certain periods and zero use the rest of the time. Nobody should complain about the amenity fee, everyone should have been aware of it before buying and the fee is incredibly low for the vast amount available amenities. I would challenge anyone to find another retirement community that offers more or better amenities for the same or cheaper cost.

[Slade]

Originally Posted by merrymini

Everything should be FREE!

I hear that it IS... in California.

[biker1]

The executive courses are owned by the CDDs, with the exception of the newer courses that may have not yet been turned over to the CDDs.

Originally Posted by ldovermiller

Why do we pay a trail fee when the residents own the exec courses? Where does the trail fee really go or should I say "whose pocket".

[ccrider]

Amen to TheVillages2013. Sounds about 100% correct!!! lol

[phousel]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

After paying the required Amenity Fee, add the Trail Fees of about $144 a year and the free golf ain’t so free. If you play two rounds every weekend the “free golf” costs you almost $24 per round on the Executive courses.

More like $2.75 per round with trail pass.