They are removing a barrier to looking at the golf course?


Some folks illegally cut down trees to improve their view.

This doesn't relate to Villager's view of the golf course. I have used my unequaled (thank heavens) artistic abilities to draw a very rough sketch

quirky - If The Villages could take out trees because their roots were interfering with houses and leaves were a constant clean-up headache to the homeowner, surely someone can find enough dirt around to restore landscape buffer on their property behind your home!

I am confused. Tee # 7 on Amberwood has village houses on both sides of the tee. On the right side of the tee they are on the other side of the pond. Tee #6 (the par 4) has the setting that you are talking about. Houses on the left of the tee and fairway and farms/buffalo on the right.

Z

Zcaveman, I have always regarded you as a TV expert and you may be right! When I bought the home I was told it was on tee #7, but I don't golf.

The thing that concerns me is that they didn't just truck dirt in from somewhere. They decided to destroy a large amount of such pretty and well established plantings on the golf course. I am hoping that phone calls this coming week will yield information that is hopeful about the plans for that space.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the location you are referring too is on the 5th hole on Amberwood, not the 7th.

I think you are correct. :undecided:

OK - thanks very much for the correction!

OK, now that we have the solved the confusion on where the work is being done, what you are seeing is the rebuilding of the #5 hole on Amberwood. It previously was a long par 3 (before that it was called a par 4). The green was placed within a semi-circle of trees that made it difficult to grow grass. Play also tended to back up on this hole as players waited for the green to clear even though they couldn't reach it with their tee shot.

As a result, it is being redone to a shorter par 3 with the green pulled out of the trees and closer to the tee. The mounds being removed were hazards for the hole at its former length and green position, but now would interfere with normal play in the new design. These mounds are on the other side of the hole from the houses, so they were not a visual barrier blocking the view of the course from the houses, but a barrier reducing the chance of a ball rolling out of TV property.

My recommendation is still the best, IMO. Contact Eric VanGorder. Janet Tutt will refer your question to Recreation, which will ultimately refer it to Eric. Cut out the middlemen and get to the person who knows what is happening.

Mikeod, thanks for the helpful information. I will follow your advice and ask to see a diagram of the finished rebuilt tee. Maybe there is a way they can put up a visual barrier without encroaching on the golf space.

I am missing something. Beyond the mounds there are woods, and some empty fields further beyond the woods. Are you saying that you don't want to look across the fairway to see the woods, now that the mounds have been leveled? It's not like you've lost your golf course view.

Directly across from my back yard there are currently woods. In the future, it could be a strip mall, parking lot or something else less desirable to look at. The grassy hills would have blocked that.

When you look to the right, you see some rooftops. If they remove those hills you will see a long open shed filled with junk, an RV, two trailers, 4 or 5 cars and I'm not sure what else right along that fence line. I think they will probably not remove the hills there.

When I bought the house I thought that it was unlikely that The Villages would change what they had established in a golf course but they are.

OK, got it. Reasonable concern. Hope it works out.

Things are looking good and I am optimistic. Eric VanGorder called me this morning to talk through the plan for Amberwood #5.

The soil that was originally used for the hazard mounds was not growing plants well and they decided to use it for fill during the rebuild, then restore the hazards with better soil and plants. He said they don't need a larger green. It will be an equally effective visual barrier as there is today. They are not changing the hills in front of the buildings on non-Village property.

They will also be closing the entry access point being used currently to move equipment in and out of the course that was created. This temporary road will have the fence area repaired and re-landscaped upon exiting.

They have an end of September planned completion date for the work. I feel much better now. Thanks to Eric and Janet.

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