[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by another Linda

I have comcast broadband. Does that mean I don't need to re-activate my villages.net account to get to the tee time scheduler? Doing it by phone is a real pain.

All you would have to do is call Comcast customer service and explain it to them and they will set you up. Make sure you give them the Golf IDs of all the members in your house that would use the system so they can get village.net IDs for them. I am not sure about reactivating your old IDs. That would be a villages.net issue.

BTW: have you tried to sign into the Villages.net since you closed your account? It might still be there. Doubt it but worth a shot.

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by another Linda

Wonderful! I can't wait until March when we get there. I'm very jealous of the people who are renting our place before we even get to use it (but thankful also!) Since our renters will also use our internet connection, can they use the villages.net account too? Somehow I remember needing to log in for the tee times.

Using your internet connection only gives them access to the internet.

Unless the renters use your golf id numbers, it wouldn't work. Your villages.net sign-on ties in the golf ids assigned to that residence. They would also have access to your villages.net mail account and I doubt if you would want that!!

[another Linda]

zcaveman -- That makes sense. Thanks for the information.

[Bubbalarry]

I contacted Comcast to setup broadband service for when I arrive in Nov 2007, so what I am reading is that to call them and setup your account with thevillages.net?

Or should I have gone through the offices at TV instead of directly with comcast?

Having rented many times we have an established Village ID.

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by Bubbalarry

I contacted Comcast to setup broadband service for when I arrive in Nov 2007, so what I am reading is that to call them and setup your account with thevillages.net?

Or should I have gone through the offices at TV instead of directly with comcast?

Having rented many times we have an established Village ID.

I think you have to deal directly with Comcast.

[mmclover]

I am confused as to tee times. I will be moving to the villages as soon as my house is sold, I feel like SteveFrom Ny.. Same story, realtor set price too high, have dropped price a little but need new realtor. As for tee time, my brother will be wanting to play golf every day 18 holes. Will this be possible.

[Bubbalarry]

Originally Posted by mmclover

I am confused as to tee times. I will be moving to the villages as soon as my house is sold, I feel like SteveFrom Ny.. Same story, realtor set price too high, have dropped price a little but need new realtor. As for tee time, my brother will be wanting to play golf every day 18 holes. Will this be possible.

Sure during the months of July and August.

No just kidding the system runs by points over a set period of time. The more you play the harder it gets to play the exact course and time, or you can apply for a Premium tee time. Its an annual fee that allows you to get a time sooner than others can request (like a week ahead), so that when they require a time and they have less points than you don't get bumped into your spot because it was already awarded to you. At the same time you get points added should you not show up to play. This is what I remeber from going to the Savanah Ctr a couple years ago for classes.

[zcaveman]

Not exactly correct. The premium tee time you refer to is actually a priority membership and is only applicable on the championship courses.

Here is a writeup I sent out to my groups:

What are points? Points are used to provide golf tee times to all players on an equitable basis. Without the points system, some golfers would use up all of the tee times and some golfer would never get to play - especially in the busy months. The Golf Office provides the rules that determine points and their application in the Tee Time system.

How are points calculated? Every time you play golf in the Villages you are charged a point or a percentage of a point. If you make a request and the reservation falls outside of your scheduled time by an hour or more you will only be charged .8 or .9 points. If you make a reservation you are charged a full point. If you cancel a tee time more that 24 hours before playing, you are charged a full point (regardless of the .8 or .9 you would have been charged if you had played). If you cancel a tee time within 24 hours of the scheduled tee time, you are charged two points. If you do not show up, you are charged three points. If you get a replacement to play for you, you will also be charged three points. The one and two point charges are also enforced if you substitute a player within the above mentioned periods.

The purpose of points is to make sure that everyone has a chance to play. The additional "fines" are to make sure you are not abusing the system.

The points are assessed separately by championship and executive course play. Points are assessed for the current seven day periods.

How do points work? Whenever you put in a request for a tee time, the total number of points in your group is a factor in the scheduling. For example, there are four people in your group and between the four of you, your group has a total of 10 points. The total number of points (10) is divided by the number of players (4) and you have a group total of 2.5 points. Now let's say that there are six groups vying for a tee time. The tee time system puts the six groups in order by the group point number. If there are two teams with less than 2.5 points one of them would get the tee time over you. If there are two teams with more than 2.5 points then you would get the tee time before them. If there is another team with 2.5 points, the system "randomly" picks one of the two teams to be next.

AARRG!! What to do!!!

How do you work with the point assessment? To work with the point assessment, you need to set a large enough "window" to give you a sufficient number of tee time slots to negate the point assessment. During a one hour period, there are seven tee times on any one course (60 minutes divided by tee times scheduled 8 minutes apart). If you have a four hour window on one course, you have 28 chances of getting a tee time on that course. If you add five more courses to the mix, you now have 140 chances of getting a tee time. Remember that you still have 2.5 points in your group and you are competing against a multitude of people requesting a tee time.

As you can see, by selecting more courses and making a larger window, you improve your chances of getting a requested tee time.

If the courses are closed for inclement weather or frost, etc, no one scheduled for a tee time during that period will be assessed a point.

Hope this helps.

[bamafan]

zcaveman, Thanks for that excellant explanation of the point system. i was a little worried about being able to play. This system seems to make things equitable, is it used for both the Championship and executive courses?

[zcaveman]

Yes - points are for both exec and championship courses. But on the championship courses, the priority membership comes into play. If you have a priority membership ($675 for four courses of your choice but don't quote me on the price since it goes up occasionally) and you have three other players that are priority, you go ahead of a mixed priority/non-priority group if you have the same point total.

Another thing about priority memberships, is that you can play in the championship men's/ladies day tournaments on Tues/Wed respectively and you can play in the other tournaments that they offer in the Villages. Of course you have to have a handicap (5 scores I think) on the championship courses but the handicap system is cheaper for priority players.

[bamafan]

zcaveman, do you have a priority membership? I have talked to both sides of this. It seems that you have to play a lot of golf to get your money's worth, and perhaps the only advantage is the t times and getting to play in some of the tournaments. If you do not have a membership do you find that you have trouble playing the championship vs the executives? Can't you still play in the tournaments at the executive courses without the priority membership? Thanks for all your help.

[pgilson]

On executive courses, Men's day is on Tuesdays and is a 4 man scramble format. No priority membership is required. Same thing for women on Weds. Always a lot of fun, and a great way to meet other villagers. You might win some money for closest to the pin, or 1st or 2nd place. You can sign up on your computer.

[zcaveman]

No - I am not a priority member. I don't play that much on the championship courses. Lots of people have priority memberships and do not play enough to satisfy the difference in cost of the membership plus the decrease in the cost of golf on the various courses and are very happy with it. Remember that the executive trail fee is included with the priority membership (for the member holding the membership). You have to sit down with a pencil and paper and the current golf fee schedule and plan out how much golf you would play and do you want to get in the various tournaments to see if it is advantageous to you.

As mentioned by pgilson, the executive tournaments are Tues/Wed for men and ladies respectively. It is a first come, first serve sign-up. If you sign up early you are in. Otherwise you are standby. No point considerations - although you do get 1 point for playing that day. Really a great way to meet new friends.

[Bubbalarry]

Today I spoke with comcast and also with the villages.net and here was the reply I got.
According to the villages.net you have to go through comcast to setup the high-speed service to get free access to there site and allowing you to get onto Tee-time-golf and make times. However according to Comcast the password and site ID you must get from the villages.net. After calling the villages.net they claim you need to have this setup by Comcast.

Has anyone person done the setup and how did they do it. Since my cable won't be installed until the day after arriving down for 10 days, I wanted this setup prior to arrival to make tee-times. I would hate to think that I would need to get connected first to gain access.

[gingersmom]

We paid for a priority membership the first year we were here but we stopped. We figured out that you have to play 18 holes on the Championship courses at least 3 times a week to make your money back. I work full-time and the husband works 20 hours a week so it just wasn't cost-effective.