Like I did on Tuesday I played nine holes after work on Thursday. The Mangrove Course is one of the many executive courses in The Villages and not far from my parents house. I’ve driven past the course a handful of times and it has always looked like a solid place to play.

Like Turtle Mound (where I played earlier this week), Mangrove is all par-3’s. However, that is about where the similarities stop between those two courses. I played from the black tees and from there Mangrove is made up of mostly mid-length par-3’s (138 to 168 yards). It was a windy evening so I was able to mix up the different clubs I hit, but if conditions were calm then the distances would have been similar.

The 4th hole – at 190 yards – is the exception to the mid-length theme and turned out to be quite challenging. It plays across a wetlands area (which I think gives the course its name) and was an intimidating tee shot with a strong right to left wind. Somehow I managed a par so I was excited about that!

Besides the 4th, there are other good holes on Mangrove. The 2nd and 3rd are 150 yard par-3’s with trouble lurking. The 2nd has water to the right and the 3rd has an elevated green that slopes off into the wetlands. Overall, there are lengthy forced carries here – so Mangrove probably isn’t for everyone.

I don’t have too much to say about the conditioning – the course was in very nice shape considering the dry summer. All the turf was full and the greens rolled well, just a bit slower. I’m not sure when the aeration will be done, but nothing has been done recently.

I enjoyed my walk around Mangrove – though it is a bit spread out – and it was a nice way to de-stress after a day of work. There are some good golf holes here and I’d rank Mangrove as an above-average executive course in The Villages.

Course Pictures (click any picture to scroll through the gallery):