Best Course for your money

[Cory]

What is the best deal for playing a great golf course?  That is, what is the most affordable golf course to play that is also a great course?  My money would be on Wild Horse in Nebraska.  I believe it is around $50.00 with cart for 18 holes.  Any other great deals on great courses?  

[Scott_Burroughs]

Sean,

No Tobacco Road?  Or did you pay more than that on your package?  We paid $49 in high season w/coupon.  Usually $39 in low season.


Great bangs for the buck for me:

Wild Horse  $35 (Cory, a cart would ruin a round there and bumps up the price unnecessarily  )

Bethpage (Black)  $39 out-of-state weekend fee in 2000.

Rustic Canyon $35  weekday in 2003, a little less for replay, I think.

Tobacco Road  $39   state resident off-season/coupon fee

Twisted Dune $49 (I think), new course fee to attract players before raising rates, 2001

Beechtree $55 twilight in-season rate, 2001 (same day as Twisted Dune)

Southern Pines $18  guest of member, 2001.


No carts, of course.

[SPNC_Chris]

Southern Pines: $750 yearly golf membership

[Jeff_Stettner]

Ol'Colony in Tuscaloossa, Alabama. Great Jerry Pate course.

$22 non-resident rate. Last Month.

[Jim Thompson]

I would hope that after some of you come visit we would be added to this company:

Angels Crossing

     M-Th: $39
     F,Sa,S & hol: $44

Cheers!

JT

[JDoyle]

I played the Black back in '01 for the first time.  They had an $18 twightlight rate (after 4 PM).  Enjoying that course for the first time in the long shadows of a late June day was one of my favorite golf experinces.

If there is a better course for a better price I'd like to hear about it  .

[THuckaby2]

Bro - I played NGLA and Shinnecock for free.  Methinks I have you trumped.

 

I only make that smartass comment to make the point that special deals can be found at a lot of places at a lot of times.  Sure twilight ought to count I guess, but well... this is a better comparison when we use standard rates.

And the Black ain't cheap for non-New Yorkers, right?

Thus when it comes to bang for one's buck, I'm with those who trumpet Wild Horse.  It's never gonna set you back more than $50, is it?  And for that you get a course that Dick Daley, and likely others, prefer to Sand Hills.  Dick Daley knows his stuff, I trust him completely.  I have Sand Hills as the #1 course on the planet, as I see things.  'Nuff said.

TH

[Mike_Golden]

The best course for my money right now is Stonebrook GC in Pace, FL, the home course of two Nationwide tour pros-Bubba Watson and Boo Weeckly.  I guess when you're from the South a normal first name just isn't in the cards

Anyway, the monthly dues are $125-unlimited golf, walking allowed, no initiation, and pretty good 2 man best ball games 5 days a week.

[THuckaby2]

Anyway, the monthly dues are $125-unlimited golf, walking allowed, no initiation, and pretty good 2 man best ball games 5 days a week.

I am weeping.  Mike, you know what $125 gets you in CA.

 

[Dan Herrmann]

DuPont CC in Wilmington, DE.  VERY low monthly dues...  But it's really tough to get in - you need a relationship with DuPont.  They had opened it up about 5 years ago, but quickly filled their ranks.

[Brad Swanson]

Folks, Bethpage Black was $78 for this out of stater during the week last fall, so reminiscing about its bottom dollar fees from the past doesn't have much relevance to current fees.  (BTW I still think its a good deal at its current fee).

Now, paying $22 last week to play Lawsonia at 2:30 in the afternoon is what I consider quite a deal (their first twilight time, it was $33 for morning tee times, this in the early season).

Paying $17 to play University Ridge as a grad student at UW (which included a sleeve of logoed Pinnacles to boot) was also a great bargain, but, again, is not available to the general public.

Mid $30s in high season to walk Wild Horse has got to be one of the best bargains anywhere, a great layout with maybe the best maintenance meld I have personally experienced.

Cheers,
Brad Swanson

[Mike_Golden]

Huck,

Let's see-$125 in California gets you...

-a caddie, a sleeve of balls, a hat, and a beer at Pebble Beach (but no golf)
-one round at Spanish Bay (if you're a member of the Dukes Club)
-3 rounds at Shoreline
-two early morning rounds at Cinnabar Hills
-holes 1-15 at Pasatiempo
-4 rounds at DeLaveaga
-probably a twilight round at Half Moon Bay
-5 rounds at Sunnyvale Muni
-two senior, mid-week rounds at Oak Creek in Irvine

and last, but not least.....

-Dinner for about 6 (with margaritas) at Aqui.

Maybe the dinner at Aqui makes up for the rest of it

[Allan Hutton]

Become a student of St. Andrews University.
Get the government to pay tuition (in my day) and give you a grant of a couple of thousand pounds.  Trot on down to the links trust offices and buy yourself the 1 year subscription for, at the time, less than 100 pounds.

Unlimited golf on the Old/New/Jubilee/Eden and get paid 1900 pounds (2000 grant less 100 fees).  Can't get much better than that.

[THuckaby2]

Huck,

Let's see-$125 in California gets you...

-a caddie, a sleeve of balls, a hat, and a beer at Pebble Beach (but no golf)
-one round at Spanish Bay (if you're a member of the Dukes Club)
-3 rounds at Shoreline
-two early morning rounds at Cinnabar Hills
-holes 1-15 at Pasatiempo
-4 rounds at DeLaveaga
-probably a twilight round at Half Moon Bay
-5 rounds at Sunnyvale Muni
-two senior, mid-week rounds at Oak Creek in Irvine

and last, but not least.....

-Dinner for about 6 (with margaritas) at Aqui.

Maybe the dinner at Aqui makes up for the rest of it

I was weeping before.
I am bawling now.
Only because it is all so true....

BTW, went to Aqui again recently... good stuff, I am re-convinced.  I still prefer more traditional Mexican food, but that is a darn fine place.

TH

[Scott_Burroughs]

Become a student of St. Andrews University.
Get the government to pay tuition (in my day) and give you a grant of a couple of thousand pounds.  Trot on down to the links trust offices and buy yourself the 1 year subscription for, at the time, less than 100 pounds.

Unlimited golf on the Old/New/Jubilee/Eden and get paid 1900 pounds (2000 grant less 100 fees).  Can't get much better than that.

We have a winner!

[BCrosby]

This is easy.

Wild Horse.

Bob

[Mike_Golden]

Huck,

Let's not forget some others....
-2 rounds at Poppy Hills (including their great chili for lunch and the part of the entrance fee to the 17 Mile Drive you don't get back).
-a morning round at Bayonet, afternoon at Pacific Grove
-Valet parking at Sharon Heights
-an appetizer and a glass of wine at Masa's in SF

and, how many rounds at Santa Teresa?

I knew you would come around on Aqui-it's not traditional but it's just a great place to eat.

[THuckaby2]

Hmmm... these days $125 gets you 2.5 rounds at Santa Teresa, weekend rates.

I have dissolved in tears.

[Doug Siebert]

Hey, that $125 will do you pretty well at Pacific Grove!  Do they have a daily fee there, so you can just play the back nine over and over again?

[Brian Cenci]

Best courses I've ever played, or best deals, for my money (and having struggled through college traveling around the U.S. playing and trying to make ends meet I know a thing or two about good deals).

Tanglewood Park-Championship (Clemons, NC) = $25*
*[Was their walking rate for 18 holes during peek season.  ($35 for 18 and cart Mon.-Fri., $45 for 18 and cart Sat. & Sun.)  A Robert Trent Jones course, played host to 1974 PGA Championship, countless Senior PGA Championships and consistently ranked, until this year, in Top 100 public by Golf Digest or Golf Magazine.]

Tullymore (Stanwood, MI) = $25*
*[normally is $59 for after 4:00 dear peek season non-weekend ($69 after 4:00 peek-weekend and $99 peek-weekend regular) but I insisted on walking and since they didn't have a walking rate they charged me roughly 1/2 the normal rate]

World Woods-Pine Barrons (Homosassa Springs, FL) = $35*
*[Was there about 6 weeks ago and played after 2:00 for this rate.  Although I wasn't overly thrilled, compared to all the hype with the course, it was still a great value.]

Arcadia Bluffs (Arcadia, MI)  = $75*
*[Their rate after October 10th and you can play as many holes as you want.  I managed to squezze in 54 on a cool, windy, Fall day this past year ]



I'm playing Wild Horse later this year and I'm pretty excited about their rate, or lack of a rate, as well as The Harvester Golf Club in Iowa (#21 on Golf Digests Top 100) which is only $35 to walk.

[Stan Dodd]

Doug,
Just last week I played the back nine at Pacific Grove for the twilight rate of $20 and went around 3 times.  Not a bad deal.  though the yearly rsident rate of $470 is like stealing.
And as I have just taken a job in Pacific Grove I hope to jump on that bandwagon.
Cheers
Stan

[Gene Greco]

It's gotta be The Black Course or Wild Horse - sounds like lyrics to a song. Maybe set to the tune of Glen Campbell's "Wichita Lineman":

"It's Black Course or Wild Horse, can't make up my mind."  

[EAF]

El Diablo GC, Dunellon FL