Affordable public access Heaven: where is it?

[John Foley]

I would say Western NY is in the very very short list. You are very hard pressed to pay noth of $50 for a round at a GREAT public course such as Ravenwood, Greystone, Mill Creek, Bristol Harbour, Ivy Ridge, Arrowhead, Harvest Hill etc etc.. The value is tremendous.

Norther Michigan is up there as is Denver &  Indianapolis but Western NY is tough to beat!

[Kalen Braley]

Chris,

Everything here in Northern Utah is under $50 except for one course, Thanksgiving Point.  And most of the rest are under $30...  How is that for "affordable??   

[Ronald Montesano]

John Foley, the problem with "selling" WNY to folks is the winter weather.  The easy sell is to the golf course architects, who drool at the prospect of so much accessible fresh water, from the two great lakes to the finger lakes to the myriad smaller bodies.  I for one don't care if the secret gets out; we're not trying to keep the courses from the public eye.

[Bill_McBride]

Northwest Florida is pretty cheap, but it's hot as hell and the public courses are not too good.  But it's cheap. 

[Tim Bert]

The Nashville municipal courses are all less than $30 to walk on the weekends.  There is a membership for for residents of Davidson County that allows access to all of the courses for a modest surcharge - (I think less than $5 per round at most of the courses.)  The membership is $570 for adults, $380 for Seniors, and $240 for Juniors.  The cost goes up a couple hundred bucks for those of us not in the County.

That seems relatively affordable to me.

The course quality could be considered no better than fair, though some locals think that Harpeth Hills is the the local version of Bethpage Black.  I haven't played BB, but after one play at HH I'm left to believe that this one doesn't fall into the premier muni category.

[Ben Sims]

Two places immediately leap out to me.

The I-25 corridor from Colorado Springs up to Fort Collins is pretty good.

The I-80 corridor from San Fran all the way to Truckee, CA is pretty good too.

If you allow yourself only 10 miles from the interstate in those corridor's, you'll find some great pubic golf.  

[Tim_Weiman]

Ralph Livingston,

Several years ago I walked on Big Met, a well played course that is part of the Metro Parks system in Cleveland. I was matched up with a postal worker from the Dallas area visiting family in Cleveland. He mentioned that he might not be able to play as much golf because his local public course was raising the green fee from about $27 to about $36.

That seems like the ball park for "affordable" golf for a lot of working people.

The Cleveland Metro Parks system has a couple 9 hole courses you can play for less than $10. Mastic Woods and Little Met are perfect for beginners and even okay for more accomplished players if you just feel like knocking the ball around after a typical Cleveland winter.

Golf in America needs more Little Mets.

[Phil Benedict]

I was actually thinking $50 as the cutoff for affordable,

[RJ_Daley]

If public courses started charging $50 a round here in NE Wisconsin, I think the public golf sector would collapse.  Maybe the public sector would consolidate down to about half or less of the courses available now, and that $50 price point would drive number of rounds down considerably to where many course just wouldn't make it. 

Tim always says 'people want to play more, not pay more'.  How clear can that be?  Conversely, people that have to pay more, play less.  They want to play more, but they can't /won't just universally pay more.  Many will rebel or repel.  So, basically golf in the public sector needs to deal with this very simple premise if they want to grow the game.  Figure out a way to not have to charge more.  Like tone down the extraneous B.S. like lemon scented towels, player assistants from the parking lot to the shower, and sell a golf experience on a course that is designed to operate efficiently on the ground and sell the game, not the flame.  Give people golf, not B.S. and marketing.

[W.H. Cosgrove]

Spokane WA has five or six very reasonably priced tracks. 

Best public value I have seen.

[Phil Benedict]

If public courses started charging $50 a round here in NE Wisconsin, I think the public golf sector would collapse.  Maybe the public sector would consolidate down to about half or less of the courses available now, and that $50 price point would drive number of rounds down considerably to where many course just wouldn't make it. 

Tim always says 'people want to play more, not pay more'.  How clear can that be?  Conversely, people that have to pay more, play less.  They want to play more, but they can't /won't just universally pay more.  Many will rebel or repel.  So, basically golf in the public sector needs to deal with this very simple premise if they want to grow the game.  Figure out a way to not have to charge more.  Like tone down the extraneous B.S. like lemon scented towels, player assistants from the parking lot to the shower, and sell a golf experience on a course that is designed to operate efficiently on the ground and sell the game, not the flame.  Give people golf, not B.S. and marketing.

Thinking of $50 as affordable may be a New York bias.  I pay $11 for a bucket of balls at the local range; 5 times that to actually play a decent course doesn't seem that much to me.

[Chuck Brown]

Okay, I am IN Michigan, and while I agree that we have a wealth of choices, we have to make those choices between April and October.

And that is why, to me, municipal golf heaven is in a City of San Diego driver's license, and the 36 holes of Torrey Pines South and North.

[Ken Moum]

It's certainly not Topeka, KS.

We've got plenty of courses, and they are cheap enough. One operator will give you a family membership at 7 golf courses, that include five fitness centers, for $29.95 a month.

And my CC had to drop it's new-member rate to $99 a month, no minimum, no initiation, to get above 300 members for the first time in a while.

But, except for the Donald Ross I play, the courses range from unremarkable to downright awful.

K

[Roland Waguespack]

Regardless of what you think of RTJ's architeture, the trail in AL is pretty impressive.  Generally a good value and most sites have 36 holes or more.  It seems that other states have tried to duplicate it without the success.

[Cliff Hamm]

Affordable can be defined either nationally or by region.  In New England I consider affordable golf to be about $35 max for a greens fee.  Even here $50 is above that threshold. $35 will rarely buy quality golf.  Playble yes, quality rarely. New England offers very little affordable golf and certainly is not in the running for overall affordable golf. 

Perhaps I have a different definition of affordable - reasonable, cheap, bargain, good buy, etc.  The word affordable is certainly dependent on one's region and is therefore relative.  On an absolute basis though count the northeast out.

[Jim_Kennedy]

On an absolute basis though count the northeast out.- Cliff Hamm

Cliff,
You just have to know where to look. 

[Cliff Hamm]

On an absolute basis though count the northeast out.- Cliff Hamm

Cliff,
You just have to know where to look. 

Jim...You're right Shenny and as I have noted Connecticut National come right to mind. I play Blackstone National on a two for one card, which makes it affordable.  I also mentioned websites with deals.  Overall though I think you would agree that NE is not a hotbed of affordable golf.

[Kalen Braley]

Spokane WA has five or six very reasonably priced tracks. 

Best public value I have seen.

W.H.

Having lived there for several years I can 2nd that as well....and as good as that area is, the SLC area is even better!!   

[Matt_Ward]

Cliff:

C'mon let's get real OK !

The Knoll charges that number for non-residents. What do you think Bethpage Black is charging for the same category of people?

If you look at the fact that one is playing golf in one of the more expensive areas of the USA -- the figures charged are not that high. No doubt if your are looking for $25 golf options -- then by all means avoid the aforementioned places I just mentioned.

Phil B:

Hold on partner -- the issue of this thread is "affordable public access." Bethpage does provide that -- clearly the priority is New Yorkers but guess what that's who owns the park. Non-residents have to work through the system -- if you think it's too much trouble that's fair and you can play elsewhere. Guess what? There are other area NY public courses worth playing -- Montauk Downs is a good one at the end of LI. You also have places like The Links at Unionvale in the Hudson River Valley area.

Guys:

One other point -- let's be clear shall we -- the issue is not simply cheap golf -- but is the golf really worth playing to start with. I can tell you that the depth of courses in Indy, Denver, the greater Albuquerque area are very good -- they are more than just cheap places to play golf. For those who are tight with the buck and simply want to play places with holes cut in the ground but are no more than $15 to play -- by all means knock yourself out and enjoy yourself at those wonderful designs.

[Chris_Clouser]

Kalen,

What is there in SLC?  I'm not familiar with it at all, so whatever you can tell me would be a help.

[Eric Smith]

"25,000 mornings...make sure some of them are Pure Michigan."

[Phil Benedict]

Phil B:

Hold on partner -- the issue of this thread is "affordable public access." Bethpage does provide that -- clearly the priority is New Yorkers but guess what that's who owns the park. Non-residents have to work through the system -- if you think it's too much trouble that's fair and you can play elsewhere. Guess what? There are other area NY public courses worth playing -- Montauk Downs is a good one at the end of LI. You also have places like The Links at Unionvale in the Hudson River Valley area.

Matt,

I realize that the thread is about affordability.  Bethpage is eminently affordable on a purely monetary level but hard/inconvient to get on once never mind frequently.  Is it anybody's home course in the sense of playing it, say, more than 10 times per year?  Maybe if you count the entire Bethpage complex there are plenty of regulars, but I'll bet if you limit it to the Black/Red combo the frequency of play for any one person is relatively low.  

[Matt_Ward]

Phil:

People don't have to simply wait to play the Black -- the Red, Blue and Green layouts are all worth playing -- albeit they have a diminishing level of design elements proportionally when held against the Black.

Phil, I know of plenty of NYers who play the place frequently and frankly getting on the Black is a good bit easier than having one's luck to play TOC -- no doubt being pulled out of the day prior lottery is no e-z thing.

My point on this thread is to highlight the fact that there are places in the Northeast where good quality and affordable golf is present. There aren't many as other areas but they are there. For what it's worth -- I'd highly recommend a round at Montauk Downs the next time you venture onto the Island.

[John Moore II]

Well, for what its worth, I think the Pinehurst area has some really affordable public courses, if you are willing to play during the off season/use coupon specials. And certainly the courses there are top notch, even outside of #2 and Pine Needles.

[Jason McNamara]

Kalen,

What is there in SLC?  I'm not familiar with it at all, so whatever you can tell me would be a help.

Until Kalen pops in, I'll give you South Mountain, Valley View, WingPointe, and Soldier Hollow (see Kalen's recent photo thread) as 4 options under $50 - roughly in that order of appeal.

Don't know about Thanksgiving Point.  They have one those maddening websites which seems to have hidden away the rates, so I assume it is more than $50.  Matt is on this thread - he probably knows.