[EAF]

I think you have to divide the golf communities into three general access categories. There are areas with excellent private clubs and limited public golf like the Northeast or Los Angeles. Other  areas have good public golf access and some good private clubs such as the Pinehurst area. The third category is for areas that primarily have public golf access such as Orlando.

A community like Orlando has a few top notch private clubs/communities like Isleworth, Lake Nona, Heathrow, and Bay Hill. Orlando and Central Florida also has plenty of affordable, quality public golf. We have good weather, a growing economy, and is a great place for families.

We will never have the tradition or Northern grasses of the Northeast golf courses but, now that more courses have the Tif-eagle greens here the quality of our greens are better than ever.  The winter rye grass greens are almost like bent greens for a few months every year.

As much as I miss playing at Bethpage, I do not miss sleeping in my car to play golf in the morning anymore!

Orlando should be considered one of the best golf communities in the US.

[Phil_the_Author]

Jim,

You are right, but I ask the question as it was posed to me. More specifics are needed and it is up to the one answering to supply them.

How would you define a "golf community?" In a broad sense or with specifics and limitations. In one private email sent to me on this topic, it was suggested that the proper definition of a golf community required it to be gated and private.

I think there are several definable areas in which a golf community could be viewed as such and that was why I posted the five categories that I did.

The only caveat that I will add to what has been mentioned already, is that if you were looking to be part of any of these five categories, what and how would you identify them? That requires the ones that revolve around a permanent residence to have different requirements from those that are temporary.

One suggestion that was mentioned was Pinehurst. Besides having all those wonderful courses, what makes that area a "golf community?" Do the nearby residents get to play the courses at a substantial discount with a resident rate or do they have to pay what the guests at the lodge are required to pay? That will affect the answer. There are actually some terrific resort facilities that allow local residents to play for much less than their guests are charged, thus creating a community. There are also areas that have resorts built into their communities that afford the same privileges as the guests pay for but that they receive as part of the home ownership in this location.

It really is a tough question when no rules are given yet there have been some marvelous suggestions so far.

[Bob_Huntley]

I have been mulling over the question posed. I do think that one has to consider whether the place is affordable. The Monterey Peninsula has a plethora of good golf, but the cost of housing here would dictate that not many could avail themselves of the opportunity of living here. To attract young doctors to practice on the Peninsula, the local Community Hospital has to subsidize their housing costs.

The private clubs such as Cypress, MPCC and Tehama have initiation fees reaching $200,000.00. The quassi private clubs such as Quail Lodge and Carmel Valley Ranch go for something like $60,000.00. Those courses in Pebble Beach controlled by the Company, i.e., PB, Spyglass and Spanish Bay have green fees greater than the GDP of some sub-Saharan African countries.

There are some bargains to be had. The Bayonet and Black Horse course at Fort Ord, Poppy Hills if you join the NCGA for a nominal sum, together with Laguna Seca and Ranch Canada offer golf at reasonable prices.

All in all a wonderful place, but it has become the playground of the rich and not so famous.

[ChipRoyce]

Wilmington NC has turned out to fit much of the criteria you mention. My parents retired to "Landfall", a large gated private development that has the C.C. of Landfall (member owned within) (27 holes of Nicklaus and 18 of Dye).

Wilmington has great beaches, excellent year round golf weather, access to educational and cultural resources through UNC-Wilmington.

Also strong in neighboring courses:
 - Cape Fear CC (Ross)
 - Wilmington Municipal (Ross)
 - Eagle Point (Fazio)
 - Porter's Neck (Fazio)
 - Magnolia Greens (Tom Jackson)
 - Castle Bay (Blanton)
 - St. James plantation
 - Bald Head (Cobb)

[A_Clay_Man]

Bob Huntley, I commiserate with the situation in the "Kingdom", however, couldn't one justify the expense of paying to golf pebble twice a week? Especially considering the 200k initiation fees and monthly assesments at the alternatives. $850 a week for 50 weeks = 42.5k / yr. No surprise assesments and the golf is at Pebble. Might be a relative win win situation?

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

- Bill McBride will visit on short notice

What's not to like?

Oops I'm sorry I thought you accidentally had those in the wrong order.

What's not to like?

- Bill McBride will visit on short notice


Just kidding Bill, you are welcome here anytime.

[Tony_Chapman]

Gothenburg, NE  

[Andy Doyle]

It definitely falls into the upscale category, but I would second the Cuscowilla/Reynolds Plantation area.

It has the recreation possibilities of a large lake, the amenities of a large development, the feel of a small town, but is remarkably close to the largest city in the south.  The golf includes:

Cuscowilla - Coore/Crenshaw
Great Waters - Nicklaus
Plantation - Bob Cupp
The National - Tom Fazio
The Oconee - Rees Jones
Port Armour - Bob Cupp
Harbor Club - Weiskopf/Morrish

Andy

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