[Yannick Pilon]

Hey guys,

I need your ideas.  Which courses could be classified as the best affordable courses in North America?

A few obvious ideas come to mind like Rustic Canyon, Wild Horse, The Warren Course at ND, The Rawls Course, Tallgrass, Blackhawk....  But I am looking for more....

Another way to ask the question could also be: What are the best courses built for small construction budgets?  This is probably more difficult to answer for people on this site, since most have never been part of any construction process and probably don't have access to that kind of information, but any input on that front would be appreciated as well....

The location, along with your suggestion, would be appreciated to facilitate a Google Earth search....

Thanks for your input.

YP

[Sam Morrow]

First I think we probably need to classify how much is affordable.

[Mark Smolens]

Apache Stronghold's rack rate is $20.  I think that qualifies under just about any standard (even if they charge you the $15 for a cart when you're going to walk. . . )

[Yannick Pilon]

Lets go with the Golf Digest definition for now, and go for less than 75$.  Anything less is good, even better, as far as I am concerned, for this discussion.

YP

[Mike Benham]

As this topic has been discussed before, try the search for a wealth of information.

And, low construction costs do not necessarily relate to a course being affordable.

[Yannick Pilon]

I know Mike.  That's why I am asking for both!

I am sure courses like Sand Hills, Pacific Dunes, Bandon Trails, Barnbougle Dunes, etc..., to name just a few, are built with relatively small construction budget, given the fact that their sites are so great.

I'll try the search engine to complement this topic.

Thanks.

YP

[Mike Nuzzo]

Memorial Park Houston - $20-30
Pinon Hills New Mexico - $30?

[Mike Sweeney]

http://www.golf.com/golf/courses_travel/article/0,28136,1588127,00.html

[Mike Benham]

As usual, you have to filter through the posts to find the relevant ones

BBGE's List of Super Affordable Courses

[Tim Leahy]

La Purisima in Lompoc, Ca has to be one of the best in Cali at $65 during the week.

[Garland Bayley]

The Links of North Dakota at Red Mike, near Williston and Ray ND.
Juniper in Redmond, OR

[paul cowley]

One of mine, Orchard Creek in Altamont NY, was voted Golf Digests Best New Affordable in 2001....with 25$ greens fees at the time. Might be 30$ now.

[Rob Rigg]

Pumpkin Ridge - Ghost Creek has one of the best local programs I have ever heard of - $150 Ghost Pass (which includes one round), then rounds are at least 50% of the rack rate so you pay $45 Twilight or $60 before 2pm in Summer, and rates get as low as $20 in the winter. A great deal.

[Sean_A]

I am amazed that Leslie Park in Ann Arbor, Cascades in Jackson and New Rogell in Detroit are still offering weekend games at $25 a pop.  I just don't see how these places can afford to stay open because I think these are cheaper fees than when I lived in Michigan over 10 years ago! Folks would be hard pressed to do better than these for that sort of money.  That said, in my experience the best course for under $75 in Michigan where a guy can just walk on is The Gailes at Lakewood Shores.  Though I am told High Pointe is very good as well.   Hunters Ridge is good value at $45 on weekends.  I am told Angels Crossing is a steal at $44 on the weekend.

Ciao

[Tom_Doak]

Yannick:

If you were to get into construction budgets, you would find that Sand Hills and Pacific Dunes would qualify for your affordable list, but market forces have raised their green fees.

[Doug Wright]

There are a ton of very affordable and decent courses in the Denver metro area, including Riverdale Dunes, Murphy Creek, Green Valley Ranch and, coming soon, CommonGound.  These are generally under $40 to play. Antler Creek near Colorado Springs and Walking Stick in Pueblo are also real values. Wellshire, a Denver municipal course that contains the bones of its Donald Ross design, is $23 on weekdays and $31 on weekends.

[Matt_Ward]

Yannick:

It's likely fair to say, from the travels I have made, that courses generally in and around a number of the major metro areas will have the higher fees. Of course, in a number of these locations if one is talking about taxpayer-owned layouts then the fees will be much less for residents of those respective areas.

Examples of that type would be NYC, LA, Vegas, etc, etc. No doubt there a few exceptions even within those areas (e.g. Rustic Canyon comes quickly to mind) but they more the exception than the rule.

If you are looking for a healthy array of affordable layouts (using your threshold of -$75) then I'd recommend heading towards the mountain time zone as Doug W mentioned in his last post and even the western areas of the central time zone. Plenty of good options do exist.

Places that are often remote and in less populated areas need to be more price conscious to drive more people to play them.

 

[Andy Troeger]

Indiana has a number of public courses in the $50 range that are pretty darn good. You mentioned Warren at Notre Dame, but there are a few others in the state that are just as good or almost as good. Rock Hollow comes to mind first for me--not sure what costs are at Trophy Club. Some of the Indy courses are little more expensive but usually not too bad. Sultan's Run is good as well in the southern part of the state.

Black Mesa in high season I think is $80, I would guess at some times of the year it would meet the $75 threshold.

Angels Crossing is another good mention.

[Kalen Braley]

If we're basing it on green fees alone, will be tough to beat the SLC area.  There are many good solid fun-to-play courses and most are under $30 to play.  Spokane is also really good to in this category.

[Mark Pritchett]

Harrison Hills (IN)

Arrowhead Pointe (GA)

Long Shadow (GA)

Charlotte Golf Links (NC)

[PCCraig]

I would second Indiana.

The Fort, Kampen Course at Purdue, Trophy Club, and Purgatory are really good and cheap at about $40-65 or so.

[Dan Herrmann]

I think Jim Blaukovitch does a great job designing affordable and fun golf courses.

Our own Kelly Blake Moran has some really neat affordable courses here in SE Pennsylvania - Lederach and Morgan Hill.

[Sean_A]

Our own Kelly Blake Moran has some really neat affordable courses here in SE Pennsylvania - Lederach and Morgan Hill.

Yes, I am all in with Dan.  Lederach has to be one of the best bangs for bucks I have come across. 

Ciao

[Nick Schaan]

Sorry to throw a bunch of Harbottle's work in but Golf Mountian in Bremerton, Wa and Juniper in Redmond, Oregon are great places for a great price. look a tthe tournaments held at Golf Mountain, Palouse Ridge is pretty good too.

Kieth Foster's Druids Glen is a great place as well.

Does Torrey Pines count? less that $75 for residents.

Red Mike is great.

Rustic Cantyon probably tops the list.

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