I believe if one lives in the St. Andrews area for at least 3  years they are considered a resident.  They pay what it costs for us to play once for an yearly membership and then just a few dollars to play each time.

John, that is not correct.  I have lived here for six weeks, and am already considered a resident!  Once a letter from the Fife Electoral Office arrives, I'm able to get a Yearly Ticket, which gives unlimited golf with no further costs.

La Purisima seems a great call to me...
As for PG Muni, of course I too would never say no to a game there... but.... well... I do think I'd get tired of the front nine after awhile.  I do like it - but because it's quirky and different.  Once the different part waned, I'm not sure I'd want to play it exclusively.  The back nine I could surely live with.TH

La Purisima is a great call, also thought of De Laveaga in Santa Cruz, a great layout that gets lost in Pasatiempo's wash.

Tim - I like DeLaveaga a lot, although I think I like it a little less since the relatively recent changes making each of #6 and #18 par fours.  Both were really cool tight dogleg par fives before.  Have you played it since these changes?
Funny too, my future better-ball partner and sometimes-poster here Steve Pieracci just played it and didn't come back happy.  Perpaps he will comment.

Those were great reachable par 5's, too bad, hopefully they kept the back tees at least for tournaments.

That's my man bluto!

Re #6 - my recollection is the back pads are now gone - the hole plays like 350 or so... requiring an iron off the tee or a big slice from the way up tees.  It's still a cool hole - I just think it was better before.

Re #18 - it's the GREEN that was moved - down to the bottom of the hill, close to the lake.  Plays 375 or so.  Again it remains a neat hole, but the old green perched on top of the hill made for one hell of a stern and fun approach.  The new green is good - the hole is just a bit less exciting as it is now.

TH

Those changes suck, one of my most memorable moments in golf came on the old 18th green which sat just below the huge deck of the clubhouse. I hit it on in two and sank a 40 foot putt for eagle with my back to the clubhouse and apparently a large tourney group had finished ahead of us and were gathered on the deck letting out a huge cheer for my putt. I felt as close to a pro as I'll ever get. I know the course always played slow on weekends but those changes won't help that much and may have ruined one of my favorites.

YES!  That too was part of the coolness of the old 18th.. I've been part of the drinking/cheering group on that deck... In fact I've played a lot of tourneys there and who knows, maybe it was me leading the cheers for you!

 

In total I wouldn't say these changes have "ruined" DeLaveaga, but I would agree neither is exactly for the good.  I can somewhat understand what they did on 6, as players on that tee were always bombarded by pulls and hooks coming into 5 green... But 18 I just don't get.  It's not like many people ever went over that green.... And they're using the old 18th as a putting green now, so it can't be a turf issue... That change to me just seems weird.

TH

Averaging the year round price and considering the quality of each course one would be hard pressed to better World Woods.

Dan S:

I never said RR was akin to being Augusta. I also understand where things stand having been to the facility on two separate occasions.

Dan, the turf issues on the 10th hole can be alleviated if they simply allowed the sage brush to be included where the brown dead grass is supposed to be located.

One other thing -- the quality of the water to be used will make a major positive impact -- now that is being drawn from the North Platte River.

Dan -- they can overcome a good bit of what is happening if they simply allowed the sage brush to fill in a few of the existing areas now. The 14th and 15th holes could use some work in this regard. You don't need fairways with total grass coverage but they can't allow those areas to remain as they are either.

Augusta?  It is not better than Wildhorse but it could be very good.  As for regrowth of sagebrush. Sagebrush takes significant  time to re-establish itself in an area.  This is evident in areas where interstate gas lines have been buried right through sagebrush years ago.  

There are also problem areas leading into some areas very near greens on some of the other holes not mentioned that must be grassed.  There is strong evidence of alkali problems in those areas which will not be easy to solve.

I live within 100 miles of Rawlins but it doesn't make me an expert.

Being from Nebraska, here's another vote for Wild Horse.  It seems to play "as intended" more often than just about any other course I've been to.  This could be more a compliment to their greens staff than anything else.  I'm not sure.  I just know I like it.

Tom,
Some of it, I'm sure, is just the fact that we're used to putting the clubs away and that we don't really have a problem doing it.  I hear you though regarding year-round play and I'm very happy Florida (and places like it) are on the map.  With Nebraska so centrally located too, we can easily travel east or west (and south in the winter) and it doesn't turn out to be an all day affair.  Look for me in January.  
Jay    

Tom,
I probably failed to mention too that we try to play throughout the winter here, as long as the course isn't snow covered and the frost is gone.  I just thought there might be a few people here that would think that's kind of crazy.    
Jay

Doug R:

Lakota is indeed one of the best bargains & modern public designs you can play.

Doug, Wild Horse is a fine layout but I think the elevation of the course to top 25 status as a modern layout is a bit on the high side. Maybe someday you can play Rochelle Ranch in Wyoming when you are in the New Castle, CO area to play Lakota.

Sometimes other public options are not in favor for the masses here on GCA because they don't have the fanfare / visibility that others have.

Dan S:

Have to remind you but you were the one who threw the Augusta aspect / re: conditioning issues at Rochelle Ranch.

I think a very good comparison can be made between RR and WH. The greens at RR are very good and no less in terms of internal contours and the manner by which iron shots need to fit the circumstances that designer Ken Kavanaugh has outlined. I really enjoyed Wild Horse but the course there clearly benefits in having Sand Hills and now even Dismal River nearby so that players can sample what is there in Gothenburg. RR doesn't have that advantage.

In regards to the sage brush suggestion I made -- it would just as easy if the course simply dug up the areas in question and inserted a Wyoming version of hell's half acre -- the area could be a bit rough like looking but would likely fit more naturally than the burnt out areas one sees today.

Total fairway coverage will likely not happen in the foreseeable future until the usage of the water from the North Platte River becomes a daily reality.

The Wild Horse reviewer seems more inclined to recall visual features more readily than strategic features(not that they are mutually exclusive) which for better or worse is probably not unlike 90% of the golfing population.