your choice: public/resortcourse costing less than $100 to play

[ed_getka]

Keep these great annual pass courses coming. I'm getting some good retirement area info here.

As long as the weather isn't an issue and conditioning can remain decent I choose Rustic and Lawsonia (the conditioning part refers to Rustic, which unfortunately is variable).

[Tom_Doak]

Barnbougle is playable year-round -- it's very cold in the winter by Australian standards, but it's still 45-50 degrees nearly every day, similar sort of weather to Myrtle Beach but cooler in the summers.

My first thought was High Pointe, but Barnbougle is better on two counts -- better course and better weather.

[Chris Kane]

Nothing can beat the low prices Rochelle Ranch provides -- especially for an annual membership.

The numbers ...

Annual Fees
Annual Membership Fees Annual Cart Fees
 
Junior $  85.00
Senior $175.00
Single Adult $275.00
Couple $425.00

For just $25 you can play as much golf as you want ON ANY DAY.

Matt, you're telling me thats a better deal than £116 for unlimited access to all six courses at St Andrews (soon to be seven), plus special rates at some nearby courses?

[Tom Forsythe]

Highlands Links would be my first choice. The fantasy part would include moving Highlands much closer to Halifax. It would be wrong to take it completely out of the province. That drive up and down the Cabot Trail starts to wear on you particularly in winter.

[Doug Bolls]

i saw this thread earlier today, but did not want to respond right away.  I usually walk 9 holes in the evenings carrying my bag - I thought about this question between shots this evening.
I would have to pick a place where I could play every day of the year - that kind of limits Neb.
The course I came up with is Torrey Pines South - a great PUBLIC course right on the Pacific Coast.  As a San Diego resident, the green fee is around $45 - and I'll bet you can buy a resident card to bring it in less than that.
With a bunch of holes with ocean views, and a solid design - getting ready for the US Open - I'm sure it will be interesting enough for even the most picky GCA golf critic.
So, that's my choice and I am sticking with it.
DB

[Dan Smoot]

Nothing can beat the low prices Rochelle Ranch provides -- especially for an annual membership.

The numbers ...

Annual Fees
Annual Membership Fees Annual Cart Fees
 
Junior $  85.00
Senior $175.00
Single Adult $275.00
Couple $425.00

For just $25 you can play as much golf as you want ON ANY DAY.

Matt,

I played RR two weeks ago and once last summer.  I was hoping I would see an improvement in conditions given another year.  I didn't.  They told me of a problem early in the year where they had inadvertently put salt in one of the ponds they irrigate the course from.  This really set them back.  As for the holes that are suffering from recognized alkali conditions, they look the same to me.  Large areas of fairway on 4 or 5 holes with nothing able to grow on them - you can see areas where they attempted to sod but it didn't take.  

I asked if they had any plans to do anything special to try to accelerate the process (amend the soil?).  There was a muted response that indicated the lack of manpower and funds.  I didn't pursue that any further but wondered if the revenue generated by the play will ever allow them to overcome the situation.

I really like this course and think it could be something very special.  There is much more elevation difference on this course than it appears when you fly by on I80.  The greens are actually in pretty good shape.  There are a number of people who see the place as they go by but don't believe that it looks like something worth stopping for.  If they can get this thing turned around, it will be the best course in the region.

[Matt_Ward]

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.

Chris Kane:

Show me a better course with also better rates here in the USA than what I listed for Rochelle Ranch.

One other thing -- you can play Rochelle Ranch and likely never encounter slow play -- does that happen often with the combo layouts you mentioned ?

[Chris Kane]

Matt Ward, last time I checked this was an international forum, despite the best efforts of people like yourself.  Why do nominations need to come from within America?

Five of the six courses at St Andrews don't suffer
slow play issues - you'll be finished in three hours more often than four or five.

[John Foley]

Matt,

Is Rochelle Ranch better in your eyes than Wildhorse?

[Mike_Sweeney]

Matt Ward, last time I checked this was an international forum, despite the best efforts of people like yourself.  Why do nominations need to come from within America?

Chris,

The funny thing is that despite current international traffic hassels, it may be easier for me and my 12 million friends here in New York to get to St Andrews than RR!

[Matt_Ward]

John Foley:

IMHO -- Rochelle Ranch has the good to match and even exceed what you find at Wild Horse. I've played both facilities and unfortunately, the key item for RR will be how they handle the specific fairway turf issues on a few holes there.

No doubt the annual budget will play a role in how fast these efforts can proceed.

You see John -- I don't believe they need to have wall-to-wall fairway grass when the possibility exists for them in usuing native scrub and sage brush to cover the most unsightly of areas. No doubt the addition of clean water from the North Platte River will be a huge benefit.

Clearly, there are people who will read different accounts and make the wrong assumption that the course is not playable or would be a waste of their time to play it. That would be a serious misjudgement on their part.

I've played RR twice and Ken Kavanaugh did a superlative job in designing a layout that can entertain low and high handicap golfers. The Rawlins area features a good bit of wind and you have to make constant adjustments when playing there.

The problem for RR is that unlike Wild Horse which has a serious hook in having Sand Hills and now Dismal River nearby to draw even more dedicated golfers to sample what they offer in Gothenburg. That's not the case with Rawlins -- which is roughly the same drive distance from Denver or Salt Lake City -- four hours. And there are no real serious golf courses that are nearby to make event a double-header as you find with Wild Horse.

Ken Kavanaugh designed a course with versatility and with plenty of challenge (7,900 yds+) for those self inclined.

I have a huge amount of respect for Wild Horse but the layout in Rawlins has plenty of holes that are equal and even beyond what you find in Gothenburg. Unfortunately, out of sight can mean out of mind for a good number of people.

Check out their Website at rochelleranch.com -- there are pictures and schematics of all the holes provided.


Chris Kane:

I can't speak definitively about all places throughout the globe but from my experience here in the States -- Rochelle Ranch is without question among the top 1/10 of 1 one percent concerning what they charge and better yet -- what they do provide from a golf equation.

Hold the phone partner -- with the out of line comment you threw forward with "despite the best efforts of people like yourself." You don't know me from squat -- I stated from the get-go that my posting of Rochelle Ranch was from the perspective of what people can pay for specific courses from America -- if you want to reference other layouts in your "neck of the woods" please knock yourself out and post as many relevant examples as you believe fit the bill here.

At Rochelle Ranch -- you can play in the same time as you indicated. If you want to cite a time factor for other American courses you may have played they don't fit for RR.

One other thing -- Rochelle Ranch doesn't have qualifiers as having to hold down residency or other such things in order to get the rates they offer.

[Tom Huckaby]

Great question.

Four answers spring to mind:

Wild Horse
Rustic Canyon
Black Mesa
Bethpage-Black

And out of those three, put me down for Rustic, the only one that would allow year-round play in decent weather.

TH

Huck,

The Black blows away Rustic Canyon.  While Rustic Canyon is an excellent golf course it's not even a contest.  Sorry, Tommy.  And, based on my experiences with winds in excess of 30 mph at Rustic Canyon, you can't necessarily expect to be able to play all the time anyway.

I don't doubt that.
But can you make that same statement from November through March?
Thus Rustic Canyon is the choice for this issue.  Sorry, but if I only get to play one course the rest of my life, it's going to be open year-round.

TH

[jg7236]

The Old Course and New Course are well over the $100's.  The exchange rate is horrible.  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.

I just played the Old Course and I think it was around $230 to play and the New Course was just over $100.  

[Eric Franzen]

Think I'll second Pittock and Lavelle on this one and chime in on Barona Creek.
Or wait a minute... Brora is not a bad choice either.

[Tom Huckaby]

Eric - re Barona, you want to play twilight only the rest of your life?

Remember the rules... less than $100...

[Eric Franzen]

Alright, Huck.
Then it is Brora.

Haven't played Rustic Canyon yet... but 60 for La Purisima ain't to bad either... and I would never say no to a game at PG Muni.

[Tom Huckaby]

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

[John Foley]

Matt,

Thanks for the link. Had not looked at it before. It does look intriguing. I have not been there, but if ever in WY I'd definetly check it out.

One point, are the water hazards natural or are they the rention ponds for the irrigation?

My preference are that these man-made type water hazards detract fron the natural setting. Sure the provide an increasaed level of strategy, but I just don't like it.

Any place I have seen them it's just a detraction from tha natural site.

As a for instance I think you have seen the Wolf course at the Pauite resort in Las Vegas. Great course for the most part. If dye would have kept the water away from the line of play it would have been stupendous.

It's the desert and you just don't find lakes/ponds like that too often.

[Brad Tufts]

Is it just me, or did I pay $106 to play on a weekend at Bethpage Black this year.....yeah it's $55 for residents, but $106 for the rest of us.

[Jerry Kluger]

I love Wild Horse and here are some others:

Beechtree (Doak)

Royal New Kent (Strantz)

Mattaponi Springs (Lohman)

[Tom Huckaby]

Is it just me, or did I pay $106 to play on a weekend at Bethpage Black this year.....yeah it's $55 for residents, but $106 for the rest of us.

It's not just you.  
But in fairness, for purpose of this exercise, one would hope that if it's the one course you play, you do live there, so can get resident rates.

I still think it's DQ'd due to weather, but then again I am used to play year-round.

TH

[Mark_Rowlinson]

I'm going to nominate Delamere Forest.  It is a private club, but there doesn't seem to be a restriction on how many times a visitor may play there.  With the green fee at £40 per day, and very few times when visiting is not possible, it's feasible.  Also it's a lovely course, yet nowehere near as demanding as Bethpage Black, which is always going to be too hard for me - it is now, so what would it be like when I'm 70?  

[Matt_Ward]

John F:

The ponds come from a retention usage. There is little, if any, surface water that I can recall on the site.

The qualities of RR come from its unique versatility. Playing the course from the tips when facing a 15-25 mph wind-- standard fare there -- is quite taxing.

Like I said previously, location keeps RR from being thought of even higher but they still need to resolve the unsightly problem of turf in the fairways at #10, #14 and #15, most especially. Falure to do that will mean the kind of bad publicity that deflects what a stellar course and price point that they offer.

The problem with the Wolf / Pauite is more than just an issue of water in the desert -- it's the inane usage of the hazard on such holes as the island par-3 which Pete and company should have bagged after the TPC success in Florida. Like any joke -- the punch line is well known and not as funny as in the original.

At RR the interplay of the water is well done and quite appropriate. No doubt if you have deep misgivings about its use no matter how well done I can appreciate that.

John, try the layout if you ever are on I-80 heading to and from Wyoming. The folks there are some of the nicest around and the layout will give you a clear impression that Wyoming public golf is something worth considering.

Brad:

I did mention the out-of-state aspect earlier in this thread. BB is still a fine deal for Empire State residents -- much less so for the rest.

Jerry:

Good choices -- especiall Royal New Kent -- but Beechtree is topped by Doak's effort at The Rawls Course -- both for cost and overall design quality IMHO.

[Adam Clayman]

Huck,  Your fears about tiring of the front nine at PG are speculative and IMO, in err.

I do have to qualify that with... I don't how many stupid trees have been planted recently. Especially on holes 3 and 6.

The anticipation alone, knowing that the backnine awaits, is the least of it's never ending qualities.

[Tom Huckaby]

Adam:

You're probably right.  BUT... in this very speculative question, we get only ONE course FOREVER.  With that in mind, I just don't want any doubts.  And as much as I do love PG - and love it I do - I just have some doubts.

So put it this way - if I did end up at PG, I know I wouldn't be disappointed.

The rules were though that we can pick ANYWHERE so long as green fees are less than $100... and with that in mind, and these doubts, well... PG just wouldn't be my first choice.

TH