Best $25/under course (formerly the 'most bang for the bucks' thread)

[Bart Bradley]

mmbradley:

Thanks for the info. on Peru -- it looks to have a very interesting mix of par 4s, with yardage ranging from 425 to 262. The course also looks like it hosts the local high school golf teams, which automatically raises it a notch in my book on good-deed grounds. It dates back to pre-Depression, for the original nine, and at $18 it's well under the required cost line. Good work!

This course still qualifies with a $20 dollar green fee...Peru Municipal golf course, Peru IN.  Original nine dates from 1926.

Here is a picture from the peru muni website of my favorite green on the front nine...



Bart

[Kalen Braley]

Thanks for the clarification Phil... I've love to hear back on what you thought of the course!

[Jud_T]

Phil,

Not only is it $1 a hole to walk, it's an all-day rate!  I have to believe given the land it's on that if they bunkered it up and it were in top private-club condition that most here would be bending over backwards to get access.

[Cliff Hamm]

This may or may not technically qualify.  If you pay $100 per year Triggs in Providence RI is $23 Mon-Friday for golf, cart, lunch.  Triggs is an outstanding Ross muni and for the northeast it is beyond an incredible deal.

[Kalen Braley]

This may or may not technically qualify.  If you pay $100 per year Triggs in Providence RI is $23 Mon-Friday for golf, cart, lunch.  Triggs is an outstanding Ross muni and for the northeast it is beyond an incredible deal.

Indian Canyon has an even better deal.  If you pay $50 upfront, all of your golf is only $16 per round for the rest of the year.

[Ben Voelker]

Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln, Nebraska by our own Jeff Brauer is $30.50 on Weekends before 1PM.

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8650058&lon=-96.7435154&z=16&l=0&m=b&show=/124495/Highlands-Golf-Course&search=lincoln%2C%20nebraska

[Phil McDade]

Ben:

Wrong! This is my thread, gol-darn it, and I'm going to make people adhere to the rules! See the opening post, post #16, and post #38 of this thread for further edification.

Addendum: My apologies. This lists a top green fee of $29; well done: http://highlandsgolfcourse.net/page/1slch/Lessons_and_Course_Info.html

Anyone on the board ever played it?

[David Schofield]

Wilmington (NC) Municipal is $15 on weekdays and $18 weekends for residents.  It is $23 and $26, respectively, for non-residents.

[Matthew Petersen]

Tom:

Is Papago Park the best of the Phoenix munis? I played Encanto a few years ago, and it was enjoyable if fairly mundane, with a nice view of downtown. I see one of the munis is a William F. Bell.

Is $16 a year-round rate?

OK, I'm busted.  $16 is the summer rate - it will go up for the winter.  I haven't been able to find anyone in the city that will tell me what the as yet unannounced winter rates will be, but I think it will stay under $25 to walk.

Encanto, oldest of the Phoenix muni's is a WP Bell built in the 50's.  Pretty much as you described it.

Papago and Maryvale are both WF Bell and both from the 60's.  Maryvale is a flat, tree-lined parkland style course, nothing special but pleasant enough and is a nice break from desert target golf.

Cave Creek came along in the 80's, a Jack Snyder design that was built on top of a former landfill.  An interesting course that sports the city's only (I think) triple green.  I have not been out to Cave Creek since the 80's and would like to see how it has matured.

Aguila is the newest Phoenix muni, a Gary Panks designed desert course that opened in 1999.  I have not played it.

Papago is certainly my favorite with fairways that pitch and roll with the natural contours of the site and scenic views of the city and the nearby Papago Buttes.  They keep talking about a new clubhouse, but I hope they renovate and keep the oddly unique and funky 60's style building that for me, seems to fit with the surroundings perfectly.

Like many municipally operated golf courses, Phoenix's seem to suffer from underfunded maintenance budgets.  But what do you want for $16?

Tom

Five years late in responding, Tom, but I will note that the triple green at cave Creek (also featured in Forrest's book on routing the golf course) is long gone. I've been playing there for ten years and it hasn't existed in that time, at least. Those three greens are all still bunched together but are now maintained as discrete greens and not all as one large area, as it once was.

[Jason Thurman]

At $24 to walk on weekends/holidays, Gibson Bay in Richmond, KY is a FANTASTIC value and a really good golf course. At $16 to walk on a weekday, it used to make me very happy. At $10 twilight, it's a guilt trip.

http://www.gibsonbay.com/index.htm

Just up I-75 in Lexington is the Gay Brewer, Jr. course at Picadome. It's perhaps the worst course name in history, but a really sporty old-school design with small, tilted greens. It's kept in great condition and is a real municipal gem. It's not a world-beater, but is a course I think most GCA'ers would find very interesting, as it's 18 strong holes on a routing that really takes advantage of a small, 120 acre property without a ton of natural features. It's one of my personal favorites, and only $23 to walk on weekends, $19 during the week.

Waveland golf course in Des Moines, IA is a bit overgrown, but an absolutely excellent property and a really fun design. I'm not sure if it qualifies, as it might exceed the $25 rule at peak times on weekends, but it's no more than $20 during the week and after 12 pm on weekends. If conditions were improved, vegetation cleared, and the greens held a bit more interest, it would challenge for a spot in my top 10-15 courses played.

[Nigel Islam]

9 years later and Helfrich Hills remains a slightly better value than Quail Crossing, but due to the horrific playing conditions at Quail Crossing the last few year, it now actually offers the better golf course. Take heart Doak fans Quail hired a new superintendent last year. We shall see......

[Joe Lane]

Hi all,


I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it, but the 9 hole municipal golf course at Downers Grove, Illinois outside Chicago is the original site of the Chicago Golf Club, designed by C. B. Macdonald himself. To walk is around 20 bucks during the summer for non-residents: not only is it a part of golf history, but the design is of an amazingly high quality: really really fun to play, with incredible (for Illinois) elevation changes. I’d put it up against any course on here: if you’re in Chicago you really should go.


Joe

[Joe Lane]

Here is the website; the fees for 2016 will be $22 to walk nine—$12 for twilight!


http://www.dgparks.org/places-to-go/dg-golf-course

[Phil McDade]

Here is the website; the fees for 2016 will be $22 to walk nine—$12 for twilight!


http://www.dgparks.org/places-to-go/dg-golf-course

So, as the originator of this thread, I do feel compelled to uphold the firm criteria originally set out to find the best course for under $25 (now, somewhere midway through this thread, increased to $30 for inflation).


At a weekend rate of $24, plus a replay of $12, Downers Grove unfortunately falls beyond the reach of the original criteria.


However, I am convinced to make a one-time exception, given:


-- The historic, pre-1900 origins of the course, which means golfers are playing on some truly historic grounds;


-- That the course is located in the town of my birth   (OK, next-door Hinsdale, but my mother and father were living in Downers Grove at the time of my arrival here on Earth).


Accepted!

[Joe Lane]

Hey Phil,


Well, yes, it’s only 9 holes—but jeez, what holes! The first is an amazing start, the second and third incredible drops and climbs, the fourth a nasty doglegged drop, and the tee shot from the eighth—so long as you climb up to the top tee, which isn’t always open, is pretty incredible. I’m glad you think it counts, but I think you should emphasize the fact that it isn’t just that the holes are historic, it’s that they are still really quality holes.


Thanks!


Joe

[Lyndell Young]

Ill throw in The Bobby Weed redesign Deltona Club in Deltona Fl .Price usually under 25 with cart sometimes up to 27.Walking should be a good bit less. Exceptional bunkering and fun to play.

[Phil McDade]

Hey Phil,


Well, yes, it’s only 9 holes—but jeez, what holes! The first is an amazing start, the second and third incredible drops and climbs, the fourth a nasty doglegged drop, and the tee shot from the eighth—so long as you climb up to the top tee, which isn’t always open, is pretty incredible. I’m glad you think it counts, but I think you should emphasize the fact that it isn’t just that the holes are historic, it’s that they are still really quality holes.


Thanks!


Joe

Joe:


I've always wanted to get down to Downers Grove (I'm in Wisconsin -- not too far away) and play that course -- my Dad might have played many, many years ago when he was living in Downers Grove and working for the electric utility. I've always heard its a fun course.

[Roger Wolfe]

My three all time favorites...


Shenandoah Valley Golf Club in Front Royal, VA (hour west of DC) 27 holes in the Blue Ridge mountains.  Play all day.. over and over... until it gets too dark to see.


Preston Country Club in Kingwood, WV (hour SE of Morgantown).  Charming 18 hole course on the Cheat River.


Meadows Farms Golf Club in Locust Grove, VA (45 mins west of Fredericksburg).  Island greens, waterfalls, desert holes, Civil War cemetery holes, giant bulls wandering around. 850 yard par five.  27 holes of hilarity.

[Phil McDade]

Roger:


Please see the first post of this thread, reply #16, and -- for edification -- reply #38, which all provide, and add context to, the rather firm criteria for acceptance.


Preston is out, with a weekend rate well above the limits: http://www.prestoncountryclub.com/Membership-and-Rates.html


The same with Meadows Farms, at $40: http://www.meadowsfarmsgolfcourse.com/-rates


I am curious about Shenandoah Valley; its rate card doesn't list a flat rate of more than $30, but I am suspicious of a potentially mandatory cart fee on weekends, hinted at in this link:  http://www.shenandoahvalleygolfclub.com/rates/ If that's true, a weekend rate of $50 is woefully beyond the intent here.

[Stephen Northrup]

Shenandoah Valley is fun and hilly but walkable. I haven't played there in a long while but seem to recall a mandatory cart fee during weekend prime times, which is why I didn't play there more.


Apologies if it's been nominated already, but I'll put forward Valley View GC in Utica NY -- RTJ Sr. design. If you can survive "Cardiac Hill" #3, the front nine finishes strongly #7 thru #9, and #17 is a short par-5 with great views of the Mohawk Valley and a punchbowl green down the hill. #9 also has a punchbowl green -- has to be the only RTJ course with two punchbowl greens. It's 20 bucks to walk anytime.

[Blake Conant]

The Schoolhouse Nine in Sperryville, Virginia.  Designed by Mike McCartin in 2014.  $20 peak rate. 

[Garland Bayley]

Jawbone Creek - $22 for 18, $25 for all day.


http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,62391.0.html

[Dave Doxey]

Shenandoah Valley, while a great value, does charge $50 on weekend mornings.


The rate quoted for Schoolhouse Nine is for nine holes, eliminating that one.


I don't believe that a peak rate under $25 can be found within 100 miles of DC.  Under $75 is a good test here.

[Roger Wolfe]

Roger:


Please see the first post of this thread, reply #16, and -- for edification -- reply #38, which all provide, and add context to, the rather firm criteria for acceptance.


Preston is out, with a weekend rate well above the limits: http://www.prestoncountryclub.com/Membership-and-Rates.html


The same with Meadows Farms, at $40: http://www.meadowsfarmsgolfcourse.com/-rates


I am curious about Shenandoah Valley; its rate card doesn't list a flat rate of more than $30, but I am suspicious of a potentially mandatory cart fee on weekends, hinted at in this link:  http://www.shenandoahvalleygolfclub.com/rates/ If that's true, a weekend rate of $50 is woefully beyond the intent here.

Hi Phil,


My apologies.  I play Preston Tue-Thu in June every week after Father's Day and pay $50 for 36 holes.  The other two I haven't played since the late 1990's.  I just remember them all fondly as great, relatively cheap public golf experiences.  My memory is fading!  BTW... great thread!

[Blake Conant]

The rate quoted for Schoolhouse Nine is for nine holes, eliminating that one.

Replay is $10, so you're still getting 18 holes for $30.