Let me agree with Dan Herrman on this one... Metro Philly has the quantity, quality, and variety of courses that ought to mark any great golf town. We have the only club that I know of in the U.S. with courses created in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries at Philly Cricket. We have tracks plenty good enough to host a major like Merion and (IMO) Philadelphia Country Club, Huntingdon Valley, Aronomink, or Rolling Green. I live in Center City and I can be at Pine Valley's first tee in just over a half hour. The tour used to visit a classic George Thomas track at Whitemarsh Valley... and I'm hard pressed to understand why they don't visit Philly more frequently. How many golden age designers must a town have in order to be a "great golfing town"... Findlay, Tilly, Thomas, Wilson... We have municipal courses that suffer only because the city isn't rich but the design at Cobbs features an abundance of great architectural concepts and Walnut Lane could be our version of that place in New Orleans, Audubon, that I treasure... As for access to semi-private and public clubs, there's a range from the comfortable $25 walking on a weekend places that welcome juniors, seniors, and beginners. There are high end places like Bulle Rock, and Atlantic City (I can drive there in an hour). The First Tee program is developing a lot of city kids' games. Most clubs have strong juniors programs. My guide map of the section shows dozens of clubs within easy driving distance. I think "greatness" implies some great designs but it also connotes that the game is alive and appealing to a whole lot of locals. I think greatness has to span a significant time period. For me, greatness has a lot to do with the social aspect of the game... competitions and the ability to walk down to the first tee and be assured that there's an engaging game available. I've traveled a fair bit but I've not encountered a greater golf town anywhere. One draw back... as I write this note, the Philly courses are under a fairly uniform 30 inch blanket of snow.