While destination golf courses have been a huge benefactor of the recent golf boom, lower cost and accessible public and municipal courses seem to be laggards in this resurgence.
Mike,
With peace and love, this is not true at all. Municipal golf courses across the country have received a big shot in the arm in the last decade-plus. There are dozens of lower-cost, accessible municipal courses that have received significant investment from their towns/cities/counties, as well as some private funding in certain cases. These projects range from things like resurfaced greens and improved irrigation/drainage to total overhauls.
Traveling golfers should look at America's best municipal golf courses as "destination golf courses." To look down on them is to perpetuate the terrible myth that the less expensive a golf course is, the less worthy it is. In fact, the opposite is true.
For example, I would say in no uncertain terms that any golf trip to the Charleston, S.C. area that does not include at least one round at the Muni is a failure. The fact that you could play eight rounds at Muni for what it costs to play one at The Ocean Course makes Muni the more important and impressive golf place. I'm not denigrating The Ocean Course here, but rather seeking to put it in a context that helps golf battle stereotypes that need to die.
Hartford, CT is no one's idea of a golf destination. But if you were to find a nice AirBNB for a few days and play two rounds each at Keney Park and Wintonbury Hills, not only would you end up playing better and more interesting golf courses than if you had gone to any number of golf resorts, but you would also engage with your destination in a much realer way. Oh, and you would save hundreds of dollars in the process.
I have been incredibly fortunate to play golf at some very nice resorts and a few excellent private clubs in recent years, but the experiences that have excited me the most about golf and its future have revolved around courses where almost anyone can play, rather than the ones almost no one can afford.
I can't wait to see what Mike comes up with at Warmouth Sands.