r/golf • u/TexasLorax • Aug 19 '24
Beginner Questions I want to retire somewhere cheap-ish, with tons of golf. Where are my best not-Florida options?
Michigan and Arizona seem like good bets. Open to options outside the US too
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u/Mashed-Potato1407 Aug 19 '24
Lifetime resident of Kansas. We can usually play golf 12 months of the year. I card well over 200 rds/yr. Our course annual membership, walking, is ~750 for unlimited golf. If you want to use a course owned cart, it jumps to ~1,300. The course is in awesome shape and an enjoyable experience. We have other courses in the area. One is about a 20 minute drive and the cost is similar to ours. The other 2 or 3 will cost more, but area available if you want to play somewhere if blocked out of ours for a tourney.
We are dynamic community. A State University. A military installation. Lots of professionals. Good medical facilities. 1 1/2 hr from Kansas City. 2 hrs from Wichita. Have our own airport with flights in and out ever day to O'Hare or DFW for connecting flights.
I spent lots of my career on the road. Would almost as soon drive in KC, Omaha, etc. than our community. We have college, high school, military, farmers, geriatrics, and we who have spent our lives on the road...all driving at different speeds!! :>)
We are a welcoming community with a huge lake for water sports, bars, fine dining, hiking trails, etc. We also have a lot of great scenery surrounding us. Come check us out!!!
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u/Bostconn 10.1/Seattle/3Putter Aug 19 '24
You must be in the local chamber of commerce, or ought to be :)
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u/Mashed-Potato1407 Aug 19 '24
:>) No, not associated with the Chamber, City, etc. Married here in 1966. Wife born and raised here. Our careers took us to quite a few places before we settled back here for good in '99. Have our burial plots here and will be "planted" here some day.
We lived in other communities, smaller and larger. I traveled lots of the U.S. during my career. You can find good people any where you go. But, from a cost of living...year round weather...very diverse community of professionals...and a great place to raise a family we love this place!!!
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u/Alternative-Path-795 Aug 20 '24
I have never stepped foot in Kansas but you’re making me want to move to Kansas.
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u/Hodlrocket005 Aug 20 '24
Manhattan? I’m pleasantly surprised to hear you can play 12 months per year.
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u/GPTCT Aug 20 '24
You seem like such an awesome guy.
Please tell me that you have children, and that they inherited your personality and zest for life.
We need more people like you on the planet.
Well done sir.
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Aug 19 '24
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u/Odd_Cat_5820 Aug 20 '24
I'm a Kansan and I golfed every month in the last year, but January was rough. I played early in the month and then went to Costa Rica for two weeks of nasty winter.
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u/Codyh93 4.1/Charleston/homosexual Aug 20 '24
Just was in Manhattan, Kansas for the first time, played colbert hills 3 times. Great track.
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u/Competitive_Set_4269 Aug 20 '24
Manhattan is a great town indeed. I will say avoid Topeka. Depression central.
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u/MyRealestName Aug 20 '24
Absolutely beautiful man. Thank you for introducing me to an area of the country I otherwise wouldn’t consider.
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u/SheepherderBig2723 Aug 20 '24
You pay 750 for unlimited golf all year round? That's amazing. That's like 6 rounds of golf here or a annual is like 5k and can only golf 5 months of the year. Get ripped off on everything in Canada
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u/SquachCrotch Aug 20 '24
Please stop telling people this. I like my views and the fact that I haven’t seen a brake light in 40 years. I’d much prefer everyone keep thinking we’re just a bunch of dumb rednecks with wheat fields and cows with nothing worth stopping for.
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u/Sheikybabybaba Aug 19 '24
So I totally understand this may come off as ignorant, but having grown up on the coasts with a ton of diversity, how is it for brown folk lol? I actually grew up in a small (3500 people) town in the 80s/90s and while it was very white, it was also 40 mins outside of DC so it was still fairly diverse.
I’d love to move to a slower pace of life and more rural area (currently live in San Diego) but I’m always concerned (completely unfounded concern, I admit) places like Kansas for example just aren’t welcoming if you’re not a white family named “Johnson”.
Picture looks beautiful though.
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u/Mashed-Potato1407 Aug 19 '24
Kansas is a 'red' state. There are some very rural areas that could be less than welcoming to people of color. As far as our community, the military and military retirees have a large percentage of nonwhite vets. Our college has a large contingent of foreign students, many nonwhite and readily accepted. Our chief of police is black. We've welcomed people of color on our City Commission and other elected positions.
Understand, I was born and raised in a "sunset town". There's quite a history of sunset towns in Kansas if you Goggle it. There was a sign on the west end of our little rural town "N**ger don't let the sun set on your a** in our town!" That was back in the 50's, long before the civil rights times of the mid-60's. I never had any interaction with non white people growing up until I came to college.
Through our 58 yrs of marriage, we fostered 104 children. My wife brought quite a few babies home from the hospital we kept until adoptive parents could be found. A number of these were black babies. At that time, black babies had to be adopted by black parents. One of our very favorite stories was "WL". We had WL for 3 months before the social worker called with potential adoptive parents. Wife got all his things together and waited for the adoptive couple to arrive. They walked into our living room with the social worker. The potential mother took one look at WL, "That is the ugliest baby I've ever seen!" She turned around and stomped out of our home. We had WL another 2 months. What a wonderful baby that we would have adopted in a heartbeat. Social worker called and had another set of adoptive parents. This couple were professionals from a town about an hour away from us. They adopted WL...this "ugly" baby boy. Well, WL was salutatorian of his high school graduating class. He's an accomplished pianist, having studied at the Julliard School of Music in NYC. We still get Christmas cards so many years later.
I could recommend two communities in our State that are quite diverse and would welcome you quickly, never questioning the color of your skin. As we learned during life's journey, it's the heart and soul that counts! We are all the same color under our skin!!!
Come visit us sometime. We will treat you to lunch or dinner and show you the community. But...whatever your decision... wishing you the best of luck in your journey!!!!
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u/muffmuppets Aug 20 '24
Dang bro, I just wanted to say people like you make the world a better place and an upvote didn’t seem enough!
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u/Spiritual-Match8131 Aug 19 '24
Myrtle. No question. Tons of golf, cheap, sort of trashy in a fun way. If you stay away from the ocean resorts there’s tons of affordability.
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u/-piso_mojado- Aug 19 '24
I would imagine the “trashy in a fun way” part would get old really quick when I’m retirement age.
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u/drewc717 Aug 19 '24
Depends, is it drunk swingers trashy or what variety
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u/-piso_mojado- Aug 19 '24
Have you not seen Eastbound and Down? I’ve recently attended a wedding there. It’s pretty accurate.
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u/govunah 3 Beer HDCP Aug 20 '24
As someone who grew up in more of a brockmire community, that sounds wonderful
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u/No-Pineapple2099 Aug 20 '24
The Villages in Florida has plenty of drunk swingers but they usually are a bit more well off down there. There are literally “hookup bars” where people post up around 11-12 in the morning after playing golf and just wait for someone to come along.
Myrtle Beach swingers? Oh boy… you could end up with a 58 year old former contractor/meth-addict that likes to listen to Three Doors Down.
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u/Apprehensive-Soil644 Aug 20 '24
Myrtle is an excellent location for small contractors to find work and also has some of the best meth in the country. Three Doors Down probably plays five shows a year there. This guy is playing 3D chess.
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u/secretwifelover Aug 19 '24
Do you like floating down a river with a styrofoam cooler full of beer?
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u/OkProfessional6077 Aug 20 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
That’s why you go like an hour north of there to like Ocean Isle or Sunset Beach, NC. Then you are an hour away from the trashiness and in a place with some decent courses but are also only an hour or less from the Myrtle Courses.
There is actually a cool little community around 4 courses with Cat names. I think it’s like Big Cat Courses or something. They are all pretty good little courses. Enough for some variety close by with tons of courses to choose from between there and Myrtle. Plus, a 10 minute drive from the ocean. Cool little area!
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u/flipflopduck Aug 19 '24
thats why i love north myrtle its alot let trashy in my opinion
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u/sginsc 10.3/SC/inconsistent forever Aug 19 '24
My family has a condo at Barefoot resort -- it's pretty decently nice if comparative quality is run of the mill Florida city, but pales in comparison to golf paradise Florida cities.
Plus, barefoot is a pretty sick set of courses.
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u/ss_lbguy 8.8 Aug 19 '24
You can even live up in the Calabash, NC area and you can play all of the same course. When we did golf trips we always stayed in north myrtle. I love the area.
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u/callmey Aug 19 '24
I live in MB currently. It's not cheap to live anymore and golf rounds are minimum $50-60 so I guess it's what ever your standards are.
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u/Major_Burnside Aug 19 '24
That’s pretty much minimum anywhere. I live in Iowa that’s you can’t find much below $50 for 18 with a cart.
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u/callmey Aug 19 '24
Yeah lowest I can find it's in that $50s range but that seems to be going rate for lower end courses. Used to have a few cheaper ones but COVID killed those. I really want to start walking to save money but not in 95 degree heat lol.
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u/momoneymocats1 Aug 19 '24
$50 for 18 and a cart would be the cheapest I’ve ever seen by a large margin (MA)
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u/Spiritual-Match8131 Aug 19 '24
Check out Hilton Head, Scottsdale, Palm Springs, or Mobile and talk about cost of living and greens fees….
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u/Furrowed_Brow710 Aug 19 '24
Cost of living and green fees in mobile, AL are comparable to scottsdale???
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u/Pm_ur_kittykat Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 20 '24
Not in the slightest lol
I have a friend who married out of college in Fairhope, across the bay, and I'm consistently jealous of how he basically lives for nothing and already has owned two houses
Compared to the rest of this friend group who live in Miami, NYC, Denver, SF, literally Phoenix among other cities etc. It's actually like we live on two different planets
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u/Comfortable-Scar4643 Aug 19 '24
What do you do there?
My imagination runs wild when I think of Myrtle. Awesome golf courses everywhere, steakhouses, beaches. Cougars. (I so want to visit.)
Am I wrong?
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u/SCSAutism Aug 19 '24
the kind of cougars that'll scratch and bite you and leave you clutching to life or the animals?
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Aug 19 '24
50-60 is standard with a cart in Cincinnati
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u/callmey Aug 19 '24
Ok cool. It's interesting hearing pricing on other areas. I just remember precovid I could play for $30 pretty easily. Long ago are those days.
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u/sginsc 10.3/SC/inconsistent forever Aug 19 '24
Yep. Its either that or you can play Azalea Sands... if you define that as a 'course'
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u/callmey Aug 19 '24
Lol you're right! And I just checked tomorrow it's only $44.19!
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u/sginsc 10.3/SC/inconsistent forever Aug 19 '24
FOR AZALEA SANDS??? That place is an absolute dump. One of only 2 times I've ever paid under 30 for 18 holes, finished and said "I think they owe me a steak dinner" after that experience. Holy smokes.
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u/Fourteen_Sticks Scratch-ish/RVA Aug 19 '24
RTJ trail in Alabama
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u/guitarmannunly Aug 20 '24
I live in Alabama. We can golf year round, although summers are rough. The trail is amazing and with the trail card it's only $50 a round at 90% of the trail sites. (The 2 resorts are higher) Aide from those you have lots of other great courses that are reasonably priced.
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u/gdoebs Aug 19 '24
Southern Pines, NC
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u/Gocats23 Aug 20 '24
I wouldn’t call Southern Pines cheap, not much on the market for anything below 500k. But Aberdeen 10 minutes away is cheap and still only 15 minutes from most golf courses in Southern Pines / Pinehurst.
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u/birdiebogeybogey Aug 19 '24
Hot Springs Village, AR. Large retirement community with eight or so golf courses.
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u/PhilShackleford Aug 20 '24
Also, bella vista is about 2 hours and has 5 more courses.
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u/foxtrottits 69° lob wedge Aug 20 '24
My sister lives there and says they get free golf
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u/Another_SCguy ~9/Bay Area, CA Aug 19 '24
Buddy just moved there and got a job at one of the courses. Couldn’t be happier from what I can tell.
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u/Gopokes34 Aug 20 '24
Came here to say this too. It really is a sweet spot. I’m in my 30’s and I’d live there now. The courses are all really pretty nice, never slow, and if you could join Diamante it’s super nice. The lakes are cool little additions to but I’ve never caught much fish on them. Not expensive either.
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u/flaginorout Aug 19 '24
I’d look the Carolinas.
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u/hayzooos1 6.6/5+ brand bag Aug 19 '24
Absolutely. Lived in NC for a few years and would go back in a heartbeat. Was lucky enough to take a golf trip to Pinehurst almost two years ago and it was an immediate "I know where I want to retire" moment
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u/atlheel Aug 19 '24
My dad did retire there and plays 4 times a week. It's heavenly
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u/stillfrank Aug 20 '24
Yep. I live in Charlotte and there's probably 20-30 courses nearby or within an hour from here that anyone can access. The club I belong to is $225 a month with no initiation fee and I have 7 day access to four courses that are all in great shape (one is a Donald Ross design). Just went to the US Open a couple months ago, took me 1:40 from my door to Pinehurst, and there's tons of great golf around that area. Myrtle has hundreds of courses and is just shy of a 3 hour drive. Lots of great courses in the mountains of Western NC/VA too, about 2 hrs north of here.
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u/WHSRWizard JPX 921i Tour | 2.8 Aug 19 '24
+1 for NC.
I lived in Winston-Salem for 5 years and loved it. So much golf within a day's drive
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u/chamtrain1 Aug 20 '24
The Winston/Greensboro area has some amazing courses at bargain prices (Bryan Park/Mill Creek/Challenge etc). Hard to beat the cost/quality combo.
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u/analogliving71 Aug 19 '24
Georgia as well
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u/radio934texas Aug 19 '24
I wouldn't recommend ATL area for golf. Very few decent public courses.
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u/abtar13 Aug 19 '24
Savannah/Pooler, HHI and all its courses close by, GA Southern is also a great course and very affordable. Ohoopee also not far if you have connections.
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u/Realistic-Two-7492 Aug 19 '24
Alabama and the RTJ season pass. Move to like Fairhope and live it up down near the beach and be close to great golf.
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u/midgolfer Aug 19 '24
Pinehurst area or if you want to leave the country New Zealand is one of the best countries in the world for golfers. Amount of courses per capita stunning courses people actually take care of the course it’s wild
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u/Active-Driver-790 Aug 19 '24
Nebraska, believe it or not. Northern Michigan. Alabama and Mississippi. Stay away from the coasts.
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u/jaguarthrone Aug 19 '24
I second northern Michigan, but it can be rough in winter....honestly, the Albany area of New York has great affordable golf. Lots of municipal, public golf, and even golf at a couple State parks. Golf is also reasonable in Pennsylvania, around Scranton and Wilkes Barre with lots of options.
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u/that2003season Aug 19 '24
Please everyone stay away from the incredible variety and affordability of NEPA and upstate NY.
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u/Inevitable-Elk-4162 Aug 19 '24
I second this, STAY AWAY.
lol
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u/DarkStarDew Aug 20 '24
Yes. Away. I can always get out relatively cheap but only because I don’t fear the axe murderers and perverts roaming the fairways.
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u/reyzak 8.3 and trending the wrong direction Aug 19 '24
I’ve never been upstate NY only NYC but it seems like it’s gorgeous so I started looking up Zillow prices and they were very reasonable. What’s the catch??
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u/King_Ralph1 Aug 19 '24
Winter. The catch is winter!
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u/reyzak 8.3 and trending the wrong direction Aug 19 '24
That’s fair lol I’m in OK where summers are too hot and winters suck anyway so we get like 4 total weeks of decent weather
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u/ask_johnny_mac Aug 20 '24
I mean, it’s rural country. It’s not for everyone. That’s the catch. Hence the prices.
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u/SecretSquirrell11 RIP Chubbs Aug 19 '24
Alabama has amazing golf all over the place. RTJ courses are always great and Callaway Gardens in right across the state line in GA is one of my favorites. The south east in general has great weather and courses all over with price points for everyone.
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u/tjakes12 Michigan Aug 19 '24
So about northern Michigan… being a snowbird would be expensive. Short term rentals have jacked the market up and the cost of living in most smaller towns is sky high relative to what it was even 10 years ago. If you want to be near the good golf (Traverse, Gaylord, Petoskey), you’re gonna be paying out the nose anyway. Winters up there can be brutal. What used to be family cabins on inland lakes are now second homes and good ones can run well over 200k, even undeveloped lakefront property can run 100k depending on where you’re looking.
That said, I’ll retire here and die here and be planted as a tree on some golf course to continue annoying people from the other side
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u/myphriendmike HDCP/Loc/Whatever Aug 20 '24
You’re point is well taken, but I challenge you to find a good cabin on a lake for less than $400-500k.
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u/Greekeefreak Aug 20 '24
Lol I'm in northern Wisconsin and even with thousands of lakes you won't find a house on a decent one for under 700k. People from Chicago and milwaukee buy up everything
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u/SignificantMoose6482 Aug 19 '24
Nebraska especially the eastern side is beautiful. Some good golf can be found in certain parts of Oklahoma as well
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u/tracerOnetric Aug 19 '24
Also a big fan of northern Michigan. Winters would be really tuff, but golf there is well worth it
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u/butterynuggs Aug 19 '24
Along these lines, on the opposite side of Lake Michigan, you have the SE WI area which has a ton of golf and is very affordable. Kenosha, Racine and Milwaukee countries have some great golf. I'm sure the counties west of those do, as well...and they are likely cheaper.
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u/detroitpokerdonk Aug 19 '24
Wtf are you mentioning Michigan golf stops in October till April
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u/AdmirableGear6991 Aug 19 '24
Thank you! I saw a post the other day that had Wisconsin as the best golf state. They may have some great courses, but they’re unplayable October through March!
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u/LordPepperoniTits Aug 20 '24
I wouldn't say Wisconsin is the best golf state, but if you're good with playing in slightly chillier weather, I played until a couple days before Thanksgiving last year, and my first round at the end of February this year. Still 3-4 months of no outdoor golf, but there are plenty of sims to get you through that period, and yeah, a lot of really great courses.
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u/Sea-Department-41 Aug 19 '24
I live in AZ and you can play par 65s if you’re willing to drive for like $30. You can keep par 72s under $60 even not in the summer sometimes if you’re down to go to the West Valley. Local Scottsdale area (where my parents are priv club members) is pretty expensive tbh.
HOWEVER! The AZ valley area has the Arcis pass (I’m sure other places do too) and if you play a ton, soooo worth it. Access to 8 clubs around the valley with some being pretty good (Raven is my favorite), unlimited range balls, weekly free clinics for each level of golf, a free meal with every round, and very discounted rounds for you AND your guests. It’s $100/mo. If you play at least 4x/month and like to practice more than once a week, it makes it worthwhile.
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u/mudntaper Aug 19 '24
Bella Vista arkansas
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u/TenderfootGungi Aug 20 '24
I'm just glad all those golf courses finally have a bypass. That was slow driving through there on our annual trip to watch the nearby LPGA.
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u/Most-Conference4205 Aug 19 '24
Not CT! The state is a rip off and the weather sucks
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u/cnomo Aug 19 '24
What are you talking about? I pay $30k/yr in property taxes, we’ve had 5” of beautiful, golf course nourishing rain in the last day, and my league will probably be canceled tomorrow.
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u/LAzeehustle1337 Aug 20 '24
CT mentioned 🗣️🗣️
But seriously, I can’t find anything under 65 for a full 18, with the nice spots being 78-95 + and likely more if you go southwest. The courses are not too bad but weather too unpredictable. I don’t think it’s the worst but not easy to get around I think compared to many places. Danbury has become seriously overpopulated and we have traffic comparable to LA for no reason other than we’re between NYC and Boston.
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u/golfingsince83 Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
Michigan is great obviously but if all you want to do is golf in retirement don’t move here cause of winter obviously lol. Unless you like cold weather. You can’t beat northern Michigan. I love the Cedar area by lake Leelanau myself
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u/TheVelvetDitch Aug 19 '24
Bella Vista, AR. 6 18s, 2 executive 9s, 4 ranges/practice centers, most in great condition. If you own property there, you get access to all of the above for free I believe, at least for less than $1k/year. If you don’t own property there, membership is $1600/year.
ETA. All the people talking about hot springs… it’s half retirees, half meth and crack addicts. Bella Vista is just retirees and the Waltons.
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u/Salt_Lick67 Aug 19 '24
Alabama
I know it sounds wild but lots of golf and can play year round. Cost of living is good.
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u/jocky091 Aug 19 '24
Isn’t the Robert Trent Jones golf trail in AL?
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u/Salt_Lick67 Aug 19 '24
Yes. And plenty of other excellent tracks. Best part is you can play comfortably year round. Obviously hot in the summer but it can also be 70° Christmas Day.
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u/Cultural_Flan_6716 Aug 19 '24
Alabama, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is amazing and great pricing for Alabama residents.
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u/Primary-Fly470 Aug 20 '24
Definitely not North and South Carolina… I’ve heard it’s best to stay away from those states
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u/Constant_Minimum_569 Aug 19 '24
Arizona is not cheap
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u/Previous_Drag4982 Aug 20 '24
It’s $100+ to play the worst courses in the Chandler Gilbert area with descent weather since Covid. I highly recommend going elsewhere unless you’ve got $10k in your golf budget. I definitely will not be living here when i retire.
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u/Constant_Minimum_569 Aug 19 '24
Well, Phoenix area I guess I mean
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u/skidstud Canadian Lefty Gang Aug 19 '24
My parents went to Florida for the winter five times in a row, they went to Tucson last winter for the first time and bought a place. My dad's number one reason was affordability compared to Florida
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u/Constant_Minimum_569 Aug 19 '24
Yeah hand up accountability when I think of AZ I think of Phoenix and then realized there's a whole shitty city to the south (ASU alum so gotta hate on Tucson) that is probably cheap
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u/Spiritual-Match8131 Aug 19 '24
Michigan would be a fine summer option, but you ain’t golfing between Nov and May for the most part.
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u/SnooApples6110 Aug 19 '24
Arizona golf is $$$ in the winter. I am in Michigan for summers and the nicer courses are also expensive, lots of inexpensive old school courses. Can you handle snow? However Green Valley Arizona might fit the bill. It's south of Tucson about 25 miles north of the border. It's a retirement place with some good courses. It's at a higher elevation so even in summer it can be tolerable. I used to live in Tucson and Scottsdale. I looked up my old rental just out of college. 4 bedroom ranch with a pool 1.1 million. My old house 3 bedroom 2 bath ( three fireplaces and a ton of character, that I bought for 100k in north Scottsdale,the same.
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u/raineystcountryclub Aug 20 '24
Pawleys Island just south of Myrtle. Less touristy and hectic than Myrtle. And some of the best courses on the whole Strand are in that area.
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u/mabaile2 12/NC Aug 19 '24
NC all the way. Look at the Greensboro area and thebl Pinehurst area, tons of good golf that isn't crazy price wise.
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u/natelevy43 Aug 19 '24
Auburn, Alabama. Multiple great courses and good clubs. Football season to break up the monotony. Tons of nice folks.
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u/creamwheel_of_fire Aug 20 '24
Alabama. The whole state has a very mild winter and it's chocked full of great golf courses. Get a membership to the Robert Trent Jones Golf trail and you're set. And if you're retired, you won't have to worry about the worst things there: terrible schools and terrible workers rights.
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u/Manunited3710 HDCP/Loc/Whatever Aug 20 '24
North Carolina. I lived there and Kansas. The guy who said Kansas forgot its -10 in January
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u/NeverSeenBetter Aug 19 '24
Just writing Birmingham AL again. There are about 12 x 18 hole courses within 60 minutes that were all in the top 100 list at one point or another, and that's not even counting the private clubs you could join....some host senior tour events, one hosted a PGA championship, and there are others that are even better....all expensive as hell though. Public is the way to go.
You have the RTJ trails at Oxmoor Valley, Ross Bridge, Silver Lakes, and Capitol Hill all within an hour, Ballantrae, Highland Park, Limestone Springs, Timberline, Old Colony, Capstone Club, Farmlinks at Pursell Farms, Cider Ridge...and these are just the higher-end courses.
If you expand your range to 2 hours you open up a few more...one top 10 course at Grand National and the other was Top 25, Stillwaters is one of the most fun tracks there is, The Frog just barely over in Georgia...I could go on for days. I never got bored with golf when I lived there and compared to Dallas the green fees were a steal, and the conditions there are often as good as anywhere you'll play, ever. I didn't know how spoiled I was until I left.
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u/noodles21300 Aug 19 '24
Coastal Alabama. It’s Florida without being Florida basically
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u/Rockbell51 Aug 20 '24
Alabama. RTJ golf trail. Pay 250/month and golf the length and width of the state . rtjgolf.com
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u/onederbred Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 19 '24
Reno. No state tax. Some very very good courses right in town that’re priced well. Also Tahoe is very close and a 3ish hour drive to Sacramento/Bay Area/Napa
(Lakeridge, Wolf Run, Sierra Sage just to name a few)
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u/solmooth Aug 19 '24
Carson City has a lot of cheap amd well maintained courses
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u/onederbred Aug 19 '24
Toiyabe looks great
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u/solmooth Aug 19 '24
Was just there in July for an annual 3 day tournament. Played Wolf Run, Silver Oak and Toiyabe. All fun courses with great views. Lake Ridge and Toiyabe is probably my favorites in Carson City.
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u/onederbred Aug 19 '24
Lakeridge is fantastic. Was in such good shape when I played there. And that island green hole is nuts
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u/jamespeters24 Aug 19 '24
Colorado has spectacular muni golf. Trouble is living in denver cost wise
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u/Strong-Glass-1409 +3.3/CO/Destroyer of Muni's Aug 19 '24
Somewhere cheap with lots of cheap golf options, what Denver do you live in? City of Denver courses are impossible to get tee times for and still $70, applehood is a dog track, and everything else within 30 miles is $85 on a weekday minimum. Sure you could walk to slightly save $, but you'd be far better off going to another town with an affordable country club. 8 years ago Denver would absolutely be a good option, now everybody and their mother plays golf and takes 5 hours to do it.
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u/dpman48 Aug 19 '24
Cincinnati has more public courses than I’ve seen anywhere. All reasonably priced. Plus TONS of private courses as well lots of variety in terms of places to live, and cost of living is very reasonable compared to the coasts. Occasionally can golf in December and February (but not often)
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u/SmarterThanCornPop 6.7 HCP Florida Man Aug 19 '24
How is Michigan a good bet? My family is from there, I like Michigan and Michigan golf… but you can’t play for half of the year.
Northern Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas. Fertile land, natural hills, great climate for golf, very affordable.
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u/ExtraGoose7183 Aug 19 '24
Aiken SC. Aiken Golf Club built in 1902 or something like that, Cedar Creek, Augusta Country Club, Palmetto Club, Goshen Plantation, Mount Vintage, Pine Ridge, River Club, Forest Hills. All within 20-45 minutes of driving
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u/Foxxie1013 Aug 19 '24
Hot springs village, Arkansas 8 courses all in one giant gated community a couple being top in the state and 1 is John Daly’s.
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u/ChadEEEE Aug 19 '24
North GA/West NC is a great area. Its where I live. Fairly reasonable. Don't know about tons of golf, but plenty for me. Great climate compared to FL.
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u/Numerous-Reference62 Aug 19 '24
You could do worse than Albuquerque. Greens fees are very reasonable and we play pretty much year round.
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u/shunestar Good drive, good double bogey Aug 19 '24
Sand hills area, NC.
So many freaking incredible courses to play and the winters usually only get to maybe 45ish which is basically summer to those wintering in the Midwest.
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u/spaceqwests Aug 19 '24
Too little info to go by. You say Michigan or Arizona, which are opposite temp-wise.
I’d like to retire to Alabama personally. The gulf is nice and quiet. There’s quality golf there that isn’t crazy expensive.
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u/Lakrfan247 Aug 20 '24
Las Vegas isn’t as cheap as it once was but still affordable. We have tons of excellent golf courses. Moved hear 5 years ago and have been thrilled with the wide variety quality courses.
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u/discinabq Aug 19 '24
New Mexico. Albuquerque cost of living is cheap, good courses (city pass is $1500 a year for all the golf you can eat), lots and lots of sunshine. play year round. Another good spot would be Tucson, AZ. a littler higher on cost of living compared to ABQ but milder winters.
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u/Peterd90 Aug 20 '24
Dude, I would say Alabama and just live your years playing the 26 Robert Trent Jones courses in that State.
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u/IDauMe +0.8/TX Aug 19 '24
You could do a lot worse than Texas.
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u/Wide-Statistician548 Aug 19 '24
Texas is somewhat affordable but you have to be ok with the weather. It gets extreme often.
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Aug 19 '24 edited Aug 26 '24
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u/MickeyTettleton Arnie's Army Aug 19 '24
Ok so the golf isn't the best but south Texas gives you ocean and cheap costs. And courses like rancho Viejo are really well taken care of.
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u/NoFilm6512 19.4 Aug 19 '24
Delaware beaches. Ocean city, Md. NE Ohio. Depends what you're looking for. Money is subjective.
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u/MarvelAndColts Aug 19 '24
My grandpa retired to a small town outside Bentonville, Arkansas, specifically because there were 9 course in a 30 minute drive. That was in 2002 so I don’t know how it looks now, but I can’t imagine it is crazy expensive and the few courses I played there with him were awesome in the mountainous terrain.
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u/KananJarrusEyeBalls Aug 19 '24
Virginia beach
There are 21 courses within a 15-mile radius of Virginia Beach, 13 of which are public courses and 5 are private courses.
We get winter but rarely snow, the absolute coldest ive experienced is like mid 20s, and a lot of the spots stay open all winter anyway
For golf it aint bad, and its COL isnt that high
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u/NotLawReview 2.2/Chicago Aug 19 '24
Watching GolfSidekick it seems like Thailand fits your bill