Help me find a "golf" city to call home...

[d373rm1ned]

Brief history, I graduate next May (currently live in Illinois/Iowa) and want to move to a place in the US that I can golf year round. I am totally fed up with ice/snow and all that comes with it. I'm going into Physical Therapy and the job market is currently in high demand for our services pretty much country wide so finding a job shouldn't be overly difficult.

What I am looking for:

1) WARM weather!!! - must be able to golf year round (I don't mind those rounds in the 50s if they are only on occasion)
2) Golf courses - I don't need the biggest and best courses but would like several moderately priced courses/country clubs within a 30 minute drive
3) Moderate-Large city atmosphere
4) Professional/Collegiate sports team within an hour or so drive (no real preference on which teams but would just like a sports oriented city if possible)
5) Reasonable living costs (I'll be a fresh grad after all)
6) I prefer forest/lake covered courses over any type of mountain or desert course.

I'm sure I will think of a few more things I'm looking for but these are at the top of my list at the moment. I'm currently leaning towards the Texas or Southeastern US but just cannot decide where to even start looking for a possible place to live and work. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Jay-Bird]

Pinehurst, NC (or Winston Salem/Greensboro, Raleigh, or Charlotte)
Charleston, SC (2-2:30 from Myrtle Beach)
Orlando, FL (tons of lakes, tons of golf courses)
San Antonio, TX
Anywhere Coastal California. Maybe Huntington Beach?

[MPforthewin]

Well, I live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and I play year round. It gets hot as f*&^ in the summer, but it doesn't rain much so you don't have to worry about that. I think there are around 140 or so courses here in the metro area so theres plenty of places to play.

On a side note I am a Florida native and would suggest that over Texas. I lived In jax beach, about 15 miles north of TPC Sawgrass for 18 years and it was a wonderful place to live. Aside from your daily 4:30ish rain shower golf is played endlessly.

[Marinemike]

I recommend somewhere near Atlanta. Here's why.

1) Golf courses hanging out the ass. Flat, mountainy, watery, you name it, it's there. Hilly is the most popular. They have this one conglomerate I suppose you could call it called Cannongate that for somewhere around $1500/year you can play a massive number of courses they own. Some were private until they were recently bought up by Cannongate. The $30,000/year crowd were not happy with this at those courses!

2) Hospitals and doctors hanging out the ass. You'll have a job.

3) Decent cost of living. So many suburbs in so many price ranges you will find something perfect for you. Hell, Peachtree City has more miles of golf cart trail than road. Their high schools have student golf cart parking, I kid you not.

4) They also have the sports teams, decent night life, and good looking women.

5) 3 PGA Superstores and 3 Golfsmiths. You'll never not find a club (new or used), and you'll never have to wait for a hitting booth.

[PiKapp23]

I think another good option is Columbia, SC. It's not a huge metro by any means but it has everything you're looking for. There are a lot of nice courses in the area and many are very reasonably priced. Plus Myrtle Beach is not far away (around 100 courses). Add to that Santee, SC, Charlotte and Pinehurst are all within a reasonable driver for weekend/vacation day golf. Columbia has good weather, but is not so close to coast that you get all the bad weather, plus it's easy to get to just about anyplace on East Coast due to the Interstates.

[Scrape-o-TheClown]

Pinehurst, NC (or Winston Salem/Greensboro, Raleigh, or Charlotte)

I have lived in both Pinehurst and Charleston and they are both incredible.

Charleston has Kiawah, Wild Dunes, Bullls Bay and many other golf courses. Pinehurst in my mind is the golf heaven. You have so many option in Pinehurst, but keep in mind you will have some days in the upper 30's and low 40's contrary to popular belief we have relatively cold winters here in NC. Another thing to remeber is the cost of licing in Charleston is alot higher than most people think.

[CarlSpackler]

Any place other than Ohio. Don't get me wrong, it is great for 9 months out of the year. If I had my choice, I would live here in the spring-fall but head south for the winter. At least my company has plants in south Alabama and right across the border in Mexico which allows me to get a few rounds in during the winter months, but bermuda greens and fairways drive me insane.

[shankapotamus]

If it wasn't for weather I would suggest Ohio, but you can only golf for 7-9 months :(

[David in FL]

Sounds like I'm pitching my home town, but you just described the Central Florida/Orlando perfectly.

I live just outside of Orlando in Lake Mary. Money magazine ranked it #4 of their top 100 places to live in 2007. Not too shabby.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/...oneymag/4.html

BTW, housing prices have fallen significantly since this article. No state income tax either!

[alf174]

I think another good option is Columbia, SC.

I work there often (next week as a matter of fact) and this place is absolutely brutal in the summer to the point I can't even get the natives out to play golf; humidity is very high and the area doesn't get any relief from a coastal breeze. Winter time gets an occasional ice storm. I played there a couple of weeks ago and the greens had not yet recovered from a burn out last summer. I would try to get closer to the coast; MB, Charleston, Savannah, and southward.

[CarlSpackler]

If it wasn't for weather I would suggest Ohio, but you can only golf for 7-9 months :(

The and the overly crappy economy where jobs are very sparse, especially in Dayton.

[Azprobe]

No Phoenix love? Golf year round, moderately large city with professional sports teams (well, can the Diamondbacks be considered professional sports?) ... cheap housing these days...

[amcquay]

No Phoenix love? Golf year round, moderately large city with professional sports teams (well, can the Diamondbacks be considered professional sports?) ... cheap housing these days...

Do many people play in the 110+ degree weather in the summers? I've heard the TPC course there is pretty cheap during the summer months to encourage people to come out.

[RocketSauce]

i would recommend the Scottsdale/Phoenix area as well. yeah it gets hot there, but its not humid like it is in the Orlando area during the summer. It gets so hot and humid in Central Florida during the mid summer months that its hard to breath, lol. i end up playing 18 holes with a cold towel wrapped around my neck between shots for most of the round. but, you can definitely golf year round for sure. if you can take the heat and humidity, central Florida is great. if you dont like the humidity, Scottsdale/Phoenix is a great place to play year round. personally i think it gets too cold up in the NC/SC areas during the winter (for me anyway)

[AmenCorner]

I live in Ft. Lauderdale now, and I wouldn't recommend here or the Miami area. I wouldn't recommend Southwest Florida either. I would however tell you to consider West Palm Beach. Young population, plenty of medical jobs, and tons of good golf and pretty ladies, and of course the beach.

I have also lived in Texas and would recommend Austin. You will never meet someone who lived in Austin that didn't absolutely love it, and I'm talking about folks of all ages. Great golf, hill country, young people, career choices, on and on. I would recommend that over Dallas or Houston, both places I've lived. Atlanta is cool but probably cold in the winter.

Honestly, I've also been hearing a lot about Alabama. It's a high growth state and we know that the golf is great. Just look at the RTJ trail. Tons of options, I long to be in your shoes! Good luck!

[becksfan2185]

There's a reason Central/Southern California is so expensive... becasue it's so damn nice out here!! Not to say other places aren't nice, but you can't beat the climate. It's warm, but doesn't get too hot in the summer. And it's one of the few places in the States that isn't humid at all. There's a big difference between 85* here and 85* on the East Coast or in the South.

[RC]

Finding my "retirement area" was pretty simple -- I looked all over, but really already knew where I wanted to be:

1. Easy lifestyle in a relatively low cost, stable economic area
2. Year-around golf on good courses (except for rare bad weather conditions)
3. Fast bent grass greens (no burmuda, no Poanna greens)

I liked the weather slightly north of San Diego/LaJolla, but the grasses did not like my putter. I liked Florida, but not the grainy greens, and the humidity was pretty high in summer. Arizona would have worked, but, ah, North Central Texas. Just right -- trade off is summer can be hot, but humidity is not so high so that's OK.

[Guinness23]

Look at Lexington, Kentucky. I moved from Michigan for similiar reasons. Golf is plentiful, has variety, and is cheap. Cost of living is very good down here. Lexington is a moderate sized city and has a pretty good feel. Do not confuse it for a big city though. You have U of K and Cincinnatti is an hour away. The weather is quite good. There is not a month you cannot golf, although December and January will be a bit more spotty. Gives you a small break though and if you can handle golfing in marginal weather you will have no problem. Not perfect, but a pretty darn good place for a golfer. One big benefit is Lexington is off I75. 5 hours on the highway get you close to Chicago, in Detroit, outside of Atlanta and many other places. It is about as centrally located as you can get. Good luck!