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JULY 26, 2004
Hunting For Golf Heaven Our expert scoured the nation to match up quality of life with quality of links With the explosion in golf courses over the past 15 years, you would think that finding a golf mecca to retire to would be about as easy as sinking a 6-inch putt. Well, good golf may be everywhere, but even the most dedicated player also desires fine restaurants, high-quality medical care, and a wide variety of cultural pursuits as part of the retirement package. We asked sports geographer John Rooney Jr. to help narrow the field by matching up quality of life to quality of golf around the country. An emeritus professor of geography at Oklahoma State University, Rooney co-founded market researcher Longitudes Group last year to track the travel and behavior of avid golfers. Rooney happens to have a 7 handicap himself. He weighted the crime, congestion, cost of living, climate, and culture of the cities equally with the quality, cost of, and access to golf in the region. He picked five metro areas: one for summer golf, two for winter, and two suitable for year-round play. "If golf is a factor in your retirement decision," he says, "chances are you'll want and can afford a summer place and a winter place." His choice of the best place for summer ultimately became the location of his own summer home: Grand Haven, Mich., in the Grand Rapids/Holland/Muskegon metro area. Besides a dozen courses rated 4.0 or 4.5 stars by Golf Digest's Best Places to Play (Fodor's, $22), including Thousand Oaks in Grand Rapids and the Ravines in Saugatuck, the area has dozens of art galleries and museums and a year-round symphony. There's also a lively summer community that congregates around the beaches and yacht clubs along the shores of Lake Michigan. Scottsdale, Ariz., and Naples, Fla., score the highest for the winter months. The Scottsdale area has 30 or so courses of 4.0 stars or better, from the exclusive Estancia Club at the foot of Pinnacle Peak to the public Troon North Golf Club. For Florida, crime and congestion rule out the vaunted Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach golf corridor. A better choice is Naples or Fort Myers on the other side of the state. You'll get the same tropical climate, great sand beaches, and saltwater and freshwater fishing. The golf is equally good or better, Rooney says, and tee times are cheaper and easier to snag. REASONABLE PRICES For year-round golf, Rooney likes Santa Barbara, Calif., and Chapel Hill, N.C. Sure, everyone wants to play Pebble Beach, but only the wealthiest retirees can afford it and surrounding clubs on California's Monterey Peninsula. Santa Barbara and neighboring Ventura County to the south have a more moderate, Mediterranean-like climate coupled with reasonably priced country clubs, and good public golf at such highly ranked ocean view facilities as the city's Sandpiper Golf Course. The strategy for Chapel Hill and the surrounding Research Triangle area? Base yourself there for the restaurants, big-time college sports, and cultural events. Join a club or use the upscale public courses, and make day jaunts to play the trophy courses at Pinehurst, 90 minutes south, or overnight trips to play the hundreds of courses that line the Carolina and Northern Georgia coast. In fact, that's the best move for any avid golfers lining up their retirement: Remember that the game is only half of the big picture. 
BW MALL
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