[Wayne_TN]

My wife and I are about a year from retirement coming from Tennessee - looking for someplace warmer that we can do outdoor stuff year-round. Both very active and "sporty". We have been to The Villages several times for up to a month at a time. I LOVE it, but my wife isn't sold. She thinks she might be happier in a more conventional town with golf course, tennis courts, etc., or perhaps a smaller "active 55" retirement community. I have been looking for some places in Florida and Arizona for us to check out, but I would really like for us to play golf in retirement at least a couple of times a week. Therein lies the rub - EVERYWHERE else i look, it looks like playing golf twice a week for the 2 of us (in a cart) will cost about $5000 per year, vs. about $200 in the villages (executive courses with trail fee). We aren't poor, but I can't afford $5k a year just for golf. I hope she will eventually settle on The Villages, but does anybody know some places I could take her to visit that would have golf where we could play a couple of times a week in a cart (ours or theirs) for like, $2000 a year or less?? The villages has 90,000 folks (right?) and ~30 free courses. How come none of the active retirement places with 9,000 folks have 3 free courses?? I understand "economy of scale", but the difference is amazing to me...
THANKS!!