I'll take your word for it. I have not been there recently. However as a counter comparison I never liked hitting range balls in TV that use the floating balls (Lopez and Sarasota). They feel like hitting a rock. Isn't there some rule of thumb the carry of those floaters are 20+ yards less than a regulation ball?

All "range" balls go a shorter distance than performance balls. "Floaters" are another whole story, but *most* will fly longer with the wind, shorter against the wind.

I don't go to Sarasota or Lopez. Both Glenview & Palmer have new balls this year, by a different manufacturer.

First of all, if you're only checking Naples, then yes of course. Naples is extremely expensive for everything. I've met more than a handful of people in TV that moved here from that area. I remember one telling me he spends $1000/month less a month playing golf here and he now golfs more than he did in Naples.

Most $60 courses don't tend to use GolfNow. It wouldn't be worth it for them.

It's like how decent family run Italian restaurants usually aren't available on UberEats.

Anyways, one example Deep Creek CC in Punta Gorda. The 1pm rate is just over $60.

Most $60 golf courses who don't use GolfNow, will be out of business soon.

Most GolfNow agreements don't charge "commission", they use a "Barter System" and in return, the golf course gets "free" Tee Time management software and national exposure.

Did you figure in the cost of your time and the cost for your vehicle to go back and forth in that $30-$45? Probably not….

Driving for 1.5 hours to save $15 is not worth it to me.

I do get passed frequently, but I always give a friendly wave.

It takes me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the farthest course from me. Most courses are a 30-45 golf cart ride. The time to go by cart to a Villages course or to a course outside The Villages is a wash for me. The cost? Really? If the course is 30 miles away, I'm looking at a bit over $5 in gas... when I go with a 4 some it's less than $1.50. That doesn't make much of a dent in the $30-$40 I'm saving EACH time I golf.

The Villages is simply over charging because they can. They have a captive audience that really like driving their own carts and are willing to pay for that convenience.

How far do you drive in your cart? Most courses are at least a 30 minute cart ride for me... so that's already an hour in the cart. All of the south courses are an hour minimum for me. And I said within 45 minutes away... many are within 30 miles.

The savings are much more than $15. If you're not a priority member ($850 upfront fee), the cheapest course is $69, the most expensive $80. So you could be saving anywhere from $39 to $50. It's significant if you play multiple times per week.

To be clear - I do play a lot here. I'm just pointing out it's not the "deal" mentioned in the original post.

But this is exactly why I just added priority membership in late Decemeber. It will more than pay for itself just between now and June, much less the additional continued (albeit lower) savings from June through December.

Adding up proximity/convenience, cost and quality of courses. It IS a bargain in my book. Before moving here in September, the three nice public courses near me in PA were all over $100 and were a minumum of 25 minute drive. The only reasonbly close course open to the public in the $50-ish range was in horrible shape.

It's all relative and your mileage may vary, but I could not be happier with the variety and cost of the courses I have available to me here. I'm sure I will branch out to other Florida courses eventually, but I expect I'll remain happy about TV golf for a long time.

Paying $80 for a round of golf just sucks the enjoyment right out of the day.
I'm a low handicapper that's played for 30+ years
I've pretty much given the game up and I don't miss it.
You could make the best hamburger in the world, If you charged $40 for it,
It would ruin it somehow for me.
I can totally afford it but it just doesn't seem right.
Is that a character flaw?

Possibly. When I started playing golf, I was lucky enough to have one of Golf Digest's "Top 100 Public Course" in my neighborhood and they had 36 holes. One course was $11, the other was $10. Times change. How much did you get paid at your job, in 1977?

I'd prefer to have an option to also belong to Private Club, but the only one close is CC of Ocala, and it's a hike.

Barring the construction of a Private Course in the area, TV Golf is one of the best deals in Florida. Better deal for the occasional, public course golfer, but still a decent deal for someone who plays 4-5 times a week.

When you find a better deal, that's as convenient, please let us know. I'm sure most of us will jump on it.

[QUOTE=BrianL99;2401998]Possibly. When I started playing golf, I was lucky enough to have one of Golf Digest's "Top 100 Public Course" in my neighborhood and they had 36 holes. One course was $11, the other was $10. Times change. How much did you get paid at your job, in 1977?

Probably not your course(s), but a funny story;

The Missing Links - Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com

I am surprised the Villages hasn’t done a private club model for one of its courses. Probably just golf and Food/Beverage.
They would need less than 1% of villagers to be members.

Palmer is the perfect setup for that, in my opinion. I too am a little surprised it hasn't been done. At $6000-$7000, I think they'd sell out in an hour (350 members is the rule of thumb for 18 holes, so about 525 for 27). At $8000-$10,000, it might take a month to sell out.

I just ran some rough numbers. I think it would be revenue neutral for them, at about $10,000/year and 550 members.

I think F&B income would go up for the Operator, which would allow the Owner/Developer to increase restaurant rent.