Let us know when you find some of those low cost championship courses!

Golf included in the amenity fee was one selling-factor for beloved spouse. I'm not a golfer at all. I'd rather see my wide open spaces occupied by sheep and tall grasses and horse trails. Or traded for cityscapes and spacious townhouse apartments in walking distance to the subway and libraries and museums.

My decision was based on ruling out a 5-acre lot in the middle of nowhere, with no neighbors, in a place where it snows and people can lose power for days with no way to get to the nearest gas station and refill the generator. It was that, or the Villages. So here I am.

Golf is just one of a myriad of activities. The beauty of the entire Villages, entertainment, pools, and abundance of flat walking areas and the friendliness of the people. Being a golf cart community is huge as well, we love to go for a golf car ride and never get tired of it. The quality of the homes, the weather, the whole package.

Just about zero. Even without the "free" golf, I'd have considered it a good deal. But, I do enjoy the executive courses more than I thought I would, and as I age, I expect I'll use them more and more.
As far as the trail fee goes, I appreciate the encouragement to walk the course, for as long as I can. At this point I find it a perfect little exercise. About 90 minutes or so of flat walking.

It's all relative. The good public courses I've been playing around me in PA (Broad Run, Wyncote, Glen Mills) are all over $100. Middle tier places (where I have to drive even farther) are $80+. I'll be golfing for half that in TV. That's low cost from my perspective. Ridiculously low.

Is less than Zero possible?

Same thinking here.

I don't golf, so none. As to the second part, yes.

Won't be long before you see $80 winter rates. And that doesn't include a cart.

“Free” golf is almost 100% our reason for moving here and is currently our only reason for not moving back to IL. If the courses continue to be so awfully SLOW and crowded in the winter, we may give up.

Well, first off, I don’t consider golf to be “free”, but rather part of an “amenity package” that offered me maximum flexibility going forward as I age. I found it hard to know ahead of time exactly what I will (and can) do as I pass through my retirement years. Having a buffet of offerings was a major selling point.

I hadn’t been a golfer, but as I approached my retirement, I thought it would be something that I would take up… the fact that there were Chip & Putt courses coming online was very attractive to me as it afforded me a fun way to start playing. (I also played the Putt and Play quite a bit. These were the starter drugs of my golf addiction! LOL)

In summary, golf being included as part of the amenity package was very important in my decision to buy here and even more so now, as I have fallen in love with the game. The variety and number of courses (including the much maligned Pitch & Putt courses) are a major satisfier for my continued love of The Villages.

If you are suggesting an a la carte pricing structure, I would be opposed as I am not currently participating in any of the other amenities. (Note: I am a member of the Fit Club which does involve an add-on cost, which I resent. Minor dissatisfier.)

Zero !

The major part of that decision with the free golf is the fact we would be driving our golf cart to any of the executive courses rather than having to load clubs into the car, drive the car to the courses, rent a cart, return the cart, load the clubs and take the car home. If we had to do all that we would have found another golf cart community. Of course using the pools and rec centers was another factor.

All of them!!! My previous local (adjacent the house) golf course wants $239 per golfer for 18 holes! That is green fees only and does not include cart rental, club rental, shoe rental, etc.

Of course, it's better than golf at Pebble Beach ($550 to $800 for resort staying guests).

As for the free golf being a motivation? Very little. We golf very little, but having the wonderful open green spaces all around are a big plus.

$80 to play in the wintertime without 4+ layers of clothing instead of $110 to play dressed like Ralphie's brother IF there isn't snow on the course. Again...context; it sounds pretty darn good to me.



And I'll have my own cart.