Good Morning Paul,
Looking at those prices, from my point of view that they are great courses, I think it would be worth it to me, because I'd be on a vacation to your side of the pond and the opportunity to play great links courses would be worth the money. That said, we probably should have predicted the increase in cost. Just look at the prices of new equipment and how it has risen every year. I guess at some point, course owners must look at that and ask themselves if people can afford the new clubs, they must be able to afford a higher price to play.
But, if you came here, I would tell you not to waste your money at Trump Doral. Just because the tournament was played there for years never made it a great course. All it has is length and one great hole, the 18th.
Instead, I'd take you to Plantation Preserve,a public course with the most incredible design I've ever seen where you have to move the ball both ways, where you can fly it or run it onto a green, where the conditions are always pristine, and where the staff provide a level of customer service unlike anywhere else in South Florida .
I'd suggest Inverery, where Jackie Gleason held his tournaments. Every pro whose name we could name played there. There's 2 different 18 hole courses there and the restaurant makes incredible food.
Miami Springs, by the airport, is an old course where all the greats played in the old Miami Open. In the clubhouse, seeing those names on the trophies just makes me wonder if I stepped in the same spot Ben Hoganor Sam Snead did.
Miccosukee Golf Club, owned by the native American tribe, is a 27 hole layout where the tour used to have Q School and later, the last Hooters Tour tournament, with the ceremony to present tour cards to those who qualified that year. Many years ago, I was a member there before it was sold to the tribe.
And believe it or not, I'd suggest Killian Greens, where I play most. It's short, about 6400 yards at the absolute most), not typical grasses, (loose running St Augustine roughs), seven different grasses used on the greens, but according to what the book Golf Course Architecture For Regular People, by Geoff Shackelford, it fulfills every criteria of a great course.
An aside... Personally, I haven't bought new equipment in years. My personal theory is, at my age and slower swing speed, new technology is not worth the money for what extra distance I might get, 2-3 yards off the tee maybe? Until 10 years ago, my mid 60s, my swing was long, with the club reaching parallel at the top. In succeeding years, y body has rebelled, with arthritis and bone spurs that now leave me with a swing only taking my left arm to parallel to the ground.
If I want to fool myself and believe new technology helps, I'd play something like a set of Tour Edge Exotics E721 irons with really strong lofts. I could fool myself into believing I still hit an 8 iron 150 yards, but I'm way too realistic and I know damned well I'm hitting something more like its between a six or seven iron.
After that experiment, I decided feel was much more important to me and I went back to my Epon iron set as my #1. I recently picked up an old set of Honma irons I'm working on. They aren't a design with as much game improvement built in as the forged Epon AF-702 set, but the feel is simply incredible. I have reached a point where, I no longer keep score. If I come home and I remember a few good shots, plus some that really felt great off the face, that makes whatever I paid worthwhile.
Part of me still thinks about returning to St Andrews. I haven't been there in just over 60 years, but I think at this stage, the food and the beer might be the bigger attraction than trying to walk the Old Course...
