You raise a good point, and I agree it is a sad state of affairs that there are courses out there that do not warrant their asking price. Any time I am going to walk into a pro shop and pay the full asking price, then I expect to get full value for my money. For example, the asking price for the Charlotte golf links is $59 on a saturday. But the range balls are from 1923, and the practice chipping green is 2 circles of rough with a flag sticking out. So even before you tee off, you already start wondering where your $59 went to. But then on the other hand, you have Ballantyne office park, I mean Resort, which charges around $80. Even though the conditions are always top notch, the rounds take 5 hours, you get pestered by the employees (was asked what my tee time was 4 times last time I played th! ere from when I got out my car to just before I tee’d off), and then the course is an office park with a golf course squeezed in. The other problem is that courses don’t seem to adjust their prices based on current conditions, I have played good courses, where I have asked what the greens are like, and told they are great, to go out and find they were aerated a few days ago. So, some of it might be people having unrealistic expectations of what they should get when paying the full price, and the other side might just be that many golf courses don’t provide the quality you expect to be paying for.

Schteeve and hateslowplay I agree with both of you. I remember hearing how expensive golf can be and how you pay for what you get. I think things like the internet booking is what is changing the idea of pricing. Though, because of that I play more golf. Which in turn means me spending more money at the course for food and bevs so its a trade off for the course. I usually end up sticking around after a round to sit down get a beer ( or 7) and some food while watching the pga with a few other guys on the weekends. Unfortunately Verdict Ridge has jumped off Golfnow. While I love VR ( my second favorite course in the area) I can’t fathom paying $70 to play 1 round when i can go play 2 rounds at a decent course that is closer to home. VR is a haul and yes it is worth it, but the price is a sticking poi! nt in my head. So I will play VR unfortunately only a few times this year and save my long hauls for Rock Barn and Edgewater.

My favorite is Rock Barn. You can usually get a deal on golfnow in the $25-$30 range. So not only is it my favorite in the area, but it is cheap. The downfall is the drive. Conover can be quite the hike as is edgewater. So usually picking between the two i go with Rock Barn. Also, I am hug fan of Red Bridge which probably be my third favorite. I think not only good prices, great conditions, but also because its really not that bad of a drive. I would love to come this saturday, but i have a little bday shindig planned and honestly don’t know how wasted i am going to get Fri night. Thanks for the invite though! I am always looking for new people to play with as most of my friends don’t play