NEWS

A Quick Nine: Which cities are the best to play golf?

By T.J. Auclair, Interactive Producer
Published on
A Quick Nine: Which cities are the best to play golf?

So, after a bogey by our Facebook question poser, a week later than usual, we take a look at the best answers our PGA.com fans provided to the question: If you could only golf in one city (metro area) for the rest of your life, what city would that be?

This question received nearly 300 responses. While many of the answers were focused on U.S. cities, we are delighted that our top nine contains cities in three different continents.

Here are the top 9 cities according to you:

1. Augusta, Ga. What can you say? It's an absolute golf haven, even without Augusta National. But, it sure is nice to have Augusta National, isn't it? Heck, it would be a golf haven with Augusta National alone! Who are we kidding?

Facebook fan quote:

"Augusta Ga. No doubt" -- Mike Wilkinson

2. San Diego, Calif. Perfect weather, ocean views, mountain views. Regardless of how you're playing on a given day, golf in San Diego would be hard not to enjoy.

Facebook fan quotes:

"San Diego... You can play all year long no matter what." -- Alexandro Hiram Zatarain

"Love to surf also... I'll have to go with San Diego!" -- Jay Banks

"San Diego has every type of course you want to play from the ocean to the mountains and everything in between!" -- Barbara Becka Herrmann

"Definitely San Diego. I'm a little bias because it's my home town, but you can't beat Torrey Pines." -- Daniel Rosengren

"Definitely San Diego. The weather is perfect year round and more golf companies are Headquartered here than anywhere else in the world." -- Mark Loftus

3. Philadelphia, Pa. Some of the best courses our country has to offer are in and around Philly, as one fan notes below.

Facebook fan quotes:

"If including all the private clubs, it would be the Philadelphia metro area." -- Matthew Connors

"Philadelphia, even though I'm from Dallas. Soooo many great golf courses there!" -- Mike Jones

"Philadelphia... Merion, Pine Valley, Cricket Club and the list goes on and on." -- Josh Caggiula

4. Southern Pines, N.C. I wouldn't exactly think of Southern Pines as a metro-area, but it's certainly an incredible place for golf.

"Southern Pines, NC -- The home of American Golf! Pinehurst, Pine Needles, and on and on and on." -- Kris E. Wilson

5. St. Andrews, Scotland. Ahh... the birthplace of golf. You really can't argue with this one, can you?

Facebook fan quotes:

"Love, love, love St. Andrews and spent a lot of time there when I lived in Edzell. Home course was Montrose which is now part of the qualifying for The Open. Would go back to live and play golf there in a heartbeat." -- Linda Epler Haft

"St. Andrews the oldest golf course in the world." -- Andrew Graham

"St. Andrews. I played the 'new' course in '05 and have never forgotten it. Would love to go back." -- Josh Elliott

6. Chicago, Ill. Home of the 2012 Ryder Cup and an overall great golf city.

Facebook fan quotes:

"Chicago, hands down." -- Brandon McHugh

"If you forget weather. CHICAGO." -- Steve Nolawski

7. Melbourne, Australia. I've never been Down Under, but it's always noted as one of the great places in the world for golf.

Facebook fan quotes:

"Melbourne sand belt in Australia -- world-class and world-ranked courses Royal Melbourne (2011 Presidents Cup), Kingston Heath, Metropolitan (2001 WGC venue), Victoria, Commonwealth, Huntingdale just to start with." -- Phillip Smith

"Melbourne, Australia hands down thee best collection of golf courses in the world!!" -- Dale Clarke

"Easy one -- Melbourne, Australia and would NEVER get bored." -- Steve Cains

8. Orlando, Fla. It's not all about Mickey Mouse and Disney in Orlando. There's a lot of great golf too.

Facebook fan quotes:

"Orlando. So many choices!" -- Cody Harvey

"Orlando... So many courses & great deals, especially in the summer!" -- Tom Osborne

"Orlando. Plenty of fine courses and many are inexpensive." -- Felix Cruz

"Definitely Orlando... But do you have to live there too?" -- Eskil Jonassen

9. Monterey Peninsula. The home of Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Spyglass, Half Moon Bay, Poppy Hills and a bunch of others. Enough said.

Facebook fan quotes:

"You forgot Melbourne, Australia, the metro area with the greatest collection of golf courses in the world. That said, the Monterey Peninsula in California tugs more dearly!" -- Bill Hogan

"No brainer... Monterey!" -- Darren Gibson

"Monterey for sure!" -- Tyler Beebe

"Monterey, oceanfront courses... amazing views, great eating... how can you top that?" -- Robert James Ventura

"If you didn't say Monterey, you haven't played Pebble Beach, not to mention Cypress Point." -- Marc Landry