Everything is relative, including weather (especially weather).  In the last few weeks, a couple of readers from Chicago have asked me to help them find golf community homes in the southeastern U.S., and I believe the spate of interest from The Windy City is a direct result of the weather.  Winter has come to Chicago a little earlier than typical this year, and the deep freeze has been relentless over the last month.  But although the grass is certainly greener, literally, in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, a chill has been going through the golf communities in those states as well.

        Few areas outside of San Diego have been immune from the cold-aired blast of Mother Nature these last couple of

The grass is greener, literally, in southern golf communities, but cold temperatures have prevented golfers from their appointed rounds.

weeks.  (San Diego will have a high temperature of 62 today, but there will be rain.)   Wilmington, NC, and Myrtle Beach, SC, for example, will not quite reach 45 degrees today, and it will rain.  Farther down the coast, Charleston will reach only 48 and Savannah 53 (raining too).  Jacksonville, FL, temperatures will make it to 66 degrees but rain will prevent most golfers from their appointed rounds.  Of course, players at the famed TPC Sawgrass and other northern Florida golf courses can look forward to playable conditions throughout the rest of winter (although tomorrow’s high temperatures of 53 will necessitate a sweater and/or windbreaker).

        We all know that temperatures in the south will rise again, and soon.  At this time next week, on Christmas day, Myrtle Beach temperatures will tip the scales at 55 degrees, not quite short-sleeve golf shirt weather but the equivalent of a heat wave for us northerners.  The expected high in Chicago on Christmas day is 29 degrees, with snow showers.  According to weather.com, the best day for golf in Chicago this week is Thursday when the thermometer will reach 32 degrees under partly cloudy skies.  The good news is that if you find a course in northern Illinois that is playable, you will have it all to yourself.

        If the cold weather in the north has you dreaming of a home in the balmier climes of the Carolinas or elsewhere in the southern U.S., contact me and I will be pleased to provide you with some ideas about golf communities that best fit your requirements.  The service is free and without obligation.

     Steady readers of this site probably wonder why I don’t cover Florida golf communities more often.  A few of you have even accused me of willfully ignoring the state that has the most golf courses and golf communities in the nation.  To that I plead “guilty, with an explanation.”

        First, frankly, I am intimidated by the sheer numbers of golf communities near cities like Orlando, Naples, Tampa, the Palm Beaches, the Lauderdales, Miami…  It would take weeks in each area just to scratch the surface of the best golf courses and golf communities.  I’d rather spend that time investigating golf communities in lower-cost states with little or no threat of hurricanes or unpredictable but ever-increasing insurance costs.

        Second, I have something of a Florida bias because I hate traffic. (Who doesn’t?)  Florida is the 22nd largest state in the nation but the 4th

Florida' reputation as "God's Waiting Room" is deserved.

in terms of population.  In just the last 10 years, Florida’s population has increased 16% compared with an increase nationally of 9% (and that was with Florida’s 2008/09 net migration loss, the first in 50 years).  The state’s roads have never caught up with the explosive growth of the last half-century (and the rest of the infrastructure isn’t so hot either).  Third, Florida’s reputation as “God’s Waiting Room” is deserved; 18% of the state’s population is over the age of 65 against a national figure of 12.4%.  Of the 2.8 million net new citizens in Florida since 2000, about 1.9 million are over the age of 45.  At my tender age of 62, that is the pot calling the kettle black, but I am still of sound enough memory to recall visiting my parents in Lauderdale Lakes when I was in my 40s.  It gave me the willies with its glimpse of my (then) future.  I am not sure I want to do that to my kids.

        It is not for nothing that Florida had its first net population loss in 2008, many Floridians fleeing to the mountains near Asheville, NC, happy to put up with wearing a sweater on chilly winter days to avoid the stifling heat of summer.  But with all that said, the virtual collapse of the Florida real estate market has created price levels that second-home hunting baby boomers and retirees cannot ignore.  A case can be made for Florida, and that is exactly what I do in the December issue of Home On The Course, our free newsletter, which will be distributed in the next few days.  If you are not a subscriber, please sign up today at the top of this page.