I've used this photo of the 17th at the Cliffs' Keowee Vineyard golf course often because it remains one of the most memorable holes I have played. The par three requires a driver or three wood from the tee to a green surrounded by trouble. The hole (and course) were designed by Tom Fazio. The Cliffs is high on the list of Travel & Leisure's best golf communities.
The readers of Travel & Leisure Golf magazine, a rather upscale demographic, has voted the combined area of the Carolinas and Georgia (with 26.2% of the vote) as the best place for a golf home. Florida (25.6%), which sports almost three times the number of courses as the Carolinas and Georgia combined, finished a close second. The stragglers included California (15.3%), Arizona (14.9%), the Rocky Mountains (9.6%) and the Pacific Northwest (8.3%).
Although this is a far from scientific study, the results hint at the continuing migration of golf community residents from Florida to the states a little farther
For those making the move to the Carolinas or Georgia from Florida and elsewhere, T&L Golf suggests the golf communities you might consider. At the T&L web site is a list of the magazine's take on the top golf communities in the U.S. South Carolina developments occupy three of the top six positions, with Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton at #2, the Cliffs Communities (various locations in the Carolina mountains) in the fifth position and Kiawah Island holding down the sixth position.
The best community, according to T&L, is Pronghorn in Bend, OR; third and fourth places are held down by the California communities at Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel, CA Mayacama in Santa Rosa, respectively. The golf courses at two of the top three communities were designed by Tom Fazio; Palmetto Bluff was the work of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.