Close to Perfect: Some Golf Communities Hit Highest Notes, But None Are Perfectly Attuned

I suppose that if the word "husband" were easy to rhyme, there would be a feminine corollary to the saying "Happy Wife, Happy Life." But for the purposes of our theme this month, let's hang on to what we've got and consider golf communities that have the most potential to make each spouse especially happy, whether both play golf or not. No single golf community is perfect, but some will provide plenty to do for both members of the family.

The golf communities with the most potential to satisfy both parties are those that are large in size and population, with more than one golf course; are close to cities of cultural significance (centers of higher education included); are located on or near a beach; and offer activities from Antiquing to Zoo visits. (Okay, the zoo visits are a stretch, but you try coming up with a hobby whose name begins with Z.) This makes it much easier for the golf playing spouse to go off for a 4 ½-hour round –- longer if drinks and lunch are involved -– without the guilt associated with leaving your mate behind with little to do. Golf is tough enough mentally without playing through a case of the nagging guilts.

In Golf Communities, Size Does Matter

In working toward finding the perfect golf community for spouses of somewhat divergent interests, size matters. The more residents of a community, the better the chances you will find others with common interests. (Note: For single people, the largest communities, naturally, tend to be the most single-friendly.) The more the merrier works with golf communities, and the best chances for making merry lives are in communities with a couple thousand residents or more.

The Landings at Skidaway Island in Georgia fits this definition, with 8,000 total residents spread across its 4,000 acres, most of them full-timers. The community's television station scrolls through the Landings clubs' meeting schedules, which includes groups geared to the states from which residents moved. (We understand there are quite a few rivalries during college football season.) Greensboro, GA's Reynolds Plantation spans more than 8,000 acres beside Lake Oconee, twice the size of The Landings, and offers more activities and social clubs than any couple could have time for, including college-style lectures on subjects as diverse as Medieval history and wine appreciation. Reynolds has 3,600 property owners, and 60% of the community's residents live there year-round. Daniel Island, a self-contained community surrounded by rivers and marsh near the coast of South Carolina, is home to more than 10,000 residents and operates on the "new urban" concept, with shopping and offices all within a walk or short drive of home. (Tom Fazio and Rees Jones golf courses are on the island as well.) On the Daniel Island events calendar for just one week in February are a class called "Walk With Me" (held every Monday), another for Total Body Fitness (twice per week), a lecture on the area's Pirate History, a monthly meeting of the fishing club, a course on Great Ideas of Western Civilization, an Indian Cooking class and "Pork & Pearls," a weekend pig and oyster roast.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of large golf communities –- we are mindful of Lakewood Ranch in Bradenton, FL, for example, and others -– but The Landings, Reynolds Plantation and Daniel Island are ones we know well and can recommend.

So Close (to a city) and Yet So Far (from the beach)

Golf communities within easy driving distance of a vibrant city also offer plenty to do for the non-golfing spouse, as well as the golfer who is interested in other activities, especially if that city includes a major university that draws entertainment, sponsors ongoing cultural exhibits, provides continuous learning opportunities to retired folks and features a major athletics program. Of the large communities mentioned above, only Reynolds Plantation is not close to a major city. Athens, home to the University of Georgia, is 50 minutes away and Atlanta 90 minutes. Both The Landings and Daniel Island are about 20 minutes from two of the most popular and interesting cities in the South, Savannah and Charleston, respectively. But the catch is that neither is very close to a beach, with The Landings a full 45 minutes from Tybee Island and Daniel Island about 20 minutes to Isle of Palms, if the traffic is moving.

In short, these are terrific communities offering a wide range of distractions for the golfer and non-golfer alike, but none of them are perfect. What is a couple to do if paradise is unreachable?

The Art of Compromise

The answer, of course, is obvious, as it often is, and the advice here is to draw up a list of the things that are most important to each of you -– assuming you are a couple -– and rank order them (two lists, not one, and don't peek before you compare). The golfer, of course, is certain to have "high-quality golf" on the top of his/her list, perhaps multiple golf courses, and in many cases, the other spouse may indeed have golf at the top as well. But man and/or woman cannot live by golf alone, and considerations below the #1 spot on each spouse's list could be just as important as #1 in terms of family harmony.

My wife Connie and I went through this exercise. She doesn't play golf and it was nowhere on her list of top five. It was, of course, at the top of my list, followed by 2) restaurants; 3) food shopping; 4) entertainment (movies, sports); and 5) culture and history. Connie's list included 1) access to good healthcare; 2) beach; 3) culture, especially local-history related; 4) close to good convenience shopping, especially food; and 5) near airports for family access.

We have owned a condo south of Myrtle Beach, in Pawleys Island, SC, for 15 years, and in most regards, it checks the boxes for us both. I get to play a wonderful, top-rated Jack Nicklaus course whose first tee is a two-minute walk from the condo, and Connie gets easy access –- just seven minutes over the marsh –- to one of the best beaches in the southern U.S. We will never complain about the food shopping -– our fifth supermarket within a few miles is about to open -– and we are both fascinated and captivated by local Low Country history and terrain. When we need an extra jolt of culture, we head for Brookgreen Gardens, just 10 minutes away, a spectacular revelation of flora, fauna and hundreds of sculptures spread along the marsh and Waccamaw River that was donated to the state by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington, an industrialist and prominent early 20th Century sculptress, respectively. But, frankly, the area doesn't offer much more in the way of culture, with no museums within a half hour and Coastal Carolina University a full 45 minutes away. And even more important, health care ratings for the area's hospitals are only fair, although we have zero complaints about our visits to local emergency rooms and doctors' offices over the last 15 years.

Peeling the Onion to Find the Most Relevant Golf Community

We are pretty settled in Pawleys Island, but if we were starting from scratch to look for a golf community in the South with our two lists in hand, our target area would not likely be just south of Myrtle Beach. Golf is the easy part of the search, as there are dozens of outstanding golf courses inside the gates of golf communities along the coast. The focus for us would be on healthcare and beaches, the items on the top of Connie's list. For the best coastal cities for healthcare, I looked at two online sources, including a U.S. News and World Report magazine ranking of best hospitals in the Southeast. The only coastal hospitals on the two surveys are located in Charleston, SC –- Medical University of South Carolina and Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital.

That was easy. The only beaches in the Charleston area are on Isle of Palms, home of the Wild Dunes Resort and about a seven-minute ride from the growing town of Mt. Pleasant, just east of Charleston; and another resort area, the barrier islands of Kiawah and Seabrook, beside each other and about 40 minutes from the city. Much as we love Kiawah, where we vacationed annually with our pre-school kids 20 years ago, neither Connie nor I would want us to be 40 minutes from a hospital in case of a medical emergency; therefore, our search brings us to the Mt. Pleasant area where we would most likely look at the golf communities of Rivertowne and Snee Farm which, together, have the area's only combined golf membership; and Daniel Island, about eight minutes from Mt. Pleasant and offering the widest range of housing styles and prices (although prices there start around $400,000). I would have the golf and Connie the beach and the secure feeling that comes with top-rated hospitals nearby. Everyone would be happy.

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In the left column of this newsletter, I offer a few ideas of golf communities that will suit a couple with one spouse whose #1 interest is in golf and the other whose chart topper is a nice beach nearby. There are many more items of interest to a couple searching for a golf community than simply a good beach nearby; where one spouse's must-haves intersect with the other's nice-to-haves, the potential for a happy retirement life is highest.

If you would like to share your own lists with me, I'd be pleased to conduct a search in your behalf for the perfect retirement golf communities. Please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via my cell phone at 860-205-0464.

Wired for Sound Safety Practices

I spent a wonderful day recently at the Dataw Island golf community south of Beaufort, SC, and played the club's Tom Fazio golf course with golf pro Dave Britton, general manager Ted Bartlett and resident John Schafer. I'll be writing about the golf, which includes a second course by Arthur Hills, and the community at some length at GolfCommunityReviews.com, but I did want to share a feature at Dataw that is unique in my experience. Alcoa, the corporation known for aluminum production, originally developed the property beginning in the mid 1980s in an attempt to enhance shareowner value. Alcoa, according to Ted Bartlett, required that every home built in Dataw include a direct electronic link to the community's guardhouse, which is manned round the clock every day of the year. Although there is no crime problem at all at the secluded and well guarded Dataw, there is always the chance, especially as people age, that accidents will happen, and the community "panic button" (my name for it) guarantees that help will be on the way quickly, especially since a Dataw security person is almost always patrolling the community's 870 acres in a vehicle. For those concerned about personal safety in their homes, we can't think of a better place than Dataw.

Larry Gavrich, Founder & Editor

GolfCommunityReviews.com

GolfHomesListed.com