The Top 100 Golf Communities - and How Much They Cost

I get Travel & Leisure Golf magazine because ... well, because why not? I'm a blogger, and I've got to get my ideas somewhere. You don't expect me to come up ideas on my own, do you?

In the latest issue, the Jan.-Feb. issue, they have a ranking of the "Top 100 Golf Communities" in America. And in their little capsules on each of these communities, they include how much it costs to buy into each.

What is the least you'll have to pay to live in one of T&L's Top 100 golf communities?

Remember that old Steve Martin routine, "You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes"? It began: "You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes! Yes, you can be a millionaire and never pay taxes! Step 1: Get a million dollars."

Well, you can live in a Top 100 golf community! Step 1: Get $240,000 dollars! Which, when you think about it, is pretty good. There are many places in America where $240,000 won't buy you much house, whether on a golf course or not.

Although we should point out that the lowest lows cited below definitely "only" get you a townhouse or condo, rather than a house, in most cases. The low price at Lake Las Vegas, for example, was $375,000, but the high was $30 million.

Note that the lowest lows and highest lows cited below are not minimums, but are the lows gathered from among recent sales in each community. Also, these are home prices only - club dues are extra (and add a lot).

Lowest Low Prices

• 
  
• Seabrook Island, Seabrook Island, S.C. - $240,000
  
• John's Island, Vero Beach, Fla. - $250,000
  
• Comanche Trace Ranch, Kerrville, Texas - $280,000
  
• Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, Ore. - $280,000
  
• Twineagles, Naples, Fla. - $300,000
  
• Greystone, Birmingham, Ala. - $350,000
  
• The Pinehills, Plymouth, Mass. - $350,000
  
• Southern Highlands, Las Vegas - $350,000
  
• Lake Las Vegas, Henderson, Nev. - $375,000
  
• Fiddlers Creek, Naples, Fla. - $400,000
  
• Tumble Creek, Cle Elum, Wash. - $400,000
  

Highest Low Prices

• 
  
• Mayacama, Santa Rosa, Calif. - $5.2 million
  
• Yellowstone Club, Big Sky, Mont. - $4.9 million
  
• Hualalai, Kona, Hawaii - $4.6 million
  
• The Vintage Club, Indian Wells, Calif. - $4.2 million
  
• Santa Lucia Preserve, Carmel, Calif. - $3.7 million
  
• Sherwood, Thousand Oaks, Calif. - $3.6 million
  
• The Bear's Club, Jupiter, Fla. - $3.5 million
  
• The Estates at Bay Colony, Naples, Fla. - $3.3 million
  
• Kuki'o, Kona, Hawaii - $3 million
  

No surprise that California, Florida and Hawaii are well-represented on the highest-lows list. Montana and Idaho will be adding quite a few golf course communities to this list over the next few years. Those are the up-and-coming hotspots.

And the lowest-lows list: $280,000 for Sunriver? Sign me up! (Note to self: Get $280,000.)