Golf bargains abound on both sides of the river
Pardon the time-worn expression, but “hold the presses!”
In the past two days, I have enjoyed two rounds of wonderful golf and got a free lunch to boot for the low, low price of $43. Yes, I said 43 bones.
Playing during the week has never been cheaper in the St. Louis area. I started my bargains on Monday afternoon at Fairfield Golf Club in Columbia, Ill. The course is a pretty decent one with some very tricky holes on the back nine. Tee boxes, fairways and greens are in great condition. The staff is polite. We teed off at about 4:15 p.m. and it was pretty open. Me and one of my buddies got in 18 well before the sun went down. The price: $23 for 18 and a cart after 1 p.m. on weekdays.
Bargain No. 2 came Tuesday morning at 9:56 at the Golf Club of Florissant in north St. Louis County. If you go to their website and click “play” and then “specials” they’ve got quite a deal for the month of July on the weekdays. Tee off after 10 a.m. (they let me and my buddy slide eventhough our tee time was before 10), and for 20 bucks you get 18 with a cart and lunch. And trust me, the burgers are awesome there.
According to one of the guys in the pro shop, there’s a good possibility they will be extending the offer past July. As for the course, it was in pretty good shape but a little damp in a few areas (apparently they have gotten a ton of rain out there lately). A couple tee boxes were a bit gnawed up, but other than that the tee boxes, fairways and greens were in pretty good condition. It’s also a nice track with some challenging blind tee shots. And the staff is very helpful and pleasant.
I’d say you give these bargains a shot before they expire. Let me know what you think.
(5 votes, average: 4.4 out of 5)
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Assistant Business Editor Irvin Harrell is what you might call a "weekend warrior" when it comes to the game of golf. His mantra: good courses, good prices and good times. And he's cool with sharing good info on the local golf scene. 
Thanks a bunch for the great info, sir!
Even though I live in North County and love playing Florissant and Eagle Springs, there are some super deals just across the river in Alton and Godfrey. Woodlands has an “all you can play for $25 during the week” special. Rolling Hills has a $24 senior rate with cart and charges only $12 for a replay.
Woodlands has a new greens keeper and it has regained much of its past fame for its great greens. Only green #7 is struggling from the disasterous drought during the summer of 2007. Woodlands is also very “female friendly” because of the generous placement of the forward tees. My wife loves playing Woodlands and the forward tee placement + challenging layout + course condition make it one of our favorites.
Rolling Hills has one of the friendliest staffs around. Play can be a bit slow when everyone decides to play at one time, like yesterday on the front nine. However, we made up for it on the back nine and played at a great pace.
Check them out. All four of these courses are great and well taken care of.
Played as a guest at Crescent Farms today. Members should begin asking for money back. It was in horrible condition. Bermuda is encroaching on almost every green, with seemingly no effort to control it. And I won’t mention the amount of poa on the greens. On the fairways the bermuda is very thin in many spots. Several greens, the worst is probably #8, having more dirt than grass. Even those with grass were extremely bumpy and very soft, leaving plenty of ball marks from approaches. Played Aberdeen earlier in the week and it’s in much better condition. A sign in the cart blamed the rain, followed by the heat. While that’s partially to blame at a number of courses, if other courses are not as in bad condition, perhaps it’s the grounds crew, lack of attention to detail, lack of money, or just plain ineptitude!
My apologies for the problems with the website links, but they are fixed now. I’ll have to try the Woodlands (buddy of mine has and likes it) and Rolling Hills as well.