Whether retirees are lifelong golfers or are comparatively new to the beautiful game, there are plenty of reasons why retirees make the most of their time on the links, and here, below, Golf Monthly looks at a handful. Very few retirees are making any serious progress toward becoming professional golfers, so the majority of retirees use golf as a way of keeping in touch with friends. For those who live and breathe connection, retirement may mean just one thing: lots and lots of golf.
The retirement objective is to relocate to sunny weather locales such as Florida, Arizona, or the Austin CRC, live at the golf course, and play daily. After all, retirement is a time where you will be getting to play golf daily (if that is what you want), so you want to be somewhere that offers an array of high-quality golf courses with weather conducive to playing year-round. It is important to retire to an environment that offers quality amenities, activities, and, for golfers, access to a golf course.
Rather than spending days in retirement stuck inside a home, golf allows for fresh air, but also the opportunity to remain connected within your social circle. Vacations are most harmonious when couples can find activities they can enjoy together, and playing golf at a gorgeous beachfront course is the perfect way for a day together as a couple, enjoy the scenery, and exercise. The question, however, is whether solo recreation activities such as golfing, walking the beach, or biking are enough to comfortably fill the days, not weeks, but decades after full-time employment.
The old cliche about retiring and spending the rest of your days playing golf might sound jaded, but in fact, playing a good game can be a fun, challenging way to keep the scene of mind, body, and social interaction active and healthy. Whether you are an occasional golfer looking to play more during retirement, a spouse of a golfer considering taking up the game themselves, or simply someone looking for an enjoyable way to get out and get some exercise, golf could be the perfect new obsession. As you get ready to officially call it quits and move into a life of golf, relaxation, fun leisure activities, spoiled country clubs…and more golf, here’s a list of the cheapest place to retire and play golf that will helprse jumpstart your search.
Golf communities situated in a spectacular backdrop of the Rockies, with an astonishingly temperate climate for most months of the year, make Colorado the best retirement state for golfers. Scottsdale, Arizona, is home to nearly 200 golf courses and consistent excellent weather from October through April, making Scottsdale an ideal retirement destination. The Nevadan is also much more temperate than you would expect, offering year-round golf.
When hitting the links is out of the question, our Independent Retirement Community here in Dauphin/Lancaster County can help get your golf fix. Plus, PGA Tour events and RBC Heritage tournaments are available to watch, making the 33 courses among South Carolinas best retirement golf communities. For good measure, there is also plenty of excellent public golf, such as Bayonet/Blackhorse and, my personal favorite, just a few miles up the coast, Pasatiempo Golf Club.
If you enjoy playing tennis in addition to golf, you have hit the jackpot, as plenty of clubs offer both golf and Har-Tru (green clay) tennis, which is a lot easier on your knees. I have met more than one golf retiree who lives close to courses that are virtually all to themselves, living their golfing dreams. Many golfers have the time to practice and improve, have greater experience and more defined golfing strategies, and, with no work pressures to think about, they can play more casually.
Many golfers who play daily in retirement have not picked up a club since they were in their 50s or 60s. Studies show people who play golf twice or more per week, as well as walking on a golf course, on average, live five to 10 years longer. If you only play golf three days per week, multiply this by roughly 50 weeks a year (even retired golfers get vacations) and multiply that by 20 years, and you are looking at roughly 3000 rounds of golf.
Many retirees have found taking on part-time work at a golf course is the best way to afford golf in retirement. There are many different options to play golf in retirement, with a variety of financial requirements. Active adults looking to retire to the golfer’s paradise – a place they can golf eight months out of the year or more – have plenty of options in the U.S. with golf retirement communities.
As a passionate golfer, you might have dreams of retiring in sunny South Carolina, Florida, or Arizona — land of perfectly maintained golf retirement communities with world-class courses on every corner. While playing at Pinehurst might not be on the cards for some of us, rest assured North Carolina has a lot of the best golf communities for retirees. In Florida, I interviewed several retirees for an upcoming book, all of whom decided their favorite golf communities were where they would live their post-work lives.
With nine distinctive par 3 golf courses, all of which are considered to be “senior-friendly,” the gorgeously sprawling destination embodies golf retiree communities. More a world-class resort than a retirement community, Jack Nicklaus Signature-designed Seven includes some of the most impressive amenities of any golf community in the nation, including a nature preserve, indoor/outdoor pools, wave pools, beach, and top-end dining. The ultimate in retirement luxuries, The Bears Club is universally recognized as one of the world’s most elite golf communities and is widely considered to be the best, period.
Golf provides an easygoing social scene on-course and off-course, allowing competition but also for convivial interactions. It provides a pleasurable, addictive activity that is beneficial to you physically as well as mentally. These days, when the time comes to purchase a new club, most golfers will go to the golf course or specialized shop to benefit from the available technology.
