Fernandina Beach/Jacksonville/St Augustine Golf Communities

[6holesn1]

Wife accepted new territory with her employer.  Looking to settle down in NE Florida.  Perfect world.  Home purchase within a gated golf community with good practice range and weekend regular golf group for me and a resort style pool for her.  Relocating from WI where I play 80-100 rounds within our season.  Preliminary searches suggest Jacksonville Golf & CC or WGV.   Empty nesters looking for that “diamond in the rough” home of 3 Bed/2 Bath 2K sq ft. under 500K.  Our 2 college aged children joining us during the summer months.  Far fetched?  TIA.  

[fsutanker]

Palencia May fit the bill. GREAT practice area, full private, challenging layout with a good membership. We just had Stillwater open up which is a 50+ gated community with a course designed by the guy that did Michael Jordan’s Grove23. 
King and Bear also fits your description but I don’t think they have a strong membership/games situation there. 

Edited February 20, 2023 by fsutanker

[fsutanker]

Reporting back from Stillwater. AMAZING practice area with a shot tracer range soon to open.  The course is just a damn fun layout. Five par 5s and  five par 3s.  Links style with pot bunkers. A great addition to St John’s County. Hope it stays semi private once the community is built out. 
 

I will say the houses are nothing special in there but it would be a snowbirds dream. 

[6holesn1]

Appreciate the update.   Thanks

[BirdieRoll]

I don't believe it's in a gated community but another suggestion would be to check out San Jose CC, especially if you like classic golf course architecture. It's a Donald Ross design and one I believe they renovated/restored not that long ago.

 

There might be a member or two that are on WRX that could offer more insight.

[wwweston]

I just moved to Jax about a year ago (from the Pacific Northwest) and, as part of my move, picked up the game. I'm in Jacksonville proper.

 

While I'm not an experienced golfer at this point we considered quite a few different clubs... location, amenities/facilities, waitlist and dues, etc. all played a factor. Atlantic Beach CC is nice, their stake to fame is that they hosted the Web.com Tour a couple times... probably won't find a house out there for 500k though. I've heard the waitlist is quite long as well. Timuquana is quite nice, some of my neighbors are members there. I got to walk it during the Furyk tournament last year and it was in great shape, I've heard it can flood out due to it's proximity to the river but I'm not sure how true that is. Jax GCC is lined by homes and is a good course with what I've heard is slightly younger/family-oriented membership.

 

Ultimately we joined San Jose CC and I've really enjoyed membership there. I think historically it's had an older membership but I've met people of all ages (I'm on the younger side, being in my 30's). The course is great, the greens can be quite challenging and there are always some players out there. The vibe is pretty mellow compared to some other places which can feel quite stuffy, if you know what I mean – especially the golf staff have been great to me. They have a great tennis and swim program as well if your family would appreciate those things.

 

If you end up out at St. John's or Amelia/Fernandina, well, I don't have a lot of experience there yet!

Edited February 23, 2023 by wwweston

[6holesn1]

Good information.  Thank you. 

[Jetsguy1792]

I’m an Atlantic Beach Country Club member and the homes have gotten incredibly expensive. A plot of land just sold for 1.2MM but the course and membership is awesome. It’s definitely on the younger side (in my 30’s) so perfect for me. The course is in great shape always but very tough. The waitlist is probably a year at this point but they have programs to get you involved / play while you wait. Location to the beach is the best in Jax besides Ponte Vedra which is $100k+ to join now. PM if you have any questions about it 

[Mhilaman]

 

On 2/20/2023 at 3:57 PM, fsutanker said:

Palencia May fit the bill. GREAT practice area, full private, challenging layout with a good membership. We just had Stillwater open up which is a 50+ gated community with a course designed by the guy that did Michael Jordan’s Grove23. 
King and Bear also fits your description but I don’t think they have a strong membership/games situation there. 

I will second this.  We live in a community next to Palencia in St Augustine and we love it here.  Great full private track with great practice facilities and active mens/womens games as well.  The only rub will be you wont find a 3BR/2B single family home for under 800k within the gates right now, maybe one of their large condo's.  If you're willing to live near the club, then that price point is possible.  Our road connects to the gates so we can still take our golf cart on a short 10 min ride to the course.

 

Stillwater is a great up and coming area geared towards golfers (membership included with the high HOA dues).  You will find homes within there more towards your price point, but may be difficult under 500k.  It is just opening now so games will most likely be quiet for a while until the community is more established.  

 

You can also check out St John's G&CC or Hampton G&CC near by as well.  Great courses, but it is semi private so you won't have that private country club feel.  Still great overall.  

 

I am not familiar with courses more north towards Jax so I will leave that to the others, but feel free to reach out if you have any questions about our area in and around Palencia.

 

 

[4bees]

Initiation fees for private courses in Jacksonville have gone thru the damn roof.  JCC used to be around $8K pre-covid, now they are $25K, San Jose is at $20K, Atlantic Beach has a waiting list and you don't want to know what that initiation fee is.  Golf has become super exclusive, its not longer inclusive.  

[6holesn1]

I am finding that out.  LOL

[haughdaddy35]

If you end up more north like the Amelia Island/ Yulee area, you should check out Amelia National.  Great track and really nice practice facilities. Great membership and some really fun group games to get in on.  The clubhouse is beautiful and they have tennis and nice pool. Its in a gated community but I dont know if you will find any homes under $500k.

[eparcpa]

Was wondering what you ended up deciding.

[6holesn1]

Decided on Ocala.   Familiar to area as in-laws winter there.  NE FL seemed a bit busy for these small town midwesterners.  Happy with our choice.