Hot spots for Colorado’s golfing snowbirds

Have your golf buddies started disappearing yet? Plenty of us love Colorado golf in the winter (Here’s Proof) and bide our time playing pickleball or bowling when we have to wait for snow to melt. But then there are the snowbirds among us, who prefer to fly away for a week or a month or a winter.

While options for accommodations range from resorts to RVs to VRBOs to time shares to second homes, there’s one common denominator for the destinations: The sun usually shines and golf is always in season.

Here are five hot spots where you might run into a fellow CGA member.

Arizona, Phoenix area: Del Webb’s Sun City was the start of something big in 1960, the active-adult retirement community concept that led to Sun City West, Sun City Grand and Sun City Festival. These are all in communities west of Phoenix, and many CGA members have second homes there because each of them features golf. The Scottsdale area also is popular with short-term visitors for swanky resorts and fabulous golf courses that are pricey and busy in the winter. Average January high: 68 degrees.

Arizona, Tucson area: Less touristy than the Phoenix area, Tucson’s thriving golf scene includes affordable public golf at five outstanding municipal courses and more elevated experiences at daily fee and resort courses such as Ventana Canyon, La Paloma, Sewailo and the Preserve. Some CGA members of a certain age bypass Tucson about 30 miles to the south for more affordable and less traveled Green Valley, one of Forbes’ top 25 places to retire. Average January high: 68 degrees.

California: The Rat Pack turned Palm Springs into a vacation destination back in the ’50s, and Dinah Shore enhanced its golf pedigree by embracing the LPGA there. It still has glamourous restaurants and chic, mid-century modern hotels, updated of course. La Quinta Resort is probably the go-to spot for a short getaway, with five golf courses and 41 pools. For longer stays, fringe cities such as Indio, Palm Desert and Desert Hot Springs offer many housing options. Average January high: 71 degrees.

Florida: I know CGA members on both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico sides of this big state, and they’re all sure they’re in the right spot. Golf seems generally more affordable and less crowded on much of the east coast, as long as you’re steering clear of Tiger Woods’ house on Jupiter Island, and Orlando puts forth some excellent golf for the adults’ day off from Disneyworld. Hurricanes usually steer clear in winter. Average January highs: 67 degrees at Innisbrook (Palm Harbor, Gulf Coast), 75 degrees at PGA National (West Palm Beach, East Coast).

Mexico: I’m sure Cancun and Acapulco can tee you up just fine, but my money’s on Los Cabos for either short-term or long-term stays in the winter. The access from Denver is easy, brand new construction plentiful and views absolutely glorious, sometimes 270 degrees worth! I like the all-inclusive resort options here, though, alas, not including golf. And I can see why some CGA members might have succumbed to the time-share pitches upon arrival at the airport. Average January high: 78 degrees.

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Veteran journalist Susan Fornoff has written about golf for publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, ColoradoBiz magazine and her own GottaGoGolf.com. She provides the voice of “Molly McMulligan,” the CGA’s on-course consultant on golf for fun. Email her at mollymcmulligan@gmail.com.

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