Living on a Golf Course with Kids

we live on a golf course. Thank God we live on the outside block - not on the actual links.

I personally - wouldn't WANT to live on the course. Our neighbors on the other side of us get balls in their yards all the time and really use their front yard more than the back.

We looked at two homes there were on the links. One house was off the 9 hole and balls were in the gutters as well as the grass. So, no. We chose a house in the middle of the division instead of on the links.

So no. I don't think you'd feel comfortable letting your children play outside in the backyard "safely".

horrible idea.
we lived on a golf course when my daughter was 3 my son was a new born.
There was always the possibility of being hit with a golf ball in our own back yard. Our dog go hit once , our neighbor got hit, left a huge bruise.
We had trees between us and the golf course and they still managed to get through.
We could not play in the backyard due to the possibility of a loose ball.

Here is what I'd like to know. Is it a country club or a public course? My parents are country club people and the quality of golfers at their club is extremely high. Not only are they good golfers (few balls in the trees) but they would NEVER use your yard as a bathroom. A public course lets any ole riff raff in. My husband and I are part of that riff raff, and I'll admit we've hit so many balls towards people houses.... I always say "I'm glad I don't live here!" as I creep around their property looking for my ball. So basically you just need to know what you're dealing with - Grey Poupon? Or French's?

I live where there are many country clubs and golf courses. I have friends that live in them and my parents also live on one. There are many reasons why I wouldn't want to live on one with small children, for one there is no privacy and if you don't have a yard it can be difficult to keep your children off the green. Gardeners, gardeners, gardeners...geez...try getting a little one to take a nap when all you hear from 8am-4pm is the lovely sound of a leaf blower. Some of these golf courses cost 100K to join, (so you can live on a golf course but not even have the privledge of playing on it!). I remember when my daughter was little and she'd run down the green into the fairway and that was scary because there is people playing, so it is dangerous. Also most of the country clubs are typically full of retiree's so there isn't many kids to play with. Also, the HOA fees are something to consider, many of them start at $600/mo.

Not only wild golf balls but a huge amount of pesticides. I live in Monterey County, home of Salinas and BIG agriculture. We call ourselves the salad bowl of CA.

Guess the city in Monterey County with the highest per capita application of pesticides per square acre? Pebble Beach, enough said.

BIG difference..... Country Club, basic public course or high end public course

It also depends on where your house is, on the tee, fairway, or green area. If you are in the fairway area, you are more likely to see balls.

If there is a net at the house you are looking at, rest assured, they have had issues and you will too.

We built our first house on a golf course (public) that had a good name for itself and we were on the tee area. Hubby is a golfer so we knew where not to build. We also belong to a high end country club where we see golf pros and celebs often.

Quite honestly, I was ready to move on after a couple years because it got really old to get cat calls everytime I walked outside with my daughter, have the greens attendants out on the course by 5:30-6am and peering into my windows (we were a good bit away from the course too), have men urinate in front of me at my back gate when they had to pass the snack shack with bathrooms to get to the tee by my gate. We didn't realize it at the time but they let any piece of trash who paid the fee go play golf.

It was like living in a fishbowl and I hated it. Now the people a few doors down had the high nets up and it was known that they would have balls go through the window and into their house as well. Once, a ball landed in the baby carrier at a time when thankfully, there was no baby in the carrier.

I would never ever live on a public course again. I can honestly say that out of 10 of us who built at the same time on this course.. have gone on to other areas and built homes much more private and nicer.

Now if it is a country club, it is different because the members pay a lot of money to be there (one time initiation fee in the neighborhood of $50,000 plus monthly fees around $1000 minimum), are good golfers, practice good etiquette, and are a different breed than the fly by nighter golfers at the public course. UNLESS, it is a public course that is high end, the fees to play are upwards of $500, etc... think Torrey Pines in the San Diego area.

Katie's analogy of Grey Poupon vs French's is spot on.

@Kari.. your area is beautiful... It is hard to play well at Pebble Beach because of the beautiful scenery!

We lived in a house on a golfcourse growing up. I was about age 5(my brothers were ages 4 and 9) when we moved in and lived there until we went off to college. We loved it! It felt like resort living. We had a view of the lake, so we went fishing, exploring and played golf. In the winter we rode snowmobiles on the fairways and I remember one time ice-skating on the fairways after an ice-storm. It was always the best for lemonade stands too. We would make a killing on tournament days! We lived on the 13th hold on the back nine, but our house sat back far enough from getting hit, but perhaps you could put a fence around the backyard to help shield golfballs from coming into your yard. It is possible to get a few balls through the windows. We had neighbors that that happened to on occasion, but we never had any problems. If you are parallel to the fairway, I would say you would mostly be ok, but if the house was on a turn or something, you might look elsewhere.
HTH,
A.

My parents live in a golf course community, not off the fairway though. I think another concern would be that golfers have been know to use yards as a place to use that bathroom. I know there are a couple signs posted in the yards of people thats homes back to the course that say, "this is not a restroom". Seems tacky I know but, apparantly it is done.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the possible distraction to the golfers.

I am not a golfer myself, but I have several friends and family who are. I have been in the cart on numerous occasions with them while playing. I can't imagine trying to dodge little ones and how distracting it would be. Again, it does depend on where you are on the course but think about trying to concentrate on a putt and have a kid yell or scream because they are playing, or worse yet hurt.

My brother in law and sister in law lived on a club course when my nephews were young. It wasn't the golfers who were peeing in public, but my nephews. I don't know how many times they were 'talked to' about the behavior of my nephews. Now having said that, I am in no way insinuating your children are as out of control as my nephews were (still are) but think about the other side too.

Does you yard not have a fence? My sons best friend lives behind a golf course, but the yard is fenced. It's great in the winter because they can snow shoe around the course.

how old are your kids? I know kids like 5 ish and older like to venture out after tee times and collect balls, they can make a few bucks selling them on craigslist too. I think there are pros and cons but I dont know if I would be too concerned about severe injuries although crazier things have happened. Maybe the previous owners were over protective can you ask them how many balls have actually came into their yard?