Golf has never been more popular—or more expensive. A record 48.1 million Americans hit the links in 2025, a 41% surge since 2019, when the pandemic turned the fairway into a safe haven for socially distant fun. But that boom, paired with rising inflation, has sent green fees soaring. Peak season rounds are up 29% over the past six years, and in destination hotspots like Southwest Florida, the sticker shock is even worse.

For seasonal residents and tourists willing to pay a premium for 18 holes, private clubs far outnumber public courses. The result? A golfer's paradise that's pricing out the very people who made it great. After surveying over 80 readers, The News-Press and Naples Daily News got a resounding answer: yes, the cost of paradise is too high.

"I thought moving to Florida would mean cheap golf," says Randy Thompson, a retiree who relocated from Virginia Beach to Fort Myers in 2019. "But winter rates are so high, I've only played once since before Christmas. I can afford it, but I can't stomach $100 for a round when I could take my wife out to dinner instead."

There's a silver lining: May kicks off summer golf season in Southwest Florida, with rates dropping to about a third of winter peaks. But that floor keeps rising. Last September, Fort Myers hiked fees at its two municipal courses, Eastwood and Fort Myers Country Club, for both passholders and visitors. For budget-conscious golfers, the math is getting harder to love.