Golf communities aren’t simply places to play the game, they’re prime destinations for making your game better
It stands to reason that the commitment to a life next to the links would coincide with a commitment to game improvement. This could mean undertaking a practice regimen, which isn’t nothing. But if you’re blindly doing the same things and anticipating different results—what some call the definition of insanity—can you really expect to play better and shoot lower scores?
Luckily, many communities are similarly committed to offering top-notch golf instruction to their residents. Using a combination of private lessons and group clinics led by seasoned teaching professionals, holistic plans for improving the health of both your game and your body, top-of-the-line technology, and enormous acreage designed for practicing every facet of navigating a little white ball into a cup, the options are more bountiful than ever.

Where to start? If you’re thinking of moving to a community, ask about the instruction offerings and talk to the pros; a personal connection is key to improving. If you’re already a resident, asking the pros, as well as your friends, may uncover ways to tweak your game you weren’t aware existed. In either case, the first step is understanding your choices and how your club stands out.
Instruction is one of the hallmarks of Desert Mountain, the 8,300-acre community just north of Scottsdale, Ariz. Along with seven courses, it’s home to the 6,500-square-foot Jim Flick Golf Performance Center, outfitted with every piece of golf tech under the Sonoran sun. With so much to offer, the path to progress often begins with a one-on-one assessment to understand the member’s personality, goals, time constraints, and physical abilities before creating a personalized developmental plan.
Additionally, the teaching team, led by Director of Instruction Paxton O’Connor, supervises more than 70 golf experiences for members throughout the year, ranging from the six-week “Operation 36” experience for beginners to situational classes like “Escaping the Desert” and the Human Skills Golf Clinic, dedicated to factors beyond the golf swing such as emotional control, focus, perseverance, and managing energy output.
“For a beginner to intermediate golfer, I could present a case for group instruction being of greater importance and having greater weight towards one’s improvement,” says O’Connor. “There’s a precise agenda there where they’re being fed bite-sized information while their peers are asking questions which one may be afraid to ask in that moment. There is greater vulnerability to that, which is pretty special.”

Many communities employ well-regarded teachers, who like the opportunity to work regularly with students who live “on campus.” Krista Dunton, a former LPGA National Teacher of the Year, heads up the teaching staff at South Carolina’s Berkeley Hall, where instruction options at the 33-acre learning center range from lessons in a climate-controlled “super bay” equipped with swing analytics technology to Player Development Retreats—three-day intensives offering swing assessments, focused exercises, and guided play on the club’s two Tom Fazio-designed layouts—which the club has found to be popular with couples.
“If there’s couples that are playing a lot, it’s helpful for them to be on the same page,” says Dunton. “Maybe have a couple things to look out for with each other instead of criticizing or throwing so much information at each other that they end up getting in wars on the golf course.”
The focus on family is taken another step at Bluejack National outside of Houston, where lessons across the entire household have caught on. Former PGA Tour pro Rich Barcelo, Bluejack’s Director of Instruction, utilizes The Shed—a facility featuring two private instructional and club-fitting bays and an adjacent members-only practice area that stays lit until midnight—to rotate lessons and drills between family members.
“Between school and activities, opportunities for being together can be few and far between,” says Barcelo. “Having the family together and sharing a common interest, which is golf, to me is the benefit.”

One of the country’s biggest communities is Georgia’s Reynolds Lake Oconee, where each of its seven courses has its own head pro and assistants who offer lessons and clinics. But the sprawling community is further distinguished by The Kingdom—one of just two elite TaylorMade club-fitting facilities in the U.S. (the other is at TaylorMade’s HQ in California). Every January, residents can attend a town hall on how to utilize instruction, fitness, and club fitting toward building a better game. “I call it the triangle,” says Sean Cain, Director of Operations/Instruction at The Kingdom at Reynolds Lake Oconee. “You’re all in if you’re touching all three points.” Former Tour players and Tour club fitters man The Kingdom, and it isn’t unusual to be side-by-side with star players as well as others hoping to make everything from Tour school to their college team.
A member of the European Tour in his playing days, Martin Hall is well known today as host of the popular School of Golf show on Golf Channel, while also serving as Director of Instruction at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Fla. About once a quarter, Hall coordinates a complimentary clinic open to the entire membership with a popular Tour pro. Over the years, names like Matt Kuchar and Morgan Pressel have stopped by Ibis’s 20-acre practice facility to impart some of the wisdom that led to their success. “Obviously it’s not hands on to them,” says Hall, “but I think it’s interesting for the members to see how some of the best players in the world do it and learn what they could apply to their own games.”
Even with all the resources at members’ disposal, Hall acknowledges that serious players must show a commitment beyond simply taking a lesson.
“If you want to improve, you’re going to have to practice and work at it. Not everybody wants to do that. Some people just want to go and play and have a glass of wine afterwards, and that’s great. That’s part of being in the golf community, if that’s what you choose to do. For those members who want to play better, we are very good at helping them do that.”

If emulating a Tour pro isn’t your ultimate goal—or, say, you want to introduce your spouse, kids, grandchildren, or others to the game—look for a community that has the facilities to welcome all skills and ages. For Marc Owenson, Director of Instruction at beachfront Diamante in Cabo San Lucas, a full slate of weekly activities, private lesson packages, and playing lessons available to residents and renters alike is designed to cater to every age, skill level, and situation that golfers encounter on either of their championship 18s, the 12-hole Oasis Par-3 course, or the reversible Dunes Putting Course.
“On a recent day I had an 80-year-old who was followed by a 9-year-old,” says Owenson. “It’s a very wide range we cover, but it’s a pleasure to do it and certainly something we pride ourselves on here.”
QUICK TIPS
Looking for a fast fix? Here’s some advice from the experts to shore up your game.
SEAN CAIN, Reynolds Lake Oconee | SPEED CONTROL ON PUTTING: With seven courses on property, residents at Reynolds Lake Oconee have 126 greens to deal with, putting a premium on putting.
To control speed on greens, don’t think; react. Just like throwing a ball, you’re not calculating how far away the other person is, you’re simply reacting to the distance. To produce that same feel when putting, line up six balls at distances from 10 to 30 feet away from the hole. As you putt, don’t try to make them but get all six balls to stop between the back of the hole and two feet past it. Repeat from the other three sides of the hole to provide variability in speed and break. Keep doing this drill until the results become a matter of reacting to the distance.
MARTIN HALL, The Club at Ibis | IT’S ALL ABOUT BALANCE: There is no one-size-fits-all approach for taking on the three Nicklaus family-designed courses at Ibis, but balance is one thing everyone can easily improve.
What is the one thing people can work on to give them the biggest “bang for their buck” when it comes to golf? If people would work on balance through the entire motion, without largely changing anything else, they would almost certainly play better. Balance means being able to get to the end of the motion and hold your position. So, finish your swing and stand as still as a statue for a count of three, just like a gymnast sticking the finish!

RICH BARCELO, Bluejack National | DISTANCE CONTROL WITH WEDGES: No rough at Bluejack National means every hole at Tiger Woods’s only private design features tight lies when hitting approach shots.
In the short game, it’s not about how far you can hit it, it’s knowing how far you hit it. If you can repeat a size, that is, the length of the swing, and you can repeat a speed, then you can repeat a distance. One of the basic motions I teach is “pocket-to-pocket” or “hip-to-hip”: For a right-hander, take your hands to your right hip on the backswing and to your left hip on the follow-through. Once you know how far that swing length gets you with a given club, repeat the same motion with your other clubs and dial in your distance for approach shots.
JENNIFER TUCKER, Desert Mountain Club | ESCAPING THE DESERT: Living in a golf community in Arizona, you’ll almost certainly need to learn how to hit shots out of arid terrain.
For shots more than 50 yards away, approach them as you would from the fairway: Focus on making contact with the ground after striking the ball. This ensures a clean hit and maximizes distance. Remember: Your goal is to make solid contact without striking the ground before the ball. Practice is crucial for mastering desert shots. Make swings near or around bushes to familiarize yourself with various scenarios and the likely success for each situation. And if you’re in a bush or a spot that looks especially troublesome, consider taking a drop, following the unplayable ball rule.
KRISTA DUNTON, Berkeley Hall | GREAT GREENSIDE BUNKER SHOTS: Bunkers framing boldly contoured greens are common on the two Tom Fazio courses at this South Carolina Lowcountry haven.
You need to create steep angles in your setup. I call it “Hunker in the bunker”: Dig feet in, widen stance, flair the front knee over the front foot to line up the lead shoulder, knee, and ankle. Also, lower your hands to increase loft and bounce on the club. Keep your shoulders level, or lower the lead shoulder a bit, to steepen the angle. Put the ball in the middle of your stance or slightly ahead, and your hands slightly forward of the ball. And do it all with a little swagger, then give the clubhead some speed and swing with confidence. To practice this, make a small sandcastle and tee the ball on it. To hit both the castle and the ball out, the club must enter the sand at the correct spot and the clubhead must release past the ball.
MARC OWENSON, Diamante | HITTING A STINGER UNDER THE WIND: Beachfront golf properties come with both attractions and trials, like dealing with breezy conditions.
When the wind is up, you want to keep the ball low. Move the ball back in your stance at address and turn the toe of the club in slightly to decrease its loft. Shorten your swing length to 3/4 on the backswing and follow-through, feeling the movement from shoulder to shoulder. Finish with your hands low to knock the trajectory down—the more you exaggerate the low finish, the lower the ball flight.