PORT ST. LUCIE, FL. – Florida’s Treasure Coast embraces three counties – Martin, Palm Beach and St. Lucie. Add the surrounding areas and the golf options in this east coast area are numerous, diverse and competitively priced.

That’s why so many tour players make this their offseason home. Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Ricky Fowler and Nick Price are among 16 present or past tour players who are members at Medalist in Hobe Sound. Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Ernie Els and Camilo Villegas play at The Bears Club in Jupiter and Greg Norman, Russ Cochran and Scott Langley are at The Dye Preserve – another Jupiter club. Old Palm, in Palm Beach Gardens, includes Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Darren Clarke and Raymond Floyd. Even President Barack Obama has visited the area’s links; he made a weekend vacation trip to The Floridian in Palm City.

The tour players go to private clubs, but the public course options in this area are also quite good. And, you don’t have to go to resorts like PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens or PGA Village in Port St. Lucie to find good golf on the Treasure Coast. In fact, you can find courses that are arguably as good as those for half the price at a number of public courses.

During a 10-week stay we played 18 courses, almost all located between Vero Beach on the north to Jupiter on the south. Fourteen in the general Treasure Coast area were public, the lone exception being the Santa Lucia River Club – a Jack Nicklaus Signature Design in Port St. Lucie where pro Doug Main (below) could enjoy a view of the St. Lucie River from the club’s 18th green.

Lost Lake, in Hobe Sound; Hammock Creek, in Palm City, and two Stuart layouts — Champions Club at Summerfield and The Florida Club – all measured up well with the layouts at the two PGA facilities, most of which we had visited a year ago. Hammock Creek had the highest greens fee – an in-season rate of $69, which was still far below and tab at either of the PGA resorts.

Most of the other Treasure Coast publics were priced in the $40-50 range. In short, mixing course quality with cost, this area was far superior to Sarasota-Bradenton, our winter destination in 2012, and Naples, the base for 2013.

This stay was topped off by the round at upscale Santa Lucia River Club, designed by Nicklaus in 1982 and redone in 2007. It wasn’t the only Nicklaus course in the area. Hammock Creek is also a Nicklaus project, the co-designers being Jack and Jack II back in 1993.

Many Nicklaus courses have been criticized for being too penal. These weren’t. The Golden Bear has lived in Lost Tree Village in nearby North Palm Beach since 1965. The River Club and Hammock both had generous fairways and were highly playable. The Nicklaus influence was most evident on the greens. Their surfaces were huge with plenty of undulations, providing challenges we didn’t find anywhere else.

Hammock’s greens were new – just seven months old – and needed more time to blossom. But, course operators were quick to point that out and the Hammock experience also included use of an excellent practice facility and free range balls.

Lost Lake and Champions Club at Summerfield are Tom Fazio designs. His courses are always good, with Stonebridge, Conway Farms and The Glen Club providing ample evidence for players coming south from the Chicago area. Lost Lake had a practice facility option similar to Lost Lake.

Champions Club has been honored by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine in their various rankings. The only problem we had with Champions – one of only four courses we played twice – came in our second visit. There weren’t enough carts available, resulting in our tee time being pushed back enough to make finishing the round difficult.

Finding a Fazio course here was easy. Jim Fazio and Tom Fazio II did the design work on Lost Lake and Fairwinds, in Ft. Pierce. Tommy Fazio was the designer of Eagle Marsh in Jensen Beach and Dom Fazio was the architect of record for Heritage Ridge of Hobe Sound. A big believer in checking the architect before playing a course, I’ll always look forward to visiting a Fazio layout.

In general, Treasure Coast golf offers a greater array of bird life than we experienced anywhere else in the U.S. and there were other welcome distractions. We’ve shared courses with deer lots of times and seen sheep, horses and cows either on courses or adjoining property. Here there was more than that.

At Pine Lakes, a Stuart course, there was a big family of unusual ducks in charge of the No. 8 tee. A bobcat crossed the 18th fairway at Lost Lake as we finished a round in the dusk. A diamondback snake, said to be at least six feet long, has been spotted around the courses in Port St. Lucie. We saw a picture but, fortunately, didn’t see that on-course visitor and we also missed alligators. They were regular features at courses on Florida’s west coast in previous years.

On Treasure Coast area courses the non-human companions were on the more memorable side.

At Fairwinds, we were paired with a couple from Ohio. Brooks and Patty were nice people, but they came as a threesome. Indy, a Maltese puppy, came with Patty. We had doubts at first, but Indy was extremely well-behaved and created no problems. In fact, that little dog respected course etiquette more than some playing partners we’ve had over the years.

Indy wasn’t the only extra attraction at Fairwinds. Driving my cart beside the No. 4 green, I was greeted by four wild hogs.

“They’ve been an issue since the course opened,’’ said head professional Matt Baum. “Nobody’s been physically injured, but they destroyed parts of three-four fairways one winter.’’

Removing the hogs has been difficult. The St. Lucie International Airport adjoins the course, and the use of firearms nearby that facility is prohibited. Instead hunting dogs have occasionally been used to trap the hogs so that they can be tied up and hauled away. Still, they’re part of the golfing experience.

Just as memorable as our hog-sighting was our encounter with red-headed sand cranes at Lost Lake. Two big ones settled near the 14th green and my approach landed in their midst. So did that of Jim, one of my playing partners from Pennsylvania. The cranes didn’t like that one bit but wouldn’t leave when we arrived to hit our chip shots. Those birds could have done us some damage, and we were reluctant to approach them. We eventually did, though, and that sent the birds into a series of belligerent dance moves that I’ll never forget. We were happy to get out of there.

Two of our rounds didn’t go the full 18 holes. Rain stopped us after eight holes at Fairwinds and after 13 holes at Pine Lakes. It was great being detached from the extraordinarily brutal winter that hampered the rest of the U.S., but we did find that when it rains in Florida it really rains. In just a matter of minutes both courses had much too much water on the greens to anticipate an imminent resumption of play. We gave up and splashed our way in.

As always, variety and economics were the cornerstones in determining our golf destinations. On the economy side, the lowest-priced course was Pine Lakes — at $28. We felt lucky to find it on a day in early February. We had called 10 other courses before finding one that could provide a tee time early enough to allow for the completion of 18 holes.

We didn’t expect a whole lot when we checked the scorecard. The course played just 4,766 yards from the tips with no par-5s and six par-3s. Still, it was golf on a day we were particularly anxious to play. We even considered walking – something rarely available at Florida courses in the heart of their season. Pull carts were provided free of charge, but we discarded the idea when we found only one of about 10 had two wheels that would turn. It may sound crazy, but golf needs more places like Pine Lakes – no frills, low rates, friendly atmosphere and a walking option. Not surprisingly, it was packed when we were there.

It was interesting to check out the golf promotional publications available for the area. They – as is usually the case – gave the best reviews to the courses that were the best advertisers. Understandable, I guess, but not in the best interests of the snowbird golfers.

So, here’s a more objective rating of the Treasure Coast public courses played in the winter of 2014:

1, Lost Lake, Hobe Sound — Excellent course and practice facility. Nice clubhouse. Friendly people. One of the very best places we’ve played over the last five years coming to Florida.

2, Hammock Creek, Palm City – Course and practice facilities were comparable, but Lost Lake was about $15 cheaper and Hammock’s new greens didn’t measure up to Lost Lake’s.

3, Champions Club at Summerfield, Stuart – Like Lost Lake, we played this one twice. A good course, and a good golfing buy.

4, Florida Club, Stuart – A fun layout marked by lots of waste bunkers, but conditioning didn’t match the top two.

5, Indian Hills, Ft. Pierce – A similarly fun layout, but a step below in conditioning and clubhouse options. (This one may admittedly be getting a higher ranking because our best scores were shot there).

6, Heritage Ridge, Hobe Sound – This one got the best reviews in the local publications, and its putting surfaces were among the best. It was also among the best for post-round relaxation but there was one big negative: the practice range was unusually far from the course.

7, Eagle Marsh, Jensen Beach – This Tommy Fazio design billed itself as “The Most Challenging Course on the Treasure Coast.’’ That’s debatable, but hot dogs came with your greens fees.

8, Fairwinds, Ft. Pierce – Wish we could have gotten in all 18 holes here. This one had the most interesting history of the ones we visited. In addition to the wild hogs and the nearby airport, Fairwinds had the distinction of being perhaps the first course in Florida built on a landfill. Baum also points out that back in the early 2000s Fairwinds ranked second to Pebble Beach in a readership survey that involved a variety of ranking categories. “We all scratched our heads over that,’’ said Baum (so did I) “but the course has experienced a lot of success. People seem to like it.’’

9, The Saints, Port St. Lucie – This one was once part of St. Lucie Country Club (its partner course in those days was called The Sinners). The Saints is now city-owned and a hub for social activity. The Sinners was taken over by Club Med and is now called Sandpiper Bay.

10, St. James, Port St. Lucie – Located very close to PGA Village, this was a decent course at a very good price. Built in 2000, it was probably the newest of the courses we visited.

11, Pine Lakes, Stuart – You can’t beat the price. If only the pull carts were working. Hardly any courses in this area offered the option of walking. This one did.

12, Sandpiper Bay – User friendly and decently priced, but the conditioning was lacking. Club Med’s other offerings (tennis academy, in particularly) relegated golf to being just another option rather than the focal point.

13, Sandridge, Vero Beach – We played the Lakes layout at the 36-hole facility owned and operated by Indian River County. Fairly priced, it was one busy place throughout Florida’s tourist season.

14, Palm Cove, Palm City – You either love or hate this one. It’s billed as a Chi Chi Rodriguez course, and the super popular golfing legend is a part-time resident of the area. The conditioning is better than many of the higher-ranked courses but the holes were squeezed in between homes, making the course extremely tight. That put it in sharp contrast with every other course we played, and lost balls were inevitable.

ST. AUGUSTINE, FL. – Jim Hahn spent nearly 30 years with Northbrook-based KemperSports, leading the management efforts of all the Chicago Park District golf courses as well as suburban layouts Waters Edge, in Worth, and Rob Roy, in Prospect Heights. He worked with Kemper facilities in other parts of the country as well.

Now the former Libertyville resident remains in golf, but with a far different facility than those he guided for Kemper.

Hahn (pictured below) took over general manager duties at the two courses at World Golf Village, an iconic links destination that also includes the World Golf Hall of Fame. He’s been at World Golf Village for a year, since leaving his last Kemper post at Cape Fear National in Wilmington, N.C.

World Golf Village, which opened in 1998, has undergone some changes and is gradually rebranding itself as a place offering more than golf. Now it’s going by the name Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center. The resort and accompanying residential community is spread over 6,300 acres.

“It’s a true resort, though it hadn’t been talked about that way,’’ said Hahn. “It’s not just two golf courses you can play. We’re trying to create the atmosphere of a resort. That means you can stay and do a variety of things as opposed to just golf.’’

In addition to the King & Bear and Slammer & Squire golf courses and the elaborate Hall of Fame, World Golf Village includes a recently renovated Renaissance Hotel, one of the largest (300 seats) IMAX theaters in Florida, PGA Tour Golf Academy and a state-of-the-art spa all just a few miles from the heart of historic St. Augustine, the oldest city in the U.S.

The resort concept was initiated by Jeffrey Oliasami after he took over as general manager of the Renaissance shortly before Hahn ‘s arrival.

All the components of a resort are there, but they have private owners. Honours Golf, based in Birmingham, Ala., owns the two courses. Marriott owns the hotel. The Hall of Fame is owned by its own association. BlueGreen has time shares available. The Murray brothers’ Caddie Shack bar-restaurant and the convention center are also part of the package.

“Having separate owners has been a little challenging in the past, but the last couple years we’ve tried to promote ourselves as one resort,’’ said Hahn. “The Rennaisance has been great about this. Jeffrey Oliasami lives and breathes the belief that we’ve got to be part of the same resort to be successful, He believed strongly in the resort visions, and everybody has embraced it. If the resort can be successful, we’ll all be successful.’’

There is one reminder of the tough times World Golf Village went through prior to the rebranding. A series of retail shops are vacant, probably because they’re too far off I-95 to attract shoppers who aren’t staying on the property.

Otherwise, though, things are on the upswing – especially at the two very unique courses. Both opened about 10 years ago and had interesting creative concepts.

The Slammer & Squire honors legendary players Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen. Bobby Weed designed the sporty course, which is on the short side compared to The King & The Bear. The only course co-designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, it’s the more challenging layout.

Honours Golf took over both layouts long before the economic downturn of the last few years. Honours owns about half of the 15 courses it operates in the southeastern United. States. Primary owners are Bob Barrett and Rob Schultz. Barrett had been an assistant professional at Augusta National and head pro at Quail Hollow – both sites of PGA Tour events. He was also involved in the start of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama.

Both the World Golf Village courses are well-conditioned, and improvements were recently made at the Slammer & Squire clubhouse. They’ve been vying for golfers with a variety of nearby courses while resort business picks up.

“They’re not where they used to be five years ago, but nobody is,’’ said Hahn. “But these courses are doing fine. They took a dip, but they’re still very profitable properties, both of them.’’

A goal for the golf operation is to bring back more resort play – a challenge with the famed Pete Dye-designed TPC Sawgrass just a few miles away. Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, has one of golf’s most famous holes. Its par-3 17th has an island green that alone is an enticement for visitors. Sawgrass recently boosted its fees over $400 per round.

“ From a resort perspective, that’s our competition,’’ said Hahn, “but we’re not in that price range. We’re a $150 golf course.’’

During the economic downturn both resorts saw play from business golfers decline. World Golf Village (viewed by night below) sought to make up for that by supplementing resort play with local players, but the locals couldn’t afford such a high greens fee. Now, with the economy looking up again, Hahn admits “We want to build up resort play; that’s how we’ll really be successful.’’

No other resort can offer the spectacular World Golf Hall of Fame, a facility rich in historical memorabilia that also includes a unique putting course and hole-in-one challenge for its visitors. You don’t have to be deep into golf to appreciate what the World Golf Hall of Fame has to offer. Just the long-running Bob Hope exhibit is worth the price of admission.

This year the Hall will carry on without its main annual event. There won’t be an induction ceremony during the PGA Tour’s Players Championship in May. Officials wanted to skip a year to allow for the revamping of the selection process.

While looking forward to the return of the Hall inductions, Hahn doesn’t feel its absence with have much of an effect this year.

“They’ve made a lot of improvements here,’’ he said. “Our owners feel confident in these properties, and they’re investing back in them.’’

VALDOSTA, Ga. – Bob Spence is about to hit the 60-year mark as a golf professional. Now his focus is on Kinderlou Forest, a stunning 18-holer just 16 miles from the Florida state line, but Chicago golfers should remember him well.

Spence, who turned pro in 1954 – a few months after graduating from high school, was the first director of golf at Kemper Lakes. The late Jim Kemper hired him in 1978 to direct the opening of the Long Grove course designed by Dick Nugent and Ken Killian. Kemper Lakes was an instant hit. It was the first public course to host a PGA Championship in 1989, a year in which Payne Stewart was crowned the champion.

Kemper also hosted a tournament on the Champions Tour for several years and was the site of a U.S. Women’s Amateur, the Grand Slam of Golf and 24 straight Illinois PGA Championships before an ownership change led to the facility going private.

Spence moved on, too. Prior to the Kemper experience he spent six years as an off-and-on PGA Tour player. Afterwards he established himself as a teacher, working with –among others — the famed Bob Toski, and an expert on course operations.

He enjoyed all those things, but found out that he loved course architecture more than anything else. Spence hooked up with Davis Love III to create Love Golf Designs in 1994. Kinderlou Forest, now celebrating its 10th anniversary under owner John Langdale (pictured below on right with Spence), was one of the first of the 20 courses that Spence built on Love’s behalf. It is most likely the best.

“We continued until the economy went bad,’’ said Spence. “Now (Love Golf Designs) is on hold, but Davis had a major desire to get into golf course architecture later in his career. I wouldn’t be surprised if the company started up again.’’

Love, of course, was the 1997 PGA champion and the losing U.S. captain in the dramatic Ryder Cup matches played at Medinah last September. He’s resumed his playing career and is also the host for the McGladrey Classic, a PGA Tour event played on his home course in Sea Island, Ga.

Kinderlou Forest has had a great first 10 seasons. Spence has declared it “better than Kemper Lakes’’ and isn’t so sure it isn’t the best course in Georgia – even though that state is home to legendary Augusta National, where the Masters tournament is played every April.

“There’s a lot of similarities between here and Kemper Lakes,’’ said Spence. “Both are great golf courses. Kemper Lakes has a lot of water and length. Kinderlou Forest doesn’t have as much water, but has variety in length and look on every hole.’’

Spence won’t designate a signature hole at Kinderlou, believing all 18 are special. The most striking visually, though, is the par-5 fourth, which features a large, deep cavern. You can play over it or around it. Either way, you don’t forget it.

The cavern, created when soil was needed to build a highway fronting the course, also extends in front of the tee at the par-3 fifth hole (see photo above).

The lack of houses on the property is another similarity between Kemper Lakes and Kinderlou. So is the personality of the owners. Langdale and his family have long been prominent in various business and political endeavors in south Georgia, just as Jim Kemper was prominent in the insurance world in Chicago.

“Jim Kemper was one of the most special people I’ve ever known,’’ said Spence. “He became a fatherly figure to me, helping my life in any way he could. John Langdale is the same way. He wanted a showplace for Lowndes County. He wanted to give back, just like Jim Kemper did at Kemper Lakes. I’ve been very fortunate to work with special people.’’

As was the case at Kemper Lakes, Spence moved on to other projects after Kinderlou Forest was up and running. Langdale brought him back six months ago to take Kinderlou Forest to a new level.

The first 10 years certainly weren’t bad. About 200 homes were built on the 4,000-acre property and the course, built on 600 of those acres, has already hosted a pro tour event (the Web. com Tour’s South Georgia Classic will be played there for the eighth time in April).

Kinderlou Forest, though, stands somewhat alone on the outskirts of Valdosta, a city of 54,000 and home to Valdosta State University and its 13,000 students. The weather makes golf an option year-around and overall living is affordable.

“We’re in the process of building it into a community, possibly a retirement community,’’ said Spence. “We’re trying to get people to come in here, and if they do they’ll want to stay.’’

Two Chicago area club professionals, Phil Benson and J. Anderson, have already brought groups from Chicago to check out what Kinderlou Forest has to offer.

As good as it is, Kinderlou Forest — at 7,474 yards from the tips –is no course for retirees, so a second — much shorter layout — will be needed. A lodge is also a consideration, though Kinderlou has townhome villas available for golfing guests and plenty of hotels are nearby. But space for more homes is abundant.

“If Kinderlou goes as planned we will have a lot of people coming from out of state, and a lot coming to retire,’’ said Spence. “It’s a great place to live. We’re building an atmosphere that you’d rather be here than anywhere else.’’