Sold on having the back nine in their backyard

By Nora Firestone
Correspondent

FROM HER 2,700-SQUARE-FOOT HOME on Bay Creek golf course in Cape Charles, Vanessa Cox recalled how she and her husband planned their " whole future in one weekend" back in 2000.

Vanessa and Evan lived in Louisville, Ky., and had searched nationwide for a place to retire. They loved the water, and she had an interest in golf.

"I'd kind of played around with it for a while but wasn't that good," Vanessa, 63, said.

Evan Cox, now 72, had started playing at 60 in preparation for retirement. "I agreed I'd try it for two years and if I didn't like it I would quit," he sai d. He showed up for his first lesson in a power suit - blue pinstripes and a red tie - and hours later had fallen in love with the sport.

In their search for a retirement spot, the couple happened upon the Eastern Shore's Bay Creek Resort & Club and fell in love again. They built a home backing one of two signature golf courses, designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, and moved in eight years ago. Now the Coxes golf three to four times a week.

"At the drop of a hat, we can go out and play," Vanessa said. She also has joined the ladies' league, and the pair attends golf-related social events often.

The Coxes are in good company locally - the greater Hampton Roads area is home to an estimated 45-plus golf-course communitie s, according to the Real Estate Information Network.

Many residents are drawn to these communities for access to the sport, the maintenance of the development and access to amenities. They're willing to overlook possible drawbacks - fees and expenses, golfers and/or balls on their property - for the perks.

For example, when the Coxes aren't on the course, they take advantage of other amenities in the 1,729-acre community: two private beaches, a marina, walking and bike paths, lush landscapes and green spaces, and plenty of shopping and dining opportunities.

Located on the Chesapeake Bay, Bay Creek is a 30- to 45- minute drive to anyplace they frequent in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and the community is just a few putts away from the quaint streets of Cape Charles.

Residents also can travel by golf cart - the city permits them on the streets of Bay Creek and throughout Cape Charles, said Linda Buskey, sales manager of homes and home sites.

In addition to working there, Buskey also lives at Bay Creek. She doesn't golf, but she loves "the beauty and the tranquility of living on a golf course."

Completion of Bay Creek is expected within 10 years, Buskey said, and by then,, the community will have as many as 3,000 homes - a mix of single family detached houses, townhomes and condominiums. Currently, homes range in prices from $225,000 to $1.7 million. Lots start at $75,000.

On the other side of the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel, Michael Jordan and his wife, Marjorie, live at Heron Ridge Estates in Virginia Beach. There, "life is not driven by the golf course," Jordan said, "but the neighbors are friendly." He golfs at Heron Ridge Golf Club; she doesn't play much.

The couple live on the fourth hole, across from which lie wetlands and woods. " I don't have to look in anybody's back windows" or "shake hands with neighbors" over morning coffee, Jordan, 61, said. They like the privacy of their three-quarter-acre property in this relatively out-of-the-way 117-lot development.

The 18-hole championship-length Fred Couples signature course, built on Pungo Ridge, is known for its "rolling fairways and elevation changes," said Glen Pierce, the course's PGA director of golf. The course is semi-private, and common management among nearby clubs "adds value to membership and increases availability and accessibility," Pierce noted. Residents also love the evening range hours, he said.

Across the state line, at Scotch Hall Preserve community in Merry Hill, N.C., residents will have access to boating and golfing along three miles of Inner Banks waterfront. Their home - which is under development and is about 1.5 hours from Norfolk and about an hour from Greenville, N.C. - offers a piece of the small-town feel of places like Edenton nd Windsor.

Think of "where the old soda shops still make your favorite drinks and scoop your favorite ice creams," said Andy Hines, director of sales.

Residents also will have access to Nick Cassini, ranked the world's No. 1 amateur golfer by Golfweek. He's the director of golf on the 18-hole Arnold Palmer signature course.

So what do golfers like Cassini value?

"It's a getaway," he said, adding that the course variations accommodate juniors to seasoned players and that "every hole is distinctively memorable."

Home site prices at Scotch Hall start at $125,000; Village Custom Homes start at $540,000.

The golf course lifestyle has advantages but it's not for everyone, these residents and development staffers admit.

Tops on the list of what drove them to their communities: attractive, well-maintained property; great views of the course; and walk-up access to the sport and amenities

But potential buyers also should consider the home owners association fees and related rights and regulations, as well as golf club initiation and membership fees, which vary from club to club and according to specific packages.

As a buyer, "I wouldn't necessarily be looking for a tee box, a green or a fairway," Pierce added, "I'd be doing some research on the design of the hole I was living on and paying attention to the possibility of errant shots. Being on the correct side of the holes, and knowing where somebody's bad shots are going to land " can make a difference.

Nora Firestone, nfirestone@verizon.net FROM HER 2,700-SQUARE-FOOT HOME on Bay Creek golf course in Cape Charles, Vanessa Cox recalled how she and her husband planned their " whole future in one weekend" back in 2000.

Vanessa and Evan lived in Louisville, Ky., and had searched nationwide for a place to retire. They loved the water, and she had an interest in golf.

"I'd kind of played around with it for a while but wasn't that good," Vanessa, 63, said.

Evan Cox, now 72, had started playing at 60 in preparation for retirement. "I agreed I'd try it for two years and if I didn't like it I would quit," he sai d. He showed up for his first lesson in a power suit - blue pinstripes and a red tie - and hours later had fallen in love with the sport.

In their search for a retirement spot, the couple happened upon the Eastern Shore's Bay Creek Resort & Club and fell in love again. They built a home backing one of two signature golf courses, designed by Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, and moved in eight years ago. Now the Coxes golf three to four times a week.

"At the drop of a hat, we can go out and play," Vanessa said. She also has joined the ladies' league, and the pair attends golf-related social events often.

The Coxes are in good company locally - the greater Hampton Roads area is home to an estimated 45-plus golf-course communitie s, according to the Real Estate Information Network.

Many residents are drawn to these communities for access to the sport, the maintenance of the development and access to amenities. They're willing to overlook possible drawbacks - fees and expenses, golfers and/or balls on their property - for the perks.

For example, when the Coxes aren't on the course, they take advantage of other amenities in the 1,729-acre community: two private beaches, a marina, walking and bike paths, lush landscapes and green spaces, and plenty of shopping and dining opportunities.

Located on the Chesapeake Bay, Bay Creek is a 30- to 45- minute drive to anyplace they frequent in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, and the community is just a few putts away from the quaint streets of Cape Charles.

Residents also can travel by golf cart - the city permits them on the streets of Bay Creek and throughout Cape Charles, said Linda Buskey, sales manager of homes and home sites.

In addition to working there, Buskey also lives at Bay Creek. She doesn't golf, but she loves "the beauty and the tranquility of living on a golf course."

Completion of Bay Creek is expected within 10 years, Buskey said, and by then,, the community will have as many as 3,000 homes - a mix of single family detached houses, townhomes and condominiums - ranging in price from $225,000 to $1.7 million. Lots start at $75,000.

On the other side of the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel, Michael Jordan and his wife, Marjorie, live at Heron Ridge Estates in Virgin