These 10 towns are the top destinations for serious golfers

Some people long to live in a place where the choices for activity include, golf, golf and more golf. Or at least they'd like to visit such a place. There are plenty of places that fit that description on our list of top 10 golf towns. And Bandon, Ore., which is a golf town like Pittsburgh used to be a steel town, tops our list of golf destinations. Bandon is like a golf-oriented retreat, where there are three basic things to do: play golf, talk golf and think golf. South Carolina, it should be noted, has three towns in our top 10: Hilton Head, Kiawah Island and Myrtle Beach. Read on to find the other towns on our list.

1 Bandon, Ore.
If you dream of living in an away-from-it-all location amidst some of the world's finest golf, you'll find no better place to call home than the seaside community of Bandon, on Oregon's rugged southern coast. A few miles north of this town of 3,000, the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort made waves in the golf world with the opening of the first of three exquisite public courses in 1999. Perched on bluffs overlooking a stretch of wildly scenic shoreline, Bandon Dunes was showered with praise for bringing the best of links-style golf to the Pacific Northwest. The completion of two additional courses in 2001 and 2005 further solidified Bandon Dunes' reputation as one of the world's most rewarding golf destinations. The resort will add a fourth course, Old Macdonald, in the summer of 2010. Meanwhile, just south of town, the recently-opened Bandon Crossings has been listed among the country's top new courses.

2 Kohala Coast, Hawaii
If you fantasize about a never-ending golf vacation, you can live your dreams on the northwest coast of Hawaii's Big Island. The hillside Hapuna Golf Course is an Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay creation with stunning views of the Pacific and the snow-capped Mauna Kea volcano. The course has received widespread praise as one the most environmentally sensitive in the U.S. Just down Highway 19, the Mauna Lani Resort features two 18-hole courses. Depending on your mood, you can play the more challenging North Course or the more scenic South Course with its two ocean-front holes. Waikoloa Beach Resort also features two courses. The Beach Course, by Robert Trent Jones Jr., includes 75 bunkers, crashing Pacific surf, lava beds and Hawaii's second largest petroglyph field. The Kings Course, by Tom Wesikopf and Jay Morrish, is a mostly level layout with long lakes and the ever-present lava flows. The Waimea Country Club is located in the cooler interior of the island. Surrounded by cattle ranches, the links-style course is home to wild turkeys, pheasants and ducks -- but hopefully not duck hooks.

3 Hilton Head, S.C.
Located off the coast of the South Carolina low country, 20 miles from Savannah, Ga., Hilton Head built its reputation as "The Golf Island" by the quality of its offerings for the golf aficionado. Home to more than 20 public courses, Hilton Head's layouts consistently rank among the best in the state. With its narrow fairways and small greens, Harbour Town Golf Links in Sea Pines Resort is considered by many to be one of the top public courses in the country. Designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, the course has been the home of the high-profile Verizon Heritage Classic for 40 years. Other island courses on the island bear the signatures of George Fazio, Arthur Hills, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Rees Jones and Arnold Palmer. Bring your drivers for drives off-island as nearby Bluffton and Beaufort boast their own top-caliber courses.

4 Palm Springs, Calif.
With more than 100 area courses and a climate conducive to year-round play, Palm Springs and other Coachella Valley communities including Rancho Mirage, Cathedral Cit y, Pa lm Desert, Indian Wells, and La Quinta, have a well-deserved reputation as one of the country's premier golf locations. Offerings run the gamut from Tommy Jacobs' Bel-Air Greens, a beginner-friendly executive 9-hole, par-32 course, to the ultrachallenging PGA West TPC Stadium Course. The Pete Dye-designed, water-intensive 7,261-yard desert course has hosted such prestigious events as The Skins Game, The Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, The Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. With Los Angeles only two hours away, Palm Springs has long been a favorite retreat of Hollywood celebrities. The area offers a lively diversity of cultural events as well as upscale dining and shopping.

5 Kiawah Island, S.C.
This family-friendly residential island community -- 21 miles south of Charleston -- features forests, marshes, scenic bike paths, 10 miles of sandy beach and a disproportionate quantity of world-class golf. The highly-respected Kiawah Island Golf Resort -- future site of the 2012 PGA Championships -- has five courses created by Pete Dye, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Fazio, Gary Player and Clyde Johnston. The resort's best-known venue is the Ocean Course. With panoramic ocean views from all 18 holes, the course has hosted the Ryder Cup, World Cup of Golf, Senior PGA Championship, UBS Cup and PGA Professional National Championship. Rated South Carolina's No. 1 course on some lists, its gusty winds, raised fairways and tough traps make it one of the toughest courses in the country. Between rounds, you can walk the beach, kayak Kiawah's backwaters or enjoy Charleston's wealth of cultural attractions.

6 Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Considered by many to be the world's top golf destination, Myrtle Beach has it all; quantity, quality and variety. The coastal community sits at the center of The Grand Strand, a 60-mile stretch of Carolina coastline offering over 100 public-access courses. With average winter temperatures in the mid-50s, golf is a year-round activity. Four million rounds are played in The Grand Strand each year. The names of those who have put their mark on the local links scene read like a Who's Who of golf course architecture including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, Gary Player, Pete Dye, Robert Trent Jones Sr., Arthur Hills and many others. Both scratch golfers and high handicappers can find their comfort level on courses that meander through forests of pine and oak, by white sandy beaches, along the Intercoastal Waterway and on the sites of former plantations.

7 Scottsdale, Ariz.
It's no overstatement to say that this sophisticated desert city rivals anyplace on the planet in terms of top-shelf offerings for the golf fanatic. More than 200 courses are within easy reach of Scottsdale and 51 are within the city limits. Architects including Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw, Tom Fazio, Robert Trent Jones Sr. and Jr., Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Weiskopf have helped shape the local links landscape. There are numerous outstanding daily fee offerings such as Troon North, Grayhawk and We-Ko-Pa. Top-notch private and group instruction is available for both the scratch golfer and weekend hacker. With 330 days of sunshine annually, it's no wonder scores of tour pros and active retirees call Scottsdale home. The sport's most esteemed retail store, In Celebration of Golf, has a Scottsdale address. Golf is also Scottsdale's No. 1 spectator sport. Each winter, tens of thousands flock to Scottsdale's Tournament Players Club for the FBR Open, the world's best-attended golf event.

8 The Villages, Fla.
How does free golf for life in your own backyard sound? In this sprawling Central Florida active adult community, golf is woven into the lifestyle as well as the landscape. Among The Villages' 33 courses are two-dozen 9-hole executive courses with free greens fees for life for residents walking the course. An additional nine 18-hole championship courses include typical country club amenities. The Villages Golf Acadamy offers group and private lessons. A New to Golf program targets beginners and those returning to the game after a prolonged layoff. A variety of local tournaments and friendly competitions take place year-round including October's Executive Golf Trail Scramble that has raised thousands of dollars for charitable causes.

9 Chicago
Among large U.S. cities, the city of Chicago proper offers some excellent golf venues. Within city limits, the Chicago Park District oversees five nine-hole courses, an 18-hole course in Jackson Park and three driving ranges. The Sydney R. Marovitz course, known locally as Waveland, is a challenging nine-hole affair. Hugging the shoreline of Lake Michigan, it features tight greens and liberally-placed bunkers. And Harborside International features two 18-hole links-style golf courses that are like a bit of Scotland dropped on Chicago's South Side. Out in the suburbs, options expand considerably. Cook County alone boasts 140 courses. Tom Fazio's design for The Glen Club, a public course at the former Glenview Naval Air Station, included planting 4,000 trees. West of the city, the private Chicago Golf Club, in Wheaton, Ill., opened in the early 1890s and has the oldest 18-hole course in North America. An oft-praised Chicago area venue is the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont. About 30 miles from the lakeshore, the complex includes four 18-hole courses and is the biennial host of the PGA's BMW Championship.

10 Northwest Arkansas
In recent years, the Ozark region of northwestern Arkansas has been quietly gaining a reputation as a top destination for golf-loving retirees. Located about two hours from the popular vacation retreat of Branson, Mo., the towns of Bella Vista and Bentonville (site of Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters) are enticing retirees with a wide selection of close-by courses, a long playing season and a variety of other outdoor diversions including tennis, boating, fishing and hiking in the nearby hills. Bella Vista is home to a half-dozen 18-hole courses. A bit south in Fayetteville, the Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed 7,500-yard course at Blessings Golf Club has been ranked among the country's most difficult. Stonebridge Meadows, also in Fayetteville, is considered one of Arkansas' top courses.