Having an expensive hobby that outstrips your tax bracket can be a painful experience that leaves you wistful and perpetually consumed by envy.

You cut corners here and pinch pennies there to play the game you love while wealthy golf nuts think nothing of dropping $2,000 on long weekends in Hilton Head.

Their station in life enables them to flee brownish, rock-hard greens and mercury that dips below 30 degrees for greener fairways. Yours forces you to brave the elements and play golf in December, January and February, which is possible if your schedule lines up with the semi-rare event of a 50-degree, windless Colorado day in the dead of winter.

The well-to-do golfer, regardless of whether his game is deserving, plops down $3,000 for Taylor Made woods and Cleveland irons. You buy knockoff clubs at Target for $200, which embarrasses you yet provides a built-in excuse for your 20 handicap.

Don't fret that you couldn't afford airfare to Phoenix and green fees at Troon North in January. Regret is a wasted emotion.

And don't covet your neighbor's $400 Nike SQ Sumo driver. Remember, it doesn't matter that you've never heard of the name engraved in the head of your $30, off-the-rack Wal-Mart special. The clubs don't make the player.

If you're not prone to glass-half-full declarations, here are two pieces of indisputably good news:

1) Golf season is back at Colorado's 297 courses, and 2) your shoestring budget will allow you to play several of them over the next several months.

Listed below is a diverse group of 10 Colorado favorites you should visit this summer.

Golf Club at Bear Dance

6630 Bear Dance Road, Larkspur

* The course: Along with Black Bear and Riverdale Dunes and Knolls in Brighton, Bear Dance features ample fairways, white-sand bunkers and eye-catching water features. Everyone who plays Bear Dance raves about the conditions and playability, the native grasses that encroach the rough and the random wildlife sightings.

* Rate: $50 to $80

* Pro shop: 303-681-4653

The Ridge at Castle Pines North

1414 Castle Pines Parkway, Castle Rock

* The course: The Troon Golf experience means being pampered from the moment you arrive at the facility until you're munching on Billy Bob's Buffalo Wings at the Ridge Bar and Grill after your round. Expect first-rate treatment at Golfweek's 10th-ranked "Best Course You Can Play" for 2008. The Ridge is as impeccably manicured and ingeniously crafted as any Colorado course.

* Rate: $60 to $145

* Pro shop: 303-688-4301

Black Bear Golf Club

11400 Canterberry Parkway, Parker

* The course: The golf course formerly known as Canterberry is one of the most formidable of Colorado's 297 golf courses. As close to true links-style layout as it gets on this side of the pond.

* Rate: $40 to $75

* Pro shop: 303-840-3100

Devil's Thumb Golf Club

9900 Devil's Thumb Drive, Delta

* The course: A "prairie-style" Rick Phelps design 50 miles southeast of Grand Junction on the Western slope. Every bit as spectacular as the Golf Club at Redlands Mesa in Grand Junction, Devil's Thumb gets less credit, probably because it lies off the beaten path. With Grand Mesa to the north and the San Juan Mountain Range, West Elks and Black Canyon to the south, Devil's Thumb rivals Redlands Mesa in jaw-dropping vistas, atmosphere - in pretty much every respect but price.

* Rate: $35 to $57

* Pro shop: 1-970-874-6262

Fox Hollow Golf Course

13410 Morrison Road, Lakewood

* The course: Quickly becoming a suburban legend. Like West Woods, Fox Hollow is composed of three challenging nine-hole layouts, with the most difficult being the Links Course. Conditions are pristine, giving Fox Hollow near-country-club pedigree.

* Rate: $70 to $90

* Pro shop: 303-986-7888

The Broadmoor

1 Lake Ave., Colorado Springs

* The course: The list of architects who have shaped the three championship courses of The Broadmoor (the East Course, the West Course and the Mountain Golf Course) in the past 90 years reads like a who's who of American course design - Donald Ross, Donald Trent Jones Sr., Jack Nicklaus. The 2008 U.S. Senior Open Host offers the golfing public the chance to savor a golf tradition as rich as any in the state.

* Rate: $100 to $225

* Pro shop: 1-719-634-7711

Mariana Butte

701 Clubhouse Drive, Loveland

* The course: Spectacular and well the worth the 50-mile trek northwest of Denver. After a round at Mariana Butte, you're left thinking you'd pay $30 more to play there. Gives mountain courses a run for their money in terms of atmosphere and breathtaking views from elevated tee boxes.

* Rate: $55

* Pro shop: 1-970-669-5800

West Woods Golf Club

6655 Quaker St., Arvada

* The course: Reminiscent of Fox Hollow, at a small fraction of the price. The Sleeping Indian, The Cottonwood and The Silo - great names that eerily capture the personality of each nine-hole track at this Arvada masterpiece.

* Rate: $60, $65

* Pro shop: 720-898-7370

The River Course at Keystone

* The course: Worth the green fee and the 90-minute drive from downtown Denver. Awe- inspiring elevation changes and magnificent conifer- and pine-bordered fairways that don't castigate golfers too enraptured by the view to lace their drives center-cut.

* Rate: $70 to $140

* Pro shop: 1-970-496-4444

Willis Case Golf Course

4999 Vrain St., Denver

* The course: Underrated, venerable, affordable - three adjectives that describe Willis Case, which at 79 years old is hallowed ground for any native golfer. Arguably the best of the old Denver municipal courses. Elevated tee boxes that afford a splendid panoramic perspective of the Front Range give way to narrow, undulating, tree-lined fairways. The clubhouse nachos are mouthwatering. Chatting up the staff at the 19th hole enhances this Denver classic's charm.

* Rate: $18 to $25

* Pro shop: 303-458-4877

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