Spanish moss hangs from a live oak at the first tee at Gulf State Park Golf Course, providing just the kind of ambience you'd want at the outset of a round of golf on Alabama's Gulf Coast. But as nice-looking as this parkland course is, it finishes near the bottom in a beauty contest in the Gulf Shores area, where the bar is set high in terms of quality.

For 18 holes and a cart, the fee is $40 at Gulf State Park, or $35.95 if you're 62 or older.

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"We're the cheapest 18-hole, par-72 course in the area," said starter Barry McCarthy.

Sitting on state-owned property, the course doesn't have the resources to pour into maintenance. The greens are slow, and the fairways aren't as pristine as you'll find at some of the area's other courses.

"If you want green grass everywhere, you're going to pay for it," McCarthy said.

If it takes green to see pure green, the place to start would be Kiva Dunes in Gulf Shores. Designed by Jerry Pate, the course offers fairways as green and smooth as a pool table and big white-sand bunkers. Last year, Kiva Dunes was rated the 58th-best public course in the country. That's a lot to live up to for golfers who plunk down their $95.

The golf course is part of a resort that sits along the Gulf of Mexico, but the resort sits between the golf course and the water, so ocean views are not part of the deal for golfers. What it lacks in vistas, Kiva Dunes makes up for in challenging golf, playing 7,092 yards from the tips. As one golfer put it, the better you are at golf, the more you'll like Kiva Dunes. Although the fairways are reasonably wide, the bunkers, water hazards and undulating greens take their toll.

For sheer aesthetic beauty, two other area courses can match Kiva Dunes. Lost Key Golf Club in Perdido Key, Fla., is a gorgeous layout, with manicured fairways lined by majestic yellow pines that bring to mind Augusta National. But there's a reason that Lost Key, designed by Arnold Palmer, has been called "Lost Ball." It's not the most forgiving of golf courses.

"You've got to trust your swing when you play here," said head pro Ray Hafner. "If you're on vacation, and you haven't played a lot of golf in six months, and you want to grip it and rip it, it can be pretty hairy.

"But if you have patience, you can work your way around the course. It's always in great shape, and people enjoy it."

Lost Key's rates are $75 for 18 holes. The course is about six miles east of the Alabama-Florida border.

In Gulf Shores, the Woodlands at Craft Farms has the total package, offering a pleasing experience from the moment you pull onto the grounds and stop at the Southern Colonial-style clubhouse. Like Lost Key, the Woodlands (designed by Larry Nelson) is in great shape and has a preponderance of stately pines, but the course is shorter (6,359 yards to Lost Key's 6,810) and more forgiving. The par-3s, in particular, are a good test.

The rates at the Woodlands are $69 plus tax before 1 p.m. and $49 plus tax after. Craft Farms offers two other courses, Cypress Bend and Cotton Creek. Like Kiva Dunes, Craft Farms has accommodations on site.

A few miles up Highway 59 from the Woodlands is Glenlakes, a midpriced course that consists of three nine-hole layouts. The Vista and Dunes are the best of the three, with the Dunes being the most challenging. The designers, Robert von Hagge and Bruce Devlin, also designed the Oaks course at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Carts at Glenlakes come with GPS systems that not only provide the distance to the pin, they also tell you how far you hit your drive. Rates are $60 before 11 a.m., $50 from 11 to 1 p.m. and $40 after 1 p.m.

To save money on golf and lodging, check out packages offered through the Gulf Shores Golf Association, which represents 10 of the area's courses. Call 1-888-815-1902 or go to www.golfgulfshores.com.