Gregg. Those prices are killer! An adult resident season pass to the course I grew up on costs $900 up front. $3 for 9, $4 for 18, and a cart is $22 or $32 depending on how many holes you're playing.
My friends and I rotate between 5 courses. We try and play at least one of them a week. My favorite course (where we're playing tonight) is also the easiest. It's a 9 hole par 3, but it's got stadium lights and they allow coolers on the course. We have an 8:35pm tee time
Sometimes I even debate calling it a course, but it's a lot of fun, even if you're sucking.
Not counting the par 3 course, I'd say my favorite course (Crestbrook) is the hardest, maybe the second hardest. I play it really well though because it's where I grew up. I must have played that course 200 times by the time I was 16 (literally). The parents of the kids in town used to buy us junior season passes for like $160, and they'd drop us off every morning. It was cheaper than summer camp and was two miles from their house. I spent summer after summer there, often times playing 27+ holes a day, so I know every nook and cranny of that course. The greens are a nightmare to a first timer, but I know them like the back of my hand.