How Far Is Too Far to Travel to Play a Normal Round?

[RussUK]

I have been looking at ways to play golf for less and realised if I book online using Golfnow I can play my usual course for at least £7 less than i would normally and a local championship course for around £20 on a weekend. Compared to booking over the phone its so much cheaper (the championship course is double the price when booking direct).

As i can book up to 6 days in advance I have now so many more affordable courses I could play. The only question is how far to go for 18 holes?. For me Leeds is about 18 miles away and is do-able without taking the wholw day up. How far would you travel to play golf (just a normal everyday course for everyday players)?.

[David in FL]

My club has two really good, distinctly different courses, and it’s only 10 minutes away, so I’m pretty spoiled.  Anything more than a 30 minute drive is going to require something relatively special…

[Yukari]

I will drive up to 2 hours one way to play a nice course.

But most of the courses I play are only 40 min away.

[RussUK]

6 minutes ago, David in FL said:

My club has two really good, distinctly different courses, and it’s only 10 minutes away, so I’m pretty spoiled.  Anything more than a 30 minute drive is going to require something relatively special…

Yeah, I can do the 18 miles in about 30 mins, British motorway traffic permitting.

[dennyjones]

Last year there were several times we traveled about 1 hour away to play different courses.  I have about 7 courses within 20 miles but we like to play something different 

[klineka]

For just a regular weekend round, I usually try to keep them within 30-45 minutes at the most, but occasionally for a tournament or to try out a new course I'll drive a bit further, I don't think I've gone more than an hour though for just one round.

[phillyk]

1.5hrs no traffic (90miles) is my limit, unless it's special.  That distance covers Seattle/Bellevue where all the nice private courses are.  When playing public courses, I stay within 45min.

[billchao]

For my normal courses I drive 30-45 minutes. 

[NM Golf]

Little spoiled, as the course where I work and play most of my golf is 5 minutes from my house. There are several courses I play that are 30-45 minutes away though. I have even driven 3 hours each way to play a good course in Northern NM. 

[mcanadiens]

I'm sort of in the exact opposite situation. My membership makes the home courses far cheaper to play. The normal exception is actually closer to home, but somewhat more expensive. I'll play there on days when I'm not leaving Troy. Figure gas alone makes up the difference.

Any exceptions this year have been the few times I'm playing with someone in particular. @Jeremie Boop and I will occasionally play a course that is between us and that's 30 minutes up the road. Another buddy of mine plays a course that is 35 minutes south, but he hasn't had much time lately.

Sort of feel like I'm in too much of a rut these days, but money talks.

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by mcanadiens

[BC-to-MI]

The four main courses that I play are all about 25-35 minutes away, but my buddies and I have driven around an hour to play a couple really nice courses, and up to three hours to play a few special ones.

[lastings]

Typically, I drive about 45 min.   but, 1 hr 15min wouldn't bug me too much.   

1 hour ago, David in FL said:

My club has two really good, distinctly different courses, and it’s only 10 minutes away, so I’m pretty spoiled.  Anything more than a 30 minute drive is going to require something relatively special…

This is pretty fortunate for you.  In my experience, everything in Orlando is pretty far apart..  

[David in FL]

12 minutes ago, lastings said:

Typically, I drive about 45 min.   but, 1 hr 15min wouldn't bug me too much.   

This is pretty fortunate for you.  In my experience, everything in Orlando is pretty far apart..  

Really?

I can’t think of any place in the greater Orlando area that doesn’t have at least a half dozen courses within a 30 minute drive.

[Benit0]

We have less courses in Canada. The closest course to my home is 20 min but it's expensive for what it is so I never go there.

Other than that it's at least 30 min aways (1 good course but a little expensive) at best, going to 1h15 for more option (about 6-7 courses at 1h15 from home)

For a special course I could drove 2h to get there i guess.

[p1n9183]

I drive for 30 minutes for my home course. For mid Ams or new courses i can drive at most 1 hour. 

[lastings]

19 minutes ago, David in FL said:

Really?

I can’t think of any place in the greater Orlando area that doesn’t have at least a half dozen courses within a 30 minute drive.

yeah, i guess I'm not too familiar.   My brother-in-law lives in the Lake Nona area and when we go golf when I'm down there is always seems like we have to driver forever.  

[djfajt71]

I have about 10-12 public or semi-private courses within 30 minutes of my home.  Occasionally, I'll drive up to an hour if it's a nice course.  I've been wanting to try Streamsong, but the 2 hour drive and price point are major sticking points.

[geo63]

185 courses between 2 minutes and an hour away. I never gave any thought to this until I saw this thread. I would only go to the farther ones if someone else wanted to go and they were driving.