Best US golf destinations

[Big_M]

What is your favorite US golf travel destination? Why?

[uttexas]

I vote Oregon. The only negatives here are you can't pump your own gas and chance of rain. However, there is no state greener or more plush. The courses and scenery are European in flavor. Almost like going to the UK or Ireland, but staying in the US. Never gets too hot in the summer (compared to Texas), and I've played Oregon in March, with good weather alternating with ski day and fishing days. Oregon is beautiful and cheaper than California.

[David in FL]

Well, I live in Orlando, so as a destination, I've gotta say the desert. Love the natural beauty that's such a contrast to what we have here.

[PiKapp23]

I've been to Myrtle Beahc 3 times...so I said Vegas Desert Golf. Everytime I've been to Myrtle it has rained and been a llittle cool. I love hot weather and hate rain. Plus, I've never played desert type golf courses. If I went I would want to play those type of courses. They look gorgeous on TV and I can play the normal plush, green parkland style courses anytime.

My ultimiate golf trip would be UK, specifically Scotland and Ireland. I also want to visit Australia and New Zealand for golf. Then again I just want to play every golf course in the world.

After I win the lottery...

[Elvisliveson]

For me, it has to be Las Vegas. I love desert golf, play in the morning, lay by the pool in the afternoon and gamble/see shows at night. And there are just a ton of courses to choose from.

[ks8829]

Monterey, California, where Peeble Beach, Spyglass, Poppy Hills, Cypress golf courses are located.

[wachesawgolfer]

I would think the Arizona/desert golf is the best all around. Hawaii should also be nice. Myrtle Beach is just too cold, wet and windy all winter and early spring and way too hot and humid during the summer. Their season is just too short. The same goes for the NC locations. I don't know about Oregon, isn't real cold there in the winter and spring?

[RC]

Hard to see how one would omit Palm Springs... last I counted there were over 100 courses in the valley and dozens and dozens of really fine tracks. And the grasses there are good -- meaning the greens putt true (but alway break to the valley.) Where else could you play a different historically great course every day for weeks? PGA West, West Stadium, LaQuinta, Indian Wells, Vantage, Cimmaron, Rancho Mirage, Desert Dunes, Indian Palms, Mission Hills, Palm Desert, -- you just can't name them all. It is like the Monterey Bay/Carmel area on steriods, with courses for every taste and ability, and designs of all types from mountain to valley flats. Dye, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, name your designer and it is likely he has one or more there if he was designing after about 1925 - 1935.

[nevets88]

During the deep Northeast wintertime - Florida. You are buying good weather. When it's really cold in the US in general, Miami and Ft Lauderdale - best chance for warm weather.

Spring/Fall - Sandhills because of proximity, good choice of courses within a small area, value and unlike most destinations, allows walking although it is awkward with everyone else taking carts.

Not a big fan of Phoenix/Myrtle Beach because no walking. Bay area golf is very expensive. Oregon is awesome, but a pain to get to. Washington is rainy.

Honorable mentions: New Mexico, St Georges, Utah

[pshizz]

kiawah south carolina, they have the ocean course, which is the hardest in the nation. they also have turtle point, and seabrook island is right next to it.

[RocktimusPryme]

Monteray its just jaw dropping beautiful.

you could have put bumble, nebraska on their with one 9 hole course and I still would have voted for it over Vegas.....

[Jay-Bird]

Monterey Peninsula

[Fat Slice]

Anyone been to St. George, Utah area?

[uttexas]

Utah is awesome (lived there for a year). St. George, Salt Lake City, and Bryce Canyon area just incredible for golf and skiing (no skiing in St. George). Utah is a beautiful state with really friendly, polite people. Utah does shut down at 10pm and bars require you to purchase a license. Your ball goes a mile up there. No need to hit driver, ball goes further with 10.5 degree driver compared to lower lofts in that altitude.

The other ideal golf location (from late Spring to early fall) not mentioned is Lake Tahoe.

[uttexas]

other great locations not listed (some are territories)

Puerto Rico
Texas Hill Country
Bahamas
New Mexico

We are so fortunate to live in the USA. So much topography and variety. Relatively cheap prices (try playing a round in Japan) We are spoiled.

[laborlawyr]

Hard to beat the Monterey Peninsula; I'll remember my first trip to Pebble for the rest of my life. I didn't see Kohler listed; it's awesome as well (treat yourself and stay at the American Club). Anyone who hasn't been to Myrtle should plan a trip there. It's a little more pedestrian in terms of being exclusive, but there's lots of really good golf there and they have over 100 courses to choose from. It's a very good value also. Check out the golf packages

[flap]

I voted Myrtle you can pretty much play year round and they take good care of locals as far as price.And of course I will be retiring there this year so I am biased.

[sabram]

I've played over 500 courses in more than half of the US States and in Canada, England and Scotland. This is a very difficult question to answer, but I voted for Myrtle Beach because it is a destination you can re-visit over and over due to the variety, quality, quantity and value of the courses there. For the purposes of this poll I eliminated from contention any place where you can play all or most of the top courses in one or two trips (e.g. Monterey, Bandon, Kohler, Kiawah etc) In a 60 mile strip along the coast there are more than 100 courses, more than half of which have been rated 4 stars or more by GD places to play, 10 of which are rated in the top 100 public courses in the US by GD and/or GMag. There is nowhere else where you can go back 25 times play 4 new courses each trip and never have to travel more than 20 minutes and in a many cases 5 or 10 minutes. The only places that even come close (barely) in that regard are Orlando and Scottsdale, both of which are more expensive. You can play year round even though it is a bit chilly in the winter and very sticky in the Summer. Spring and Fall are great. Green fees and lodging are significantly less expensive than comparable quality courses or golf course lodging in most, if not all, of the other choices listed. You can Play Caledonia, Heritage, Kings North, The Dunes, Barefoot Fazio & Love and Tidewater (8 rounds, 4 days, all top 100 US public courses) and stay in a decent golf course condo and the price can be in the same ball park as one round and one night at Pebble Beach depending on season.

Scottsdale should have its own place on the list rather than lumping it in with Vegas. I've played dozens of courses in Vegas, Mesquite, St George and Scottsdale/Phoenix and altough there are plenty of super courses, the good ones are so much more expensive that they don't compare to MB in the "bang for the buck" category and for the most part you can't go out in Summer because of the heat unless you tee off at 6AM , and they don't have the variety of course styles and price ranges. The Santa Fe trail of about a dozen courses between Albuqurque and Taos is a nice and fairly priced desert destination.

Northern MI has lots of great golf, but it too is very expensive, the season is too short and the top venues are too spread apart. It is a tough trip to play Arcadian and Treetops for example on one trip. Way too much driving between the various top courses in Northern MI as acomaperd to MB.

The RTJ trail in AL is fantastic. Lots of great golf at a great price, but here again, a good amount of driving, a combination of the courses at Grand National, Capitol Hill and Cambrian Ridge gives you 7 great courses within a 90 minute ride, but that is a drop in the bucket compared to MB.

The I-95 corrdidor of Virginia from DC to Williamsburgh is very under rated as a golf destination. There are dozens of excellent courses, many of which are inexpensive. That's a samller geographic area than Nortehrn Michigan. Augustine, Cannon Ridge, Hunting Hawk, Independence, Kingsmill, Stonehouse and two of my all time favorites Royal New Kent and Golden Horseshoe are just a few of the courses in this area.

As someone mentioned in a prior post we do have lots of great choices in the US, but we may be second to the UK IMO. Almost every British Open course is open to the public. You can play the Old Course, Turnberry, Hoylake etc as well as all of the great Heathland courses such as Sunningdale, Wentworth, Walton Heath etc. Try getting a tee time at Winged Foot, Riviera or Pine Valley in the States. There is such a depth of great and inexpensive courses in Scotland, most of which, most Americans haven't even heard of. Even some of the famous ones like Western Gailes can be played at a moderate price and there is not a course in MB that can compare to Western Gailes.

In case anyone has made it this far in this long and winding post, I started taking golf course photos a few years ago. if you are interested, here is a link to a few of my photos from courses in CA, Vegas, Scottsdale, Mesquite, St George, RTJ trail, FL, NY, southern MI, Kohler, MN, Ontario, Scotland, England, oh yeah, and MB. http://community.webshots.com/user/t...n=publicAlbums