Is it crazy to fly south in January for golf?

[Camo]

I don't know where you where planning on going in Texas but for sure I would not go to Dallas in January.

I have to go every year in Jan on business and it is typically cold and miserable. not to mention the vegetation is dormant brown. not very appealing if you ask me.

Average min temp in Dallas for Jan is 36.4

http://www.idcide.com/weather/tx/dallas.htm

as far as crazy goes... no it is not crazy to fly some place for the weekend to golf..... I can golf at home here in Nor Cal but I am flying to Palm Springs this weekend to golf...  just make sure that where you are going is worth the effort... and Dallas in Jan seems like a poor choice.

[ghalfaire]

Originally Posted by golfaddiction

I haven't played in a month and I'm dreading the 4 months before it gets warm enough in NY to play again. I priced out a 2 day, 3 night trip to Texas in January:

$230 airfare

$200 for 3 nights in a hotel

$100 car rental

$70 travel case for my clubs (I had wanted one of these anyway)

$100 for 2 greens fees

Is $700 too much to spend for 2 days of golf? Is there any way I can do this cheaper? This wouldn't replace my spring/summer trip I usually do with my friends, but that trip is about 50/50 golf/vacation with friends, whereas this is 100% golf.

Sometimes if you can get a number of your golfing friends to go with you, you can work a deal with travel agents who set up golf trips.  Usually takes a dozen or so golfers to get much of a discount but maybe today because of the economy it can be done with a smaller group.  good luck.

[blackxpress]

Crazy? Are you serious? Right now I'd fly to South America for one round of golf if I could afford it.

[glock35ipsc]

My Dad and brother always go to Arizona in January for a week to play with a couple friends.  I am going to join them this year the last weekend of January.  All of us sent our spare set of clubs down with a friend that takes his big motor home down there for 3-4 months, and we will stay with him.  So it's pretty cheap for us:

Round trip air from here to Mesa, AZ - $150

No hotel, we'll stay in the motor home

No taxi's or anything like that, we will have a pickup to drive already there

The most expensive greens fee sounds like $24/18 with a cart

Breakfast in the motor home, lunch wherever, and BBQ at the motor home in the evenings

Since I get there on a Friday, I will play 9 that afternoon, 18 on Saturday, 18 on Sunday, with some sightseeing and visiting long lost friends in between.  Then come home Monday.

I can't wait!

[nevets88]

I have gone to TX, AZ, FL, AL, NC and SC for the winter.

I've gotten some very cold days (45*) in every state, but FL, mainly Ft L/Miami/Tampa yielded me the warmest and driest weather.

I don't think I ever got a sub 55* day going to FLA and I've been there Dec/Jan/Feb.

God bless our 27th state in that regard.

[n8dogg2669]

I'm going to visit the parents in Florida in Feb. I cant wait to play 3-4 rounds. The dome just aint cutting it..

[PhilsRHman]

Originally Posted by jmanbooyaa

This thread is a bit old but didn't want to start another one. NEED real advice from those in the know.

My trip to South Carolina was postponed a few days due to the snow storm. Here is the issue, I was going to drive but now that it was postponed it got me thinking about the trip more. I have never flown with clubs before and therefore do not own a carrying case. So here is a multi part question for you guys. Any help or advice is much appreciated. Thanks

I was able to find airfare for under $220 including bag/clubs.

It is less than 2 hr flight

Need to get a car to take to and from airport around $120 most likely.

No transportation needed to or from airport in SC

No room needed my father lives 10 minutes from Myrtle Beach airport

If I drive it would take over 13 hours

Gas would cost roughly $180 round trip

Oil change $40

Tolls $100 round trip just a guess. Used to live in Wilmington NC and have not done this trip in about 10 years.

BACK PAIN from the drive guaranteed

Okay so there are the basics my questions are this. 1. Should I fly or drive? 2. What is a decent but NOT too expensive golf club carrying case 3. Do your clubs get damaged? 4. Just to be greedy on this thread what are some decent courses to play in and around Myrtle Beach. My father has not played in over 10 years and just wants to because I do. So he will only golf with me 1 or 2 times. I would like to go at least 3 times while down there at a fairly intermediate course(s). Thanks

1. I've done the 13-hour drive and it's tolerable on the way down but brutal coming home. My quick math says $350 to fly, plus a low-end $50 travel bag (which you'll have for future travel) is $400. The drive will be close to $300. Depending on how far you are from the airport, you're looking about about 4-5 hours travel each way, 10 total. The drive is 26 hours. If you've got no problem with getting the days off, then maybe it's worth it. But if it's just a quick golf getaway, hard to waste that much time on the road.

2-3. I've have very mixed results with travel bags. I've had Golf Galaxy bags last two trips and others last 15 or more. You want to go with a soft case cause a cheap hard-side case is more prone to popping open, plus they're a real pain to travel with, get in the trunk, etc. Wrap towels around your clubheads. The driver is most vulnerable so if you have a backup, take that. I travel a fair amount with my clubs, so I got a 5' piece of 1"x2" wood, cut it down about an inch longer than my driver, then nailed a little piece of the cut off wood to make a litle 'T' which is the keep your driver from absorbing the blow if your bag drops head-first. I've also had the stand on a carry bag crack, and general bumps and bruises, so I always take a beaten up bag now. But keep in mind, I've flown with my clubs several dozen times, so stuff's bound to happen. I just got a really sweet Club Glove for Christmas but I don't think it's worth a $200 bag if you rarely fly.

4. There's an abundance of golf. But a really nice combo of fun golf and value is the Mystical group http://mysticalgolf.com/ of Witch, Wizard, Man O' War. They're running some awesome deals and if you don't need lodging, I'm sure you'll find some nice deals. If you'll be playing as a single, call around the afternoon before  you want to play and see if they have any last-minute specials. I've done this in Myrtle and had great luck. Make sure to ask them to pair you up. Nothing's worse than a pretty light day of play but being surrounded by foursomes (they might only have 3 groups in the hour before you go out but if they're all 4s, you'll catch them quickly and hate life). I've traveled alone so many times, or been the only golfer in my group, I've learned to ask for brutal honesty and press them to answer if I'll be paired up or stuck on my own among the masses. Now that there are a lot of online tee times, you can probably figure out a lot of this on your own before even calling.

Sorry for the long-winded response but I've done a lot of the sort of trip you're talking about. Hope it's helpful. BTW, I'm jealous. I was thinking about heading to Myrtle this week. Glad I didn't book the flights, I never would have lived it down if I left the wife home to deal with two feet of snow on her own.

[jmanbooyaa]

Thanks for the info Phil. I booked the flight already for the 5th. $100 more to fly down in less than 2 hrs seems worth it. I also am borrowing my friends father in laws soft travel case and might buy one of those stiff arms to protect my clubs. In your experiences how busy are some of the decent courses in SC this time of year? Thanks again can't wait to play a few rounds and make fun of the old man as he tries to play. Always good.

[JerseyThursday]

Don’t go too cheap on the golf travel bag and the travel bags with wheels are a must!!!

[inthehole]

just booked a trip on bookit.com from NJ to Vegas for 3 days of golfing in late jan for $510 (staying at one of the casino's on the strip).     Greens fee's will be extra ... seems like a decent enough deal to me

[NM Golf]

You gotta do what you gotta do! This thread makes me happy that I can play golf 365 days a year right here where I live. That being said, I wouldn't pick anywhere but Florida to travel to in the winter. My buddy just went to Tucson last week and froze his butt off. He and his wife even came back early. Plus greens fees in Arizona can get a tad out of hand, I don't know why but in my experience the winter fees in Florida are much more reasonable.

My wife and I are headed to Orlando in March with two other families. We are renting a 5 bedroom vacation home for 6 days for $400 a family. This house has its own private swimming pool and hot tub. There are 3 good golf courses within a mile of the house and one of the other guys and myself are going to get in several early morning rounds before the family heads out to Disney. The moral of the story is its best to try and do these types of get-a-ways with some other guys. You can really save some cash if you go with a group.