What are some great, inexpensive golf vacations?

[Finn07]

So what are some great, inexpensive golf vacations that you guys either go to or are going to this year? I went to Williamsburg, VA last year to Busch Gardens and stayed at the Kingsmill Resort with my wife. They have three gorgeous golf courses on site (The River Course, The Woods Course, and I forget the last one) If you stay there, after 2pm the round is free on two of the three courses, the River Course which hosts an LPGA event is 50 dollars after 2pm, you just have to pay for a cart on all three of them if you want one.

Also this year and last year I went to the Poconos and stayed at the Pocono Manor in PA. For 279.00 you can get unlimited golf and lodging for Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus breakfast and dinner included. We leave Sunday right after the round so we dont stay for dinner. You get to play on Pocono Manor East and West course. They are both nice courses. IMO its a great deal. About 20 guys or so go.

[elivate]

If you ever plan on heading to Canada you have to check this out:

http://www.roddhotelsandresorts.com/...kages_golf.asp

PEI is one of the best golf destinations around, I grew up there and it only continues to get better...

[FAHooGolfs]

So what are some great, inexpensive golf vacations that you guys either go to or are going to this year?

Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach. And Myrtle Beach. If you go during the right time of year, the words Myrtle Beach define cheap. If you look up cheap golf vacations in the dictionary, there's only a small reference that says "SEE Myrtle Beach." OK, enough ranting, but here's my example...

Me and 4 of my buddies went down to Myrtle the last week in June this year. It wasn't too hot, warm, but not too hot. We rented a 3-bedroom condo for 4 nights, played 5 rounds of golf, and the total was roughly $500 per person FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK! And we didn't play the cheap courses either... here's our list of courses we played: 1. Caledonia Golf & Fish Club - ranked Top 100 2. TPC Myrtle Beach 3. Barefoot Resort - The Fazio Course 4. Arrowhead Country Club 5. World Tour Golf Links - this is one of those courses where they have holes modeled after famous courses. Here's the company we went with, just ask for Laura... http://www.golfdesk.com

[Finn07]

Wow, thats awesome. That is something ill have to check out. Good post.

[elivate]

I did a Myrtle Beach trip with some friends years ago and it was great. Very affordable when you book a "stay and play" package, and just a really fun place in general...

[ragontona]

One hundred percent agreement with the Myrtle Beach idea. It really is Mecca for the bargain-seeking golfer. Just make sure you do some research and hit courses that are well-reviewed. With over 100 courses at your disposal, you're bound to run into some dog tracks. Time of year is also key -- you'll find that early spring in Myrtle Beach can be a very expensive proposition. However, the period immediately after Labor Day offers some really nice bargains.

Another nice destination is the Pinehurst area of North Carolina. Naturally, the Pinehurst Resort itself is an expensive trip, but there are other really nice courses in the immediate area that offer the feel of North Carolina golf without the premium prices.

[The Undaunted Duffer]

Me and a few of my buddies cruised up to Niagra Falls this past summer and had a great time.

Played some poker, golfed and got liquified to our hearts content.

Pretty reasonable if you're splitting rooms. Also, there is a huge number of bargain golf courses that are in really great shape.

[cdriver]

If you ever plan on heading to Canada you have to check this out:

My Son-in-Law lives in Maine and, with some buddies, did the PEI trip. He loved it. Said it was the best bargain he had ever gotten in golf. Great courses at reasonable prices. And he is a cheapskate, so I know he knows a bargain when he sees it.

We like each other and he is as addicted to golf as me.

[GoingfortheGreen]

Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach. And Myrtle Beach. If you go during the right time of year, the words Myrtle Beach define cheap. If you look up cheap golf vacations in the dictionary, there's only a small reference that says "SEE Myrtle Beach." OK, enough ranting, but here's my example...

Fahoo: Did you play all the rounds mid week? Four of us are going down Nov 9/10/11/12 and we're all staying in our own rooms. We're playing TPC, World Tour, Tidewater, and Wicked Stick all for $590 each. The $500 is a great rate! We have premium tee times (morning) - we assumed that the sucharges are higher for the a la carte choices. How was TPC and World?

Thanks!

[greenail]

Myrtle Beach. Myrtle Beach. And Myrtle Beach. If you go during the right time of year, the words Myrtle Beach define cheap. If you look up cheap golf vacations in the dictionary, there's only a small reference that says "SEE Myrtle Beach." OK, enough ranting, but here's my example...

beware the crappy courses, I was down this year for the first time and 2/3 were dog tracks. It was cheap though.

[FAHooGolfs]

beware the crappy courses, I was down this year for the first time and 2/3 were dog tracks. It was cheap though.

That's only about 1/3 true. Yes, there are some dog tracks in Myrtle, but from where I've played, there is a lot of very good golf.

Caledonia, True Blue, Litchfield, TPC, Barefoot, Myrtle Beach National (King's North & Long Bay), Arrowhead, Grande Dunes, Tidewater, River's Edge and some of the other North Carolina courses just north of the NC/SC border. You can't go wrong with any of them. I have a strange rule that I follow when it comes to picking new courses to play.... I judge them by the quality of their website. If they have a good website, chances are, it's a good course (or at least decent quality). If the website is lacking or non-existent, stay away. So far, one of the only outliers to my selection process happens to be my own home course.

[ragontona]

So far, one of the only outliers to my selection process happens to be my own home course.

Is Golden Horseshoe a bad website, or a bad course? I've been meaning to drive down to play that.

[FAHooGolfs]

Fahoo: Did you play all the rounds mid week? Four of us are going down Nov 9/10/11/12 and we're all staying in our own rooms. We're playing TPC, World Tour, Tidewater, and Wicked Stick all for $590 each. The $500 is a great rate! We have premium tee times (morning) - we assumed that the sucharges are higher for the a la carte choices. How was TPC and World?

Sorry Going, I just saw your question... when we went down, we played 2 rounds Thursday, 1 Friday, and 2 Saturday. Part of what cut down the cost was that I tried to schedule it so the most expensive rounds we played in the afternoon when the rates dropped.

For example, we did Caledonia and TPC in the same day... I believe Caledonia was the same rate all day, but after 1 TPC dropped from like $92 to $70 or something like that. Same thing on Saturday, we played World Tour in the afternoon. One other thing about the cost, where are you staying? Not that it has a huge effect, but we stayed literally almost across the street from World Tour at a place called River Oaks and it worked out to be about $27 per night per person. That may have an effect on the total price, but overall, it looks like you're not that far off from where we were. TPC was a very nice course, but be sure to play the tees that fit your handicap.... we played the tees that were about 6500 and even from that range, there were at least 4 par 4's that were 430+. It's a lot of fun though, and a surprisingly good layout for a Myrtle Course (i.e. I expected it to be fairly flat and straightforward and they did a very good job of incorporating mounding and carries over marshes and had a solid amount of elevation change). World Tour was decent, but it was probably one of the lesser courses we played on that trip. When I say that though, keep in mind what other courses I played on that trip. I was a bit disappointed with their "Amen Corner" as the 11th hole replica is actually really flat (the real one has a lot of elevation change) and the pond next to it is kinda cheesy. Otherwise they had some very good holes, regardless of what they were supposed to replicate. You'll have a blast at Tidewater though.... Tidewater and Caledonia are easily my two favorite MB courses. It's just such an unassuming course at first look that once you get out on it, you're like "this course kicks ass!"

[greenail]

One more detail is that everything closes at around 4:30 so getting 36 in is not exactly easy in a single day if you get a late 1st teetime.

[FAHooGolfs]

Is Golden Horseshoe a bad website, or a bad course? I've been meaning to drive down to play that.

So-so website,

Excellent course(s). I can't say enough about how great the Gold Course layout is - old, classic, tree-lined, tight. IMO, it's the best course I've ever played in terms of layout, surroundings (no houses anywhere, just woods), total atmosphere, etc. I'll shutup now because I could just go on and on about it. I look at the website and like to see pictures of the course so I know what I'm getting into... the yardage guides on the websites help some, but its tough to gauge the width of the fairway, etc unless you see some real pictures. The 'Shoe website, while it has been upgraded a bit over the past 2 or 3 years, used to be absolutely horrible, almost non-existant. I still think they could do a lot more with it, but I'm also just picking at details. If you're in Fredericksburg, you absolutely need to drive down and play sometime. If you come down on a weekend, let me know and maybe I can show you around the course some. BTW, I'm headed up to your area this weekend (Sunday) to play at Cannon Ridge. I've heard good things about it but have never played there... do you have any thoughts?

[GoingfortheGreen]

Sorry Going, I just saw your question... when we went down, we played 2 rounds Thursday, 1 Friday, and 2 Saturday. Part of what cut down the cost was that I tried to schedule it so the most expensive rounds we played in the afternoon when the rates dropped.

Thanks Fahoo; we're staying at the Long Bay Resort; last year we stayed in south Myrtle and played True Blue, Kings North, River Club, and Indian Wells (only disappointment). Next year we'll look into maybe staying at Barefoot, and playing a bunch of their courses.

[FAHooGolfs]

Thanks Fahoo; we're staying at the Long Bay Resort

Just make sure you leave early enough for that TPC tee time... it'll be a haul from Long Bay.

[duffer79]

GoingForTheGreen,
You left out the best course at Myrtle Beach. True Blue Golf Club . Easily the best course I have played. Its not in the "cheap" category, but worth it.