Any ideas for a nice 3 or 4-day golf getaway?

[zipazoid]

So here's the deal. I have a free round-trip flight that I have to use by July. So I want to use it to go 'somewhere' to play some golf. I live in Orlando, so somewhere not in Florida.

Any ideas on a good value golf resort or vacation package? I've done Vegas, Arizona, Charleston. And not that I would be against going to those areas, but I'm looking for a new place to go, ideally some kind of resort (but not necessarily) with some nice courses.

Any ideas?

[inthehole]

just got back from a 4 day vegas golf trip - wolf creek in Mesquite & two courses near the city.     Tons of golf out there & fun night life ...

[mdl]

You could do Cali.  Desert golf out by Palm Springs is fun in late winter/early spring, and there's some nice resorts and Indian casinos out there.  Norcal later in the year could be fun too.  Maybe Monterrey, sneak in a round at Pebble?

[stealthduffer]

Assuming the trip is domestic (otherwise I'd be on a plane to Ireland come June 1st!) I'd take a look at Myrtle Beach.  Tons of golf and lots of other stuff to do.  Or maybe the Sandhills area of North Carolina.  Less non-golf activities but some great golf.

[sean_miller]

Props for Canadian destinations: PEI, Quebec, and the Banff/Kananaskis region of Alberta. Can't comment first hand on the night life.

[cilos2]

Puerto Rico is a great place to golf. Many golf courses. I'm going back this year because I had a great time last year. I was surprised that everyone there pretty much speaks English.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Props for Canadian destinations: PEI, Quebec, and the Banff/Kananaskis region of Alberta. Can't comment first hand on the night life.

+1 for this.

Banff/Kananaskis region of Alberta is truly amazing scenery - and very ncie courses if you;re willing to pay a little

[colin007]

nobody has mentioned Bandon????

[Beachcomber]

Wisconsin - Kohler golf courses are awesome.

http://www.americanclubresort.com/packages/tac/golf_packages.html

Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run are both solid.  There are several other fantastic courses in the area.

And with it being a 3 to 4 day trip in July - I don't think you would want to go to Scottsdale, Las Vegas or Palm Springs... Unless you enjoy playing in 110F+.

[PhillyMac]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

So here's the deal. I have a free round-trip flight that I have to use by July. So I want to use it to go 'somewhere' to play some golf. I live in Orlando, so somewhere not in Florida.

Any ideas on a good value golf resort or vacation package? I've done Vegas, Arizona, Charleston. And not that I would be against going to those areas, but I'm looking for a new place to go, ideally some kind of resort (but not necessarily) with some nice courses.

Any ideas?

Robert Trent Jones golf trail!

[ejimsmith]

Bandon Dunes!

here's a GREAT writeup by a fellow sandtrapper (at least i think he was..):

http://golfcourses.weebly.com/bandon-dunes-resort-bandon-oregon.html

[zipazoid]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber

Wisconsin - Kohler golf courses are awesome.

http://www.americanclubresort.com/packages/tac/golf_packages.html

Whistling Straits and Black Wolf Run are both solid.  There are several other fantastic courses in the area.

And with it being a 3 to 4 day trip in July - I don't think you would want to go to Scottsdale, Las Vegas or Palm Springs... Unless you enjoy playing in 110F+.

I have to use it BY July. Was thinking April-May timeframe.

Never been to the Rockies & I see AirTran (who I got the free flight with) flies into Denver. What about some good courses around there?

Thanks for the suggestions! Keep 'em coming!

[walk18]

I'll second the WI suggestion, you could also hit up some great Chicago area courses. Then there's the entire state of Michigan which has a ridiculous amount of phenomenal golf.

[Gifted Golfer]

Puerto Rico is nice to play golf and they do have many courses.  I would suggest this one for a new place to play.

[WUTiger]

Consider St. Louis, especially if you're a baseball fan. Unlike the Chicago teams, the Cardinals win a World Series now and then. Coordinate your trip with a baseball home stand that has tickets available, and you could golf during the day and watch baseball at night.

St. Louis area has lots of good to excellent-quality public and semi-private courses on both Missouri and Illinois side. Many are run by Walters Golf Management. http://www.wgmgolf.com/?page=35211

We have some signature courses in the area: Stonewolf GC in O'Fallon, IL by Nicklaus, and Spencer T. Olin GC in Alton, IL by Palmer. Hale Irwin did the layouts at Forest Park and Quail Creek GC on St. Louis side. Missouri Bluffs GC is a frequent site of PGA and USGA qualifying tournaments.

Normandie GC, designed by Robert Foulis (he apprenticed with Old Tom Morris at St. Andrew's), is the oldest public course west of the Mississippi.

Green's fees (cart included) would max out at about $75 on weekends, with lots under $50 (and cheaper) on weekdays. Also, you can get good-quality hotel and motel rooms for under $100 (if there's not a major convention in town).

[k-troop]

Austin, TX is a pretty good choice.

Branson, MO is good for a little later in spring.  Fantastic weather in May.  No one thought of Branson?  Great courses, beautiful setting, and cheap.

http://www.bransoncreekgolf.com/index.html

http://www.murderrock.com/layout9.asp?id=244&page;=9414

http://www.paynestewartgolfclub.com/

[zipazoid]

Hey, Airtran flies into Branson. I'll check it out. Thanks k-troop.

[MEfree]

Originally Posted by zipazoid

I have to use it BY July. Was thinking April-May timeframe.

Never been to the Rockies & I see AirTran (who I got the free flight with) flies into Denver. What about some good courses around there?

Thanks for the suggestions! Keep 'em coming!

My last round (April '11) was at Fossil Trace in Golden, just outside Denver- a good course with good weather possible in April, or even better, May.  Definitely less humid than Florida that time of year.

Been a while since I played it, but I really liked Arrowhead near Littleton- really beautiful how the rocks come out the landscaping and I was lucky enough to have a deer run by me not too far off one of the greens.  Neither one of these are resorts.  For a full luxury resort, there is the The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs- very nice, very spendy.

The above are (especially the first two) what I would call Front Range courses- close to, but not really in the mountains (by CO, not FL standards).  There are also some nice courses above 7 K that are truly in the mountains- it has been a light snow year so far, so they could open early, but I would still tend to wait until closer to June to consider these.