Golf travel has always been one of the quiet mainstays of the travel and tourism industries – it’s one of the reasons that so many 4-star resorts feature stunning golf courses, or are built close to the most famous golf courses in the country. Golfers are in a league of their own when it comes to vacations among sports lovers. Baseball lovers may travel to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, but most fans know they don’t have a prayer of playing a sandlot game at Fenway or Wrigley Stadium. Golf travel, on the other hand, underscores the equalizing force that is the game of golf. In most cases, if you can afford the greens fee, you can play the same courses that the golf pros play. Most baseball fans will never face the Green Monster, but any golfer knows that someday he absolutely can play the Amen Corner at Augusta National or take his chances against the elements and the architecture of the Old Course at St. Andrews.
Playing famous golf courses is just one of the best known trends in golf travel. Every golfer has his own personal bucket list of holes he wants to play or courses he wants to tee off on, and every golf magazine and website in the country is built around stoking the fantasy of playing the great courses. Each year, the most famous golf publications publish their list of the best 100 golf courses in the country and in the world. Basing golf vacations around playing those famous courses is one way to plan your summer.
Other golfers prefer to put their golf travel time toward discovering little known hidden gems, those golf courses that are best known to local players and seldom make it into the national golfing magazines. Some of them might be famous for a particularly treacherous hole, or for the amazing hospitality of the staff, or the beauty of the surroundings. For those golfers, golf trips might involve parking the family at a hotel in an area surrounded by golf courses and clubs, and heading out to find out where the locals go to play.
While many traveling golfers head out to the Grand Strand or to Arizona to enjoy two of the best and most populous golfing venues in the U.S., others look for a more historic vacation. Golf vacations to Ireland, golf trips to Scotland, and golf travel that encompasses both countries that contributed so much to the history of the glorious game.
Whether you want to play the most famed courses in this country, the most historic courses in the Old Country or the quiet, hidden gems that have yet to be discovered, golf travel is one of the hottest trends in travel today. Pick your courses, pack your clubs and head on out to enjoy a round of golf on the courses you’ve always dreamed of playing.
