At GOLF.com, we’re here to improve your game on the course. But while we can’t guarantee you break par this year, we can promise you’ll have a blast teeing it up at one of these nine epic golf locations, hand-picked by our well-traveled staffers.
Our 9 picks for amazing golf trips you need to take in 2024
Sean Zak, senior writer: Michigan’s upper peninsula is wildly underrated. Not the easiest to get to, but there are three or four top-notch public courses awaiting you in Da U.P. The trip I intend on taking is an English Premier League/English golf links crossover event. Three matches, four rounds, one week. Hopefully Mother Nature plays nicely.
Alan Bastable, executive editor: Tampa, Fla., isn’t exactly a booming golf town, but if you’re willing to drive a bit around the surrounding area, it has become a sneaky-good buddies-trip spot. And I’m not just saying that — I’m actually headed there later this month with three friends! Flights from the Northeast are affordable (I paid less than $200 RT), as are Airbnbs, and the golf is improving. In town, the headliners include the Copperhead course at Innisbrook (home of a PGA Tour event) and TPC Tampa. But there also are excellent options on the outskirts: An easy hour(ish) drive south of downtown, you’ve got the wealth of imaginative courses at Streamsong, while roughly the same distance north you can spend the day at Citrus Farms, Cabot’s spanking-new remake of the excellent property formerly known as World Woods. If you’re a pigskin enthusiast, sneak in a Bucs game, too, and you’ll have yourself a nice little four-day jaunt.
Ryan Barath, equipment editor: Prince Edward Island, up on the East Coast of Canada. I was there this past fall and the entire trip was a blast with a ton of courses to choose from. If you can catch a flight to Toronto, then you can get to PEI on another short direct flight (and I like to remind my American friends that thanks to the currency exchange, your dollar goes over 30 percent further).
Jack Hirsh, assistant editor: Bend, Ore. Everyone knows Bandon, but there’s a ton of great golf five hours east, on the other side of the Cascades. Not to be confused with North Bend, the location of the airport 30 minutes north of the Oregon coast resort. Call me biased since I called Central Oregon home for two years, but those years were filled with outstanding weather, beautiful nature and world-class golf. There’s a little something for everyone from resort tracks like Sunriver’s Crosswater Course, Brasada Ranch, Tetherow, Pronghorn and Black Butte Ranch to daily fees like Widgi Creek, Aspen Lakes, Meadow Lakes and Juniper. If you can manage a tee time at the private Bend Golf Club, do it, as there are few courses more under the radar than the Chandler Eagn design. You also rarely have to worry about weather impacting your round as Bend gets about 300 days of sunshine a year. It’s even possible to get a few ski/snowboard runs in before rounds in March-May with Mt. Bachelor just 30 minutes away. And in case you are wondering, there isn’t a golf course in the area that doesn’t have spectacular mountain views.
Josh Sens, senior writer: In our brave new age of high-end destination golf, Myrtle Beach can seem like yesterday’s news — the kind of place design snobs curl their lips at. But keep an open mind, and you realize the Grand Strand still has plenty going for it beyond the package deals and bargain prices. Are you a Tom Doak fan? One of his early works is here, the Heathland Course at Legends Golf Club, which lives up to its name in its look and feel. What about the late Mike Stranz, cult architecture figure-turned-Instagram darling? He left behind a pair of fine designs — True Blue and Caledonia — on Pawleys Island, some 40 minutes south of the airport and worth the drive. With such a high concentration of courses in the area, you’ll want to pick your spots (the Dunes Club, by Robert Trent Jones Sr., is another that deserves your attention). But that isn’t hard to do, especially if you visit in the shoulder seasons, when the summer crowds have thinned, the temperatures have cooled and the stay-and-play offers come relatively cheap compared to what you find at other spots that tend to dominate the headlines nowadays.
James Colgan, news and features editor: So many good destinations on the list here, so I’ll throw a curveball: Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. I went to Banff on a ski trip a few years ago, and it remains the single-coolest place I’ve ever visited. The thought of visiting in the warm summer months — when the snow melts and the wildlife emerges — is nothing shy of intoxicating, and the number of interesting, scenic golf courses only adds to the intrigue.
Nick Dimengo, instruction editor: Whistler, B.C. Living in Seattle, many people just assume a three-hour road trip down to Oregon is the way to go, but one shouldn’t overlook our neighbors to the north! With Whistler being only about a 3.5-hour haul, I highly suggest crossing the border for a weekend getaway — whether for a boys trip or with your family. In addition to having world-class skiing, dining and lodging, Whistler also happens to have some pretty incredible golf courses, all of which are reasonably priced. From Big Sky Golf Club (which runs alongside Mount Currie to offer spectacular views) to Robert Trent Jones Jr.’s design at The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club — and plenty in-between, including Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer designs — Whistler has luxury-level designs for golfers of all skill levels.
Jessica Marksbury, senior editor: I am still buzzing with fond memories of my few days at Pinehurst from GOLF’s 2021 Top 100 Teacher Summit — and that was in the relatively cold month of November! (Still enjoyably playable!) With the resort’s No. 10 course opening this spring, Pinehurst — which is already fabulous and ultra-family-friendly — will be the must-visit destination of the year. The golf, the food, the setting — it’s just awesome, no matter the season. But no doubt the warm-weather months are particularly epic.
Zephyr Melton, assistant editor: My colleagues have outlined a pretty great list above, so I’ll toss out an obvious omission in Scottsdale, Ariz. We’ve trekked out that way the past two winters for our Top 100 Teachers Retreat, and I’ve come away impressed each time. If you live in a cold-weather state, there isn’t much better for your golfing soul in the winter than a few days on the golf course in the desert.
