Golf Trip Planning Guide – Complete Guide to the Perfect Golf Getaway

February 18, 2026 Admin Comments 0 Comment

Let’s get one thing straight: a great golf trip doesn’t happen by accident. The guys who show up to Scottsdale in January having booked everything three days out, crammed into a two-bedroom hotel, and lugging their clubs in a soft bag that’s held together with duct tape? They’re not having the time of their lives. They’re stressed, they’re overpaying, and at least one of them is going to lose a 3-wood somewhere between baggage claim and the first tee.

Scenic golf course fairway with golden bunkers — The right planning makes the difference between a good trip and a great one

The guys who planned ahead? Those are the ones with the stories that get told for years.

This guide covers everything you need to put together a proper golf trip — whether it’s four guys renting a house in Hilton Head, a solo pilgrimage to Scotland, or a couples weekend where you actually want to keep everyone happy. We’re talking budgeting, booking strategy, tee time reservations, accommodation, transportation, packing, and the group dynamics stuff nobody wants to talk about but everybody needs to hear.

Step 1: Define the Trip Before You Do Anything Else

This sounds obvious, but it’s where most golf trips start going sideways. Someone says “let’s do Pinehurst” and two weeks later half the group has dropped out because the budget was never aligned, the dates conflicted, or someone assumed it was a casual trip when someone else was already fantasizing about five rounds in four days.

Get these answers locked in before anyone books a single thing:

Who’s Going and What Kind of Trip Is This?

Solo trip: Maximum freedom. You go where you want, when you want, and eat dinner alone without anyone complaining about the restaurant. The tradeoff is sharing costs with nobody.
Buddies trip: The classic. Budget sharing makes premium options affordable. The risk is group scheduling and competing preferences — more on that later.
Couples trip: Requires honest thought about the non-golf half of the trip. If your partner doesn’t play, you need activities, restaurants, and a resort environment worth their time. Don’t just drag someone to a golf-only destination and expect goodwill.
Corporate outing: Different animal entirely. Pace of play, handicap equity, and inclusivity matter more here than they do with a tight group of friends.

How Many Days Can Everyone Actually Commit?

Be realistic. A proper golf trip needs at least three full days of play, which usually means flying in the night before or first thing on day one. If you’re crossing time zones or flying internationally, build in a buffer. Showing up jet-lagged to St. Andrews on your first full day is a waste of a green fee.

Long weekend (3–4 days): Works for domestic trips within a few hours. 2–3 rounds, no rushing.
Full week (6–8 days): Ideal for most serious golf trips. 4–5 rounds with breathing room.
Extended (10–14 days): International trips to Scotland, Ireland, or multi-destination domestic tours. Plan rest days — your body will thank you.

Step 2: Pick Your Destination (And Be Honest About Budget)

The destination should follow the budget, not the other way around. Too many guys pick somewhere aspirational and then spend the whole trip trying to make the math work.

Domestic Destinations by Season

Winter/early spring escapes:

Scottsdale/Phoenix, AZ — The gold standard for winter golf. Great courses everywhere, excellent weather November through April, tons of lodging options.
Florida — Orlando, Naples, Jacksonville, Palm Beach. Course quality is uneven, so do your research. Peak season means peak pricing.
Myrtle Beach, SC — Underrated for value. Hundreds of courses, very affordable compared to Scottsdale, and the vibe is relaxed.
San Antonio/Texas Hill Country — Shorter window (Dec–Feb), but underpriced and underrated.
Palm Springs, CA — Beautiful setting, solid courses, but pricey.

Summer options:

Northern Michigan (Traverse City area) — Spectacular. Courses like Crystal Downs and Arcadia Bluffs punch well above their weight class.
Pacific Northwest — Oregon coast and Washington have some gems, and summer weather is reliable.
Vermont/New England — Scenic, great in fall, but course selection is thinner.
Colorado Rockies — Mountain golf is a unique experience. Altitude adds distance to your drives and confusion to your approach math.

International Options

Links golf in the British Isles: If you’re serious about golf, Scotland and Ireland deserve a dedicated trip at some point. St Andrews, Royal County Down, Ballybunion — these are bucket-list experiences that don’t translate to anything you’ll find stateside. Budget $400–$800 per round at the premier tracks. You’re not going for value; you’re going for the experience.

Resort golf in warmer climates: Mexico (Los Cabos especially), the Dominican Republic, and Portugal’s Algarve region offer quality resort golf at prices that often undercut domestic options. Great for couples trips or anyone who wants a proper vacation with golf as the centerpiece rather than the entire point.

Step 3: Tee Time Reservations — Don’t Wait

This is the piece most people get wrong. They think they’ll figure out the courses once they arrive. That works at your local muni. It does not work at Pebble Beach, TPC Scottsdale, or any course with a 12-month advance booking window for outside play.

How Far Out to Book

Course Type	Book This Far Out	Notes
Top 100 / Iconic (Pebble Beach, Pinehurst No. 2)	6–12 months	Some release exactly 12 months out. Set a calendar reminder.
Premium daily fee (regional top-ranked)	60–90 days	Peak season times go fast. Morning tee times especially.
Quality daily fee courses	30–60 days	Weekends fill faster. More flexibility on weekdays.
Shoulder season / weekday	14–30 days	Often fine to wait, but don’t push your luck.
Walk-on / last-minute	Day of or day before	Works occasionally at less-busy tracks. High risk for peak times.

Where to Book Tee Times

Directly through the course: Always check this first. Courses sometimes offer better rates or member-guest availability through their own booking system.
GolfNow: Good for aggregating options and finding hot deals (marked with flame icons — actual discounted tee times that courses sell off).
TeeOff: Similar to GolfNow. Worth comparing both before booking.
Stay-and-play packages: If you’re staying at a resort, their packages often include preferred or guaranteed tee times at on-site courses. Factor this into accommodation decisions.

Course Mix Strategy

The best golf trips don’t play the same type of course every day. A good mix looks like:

1–2 bucket list courses (these are your splurge days)
2–3 high-quality daily fee courses (the meat of the trip)
1–2 local hidden gems (often the most fun, always the best stories)

Leave at least one rest afternoon built into a 4–5 day trip. Playing 36 holes for three straight days sounds great in the planning phase. By day three, your back will disagree.

Step 4: Accommodation — This Decision Affects Everything

Where you stay shapes the entire tone of the trip. A private vacation rental with a big kitchen and a back porch is a fundamentally different experience than individual hotel rooms — and not just financially.

Option Breakdown

Golf resort (stay-and-play): Premium pricing, but the convenience factor is real. You wake up, eat breakfast, and walk to the first tee. Packages often include cart fees and sometimes discounts on additional rounds. If you’re booking a short trip and want everything in one place, this is hard to beat. Just read reviews carefully — not all “golf resorts” have courses worth playing.

Vacation rental (Vrbo, Airbnb): For groups of four or more, this usually makes financial and logistical sense. Shared common space matters for bonding. A big kitchen means you can stock it with breakfast food and snacks rather than paying resort prices for everything. One thing to verify: parking for multiple vehicles and adequate space for golf bags and equipment.

Budget hotel / extended stay: Totally viable if the goal is to spend money on golf rather than lodging. Just make sure you’re not sacrificing so much on accommodation that the trip loses its character. Nobody wants to stagger back to a sad highway motel after a day of great golf.

B&Bs and local inns: Underrated choice, especially for international trips. In Ireland and Scotland, staying at a local guesthouse near the courses is genuinely part of the experience. Don’t default to the chain hotel.

Booking Strategy

Book accommodation before you finalize tee times — especially for peak season. The inverse approach (locking courses first) leaves you scrambling for a place to stay.
Check cancellation policies carefully. Golf trips are vulnerable to weather, schedule changes, and life events. Flexible cancellation is worth a slight premium in most cases.
If using hotel points, check award availability before assuming you can redeem. Peak golf destinations during peak season burn through award inventory fast.
For groups splitting costs, designate one person to own all bookings. Splitting reservations across multiple people creates headaches at check-in and during expense reconciliation.

Step 5: Transportation — The Detail That Ruins Otherwise Great Trips

Nothing poisons a morning like getting lost, running late, or not having enough room in the car for everyone’s bags.

Getting There

For domestic trips under 6–7 hours of drive time, the math often favors driving, especially for groups of four splitting fuel costs against four airfares plus baggage fees. For anything longer, fly — but factor in checked bag fees for clubs. Most airlines charge $35–$75 each way per bag.

If you’re flying, use a proper golf travel bag to protect your clubs in transit. A hard case with foam padding is worth the investment if you fly with your clubs more than once a year. At minimum, wrap your driver head, remove headcovers (they can get caught in baggage equipment), and stuff towels around your irons.

Getting Around at the Destination

Rental car: The right call for most golf trips. Maximum flexibility, shared cost, and you can carry your bags, coolers, and anything else you need. Book early — compact sedans won’t fit four sets of clubs. Spring for a full-size SUV or minivan for groups of three or four.

Rideshare (Uber/Lyft): Only works reliably in metropolitan areas with dense coverage. In Scottsdale it’s fine. In rural North Carolina or coastal Ireland, you may be waiting a long time. Don’t depend on this for tee time punctuality.

Resort shuttles: Some all-inclusive golf resorts offer course shuttles, which simplifies everything — just don’t miss the pickup window, because rescheduling around shared shuttle times limits flexibility.

Step 6: Packing Smart — What to Bring and What to Leave Home

Overpacking is real, and it becomes everyone’s problem when you’re hauling gear through airports and crammed into rental cars. Pack with intention.

Golf Gear Essentials

Clubs: Obvious, but check your bag before you leave. Missing a wedge or putter at home is a bad day. If you’re renting at the destination, make sure you’ve confirmed club specs and availability in advance.
Shoes (two pairs): Wet shoes in the morning ruin the afternoon round. Rotate pairs. Your feet will thank you.
Gloves (at least three): Wet gloves are useless. Hot days go through gloves fast.
Golf balls (more than you think): You will lose more on an unfamiliar course. Bring at least three dozen. You can always bring extras home.
Tees, ball markers, divot tools: These disappear. Bring a bag of each.
Rangefinder or GPS watch: Essential for unfamiliar courses where you don’t know distances.
Rain gear: Even in Arizona. Monsoon season exists. Even in places you’d never expect, a surprise shower without rain pants is miserable.
Sunscreen (a lot of it): You’re outside for 4–5 hours a day. SPF 50, minimum. Bring more than you think you need and reapply.
Snacks and a cooler bag: Course food is expensive and often mediocre. Pack granola bars, fruit, and sandwiches for mid-round. You’ll save $20 a day and eat better.

Gear Worth Skipping

Don’t bring extra clubs you “might” try. Don’t bring four pairs of golf shoes. Don’t pack your entire wardrobe — most golf destinations have laundry facilities, and many resorts have on-site cleaners. Pack light and do a mid-trip wash if needed.

Before you go, make sure your driver is in good shape. If you’ve been gaming a head from three generations ago, a trip like this is a good motivation to reassess. We’ve covered the best options in our golf driver roundup.

Budget Breakdown

Let’s talk numbers. The single biggest source of post-trip resentment is budget misalignment. One guy thinks this is a $400 trip; another is mentally spending $1,200. Put the numbers on the table early.

Per-Person Cost Ranges (4-Day Domestic Trip, Group of 4)

Category	Budget ($)	Moderate ($)	Premium ($)
Flights (round trip)	200–350	300–500	400–800+
Accommodation (4 nights, split 4 ways)	100–200	200–400	400–700
Green fees (3–4 rounds)	150–300	400–700	700–1,500+
Rental car (split 4 ways)	60–100	80–150	100–200
Food and drinks	150–250	250–400	400–600
Tips (caddies, cart staff)	20–50	50–100	100–300
Miscellaneous (souvenirs, gambling, etc.)	50–100	100–200	200+
Total Per Person	$730–$1,350	$1,380–$2,450	$2,300–$4,100+

Money-Saving Moves That Don’t Hurt the Experience

Shoulder season travel: May and October are often the sweet spot — good weather, lower prices than peak season, and less crowded courses.
Twilight tee times: Afternoon rates at premium courses can be 30–50% less than morning rates. You get fewer holes, but the rounds you play are exactly the same.
Stay-and-play packages: When done right, these bundle accommodation and green fees at a discount over booking separately. Run the math both ways before assuming a package is better.
Bring your own snacks and drinks: The cooler in the cart is one of the best ROI decisions in golf trip history. Paying $8 for a beer on the beverage cart when you have a cold one in your bag is a choice you make knowingly.
Pro shop budget limit: Set one before you arrive. A clothing rack of logo gear is very appealing after a great round. A $400 impulse purchase at the Pebble Beach pro shop is also very real.

Group Trip Tips

Group trips are where golf travel gets complicated. Four or eight people with different budgets, different skill levels, different paces of play, and different opinions about where to eat dinner. Here’s how to keep it from going sideways.

Have the Money Conversation First

Don’t let this fester. Before anything is booked, get a rough budget range from everyone. If one person is genuinely a $600 trip person and another is a $2,000 trip person, better to know that now than to figure it out after someone’s already booked non-refundable flights to Pebble Beach.

Once the budget is aligned, designate a trip treasurer. One person manages the group Venmo or Splitwise account, collects deposits, and makes all bookings. Avoid splitting bookings between multiple people — it creates logistical nightmares and awkward conversations about who owes what.

Collect Deposits Early

People are much more committed to a trip after they’ve put money down. Collect $200–$300 deposits from everyone once the destination and dates are locked in. This covers your accommodation deposit and removes the “I’m still thinking about it” uncertainty that derails planning.

Competition Formats

If you’re playing for money or pride, agree on the format before round one. Nothing sours a round like a disagreement about rules or handicaps mid-game. Some formats that work well across mixed handicap groups:

Skins: Simple, exciting, and you can play them across any handicap range with net scoring. Best for groups with established handicaps.
Stableford (points-based): Keeps everyone in the game even after a blow-up hole. Great for groups with mixed skill levels.
Ryder Cup format: Split the group into two teams and play foursomes, fourball, and singles across multiple days. Builds actual stakes and camaraderie. Assign a points value to each session and crown a champion at the end of the trip.
Low net total: Everyone tracks their net score across all rounds, and the winner takes the pot at the end. Simple to run, creates a running storyline throughout the trip.

Set Pace Expectations

This is the thing nobody wants to bring up and everybody thinks about. If one person in the group plays at 5 hours and another plays at 3.5, someone is going to be miserable. Talk about it ahead of time. If there’s a genuine gap, plan to pair the faster players together so nobody’s waiting around on every shot.

Leave Some Unstructured Time

The best group trips aren’t the ones that pack every moment with activities. They’re the ones where you have time to sit on the porch after dinner and talk nonsense. Build that in. Don’t schedule every waking hour around golf, food, and activities. The open time is where the good stuff happens.

The Pre-Trip Checklist

Use this in the weeks leading up to your trip. Print it, share it with the group, and work through it systematically.

3+ Months Out

☐ Confirm dates work for everyone
☐ Set the budget range (get everyone’s number)
☐ Choose destination
☐ Identify must-play courses and check booking windows
☐ Collect deposits from all participants
☐ Book iconic/bucket list tee times if window opens this far out

2 Months Out

☐ Flights booked (or drive route confirmed)
☐ Accommodation booked
☐ Rental car reserved (confirm vehicle fits all bags)
☐ Remaining tee times reserved
☐ Group competition format decided
☐ Designated trip treasurer handling all group payments

1 Month Out

☐ All tee times confirmed (call the course to verify)
☐ Restaurant reservations made for any special dinners
☐ Club fitting/service appointment if needed (don’t wait until the week before)
☐ Travel insurance purchased (worth it for international trips)
☐ Passport valid for 6+ months if international (yes, some people wait too long on this)

1 Week Out

☐ Confirm all reservations (hotel, car, tee times)
☐ Check weather forecast and adjust packing accordingly
☐ Pack clubs and tag bag clearly
☐ Review driving distances between courses and hotel
☐ Share group itinerary with everyone (tee times, addresses, confirmation numbers)
☐ Notify bank/credit card of travel dates

Day Before

☐ Check flight status
☐ Charge all devices (phone, rangefinder, GPS watch)
☐ Save all confirmations digitally and print backups
☐ Final gear check — clubs, shoes, gloves, balls, rain gear
☐ Early to bed

Day Of Travel

☐ Arrive at airport 2.5+ hours early (oversized bags take longer)
☐ Verify clubs checked as oversized baggage, not regular luggage
☐ Confirm rental car pickup is ready
☐ Text the group with flight status

Common Mistakes That Wreck Good Trips

A quick list of things that come up more often than they should:

Overbooking golf: 36 holes every day for five days isn’t a vacation, it’s punishment. Your swing will fall apart, your body will hurt, and you’ll resent the trip you spent months planning. Cap it at 27 holes maximum per day, and schedule one easy afternoon.
Ignoring weather forecasts: If a hurricane is heading for your destination, you need to know a week out, not the morning of. Check the forecast actively starting two weeks before the trip.
Underestimating drive times: “The course is only 20 miles away” doesn’t mean much if it’s 20 miles of resort traffic during morning rush hour. Give yourself 45–60 minutes regardless of what Google Maps says for a 20-minute route.
Not confirming tee times: Booking platforms occasionally have errors. Call the course three days out and confirm the reservation directly. Ask for a confirmation number from the course itself.
Skipping the warm-up: You’ve flown across the country, slept in an unfamiliar bed, and the first thing you want to do is birdie hole one. Arrive 30–40 minutes before your tee time, hit a bucket of range balls, and putt for 10 minutes. Your first round is usually the benchmark against which everything else is measured. Don’t waste it.
Pro shop impulse purchases: Covered above, but worth repeating. Set a limit. Stick to it.

A Note on Your Game Before You Go

A golf trip is a great motivator to get your swing in order. If your posture and setup have gotten sloppy over the winter, sort that out before you show up at Bandon Dunes or Pinehurst. You don’t need to get to scratch — but playing to your handicap on a bucket-list course rather than 10 shots over it makes the experience significantly more enjoyable.

A session or two with a local teaching pro in the month before the trip is money well spent. Come with something specific to fix, not a general request to “play better.” The more targeted, the more useful.

Documenting the Trip

You’ll want to remember this. Take photos at signature holes, collect scorecards, and buy one piece of memorabilia from each course — a ball marker, a logo hat, something. After a while, these accumulate into a real record of everywhere you’ve played.

Designate one person in the group as the unofficial photographer for the trip. They don’t need a real camera — a phone does fine. The goal is to have actual shots of everyone, not just scenery. Group photos at the 18th green after each round. Screenshots of ridiculous putts made or missed. The embarrassing stuff too — those are usually the photos that get brought out at the reunion dinner two years later.

Final Thoughts

The best golf trips are the ones that get planned properly and then allow room for things to go slightly wrong in interesting ways. A wayward tee shot that ends up in the ocean at Pebble Beach. A wrong turn that turns into an impromptu roadside lunch at a place you’d never have found otherwise. A rain delay that forces an hour of card games in the clubhouse.

Plan the structure. Protect the tee times, the accommodation, and the transportation. Handle the money early. Have the conversations about budget and competition format before they become awkward. And then once you’re there, relax into it. The golf will be fine. The company will carry the rest.

Start your next trip by getting the right gear in order — a proper golf travel bag is the first investment worth making before you book anything else.