Your Guide to Golf Trips: Destinations, Resorts, and Why 47.2 Million Americans Played Last Year

Golf is experiencing its biggest boom since Tiger Woods was in his prime - and guys golf trips remain one of the best ways to combine competition, relaxation, and time with friends. From Florida resort weekends to bucket-list links courses in Scotland, this guide covers how to plan trips that deliver on the course and off.

Why Guys Golf Trips Matter More Than the Scorecard

The numbers tell one story - 47.2 million participants, 545 million rounds, billions in economic impact. But anyone who's spent a long weekend with buddies at a quality golf resort knows the real value has nothing to do with statistics.

A well-planned guys golf trip creates space that barely exists in modern life: four hours of uninterrupted conversation walking fairways, evenings around a table rehashing shots and telling stories, mornings when the only agenda is making your tee time. The golf provides structure, but the relationships provide the point.

This is why choosing the right destination matters. The wrong resort turns a guys trip into a logistics headache. The right one handles the details so you can focus on the golf and the company.

How To Pick The Perfect Golf Resort For Your Group

The National Golf Foundation tracks over 15,000 golf facilities in the United States, ranging from municipal courses to private clubs to destination resorts. For guys trip planning, understanding how to pick the perfect golf resort comes down to matching the resort's strengths to your group's priorities.

Course Quality vs. Overall Experience

Some resorts offer championship courses surrounded by basic accommodations. Others provide luxury amenities around average golf. The best destinations deliver both, but they're rarer and pricier than marketing suggests.

For serious golfers, course quality trumps everything else. For groups where golf is the excuse rather than the obsession, overall experience matters more - dining, nightlife, non-golf activities for downtime between rounds.

The Logistics Factor

Distance from airports, ease of ground transportation, and walkability between golf, lodging, and dining all affect how a trip actually feels. A resort with slightly better courses but terrible logistics delivers a worse experience than a convenient destination with good-enough golf.

America's Premier Golf Trip Destinations

Among American golf destinations, certain regions have earned their reputations through decades of delivering quality experiences for traveling golfers.

Florida Golf Resorts: The Accessible Option

Florida remains the default for golf trips, and for good reason. Year-round playing weather, abundant course inventory, and competitive pricing create reliable value. The top Florida golf resorts for a guys weekend range from budget-friendly packages in the Orlando area to premium experiences at destination resorts.

The state's depth of courses means you can play a different track every day without repeating, and the competition keeps prices reasonable compared to more exclusive destinations.

Scottsdale and the Desert Southwest

Desert golf offers an entirely different aesthetic - dramatic mountain backdrops, target-style layouts, and conditions that favor aerial approaches over running shots. Scottsdale in particular combines championship courses with nightlife and dining options that extend the trip beyond the course.

The TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course, home to the PGA Tour's famously rowdy Waste Management Phoenix Open, anchors a region packed with quality public and resort courses.

Pinehurst and the Sandhills

For golfers who care about history and tradition, Pinehurst represents American golf's spiritual home. The resort's nine courses include the legendary No. 2, Donald Ross's masterpiece that has hosted multiple U.S. Opens. The Sandhills region surrounding Pinehurst adds dozens of additional courses, most built on the same sandy soil that makes the area naturally suited to golf.

Oregon's Bandon Dunes: The Links Experience

Bandon Dunes brought links-style golf to American shores. The remote coastal Oregon location adds to the pilgrimage quality - this isn't a convenient trip, but the seven courses at Bandon Dunes on Oregon's wild coast reward the effort with genuine seaside golf that rivals anything in the British Isles.

The resort's walking-only policy (with caddies available) reinforces the links experience, and the isolation means your group will be fully present rather than distracted by outside options.

International Golf Destinations Worth The Flight

Golf began in Scotland, and for many players, experiencing the game on its ancestral grounds completes something. A Scotland golf course tour combines bucket-list courses like St. Andrews, Turnberry, and Royal Troon with history, hospitality, and landscapes that make clear why golf took root here.

Ireland offers equally spectacular coastal golf with warmer hospitality and arguably better craic around the 19th hole. Courses like Ballybunion, Lahinch, and Royal County Down deliver world-class golf in settings that feel like they've existed forever.

Golf Cruises: The Logistics-Free Option

For groups that want variety without the hassle of booking multiple courses and accommodations, golf cruises combine ship-based lodging with shore excursions to signature courses across multiple destinations. British Isles itineraries access Scotland and Ireland's legendary links. Caribbean cruises hit resort courses across multiple islands. Mediterranean options combine golf with broader cultural experiences.

The cruise handles logistics; you just show up for tee times.

Caribbean and Mexico: Warm Weather Golf

When weather drives destination choice, the Caribbean and Mexico deliver. Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic features Pete Dye's Teeth of the Dog, consistently ranked among the world's best resort courses. Mexico's Pacific coast offers options like TPC Danzante Bay at Islands of Loreto, combining quality golf with resort amenities and fishing.

These destinations work particularly well for winter escapes when northern courses are dormant. The all-inclusive resort model common in these regions also simplifies budgeting for groups - one price covers golf, food, drinks, and accommodations.

Golf Gear: What Actually Improves Your Game

The golf equipment industry runs on the promise that new technology will lower your scores. Reality is more complicated - most improvement comes from practice and instruction rather than equipment changes.

That said, certain gear does make meaningful differences. The best golf laser rangefinders for confident club selection remove the guesswork from yardage, particularly on unfamiliar courses where eyeballing distances fails. Quality rain gear keeps you playing when conditions deteriorate. Proper shoes prevent slipping at the worst possible moments.

The key is distinguishing between equipment that solves real problems you actually have versus equipment that solves problems the marketing department invented.

Planning Your Golf Trip: Practical Considerations

Timing Matters

Peak seasons at popular destinations mean higher prices and crowded tee sheets. Shoulder seasons often deliver similar playing conditions at significant discounts. Florida in May costs less than Florida in February. Scottsdale in October beats Scottsdale in March on both price and temperature.

Group Size Affects Everything

Foursomes are golf's natural unit - you fill a tee time, pair up for matches, and divide evenly for accommodations. Groups of six or eight require two tee times and create waiting. Groups larger than eight start facing logistical challenges that can overwhelm the trip's enjoyment.

Book Further Ahead Than You Think

Quality resort courses, especially during peak seasons, book months in advance. The best tee times disappear first. Waiting until the last minute limits options to whatever remains - often early morning or late afternoon slots when conditions are less than ideal.

The 24 Million Waiting To Join You

The National Golf Foundation's finding that 24 million non-golfing Americans are "very interested" in playing represents both opportunity and responsibility. Many of those potential golfers will take their first swings at driving ranges, entertainment venues like Topgolf, or indoor simulators before ever setting foot on a course.

The off-course boom - 19.1 million Americans participated exclusively in off-course golf in 2024 - creates a pipeline of future on-course players. As NGF president Greg Nathan told Golfdom, off-course experiences deliver "shot euphoria" - the addictive feeling when you pure one - that hooks people on the game.

For guys planning trips, this means inviting the friend who "used to play" or "always wanted to try" might be easier than ever. The cultural barrier is lower, the entry points are more accessible, and the game is explicitly welcoming new participants in ways it hasn't always been.

Making The Trip Happen

The 28.1 million Americans who played on a golf course last year include everyone from daily-fee regulars grinding on their local muni to once-a-year vacation players hitting bucket-list resorts. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the fundamental appeal remains constant: four hours outdoors, physical and mental challenge, friendship forged over shared frustration and occasional triumph.

A quality guys golf trip amplifies everything good about the game while removing the everyday friction that keeps rounds from happening. Someone else handles the logistics. The only decision is which club to hit. And at the end of the day, you're with people who understand why a good swing feels like it does.

That's worth planning for.

Sources

National Golf Foundation

• 2025 Graffis Report / Golf Participation in the U.S. 2025: https://www.ngf.org/the-clubhouse/golf-industry-research/
• Participation statistics, rounds played, demographic data

Golfdom Magazine

• Interview with NGF President Greg Nathan on 2025 Graffis Report findings