Planning trip up East Coast, need input!

My brother and sister in law are having a kid, my wife and I kept a ton of our kids stuff for family, they want it all so this means that my buddy and I are planning the drive from Florida up to Massachusetts in a couple of months to deliver the goods.

we are looking to spend roughly 5-7 days on the trip and want to hit some great golf spots on the way. We are looking for a mix of hidden gems, munis and dream courses. As of now we are thinking Tobacco Road, The Cradle at Pinehurst, Jacksonville Beach Muni and Juliette Falls in Dunnellon FL. What courses would you suggest? We are open to anything!

Without knowing how many times and where you might want to stop on the drive, I'll throw out a few that I like: Royal New Kent and Golden Horseshoe Gold Course near Williamsburg, VA, Bulle Rock, just North of Baltimore, Glen Mills outside of Philly, RiverVale on the NY/NJ border, Yale in New Haven, CT

Thanks for the input, we are just starting to put this together and haven’t thought about a lot of the details but figured we would plan the drive around good golf. I will look into those courses!

Played RNK and Golden Horseshoe Gold Course last week both great courses

Thanks for the input, we are just starting to put this together and haven’t thought about a lot of the details but figured we would plan the drive around good golf. I will look into those courses!

What part of Mass your brother live? Although Mass right now is walking only and alot of the new courses are not easy walks

White Clay Creek at DE Park just off I95 in DE.

He is in the Worcester area and already has a few courses to show me that are open once we get there haha

Royal New Kent and Golden Horseshoe are great. If you are going through Pa. try and get to Bedford Springs or Penn National. Bedford Springs is a about an hour west of 81 but it's worth it Penn National is very close to 81

We will check those out, thanks!

If you’re passing the Myrtle Beach area, stop at Caledonia or True Blue. :)

I would definitely confirm pinehurst area (Souhthern Pines if you’re pinching pennies, MidPines or #4 if you’re not) and Royal New Kent near Richmond. Also Whiskey Creek or Worthington Manor, 30 minutes off 95 around DC.

If heading to the Pinehurst area, skip Tobacco Road unless you're here for a week and want something "different".

Pinehurst is classic, old school golf. Play #2, #4, Mid Pines or Pine Needles.

We were thinking about Whiskey Creek, Ive heard good things!

Thoughts on Mid Pines vs Pine Needles?

Go to the threads about that area, and you'll see lots of preference for one over the other, probably about evenly divided. Both are excellent courses. I prefer MidPines, but that's only my opinion.

Play #2 and Pine Needles and Tobacco road. #2 and #4 are very similar and no need to play both. Same can be said for Mid Pines and Pine Needles. You will find roughly a 50-50 split between Mid Pines and Pine Needles.

Thanks for the input, doing some research on Mid Pines and Pine Needles now.

Both are great and I imagine you'd be happy at either. Pine needles seems to have a little more elevation change and I feel it plays a bit tougher. Mid Pines is a little easier to walk in my opinion. You can't go wrong with either. Best solution - get it 36 in one day and play them both!

If it makes a difference, MidPines has a much better vantage point to have a post-golf beverage (or more) and bet on players as they struggle to finish on 18. The terrace outside Pop's Lounge there has a perfect view, while the 18th at Pine Needles really isn't in view from the bar. We all have different priorities.

haha I like where your head is at, we might just have to do 36 on one day... just have to get the wives to let us stretch the trip out a little longer!

Pinehurst would be a great place to encounter "car trouble" one day...:)

There's also a few courses on this list you might want to check out: 25 Courses That Offer the Most Bang for Your BuckSpring Creek in Gordonsville, VA

George Washington in Hyde Park, MA

Jeffersonville Golf Course, Jefferson, PA

And 2 of the 3 are Ross courses. Pair them w/ Pinehurst and you could basically do an east coast donald ross tour!

I have made a similar trip many times over the past 10+ years. I would head north in late May/June from Naples, FL to just outside Philadelphia and reversing the trip late October/November. My decision to make each time was do I go coastal or inland/mountain. With either route you have options for golf, drink, food and lodging that vary from economy to luxury. Based upon your indicated stopping points:

In Ocala area: I might suggest Black Diamond Ranch Quarry course. Last 5 or 6 holes built atop, around and inside an 80 foot deep old rock quarry. Just fabulous and dramatic golf holes. It's a Fazio and at one time was in the top 100 in USA. While the balance of the course is good those quarry holes are truly impactful.

In JAX: Sawgrass Stadium course. It is a gem. Otherwise not familiar with any public courses in JAX only privates. However just north of JAX in Yule, FL are Amelia National and the Club at North Hampton. Both good solid courses and generally reasonably priced.

In Pinehurst you have your courses scoped out but would consider the Dormie Club.

I am curious from where in Florida are you departing?

Definitely play Mid Pines. One of the most underrated golf courses I've ever played. The Cradle like you mentioned is a blast too! Someone also mentioned Dormie Club, and that's my favorite in the area (I've yet to play #2). Tobacco Road is really really awesome, but I'd choose Dormie and Mid Pines in a heartbeat over TR.

When you're getting up through the DC Area, Laurel Hill is right off of 95 and is one of the best municipal courses I've played on the East Coast outside of Bethpage. It hosted the USGA Public Links Tourney in 2013, and is (in my opinion) one of the hardest courses in Northern Virginia. In terms of Hidden Gems in the area, you've gotta stop at East Potomac. It's on the island that houses the Jefferson Monument, and the Washington Monument is in view all over the course. Just a super setting for a golf course, and Tom Doak signed on to do the renovation in the coming years.

Bulle Rock was also mentioned somewhere in the thread, and that's another really good one just off of 95. A super classic Pete Dye course that is one of my favorites I've played in Maryland. Bethpage is also worth the detour, but not just the Black Course. Bethpage Red is fantastic, and I definitely recommend trying to hit one of those two for some Tillinghast action. If you're looking for some good hidden gems, definitely check out this link to the Sugarloaf Social Club Hidden Gem Map https://www.sugarloafsocialclub.com/hidden-gem-project. There's some really fantastic spots on there and a ton are off of 95. Hope I could help!

Sanctuary Golf Club is one exit south of the Sea Island/Jekyll Island exits on I-95 in Georgia and is a terrific public course.

Thanks for the suggestions, I was just playing with someone this past weekend that had played Black Diamond earlier in the week and was raving about it. I’ll have to check it out.

I’m in the Lady Lake area about 45 minutes south of Ocala.

On the way up, in NJ about 3.5-4 hrs from Worcester, is Ballyowen in NJ. I'd strongly suggest playing that last day, as you can finish up, and head to Worcester. Plus, it keeps you away from NYC by taking 84 through Danbury.

--kC