Southeast Spring Golf Trip - Recommendations

[tfo0001]

Trying to plan a Spring (April/May) golf trip for about 16 guys. Hoping to do 3 nights and 3 rounds with a budget of ~$600-800 per person for lodging & golf. 

 

Guys will be flying in from Chicago/Boston/New York so trying to stay in the southeast, thinking about South Carolina. We're younger guys who like to drink so something with a good bar on property or nearby bar scene would be great.

 

Open to everything at one resort or driving around to different courses.

 

Thanks in advance for your recs.

[me05501]

Is Myrtle Beach too cheesy for your gang? Plenty of golf and plenty of bars, that’s for sure. 
 

Also consider Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL. You’d have a good chance of being able to rent one place big enough for your whole crew. Should be easy enough for everyone to fly into Pensacola. 
 

If you want to make the flying super easy, look at the places around Atlanta. No one would have to mess with connecting flights.  Reynolds Plantation, Chateau Elan or Callaway Gardens all have multiple courses and lodging options. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by me05501

[jvincent]

I'll suggest Grand National on the RTJ Trail in Alabama. It has two courses and it's only an hour away from Capitol Hill (3 courses) if you want to change it up.

 

Not sure what the night life is like in Auburn but it's a college town so it should be good.

[JJFJR33]

1 hour ago, jvincent said:

I'll suggest Grand National on the RTJ Trail in Alabama. It has two courses and it's only an hour away from Capitol Hill (3 courses) if you want to change it up.

 

Not sure what the night life is like in Auburn but it's a college town so it should be good.

 

This is your answer. LOVE Grand national. Get rooms at the Marriott - they have a great outdoor bar to hang at. They will also run you into / pick you up from Auburn for the nightlife. Did this in conjunction with a few days in B-Ham for a Bama game + FarmLinks. As good a golf trip as you can have.

[BirdieRoll]

Ha, this sounds like a slick set up (2 courses and a short course) and is just a 90 minute drive from the Atlanta airport.

 

To the OP, your group could all fly in to ATL nonstop and then make the easy road trip.

 

Which then begs the question: is there a must play between ATL and Auburn?

[smashdn]

Perhaps out of budget but Pinehurst.  The rub being that it isn't super airport friendly and I don't know how much night-life you will find, though there are bars.  It would be a very "golf-first" trip.

 

I like the Gulf Shores idea.  Plenty of golf, plenty of beach, plenty of food and bars.  I haven't flown into Pensacola but I want to say there are directs from Nashville so you could connect at BNA and get there.  Nashville's airport is easy to navigate.

[me05501]

1 hour ago, smashdn said:

Perhaps out of budget but Pinehurst.  The rub being that it isn't super airport friendly and I don't know how much night-life you will find, though there are bars.  It would be a very "golf-first" trip.

 

I like the Gulf Shores idea.  Plenty of golf, plenty of beach, plenty of food and bars.  I haven't flown into Pensacola but I want to say there are directs from Nashville so you could connect at BNA and get there.  Nashville's airport is easy to navigate.

Sounds like the OP’s group won’t be ready to look at Pinehurst for a decade or so (based on budget and priorities). 

[ArtMBgolf]

You have lots of choices in Myrtle Beach.  
You can pick whatever level of courses meet you price range. 
 
Legends Resort has 3 courses onsite, condos and pub, which can be a good 
option if you don't want to drive much.  

[pricebbt]

What about Chattanooga? Plenty of bars/nightlife. Use it as a base and drive to Sweetens Cove, Sewanee, maybe Old Toccoa Farms. If any of you have a membership somewhere, get your pro to try to get you on Black Creek or Lookout Mountain. 

[Long_Left]

On 10/1/2020 at 7:36 AM, JJFJR33 said:

 

This is your answer. LOVE Grand national. Get rooms at the Marriott - they have a great outdoor bar to hang at. They will also run you into / pick you up from Auburn for the nightlife. Did this in conjunction with a few days in B-Ham for a Bama game + FarmLinks. As good a golf trip as you can have.

Third vote here, just returned from a Birmingham "home base" and played Capitol Hill, Hampton Cove, Oxmoor Valley/Ross Bridge, Sweetens Cove and Farmlinks. We played 10 rounds including 2 short courses in 7 days and it was phenomenal.

 

FarmLinks at Pursell was 100% the highlight of the trip. Outstanding fun golf course. Forgiving golf course if you have varied skill mix in the group, fun to play as a mid-single digit, not a ton of time spent finding wayward tee shots. Pure greens, beautiful scenery.

 

Sweetens had just finished their club champ and hadn't moved the pins... it was brutal. We got around 4 times and I could have bailed after 18 and been happy to say I've played it. Green speeds were perfect while damp in the AM, by 1pm you couldn't keep a ball on the green. Play a team game there if you go, anyone who isn't sharp with the short game will be lost, it's "funny" the first 3 or 4 times the ball comes back to your feet or finishes 20 yards off the back, by the end of the day it's no longer funny looking at a 25 foot putt that is impossible to keep within 10 feet or a chip from 5 yards off that you can't hold the green without hitting a full flop. 100% my opinion... not worth the hype at all, it's a glorified putt putt course with a solid Instagram account. Every YouTube video I've seen out there the greens were running half the speed they were on Sunday 9/27...

 

Judge at Capitol Hill is beautiful to look at, pretty merciless to offline tee balls. Legislator is a solid track that rewards good shots and isn't overly penal to minor misses. Greens on both were pure.

 

Hampton Cove Short was crazy fun, we jumped around the tee boxes from 80 yards to 200+. Fast small greens, tons of options for playing shots around them. Hampton Highlands is a great layout, we caught the greens in fairly rough shape, rolled tru but looked like the Korean DMZ. Same with Ross Bridge, gorgeous to look at, greens super inconsistent and it was playing LONG due to wet fairways.

[smashdn]

How far is Birmingham to Sweetens? Seems like a poke.

 

If you are in and around Birmingham I recommend Ballantrae as an option in Pelham.  Good course and good facilities.

[Tim_Gavrich]

I'm stretching the definition of "Southeast" a bit here, but Big Cedar Lodge might be an option closer to the top end of your budget.

 

In S.C., though, hard to go wrong with the Pawleys Island end of the Myrtle Beach area...

[mydgolf]

Try us in LaGrange, Ga and then drive 20 miles to RTJ trail....less than hour from ATL airport    http://www.editionduo.com/publication/?m=2525&i=671734&p=44&fbclid=IwAR2jFPWrF_eX1_twHiVRecsC4mk_5Abe6N6_ASvb2qboSNH4xanElLRLdJs

 

[icegator337]

Another vote for Grand National.  I think you'd have a hard time doing a better budget conscious trip than Grand National.  I've never played farmlinks but everyone I've heard from that has echoes what Long Left said.

 

Might be out of the budget but another option to consider would be streamsong, it's an hour drive from the Tampa airport and there is basically nothing in the area but they do have bars at the resort.  They also have bass fishing and trap shooting, but it might be out of budget depending on the time of year.  If you don't mind the heat and catch it in the offseason you could probably fit it in the budget.

 

Biloxi is another good option.  The Preserve, Grand Bear, and Fallen Oak are all excellent courses and you can stay at a casino (would need to be the Beau Rivage to play Fallen Oak).  Fallen Oak is the only course that might bust the budget, but there is a ton of good golf to be found at reasonable prices and nightlife in the area

 

[tiderider]

On 10/6/2020 at 2:35 PM, smashdn said:

How far is Birmingham to Sweetens? Seems like a poke.

 

If you are in and around Birmingham I recommend Ballantrae as an option in Pelham.  Good course and good facilities.

2 1/2 hrs ... roughly ... all interstate ... 

[tiderider]

23 hours ago, Tim_Gavrich said:

I'm stretching the definition of "Southeast" a bit here, but Big Cedar Lodge might be an option closer to the top end of your budget.

 

In S.C., though, hard to go wrong with the Pawleys Island end of the Myrtle Beach area...

we'll take mizzouri ... long as they quit thinking they can be relevant in football ... just gets tiresome hearing it ... 

[hammergolf]

Sandestin Resort in Destin, FL has great packages, accommodations, courses, nightlife, and of course beaches. That time of year it’s in your budget for sure. Here’s a link.

https://www.sandestin.com/offers-packages/sandestins-ultimate-golf-package

 

[Mde103]

Old Waverly/Mossy Oak are great courses that I don’t see recommended enough on the Southeast forums. Miss. State’s campus is about a half hour drive from there. There are some good bars if students are there, but it is dead otherwise. 

[Austincountyag]

On 10/8/2020 at 2:47 PM, icegator337 said:

Another vote for Grand National.  I think you'd have a hard time doing a better budget conscious trip than Grand National.  I've never played farmlinks but everyone I've heard from that has echoes what Long Left said.

 

Might be out of the budget but another option to consider would be streamsong, it's an hour drive from the Tampa airport and there is basically nothing in the area but they do have bars at the resort.  They also have bass fishing and trap shooting, but it might be out of budget depending on the time of year.  If you don't mind the heat and catch it in the offseason you could probably fit it in the budget.

 

Biloxi is another good option.  The Preserve, Grand Bear, and Fallen Oak are all excellent courses and you can stay at a casino (would need to be the Beau Rivage to play Fallen Oak).  Fallen Oak is the only course that might bust the budget, but there is a ton of good golf to be found at reasonable prices and nightlife in the area

 

this is what we are planning in May....three rounds at streamsong should run around $500-600, and then an airbnb in likely Lakeland or Apollo Beach should keep total price for golf/room in the $750 pp range.