Need Suggestions for a Spring Break Golf Trip

TheCaliGorilla · January 2, 2012

Single college student looking for a golf experience

First post from a long time stalker and finally jumped on board. I think this forum is absolutley fantastic and a tremendous resource for all golfers. I'm a college student who's been golfing for about a year and a half and play to a 12 handicap. I practice every day, no matter the weather, and am obsessed (though not a club ho).

Anyways, I'm located in the very southeast corner of Kansas and want to take a Spring Break golf trip and would love to hear some suggestions from you guys as to where I should go. I'd be going by myself, and I don't mind driving. Obviously, public courses are preferred unless any of you are private members and want a guest ; ) I have from March 17-25. Money isn't a huge concern, but I don't want to pay Pebble Beach prices unless I'm at Pebble Beack haha.

So far, I've considered a Kansas City trip where I can stay with friends (cutting down on costs). Courses would include:

Prairie Highlands
Sycamore Ridge
Falcon Ridge
Deer Creek
Swope Memorial
Tiffany Greens
Adams Pointe
Winterstone
etc.

I've also considered doing the Robert Trent Jones Jr. Trail in Alabama which would be neat, though I've heard incredibly challenging. I like working for a par, but I'm not a big fan of outlandish holes. I've been all over the United States with the exception of the South which I've heard has some excellent courses and great food.

So my question is, if you had plenty of gas, 9 days, lived in southeast Kansas, and wanted a really cool golf trip experience, where would you go?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

slpgolf08 · January 2, 2012

If you do decide to make a trip down to Alabama, I would suggest the Robert Trent Jones Trail at The Shoals. My family and I drove down there from Iowa and it was definitely worth the drive. It's a beautiful 36 hole layout in northern Alabama so it wouldn't be a crazy long drive. They also usually have pretty good deals around that time of year to keep the costs down.

As far as the difficulty of the courses, the back tees can play up to 8,000 yards but I don't know who would ever try to play it that long. I'm an average D2 college player and I was playing with my father at the time who is around a 12 hdcp as well and we both had a great time. The courses a challenging but they don't beat you up if you aren't perfect.

Hope this helps a little

TheCaliGorilla · January 3, 2012

Thank you very much. The Shoals was definitely the first spot on the RTJ Trail I was looking at playing. Did you play any other courses on your way there or on the RTJ Trail? I go to Pittsburg State, another D2 school, and used to do track and field and then rugby for the Gorillas. This is my first golf adventure so I can't decide if I want to find a place where I can play several courses nearby, or travel around for each new course.

Keep the suggestions coming as they're very helpful!

sabram · January 3, 2012

I'd go to neighboring Nebraska, which has some of the finest public golf in the country, but you will have to do some driving. I did this trip in 2010 and it was fantastic. Play Wildhorse in Gothenburg, Bayside in Ogalalla and The Prairie Club in Valentine (two full size courses and a par 3 course.) If you like links style golf these are excellent choices. Bayside has cabins on site that are not expensive (and not fancy... VERY rustic.) Prairie Club has nice lodging on site. For Wildhorse I stayed at a cheap motel about 5 minutes away just off of I-80. I've played svereal of the RTJ trail courses in AL. That's a nice trip too, but the courses are quite different than the Nebraska sandhills.

If you can gain access, try to play Ballyneal in Holyoke, CO. It is one the of the three greatest courses within 500 miles of Kansas (the others being also private, Pararie Dunes in KS and Sandhills in Neb.

Here are links to photos

Bayside

Wildhorse

Ballyneal

Bayside

Wildhorse -cool 150 yard marker

Ballyneal

TheCaliGorilla · January 3, 2012

Wow, those look fantastic. I've never played a links course, but being a student of the game, have a great respect for what they represent. I like crafting imaginative shots so I think I'd really enjoy it, and I'd never thought golf in Nebraska, except for Sand Hills. In your experience in golf trips, is it more fun to stay and play, or travel each day? Thanks for your suggestion!

sabram · January 4, 2012

[quote name='TheCaliGorilla' timestamp='1325622990' post='4023055']
Wow, those look fantastic. I've never played a links course, but being a student of the game, have a great respect for what they represent. I like crafting imaginative shots so I think I'd really enjoy it, and I'd never thought golf in Nebraska, except for Sand Hills. [u][b]In your experience in golf trips, is it more fun to stay and play, or travel each day? [/b][/u] Thanks for your suggestion!
[/quote]

I usually visit places that have a bunch of courses that I want to play in relatively close proximity so I'm not living out of a suitcase and changing hotels every day. Places like Surrey England, St Andrews Scotland, Orlando, Las Vegas, Scottsdale or Myrtle Beach. In those places you can play dozens of courses or more while staying at the same hotel. That is certainly easier and less exhausting. However, there are some trips that are worth a lot of driving and moving from hotel to hotel. Some people do that in Scotland by driving to a different region every day or two. Some do it on the RTJ trail (I have.) I only do it if the golf is special. Certainly for Ballyneal it is worth the drive from almost anywhere. Once I had been invited to play there it was a no brainer to continue the journey to the Nebraska courses. It was a blast and even though I played pretty terribly for a couple of those rounds it was an unforgettable trip and worth the driving.

If you like to use your imagination on the course in shot making, you'll love links and links-like golf. Wildhorse and ballyneal fit that description. You need to get to Bandon as soon as you can too. (or the UK or Ireland)

Here's a link to a packager that can help you make arrangements. i don't know much about the other courses they offer.

[url="http://www.playthewest.com/course_info.html"]Play the West[/url]