The perfect golf town?

[Bruce Wellmon]

All the Bandon /Dornoch talk leads me to dream............. IF money was no object, what is the perfect golf town to spend the summer?  Dornoch? Bandon? St Andrews? Pinehurst?
Or the "winter?" Cabo? The Aussie sand belt?

[Harris Nepon]

I haven't played in any of the regions mentioned, but I'll put my 2 cents in anyways.

If I could pick one based on what I know, it would be Australia/New Zealand. Obviously the courses wouldn’t disappoint. Also since summer there is winter where I'm from, I'd get a full year of summer weather, AKA a full year of golf. Great food down under from what I hear. Plenty to see and do on golf down time. Plus, at the end of my trip, the flight would have to come through the west coast of North America so might as well plan the stopover at Bandon on my way.

[Mark Chaplin]

Harris - that's one big town!

My punt is St Andrews the town lives and breathes golf and is the perfect destination for a single or group of guys.

[Harris Nepon]

Haha, good point Mark. I tried.

[Jud_T]

We just had a similar thread to this recently, although I can't seem to find it...Bandon is the best golf RESORT in the world and St. Andrews is the best golf TOWN, end of discussion.....

[Scott Warren]

I wouldn't want to live somewhere as consistantly and comprehensively over-run by tourists as St Andrews is.

If I had my way, I'd spend Oct-Apr each year in my hometown of Sydney playing NSWGC and May-Sept in Deal playing Royal Cinque Ports and taking advantage of the courtesies at Sandwich, Rye and Littlestone.

I could be pursueded to swap Deal for Dornoch, though!

Maybe not the best pure golf locales, but the places where golf and life would best dovetail for me.

[Gary Slatter]

St Andrews for the summer, Palm Springs for the winter !  My friend James Smith loves this combo.  Host at R&A for the summer, get even all winter.
If St Andrews is too crowded, North Berwick is nice.

[Mark Chaplin]

Scott whilst the tourists create issues they do ensure you get good restaurants, bars and cafes.

There are places such as Machrihamish and Gullane where golf is the village.  

Gary that is an excellent system!!

[Mac Plumart]

Pinehurst gets my vote.

I am seriously jealous of the people who live there, considering all the history, great golf courses, and golf focused community.

[john_stiles]

I was thinking most any little tidy village southwest of London, just outside the M25, in the Bagshot area.

If the wife and all my friends all left me (both of them),   I could play golf with my dog.  Now I understand I would have to find a dog and maybe a BWM if living in the area, but that would be just super as well.

Too many venues to mention, and I can sneak to the south or east and play around the links on my holidays.

Plenty of direct flights fom London for longer holidays to the US, or AU, etc.

[Bill_McBride]

Only St Andrews comes to mind for me, although Dornoch is close behind!

[Tim Johnson]

Royal Dornoch, driving into Dornoch is a very special feeling. There is an aura to the area.
I would agree with Machrihanish especially since the new 18 is open.
Other ones that should get consideration, at least IMO, Ballyliffin, Lahinch and Carne.
All nice places to stay and with Csrne, Enniscrone is only an hour away.
Lahinch is a great town and there is a bar looking down to the beach that was a great way to end of the day with a couple of beers from the patio.

With all these topics on links golf the last week or so, I couldnt resist putting a spread sheet together for 2 weeks in Ireland for a dream trip in a couiple of years. Not really expensive considering the amount of golf. Time to start saving the money.

[Chris Buie]

I wouldn't have said Pinehurst a year ago but with Dormie going and #2 being restored by C&C the area is definitely a contender.  It is seriously hot during the summer though.     If I was going to visit here just one time I'd come in late September/early October.  Spring is nice but the rounds are very, very slow what with all the tourists. 
Early fall here is pretty hard to beat. 

[Carl Rogers]

I would go with Melbourne because of the weather ... not a big fan of coldish rain.

[Mike Hendren]

Aiken, SC. 

[Mark Chaplin]

Carl - as much as I love Melbourne it hardly lives and breathes golf which is surely part of a golf town.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

If I were condemned to play one course for the rest of my life it would probably be Royal County Down. But would I want to be condemned to the Co Down climate for 12 months of the year? My mother's family came from County Down, but I couldn't live there all year round.

The only time I was in Melbourne and Sidney it was miserably cold and horribly wet. Had I had time to play golf I would probably have demurred.

I've been lucky with the San Francisco area of California. I've managed to play Olympic Lake, Meadow Club, Pasatiempo and some lesser courses in lovely winter/spring conditions. But I gather it's not like that all year round. I never saw fog.

I've enjoyed mid-summer golf in the Philadelphia, New York, Connecticut and Long Island regions, but my lousy play isn't up to carrying the ball hundreds of yards through such humidity, nor my ageing frame carrying my bag and clubs without the benefit of a caddy.

London is a city. It's out. As are Paris, Rome, Hamburg etc....

Lahinch and Ballybunion are certainly not cities, but an awful of Atlantic Ocean water is borne in clouds only to fall on these hallowed spots.

You couldn't really call Woodhall Spa a town - it may be, but it feels like a golf course (OK, for accuracy, two courses) with a village. Ganton's a village, too.

Valencia's a city, so El Saler is out. Madrid has lot's of courses, but it, too, is a city, even if a newish one by European standards. Paris is a city, otherwise a claim might be made for St Cloud and Fontainebleau, and Morfontaine is a distant cousin.

I'm coming to a conclusion that Aldeburgh might be the perfect golfing town. It is a town, not a city. It has much going for it artistically - the Britten legacy in particular. It has a branch of Adnams' wine merchants. It has a wonderful links-like 18-hole course which, with its fabulous drainage, is probably the best winter golf in England. I rate its two-shot holes on a par with any in England. There is a relief course for those of us who partook too freely of Adnams' choice wines or ales the night before. There are other fine courses within easy reach such as Woodbridge, Felixstowe Ferry, Ipswich and Thorpeness. It can be bitterly cold in winter, but its climate is generally drier than most of Britain. Two-ball play (singles or foursomes) is the norm, so you can expect to get round in under 3 hours. It is worthy of consideration.
 

[Carl Johnson]

Talking here about northern hemisphere summer.  Although perfection it may not be, for my unlimited amount of money (theoretically, of course) as close as it could get would be St. Andrews, for golf and as a base for all that Fife and other close-by (day trip) counties have to offer.  I could handle the tourists -- after all, I'd be one.  Bandon: The town and Bandon Dunes aren't sufficiently integrated, either by geography or culture (based on a visit three years ago).  Dornoch: Not for a whole summer.  Pinehurst:  As a North Carolinian, I'd say "Y'all come," but the summers can be hot, brutally so, in the sandhills, and the experience is still a little bit faux for me.

[Jim Tang]

I'll second Lahinch.  Remote enough that it wouldn't be packed w/ tourists.  A very nice collection of pubs.  The charm of the Irish people.  The beach and Atlantic Ocean just steps away.  And the course itself, a pure links course with heaving dunes.  Bliss.

[Marty Bonnar]

I'm beginning to wonder if it might not be Ayr.
WHERE?
Yes, that's right - AYR!
It's small enough to still be a 'town', but big enough to have some decent culture/nightlife/eateries.
With 15/16(?) golf courses within spitting distance to choose from, including decent local munis to world-class Open venues, it's a strong contender.

FBD.

[Bill Brightly]

Assuming access was no problem...Eastern Long Island would be pretty darn good: National, Shinnecock, Friars Head, Sebonac, Maidstone, etc.   You could hang out on the Hampton Beaches and zip into New York City when you needed some nightlife!

[Chris Buie]

Michael, can you give us a compelling sketch of Aiken?  Aiken GC and Palmetto are very nice but is there something else I'm not aware of?  I know a lot of people who go there for equestrian reasons but have not heard it put out there as a serious golf destination.

Carl, the Sandhills a bit faux?  I can see how one could perceive it that way.  It is more egalitarian than most of the great U.S. golf destinations.  It's not an exquisitely private place like some of the fabulous courses.  So there is that tourist sheen to the area.  Beyond that I think the area speaks for itself.  If anybody thinks it is not a cornucopia of truly great golf I would find that entertaining and amusing.
The courses I think make the area worthy of a visit are (in order) Dormie, #2, Pine Needles, Mid Pines and Southern Pines C.C.  If a golfer does not find that a satisfying menu then good luck to you.

Bill, I'd have to agree with you.  Eastern Long Island is right up there by any standard.  I could say the same thing about the Carmel area.   

[Carl Johnson]

I'm beginning to wonder if it might not be Ayr.
WHERE?
Yes, that's right - AYR!
It's small enough to still be a 'town', but big enough to have some decent culture/nightlife/eateries.
With 15/16(?) golf courses within spitting distance to choose from, including decent local munis to world-class Open venues, it's a strong contender.
FBD.

I could go with that, too, but my only experience in Ayrshire is Troon, not Ayr.  Didn't think about it.  Five years ago we spent a week in Troon and played the two courses at Royal Troon, Bogside, Glasgow Gailes, Western Gailes, Prestwick, Turnberry, Belleisle, Turnberry Ailsa and Kilmarnock Barrassie.  And there are more.  A golfer friend of mine spent the summer in Troon just after graduating from college and, given his financial situation, spent a lot of time on the municipal courses in Troon.  He loved it.

[Michael Blake]

Thanks for starting this thread Bruce.
I've been meaning to re-read Lorne R's 'A Season in Dornoch' and your post has reminded me to.

[Pat Burke]

Melbourne for me.
Great courses, fun city, beach, good people.
I'm in