Your First Golf Trip Ever

[Jordan Wall]

Where was it??

What do you remember about it, what were you favorite courses?

And, what were 'special little things' that made your trip more enjoyable?  Caddies?

Are caddies a good way to go on a golf trip if a course has them?

How many hole's do you (did you) play a day??

Thanks.

[Evan Fleisher]

I think my first ever true "golf trip" was when I was 29 years old!

During the summer of 1998 my best friend and I made the "pilgrimage" to Scotland for a ten day journey.  I can remember (to an excrutiating level of detail) most of the trip, many of the exact shots I struck, and of course all the great places we played.

On that particular trip, I think my favorite courses were Cruden Bay, Prestwick, TOC, and the 36 we played at Royal Troon (both Old and Portland...not necessarily for the great architecture, just a magical day of golf).

What made the trip special for me was that I planned the entire trip by myself (with some GREAT advice from many here on these boards...thanks again!), so we had a "customized" itinerary to follow...and simply traveling overseas in a "foreign" land was exciting in and of itself.  Besides the golf and lodging, we were very "free form" in terms of the sightseeing and diniing we did making it a discovery process as we went along.

As for caddies...well...Scotland sure seemed like the place to take on such an indulgence, as we did.  We took caddies on 8 of the 10 rounds we played, and although I thoroughly enjoyed the experience I shot my two lowest rounds of the trip on the rounds SANS caddies!!!  Go figure!  

We played ten rounds in eight days straight...playing two 36 hole days.  I would have personally played more, but my buddy's feet were hurting him (he has some chronic probs), so we did a bit more sightseeing than playing on certain days.  I guess my advice is do whatever you feel comfortable with.  As someone very recently told me..."Evan, you are an animal and can handle all that play"...which I feel I can...while others may be content to get in their 18 a day and call it quits.  To each his own!!!

[redanman]

I took my Dad to Pinehurst.  36 a day, second round 1:30 in a cart in those days because there was so little demand.  Now at Pinehurst, you're lucky to get a pre-noon tee time.

The food was great, #4 was my second favorite course and I did like the caddies.

Now Jordan, go take your Dad somewhere!  

[Glenn Spencer]

14 years old- Scotland with grandparents, played some great courses, or was it the trip to Muirfield Village for the US Junior qualifier, that was a great time, the bathtub was full of beer on ice and one guy- (future Walker Cupper) had to hit his first tee shot in Cole Haans because we were so late getting him to his tee time. The rough at CC at Muirfield was a foot deep!!! Entry Fee: $12, included practice round at both. Good times!!!

[ed_getka]

30 days on the road from SoCal as far east as Michigan, playing golf along the way at courses I had always wanted to see. This was after I graduated from college and I had a couple of months until my job started. A fantastic solo trip covering about 3000 miles, and about 32 rounds of golf.
   I wouldn't take caddies if I were you Jordan unless you have so much money you can't figure out how to spend it.
   I would try to meet GCA guys on any trip I would take as they are more enjoyable to golf with than most strangers you would get paired with, and you don't have to tip them after the round.
   Are you contemplating a high school graduation trip Jordan?

[Jason Topp]

Quincy Illinois to play a Junior golf tournament in 1979 or 80.  

Peter Jacobsen and DA Weibring put on a great clinic including Peter's impressions (Peter was in his low 20's at the time).  He made quite a first impression.  Weibring got this long and glowing hometown introduction.  Jacobsen immediately said "And he still cannot beat me."  

We had putting contests that involved using elevators at something resembling a Motel 6.  

I leaned that one can get the yips when nervous and took about 40 putts per round.  One of the guys I travelled with learned the importance of turning in an accurate scorecard and got disqualified even though he should have finished about 5th place.  

I also saw that nearly all of the top junior players were using a strange new type of irons called Ping.  

[Phil Benedict]

Pinehurst with my two brothers and my Father.  I think it was four days.  I arrived brimming with confidence but my game just got progressively worse.  Pinehurst #7 was bad but #2 on the last day was the worst.  In my pocket the whole time, hardly got to appreciate those greens at all. The only thing positive is that in those days the upcharge for #2 was $20.

[Darren_Kilfara]

I was seven years old when my family went to Hilton Head. My father and I layed Harbour Town - I distinctly remember carding a 107 from the red (front/ladies) tees, although I have no idea how many mulligans that involved or how closely I (or my father) was keeping score. I remember the 17th even more vividly than the lighthouse 18th, because the red tees were only about 70 yards from the green (they were on the far side of the water hazard)...I liked having the chance to play such an easy hole! I was duly awed by the course, particularly its narrowness and all of the railway sleepers. I remember the heavy seaside atmosphere, and the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees - so different from what I was used at my home course. I remember the pro shop, which was truly otherworldly as well relative to what I was used to. And I remember buying a book in said pro shop, a copy of "Golf Digest's 100 Greatest Golf Courses", which quite literally changed everything - and in a roundabout way brought me to this website!

Cheers,
Darren

[Jordan Wall]

   Are you contemplating a high school graduation trip Jordan?

Yea, actually.

I was just getting some thought's and stuff started, but in reality it is about 2 years out.

The trip Dad and I (maybe uncle as well) are hoping for is Pebble, and we are very content on that.  Play some nice courses, like Pebble, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, etc.

I was not going really going to bring that up, just use the thread for information on the actual golf trips as we try and save and plan for it.  Everyone here knows so much it is great, and I knew if I asked this I would get some really thoughtful and cool answers, which already I have.  This way though I can start saving and prepping now, because getting the stuff for a trip done early is way better than doing it late!!

[Jay Flemma]

Every year as a kid mom dad and I would take a week at the Concord Hotel and play the Monster for a week.  I loved it.  I still do eben thought the courses isn;t very GCA.

Or very Doak for that matter...Tom wrote in the Guide that they outta ship it back to Houston.

[Jesse Jones]

Scottsdale..

It goes like this.. Had a girlfriend from Scottsdale I met at Montana State University.. I was just learning the game and I decided to stalk, check that, take a golf trip to Scottsdale during spring break..  
I played horribly, and guess what, ran into my girlfriend..
I met her family on that trip..And a few years later she became my wife..
Now when I go see the in-laws, I'm really on a golf trip..

[peter_p]

1975. I am thirty, dad is sixty. Live in Oregon. Drive across country visiting friends. Play at Hilton Head (Sea Pines), Myrtle Beach (Dunes) and Pinehurst (1,2,5). Drive to New York and fly to Scotland for a self drive tour through Golf International )?) Turnberry (Ailsa), Prestwick, Gleneagles (King), Blairgowrie, Gullane 1&2, North Berwick,
St Andrews (Old), Carnoustie. Drive back across country, drop dad in Evanston for a long visit, and detour through Vegas where I re-learn that I shouldn't gamble. Max out all credit cards and cash last travellers check in Lakeview OR at sunset to buy gas so I can be at my job in Portland the next morning.
   In the next year I joined a private club and started mapping where I wanted to play around the wortld.
   Used caddies at Prestwick, St Andrews and Carnoustie.
Our closest prior knowledge of links golf was Gearhart. Had never heard about North Berwick, just played it because it was scheduled. Overwhelmed by it and Prestwick, which we both ranked 1-2.
   Memories were the rain induced hair story and I learned to always have two entree choices when ordering. (dad orders, I order, dad changes order to what I ordered, I change to plan B).
 

[Tim Leahy]

  Are you contemplating a high school graduation trip Jordan?

Yea, actually.
I was just getting some thought's and stuff started, but in reality it is about 2 years out.
The trip Dad and I (maybe uncle as well) are hoping for is Pebble, and we are very content on that.  Play some nice courses, like Pebble, Spyglass, Spanish Bay, etc.

That was actually my first golf holiday with my dad, 17 years old and had only played for two years, only three hours from Sacto but we played all week. Spanish Bay wasn't built yet but in 1978 Pebble was an outrageous $38 with a cart required. Be sure to add Pacific Grove Muni, Poppy Hills, Fort Ord Blackhorse and Bayonet, and Pasatiempo just about an hour away in Santa Cruz to make a great week.

[Robert_Ball]

Tim, that sounds like my first trip...The year was 1987 and me and a friend took a drive up to NoCal for 8 rounds in 6 days:
1-Pasatiempo
2-Santa Teresa & San Jose CC on same day
3-Fort Ord Bayonet
4-Spyglass & Pacific Grove on same day
5-Pebble
6-LaPurisima on the way home


-Robert

[Yannick Pilon]

Jordan,

I've made many golf trips as a kid with my parents.  Myrtle Beach was their favorite spot....  That's where I discovered Mike Stranz and a bunch of older courses / architects that got me interested in design.

I've also made two trips with my co-workers in Florida where we played a bunch of courses from the likes of Nicklaus, Dye and Fazio....

But the most memorable trip was the first one that I planned myself, and only for myself, in Scotland.  I wasn't going to compromise with anybody, so I did it my way.  It was a blast.  I played 18 holes a day, and tried to sneek around a few other courses while I travelled from one place to the next.  I find it gives you a chance to see the landscape, the cities, and meet a few people along the way.

Caddies are great, especially at St Andrews.  They tell you where to go / not to go, where to eat, where to stay and, of course, they tell you a whole lot about the golf course... which is always helpful!

Everything about that trip was memorable.  Every course (Prestwick, North Berwick, St Andrews, Carnoustie, Royal Aberdeen, Cruden Bay, Royal Dornoch and Gleneagles Kings), every town, every road....  even the price!!  Well, you get the picture!

It was all worth every penny!

Yannick

[cary lichtenstein]

My dad took me to Pebble Beach and Spyglass as a graduation present...hooked ever since

[Bill Gayne]

For the sole purpose of playing golf it was about 15 years ago to Kiawah.

[Brad Tufts]

We used to go for long weekends to Maine to play when I was 12-14, but the first real trip was Myrtle.

We went the day after Christmas, and played twice a day for three days.  Legends Heathland, Fox something, Heritage, etc....

The only place where I've ever felt that if you rolled a golf ball down the corridor at your hotel, doors would open and guys would wrestle for it.

I need to get back there now that I'm 21.....although 18 years old would have been enough.....

I would say its a golf rite of passage as there are good serious golf options, medium options, and options you can play when you're hungover with little more than grass and a few flags.....

[Tony_Chapman]

Jordan - We took many trips to Colorado during my high school years, but the first real "trip" (ie multiple courses) was a trip to Pinehurst over Christmas of 1998.

My mom doesn't golf, but the four of us went (my dad, mom, and brother) and we played #2, #7 and #8 (as was the plan), then on our way to Duke one day we saw a billboard for Tobacco Road. What an awesome addition!!

Next great trip is up your alley. My wife was in SF for a summer in grad school and let me go to Pebble one day and get on the wait list with a buddy. Thanks to a "local" getting his graduation present with dad and sneeking off the wait list, I got the last spot of the day. The kid had worked to get a 6:20 tee time on Sunday morning (we were there on Friday). Just a great experience!

Play Pasa if you go to Pebble.

[Wayne Freeman]

When I graduated from high school, in 1967, my best buddy and I decided to travel up the coast from L.A.  We started in Ojai and played the public course there-  I just missed my first hole in one-   then we drove to Monterrey-  we played Spyglass on a surreal day-  a little fog and mist-  and it was awesome. But the real treat was Pebble.  I had a letter from Eddie Merrins,  the famous pro at Bel-Air (where I caddied), and for $25, we were able to play all day-  we did 45 holes walking and it was just amazing. What made it extra special is that that was the last time I touched a club for 23 years!
     

[Andy Troeger]

My Dad and I used to take what essentially amounted to a golf trip every spring break for probably about 12 years or so. Trips included Florida (both Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers at various times), Myrtle Beach, Fairfield Glade in Tennessee, and Phoenix. We played a lot of dfifferent places, most of which were good but not anything recognizable unless you're familiar with golf in those areas. Best courses would have been Stonehenge and Bear Trace at Cumberland Mountain in Tennessee and Gold Canyon--Dinosaur Mountain in Arizona.

More recently went to Hilton Head, Michigan, and Kohler. Got to play some good ones on all three of those trips! Back to Michigan this summer, and planning on New Mexico in October!

[Andrew Mitchell]

Three of us went to Scotland in 1985.  We played at Ralston (a private club where my Uncle was a member) on the outskirts of Glasgow.  We then went throught to North Berwick and played the West links and Gullane 1. We had a great time and thought lets do it again next year and invite some more friends. That was the birth of our little golfing society and we're still going strong over twenty years later (although some have dropped out and others have been added). We used to play 36 holes a day but age seems to have caught up with us and we now play just 18, resulting in us spending longer in the bar!

That first trip for me started a love affair with North Berwick West which is still going strong today.

[Kirk Gill]

For what it's worth.

My mother and I had planned to take a trip together for a long time, but ovarian cancer intervened, and surgeries, and the like. In the interim, I got married, and on my honeymoon had a chance to play Banff Springs. Played as a single with three Japanese tourists, who were very nice. The course was beautiful and challenging, but that trip, to me, wasn't a "golf trip." It was a honeymoon, and we camped everywhere we went. I might have been the only player at Banff that day who had slept in a tent the night before.

About three months after that, my mother and I finally had a chance to take that trip, to the UK and Ireland. She was weak, and we took it easy, driving from place to place, staying awhile, getting the feel for the places we went. She knew how much I wanted to play at St. Andrews. It was the one destination we knew we were going to get to on the trip. We stayed at a tiny B&B outside of town. Because I couldn't make an advance reservation as a single, I headed to the course early in the morning, a blustery, windy, rainy one. There were already two singles waiting in front of me. Group after group went out with no openings, we waited several hours until there was a string of three-somes that allowed that the waiting, moribund singles to join up. I joined a group, and played very poorly with a truly wretched set of rental clubs.

And had the time of my life.

I returned to the B&B, exalted with the experience of having walked in the footsteps of Morris and Jones and Snead and Hogan and Nicklaus...........and as I pulled into the gravel lot my mom walked out of the front door - she'd waited there, resting up, and the first words out of her mouth was "Did you play it?" - and the fierce look of love on her face, hoping that I'd had a chance to realize a dream, is with me to this day. She'd had an investment in my experience that I hadn't appreciated, until that moment.......

All that said, I've still never been on a "golf trip." Jordan, enjoy that trip with your father.

[Jason Mandel]

My dad took me to Pebble Beach and Spyglass as a graduation present...hooked ever since

Cary,

My dad took me to Pebble(we also played the back 9 at pacific grove) and the Open at Olympic for my graduation, but I was hooked before that!

When I finished playing pebble i think i shot a 104 or something like that, and I ran into Ken Venturi in the clubhouse, he signed my card for me and was very cordial, topped off by lunch in the tap room and its tough to beat


Jason

[Dale_McCallon]

Considering my dad called golf--goof--he hated the sport, no such great tales with him to talk about.  Luckily though my wife is very supportive of my golf and each year our vacation revolves around two things:  golf for me, spa/beach for her.  We been to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Florida, and Pebble.

I guess I'm a bit of a loner--I have no problem whatsoever getting in the car solo and trying out a new course.  A matter of fact, one of the things I really like about golf is showing up and just playing with a stranger--almost everyone I've ever played with has been fine to play along with.

First real road trip was to Dixie Cup I.  Started at a Bear Trace course in TN, drove all night to Pinehurst and played number 2 next day.  Then thanks to Daryl Boe had a round at Musgrove Mill (awesome place), then drove down to Lake Oconee area for the event at Cuscowilla.