[Eric Smith]

What public or resort course(s) do you frequent, say every year or so that has both good golf and on-site lodging with a restaurant, within 4 hours?

To me, the best one's are the one's where you never get back in the car until it's time to go home.  You know: golf, dinner, cards, a comfy bed, breakfast, golf, lunch, go home... It's probably very easy to think of a private club that fits the bill here, but I'm specifically interested in public and/or resort courses in this thread.

What is the main attraction for you?

I suspect many of us don't have this option within 2 - 4 hours drive.

[David_Tepper]

Eric -

Sea Ranch (2 1/2 to 3 hour drive north of San Francisco) makes a nice getaway for a long weekend. It is the anti-Monterey/Pebble Beach, as it is very low key and gets very few visitors from outside northern California.

The golf course is interesting, fun to play and a little rough around the edges. There is no lodge right on the golf course, but there are hotels & motels nearby and you can rent a house within a 5- or 10-minute drive of the course.

http://www.searanchvillage.com/Golf_Links.html

http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/course.aspx?course=112945

DT  

[Garland Bayley]

Eric,

If you are driving there, why does it need on-site lodging and restaurant?

[Jud_T]

Kohler is about a 2 1/2 hour drive for me.  Used to go quite a bit, but now that I'm a bit more well travelled, I think it's a bit over priced/overrated, both in terms of golf and food/accomodation, although the spa is very nice.  I guess Erin Hills qualifies, although I've never stayed onsite...Eagle Ridge is about 4 hours drive...Had a nice vacation there about 10 years back...

[PCCraig]

Kohler WI is one of the best.

www.destinationkohler.com

2 great courses (and two good), very good food (high end as well as many opportunities to eat brats and brat patty sandwiches), and a unique and very nice hotel in the American Club but with cheaper options like the Inn at Woodlake.

[Tom_Doak]

Eric:

The answer to this question for every single person in Oregon is Bandon Dunes.  That's one of the main reasons it's been so successful.

There are 50 courses in my part of Michigan trying to be that answer for the rest of Michigan, but none of them really dominates the conversation.

[Garland Bayley]

Eric:

The answer to this question for every single person in Oregon is Bandon Dunes.  That's one of the main reasons it's been so successful.

There are 50 courses in my part of Michigan trying to be that answer for the rest of Michigan, but none of them really dominates the conversation.

Unfortunately Bandon is 5 hours from Portland. The trip to Chambers Bay is much easier.

[Norbert P]

. . .  It is the anti-Monterey/Pebble Beach, as it is very low key and gets very few visitors from outside northern California.

DT  

 David, played Sea Ranch (RMGraves) several years ago with a couple of retired locals.  I just played the back nine and can't remember much, but, one of the old gents remarked, in an animatedly sophisticated way, that the housing architecture by the course was "Early American Mineshaft".  
Needless to say, it is a beautiful area of the country. I will NEVER forget the visual of the thick fog rolling off the headlands into the sea at dawn.

BTW . . . my lodging there was the Slagmobile.

[Steve_ Shaffer]

Here in the Philadelphia area we have many options. I have been on weekend escapes to :

1. Hershey Resort- less than 2 hours
2. Shawnee Inn-           "
2. Seaview-                 "

[Jud_T]

TomD,

I would like to start a motion to move Traverse City to within a 2-4 hour drive of Chicago...

[David_Tepper]

Slag B. -

The architectural heritage of Sea Ranch is actually quite highly regarded:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/travel/14SeaRanch.html

Glad you enjoyed your visit. The original nine holes are all west of Highway 1 and were built in the 1960's (or 1970's). The second nine was built in the early 1990's (I think).  5 of those 9 holes are east of Highway 1. 

DT

[dsilk]

lets see... in the boston area there is new seabury on the cape. Samoset resort in Maine. Foxwoods in Conn...

[tlavin]

Eric:

The answer to this question for every single person in Oregon is Bandon Dunes.  That's one of the main reasons it's been so successful.

There are 50 courses in my part of Michigan trying to be that answer for the rest of Michigan, but none of them really dominates the conversation.

In terms of the business model, the problem here is that every single person in Oregon is not enough of a user base to make the resort profitable.  You can toss in Washington and the issue is still the same. 

[Eric Smith]

Eric,

If you are driving there, why does it need on-site lodging and restaurant?

Garland

I am 3 hours to Atlanta. When I go down there to play golf, I prefer to stay the night and play golf again the next day.  I would not come back home and drive down again the next day.

[Chris Flamion]

My current retreat is the Galena Territory area.  Since I go with my wife it is normally 18 real early with her and I will play another 18 by myself in the afternoon.

However the best golf in a drivable area is Traverse, unfortunately not a quick drive.

Any of the Chicago contingent made a golf trip down into Indianapolis??  I know there are some decent courses in the area but is it golf trip worthy?

[Carl Nichols]

Eric:
Here in DC, there are actually quite a few decent options within about 4 hours -- Greenbrier, Homestead, Nemacolin, Wintergreen, Bedford Springs, several places in Williamsburg, and Ocean City [though you probably couldn't get away with not driving in Ocean City].  There are others, I'm sure, but I haven't been to them.  Where I point the car depends on many things, but a big factor is how much cash I want to spend, since the spread among that group is pretty large.  

[Anthony Gray]

  Groove Park Inn in Ashville NC. Great place.

  Anthony

[Norbert P]

David T. Thanks for that very interesting story.  I want to make it clear that it was a couple of local residents that said that, not me. I kind of wonder now if they weren't the architects of some of those houses just trying to get a reaction out of me.  Next time I go I'll pay closer attention the the buildings.

I dig this photo . . .  

                  Sea Ranch


Makes me want to just fill my pockets with golf balls and go on a hike with an 8 iron.

[Pete_Pittock]

Garland,
Before Bandon Dunes opened I would have answered Sunriver. If I average 60 mph Bandon is exactly 4 hours from Portland. Where do you stay on property at Chambers Bay?

[Garland Bayley]

Eric,

If you are driving there, why does it need on-site lodging and restaurant?

Garland

I am 3 hours to Atlanta. When I go down there to play golf, I prefer to stay the night and play golf again the next day.  I would not come back home and drive down again the next day.

When I play at Chambers Bay, I do not stay on site, and I do not drive home for the night. My point was that with your car, you can stay nearby, eat nearby, and still play without having to stay on-site like someone without a car might do.

[Garland Bayley]

Garland,
Before Bandon Dunes opened I would have answered Sunriver. If I average 60 mph Bandon is exactly 4 hours from Portland. Where do you stay on property at Chambers Bay?

I believe you know where I stay when in the Chambers Bay/Home Course area.

[Eric Smith]

Eric,

If you are driving there, why does it need on-site lodging and restaurant?

Garland

I am 3 hours to Atlanta. When I go down there to play golf, I prefer to stay the night and play golf again the next day.  I would not come back home and drive down again the next day.

When I play at Chambers Bay, I do not stay on site, and I do not drive home for the night. My point was that with your car, you can stay nearby, eat nearby, and still play without having to stay on-site like someone without a car might do.

That's all well and good, but my question was/is:

What public or resort course(s) do you frequent, say every year or so that has both good golf and on-site lodging with a restaurant, within 4 hours?

That's all I'm really asking.  A listing of the good to best operators doing all three components (good golf, lodging and food)  that GCAers like and drive to.  Places that you guys go to play and stay (and eat and drink) but not too far away.

Thanks!

[Eric Smith]

Kohler is about a 2 1/2 hour drive for me.  Used to go quite a bit, but now that I'm a bit more well travelled, I think it's a bit over priced/overrated, both in terms of golf and food/accomodation, although the spa is very nice.  I guess Erin Hills qualifies, although I've never stayed onsite...Eagle Ridge is about 4 hours drive...Had a nice vacation there about 10 years back...

I wish I lived closer to places like Kohler.  Or rather, I wish places like Kohler were closer to where I lived!

[PCCraig]

Any of the Chicago contingent made a golf trip down into Indianapolis??  I know there are some decent courses in the area but is it golf trip worthy?

Absolutely. Indy is a great place to sneak down to for a quick night or two worth of golf. The public options are very good and very affordable for their quality. Prairie View, The Fort, Brickyard Crossing, Purgatory, and Trophy Club are all solid and fun to see. Add in Kampen and Coyote Crossings around Purdue as a place to kit up on your drive in or out of town and you have a nice weekend vacation.

[Eric Smith]

Pat

How far of a drive was French Lick?

edit : looked it up, I thought it was closer. hell I'm 4 hrs to there!

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