Slightly OT but relevant to the golfer traveling with non-golfing spouse.

[Jim Lipstate]

All of us on the forum are avid golfers and eager to play interesting golf courses. Most of us have very understanding spouses willing to put up with our golf addiction. (Paul Jones - are you reading this?)

My question for the forum is where can you find the perfect blend of captivating golf but also places of interest for the non-golfing spouse on vacation. I am thinking of things such as interesting scenery, restaurants, boutiques, museums etc. Just having a spa on site doesn’t count. I will take Pebble and Carmel off the board as a given. Where else have you been that fills the bill?

[Pete Lavallee]

Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies definitely qualify.

[Ira Fishman]

My wife plays golf, but definitely Dublin and Edinburgh.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I'd never do it as a golf vacation alone, but my wife and I had a great time in South Africa. We went to Pilanesberg game preserve for a self-drive safari, and I played Gary Player GC and Lost City. Then we were at a Kruger Park Safari, and I played Leopard Creek. In the Drakensberg Mountains, I played Champagne Valley. We ended UMhlanga Rocks on the Indian Ocean, where I played  Durban CC. It was a great trip.

[DFarron]

Charleston …..my wife had never heard of golf before we married 3 years ago but is a great sport when it comes to golf. She encourages me to play on vacation (first wife wouldn’t ) and insisted on walking Kiawah Island Ocean course with me.


She’s a history buff so we saw all the sights of Charleston and she really enjoyed it (and I did too).


We’ll definitely go back, it was a great time.

[Stewart Abramson]

My wife plays golf, but definitely Dublin and Edinburgh.

That is the answer.

[David Cronan]

Boy, it's been awhile since my divorce when we spent a dozen weekends/summer there, but it's tough to beat Traverse City, MI during the last week of July. Some terrific golf for you and your bride can hang out at the Traverse City Film Festival, shopping, visiting various vineyards, sightseeing, taking a day trip to Harbor Springs, Mackinac Island or Petoskey or hanging out on any number of lovely lakes that make Northern Michigan so special.


And, of course, the fudge..... LOL

[Paul Jones]

Jim,


My wife loves the ocean/beach… her favorite trips were Casa de Campo and Hawaii (Mauna Kae and Kapalua) with Cabo a distant 3rd.

[Jason Topp]

Depends on your spouse.


For us, Palm Springs is quite good for this.  We prefer downtown rather than La Quinta.  Modernism Week in February has a ton of great events featuring mid-century modern architecture and art along with plenty of old time celebrity stories and history.  The golf is not fabulous but the weather makes up for it.

[Ben Sims]

My wife was very clear about any overseas membership I might pursue; there WILL be a train station within the town that we are staying. For this reason, any destination that is close to public transportation to places of interest were a must.

[mike_beene]

My wife likes to walk the courses with me. While I would never bring her to a private club to tag along, some places are happy to have her walk (Pine Needles, Pebble for example). Others such a Torrey Pines make you take a cart destroying the whole idea. I get it but it makes me not want to return to certain resorts.

[Tony_Muldoon]

London.

Trains to Heathlands or Kent Coast.

That's your next decade sorted.😉

[Tom_Doak]

If you are looking for a place you can play a few rounds of great golf and spend time sightseeing with your wife, it's New Zealand, hands down.  Almost everyone I know who's brought their wife there says it was their favorite place to visit in the world.


If you're looking to play a different course every day and have your wife enjoy herself separately during the day . . .


Paris, Edinburgh, London, Toronto, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires


The recommendations for the U.S.A. would depend entirely on whether you have access to the better private courses.

[Mike Hendren]

London.

Trains to Heathlands or Kent Coast.

That's your next decade sorted.😉

Boom!  Wife goes mud-larking, Kew Gardens and Chelsea Flower show while I catch trains to Deal, Sandwich, Sunningdale (36), Walton Heath and Huntercombe.  We open a bottle in the evening and compare photographs.  Best trip ever.

[Daryl David]

London.

Trains to Heathlands or Kent Coast.

That's your next decade sorted.😉

 You have obviously cracked the code. 


Boom!  Wife goes mud-larking, Kew Gardens and Chelsea Flower show while I catch trains to Deal, Sandwich, Sunningdale (36), Walton Heath and Huntercombe.  We open a bottle in the evening and compare photographs.  Best trip ever.

[Jim Lipstate]

Appreciate all the suggestions. My wife and I have been to some of the suggested destinations including Traverse City. Edinburgh and Scotland in general was unbelievable as a destination. We still joke about the spouses doing the ABC tour (another bloody church or another bloody castle) while we trod the Links.


I have been contemplating a bucket list trip to New Zealand. Now that no less than Tom Doak has endorsed the idea I think we will have to go. Thanks Tom! I think you have provided the impetus to make it happen.


As an aside when working with the entrepeneurs who make destination golf happen such as Bandon, Streamsong or Sandhills golf in Nebraska is there thought as how to accommodate the non-golfing travelers? I love playing these courses as basically golfing Disneyland but not as a couples trip. Happy wife, happy life applies to golfers as much as any other population. I would like to see golfing destinations try to develop activities attractive to a non-golfer as part of their business plan.

[Daryl David]

As an aside when working with the entrepeneurs who make destination golf happen such as Bandon, Streamsong or Sandhills golf in Nebraska is there thought as how to accommodate the non-golfing travelers? I love playing these courses as basically golfing Disneyland but not as a couples trip. Happy wife, happy life applies to golfers as much as any other population. I would like to see golfing destinations try to develop activities attractive to a non-golfer as part of their business plan.

It would be a nice thing, but why do it?  Most of these destinations are booked out full for several years without providing any additional amenities for non golfers. No need to spend the capital on that as they couldn’t accommodate them anyway.

[John Kavanaugh]

It's rude to take a non-playing partner along if you are going to be paired with strangers at a public facility or resort. If they were worth spending time with you wouldn't be so desperate for a distraction yourself. Golfcuck.com has tee times available.

[Jeff Schley]

I played down in Costa Rica once and got paired up with another single from Panama, who had his partner with him. This lady turned out to be a South American model (Colombian I think). She just rode in the cart and worked on her tan.
Costa Rica doesn't have great golf by any means, but wonderful vacation spot.

[Steve_Lovett]

Harbour Town on Hilton Head Island. The Harbour Town Inn is a nice hotel adjacent to the first tee, the golf course is a pleasant walk.

[John Kavanaugh]

I played down in Costa Rica once and got paired up with another single from Panama, who had his partner with him. This lady turned out to be a South American model (Colombian I think). She just rode in the cart and worked on her tan.
Costa Rica doesn't have great golf by any means, but wonderful vacation spot.

What did you tell your partner when you went back to the hotel? Haven't we moved past "worked on her tan" as a description of what a woman out in the wild is doing?

[John Kavanaugh]

Did anyone ever take their spouse to Longaberger and buy them a basket?

[Ian Andrew]

Some of the travel suggestions are favorites for us too.
Wales was a personal favourite for golf and non-golf.

A few suggestions closer to home:

1. Stay right in downtown Boston and travel out for golf (or in my case work)
2. Cleveland is a highly underrated city for golf, hiking and art.
3. Charleston and Savannah as someone suggested is a great double
4. Providence is another destination like Cleveland, mixing golf and non-golf
5. Stay downtown in Seattle (so much to do) and travel out for some golf


Btw, if you do go Banff and Jasper, play only the two courses and spend your time sight seeing.

[John Kavanaugh]

Ian,


I’ve taken my wife to see asphalt plants on “vacation”. Architects and civilians have differing priorities.

[Joe Zucker]

Did anyone ever take their spouse to Longaberger and buy them a basket?

I played a junior event there 20 years ago and my mom loved it.  It was probably one of the only times she offered to drive me to the course and spent the entire day there...