By Matt Bush @ Red Birdie Golf
From beautiful beaches to stunning mountain retreats and everything in between, a golf destination can take you to some of the most incredible and famous places in the world. Almost anywhere that is worth traveling has a history with the game and any destination that is known for its beauty will probably also be known for its golf. Pack your clubs and join us as we look at 3 of the best golf destinations in the world both because of the incredible courses therein and because of the cities and resorts you will find there.
Monterey, California
You can book a hotel on the beach, take “America’s Top Road Trip” along the Big Sur coastline, and then explore Cannery Row. After doing all of that, you would still have the highlight of your trip in your future. Pebble Beach is as iconic a golf course as you will find anywhere in the world. People travel from all over the world to play the course that has hosted the US Open 6 times and has challenged some of the best golfers of all time. Pebble Beach was also the site of the first US Open played on a public golf course.
Pebble Beach is both the number 1 public golf course and number 1 golf resort in America. Aside from Pebble Beach Golf Links, there are 2 other courses on the Monterey coastline that make it into the top 50 public golf courses on a regular basis: Spyglass Hill and The Links at Spanish Bay. A trip to Monterey will be appealing to the entire family. There is incredible shopping, the scenery along the coast is some of the best in the world, and the marine life and outdoor adventures are great. But if you are going to Monterey, you do not want to miss some of the best golf you will find anywhere in the world at Pebble Beach.
Fife, Scotland
A place that has garnered the title “The Home of Golf” should be on every golfer’s short list of destinations and that is exactly how Fife, Scotland is known. Fife is the home of around 40 golf courses, and the most famous of which is also known as the birthplace of golf, the Old Course at St Andrews. The Kingdom of Fife is the ancestral home of Scottish Monarchs, it is full of incredible architecture, and it has some of the best “made for movies” scenery in the world. But the Old Course at St. Andrews is probably the biggest golf draw in the world, and the reason that you should visit Fife.
Fife is also a beautiful area just outside of some of the higher mountains and right in the middle of the beautiful rolling hills for which Scotland is known. If you are traveling to Fife as a tourist, you are most likely going there for the golf. St. Andrews is an incredible course and you can almost feel the history when you walk out onto the first tee. There are other things to do there and the history is extremely interesting, but being in the place where golf was born is something that every passionate golfer should experience.
Mangawhai, New Zealand
America and Scotland are 2 of the most well-known hotbeds for golf in the world, so why does New Zealand make the list for “best golf destinations?” Tara Iti is a little known and somewhat mysterious destination that opened its doors in 2015. In fact, a visit to their website gives you little to no information about this resort and course. It does very little in the way of marketing and advertising, and yet, Golf Digest ranked Tara Iti the No. 6 golf course in the world.
Tara Iti is New Zealand’s first American style private golf course, and it is tucked in the beach town of Mangawhai. It is private, secluded, and absolutely beautiful. It is located right on the beach in one of New Zealand’s prime surf spots, and with mountains in the backdrop. It is a beautiful course, on a beautiful beach, with some of the best facilities and amenities in the world. But if you take a trip to Tara Iti, you do it for the golf and for the seclusion. It is just you, the beauty of nature, and one of the best golf destinations in the world.
It is a private golf club, but with one exception. Golfers can visit the club just one time (you are encouraged to make that visit over multiple nights) before becoming a member. You will probably never see huge marketing campaigns, ornate signs leading you to the resort, or a huge membership list at Tara Iti. What you will see is a bunch of people who love golf getting away from everything for a few nights and playing the game that they love.
Next Stop?!
There is an inherent beauty to the game of golf. Whether it be the courses themselves or the way the ball flies when you hit the perfect shot, there is just something about the game that draws us to it. That same connection that we see in the beauty of the game is what transforms some of the greatest golf destinations in the world into some of the best vacation spots in general.
