Picture your January. The course you play every Saturday has a chain across the cart path, and your clubs have been in the garage behind the snowblower since Thanksgiving.
Now picture a 9 a.m. tee time somewhere warm.
That's the whole pitch. A winter golf trip is the only kind where the alternative is zero golf, which makes almost any version of it a win. The trick is picking the right one, because winter flips golf pricing in ways that surprise people.
The rule nobody tells you
In the desert, winter is peak season and the prices show it. In the Caribbean and Mexico, winter is high season too, and the best tee times go early. The deals tend to hide in the places where winter is a little cooler, like South Carolina. Pick your winter golf getaway based on what you care about most, whether that's guaranteed sunshine or a lower bill.
Arizona
If you want sunshine you can count on, Scottsdale golf is the answer. The area has one of the biggest concentrations of golf courses in the country, and January through April is when the desert golf is at its best.
TPC Scottsdale is the headliner. Its Stadium Course hosts the Phoenix Open every February, and a round there tops out around $550 in the weeks after the tournament. Play it once for the stadium 16th and the story, then fill the rest of the week with the area's daily-fee courses.
Troon North is the one locals push visitors toward. Its two courses, Monument and Pinnacle, wind through boulders and saguaros in north Scottsdale, and they're as close to pure desert golf as it gets.
The California desert and coast
Palm Springs and the rest of the Coachella Valley fill the same role as Scottsdale, with dozens of resort courses stacked across the desert. In La Quinta, PGA West is home to Pete Dye's Stadium Course, part of the PGA Tour's American Express rotation every January. Next door, La Quinta Resort & Club has its own Pete Dye courses, Mountain and Dunes, and a pool you'll want to be in by 3 p.m.
On the coast, Torrey Pines in San Diego hosts the PGA Tour every winter, and its South Course hosted the U.S. Open in 2008 and 2021. It's a city-owned course on cliffs above the Pacific, which makes it one of the great public championship courses in the country.
Florida
Orlando
Orlando might be the easiest winter golf vacation in the country to plan. Flights are everywhere, and the golf courses are stacked within an hour of the airport.
Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill is the big one. Home to the PGA Tour's Arnold Palmer Invitational, it's a private club, and the only way for non-members to play is to stay at the Bay Hill Lodge. Do it once. Arnie's photos are on every wall.
Reunion Resort in Kissimmee has three courses with three famous names on them: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Watson. It's built for groups, with vacation homes and golf packages that keep a foursome under one roof.
Tampa and Jacksonville
Innisbrook near Tampa is a full golf resort, and its Copperhead course hosts the PGA Tour's Valspar Championship every March.
Just outside Jacksonville, TPC Sawgrass has the most famous par 3 in golf, the island-green 17th on the Stadium Course. Winter is peak season there, so expect about $750 a round and bring a few extra balls.
South Carolina
South Carolina is the value play of the winter. Myrtle Beach slides into its off-season, when golf packages and tee times get cheaper and the buddies trip math gets very attractive. Down the coast, Hilton Head is home to Harbour Town Golf Links and its candy-striped lighthouse. Winter days run cooler than Florida, so pack a layer and enjoy the empty fairways.
The Caribbean and Mexico
This is the winter golf getaway with a passport stamp, and plenty of it comes with all-inclusive luxury.
Dominican Republic. Casa de Campo in La Romana is the headliner of the Caribbean. Its Teeth of the Dog course is a Pete Dye design that opened in 1971, runs along the sea, and recently reopened after a full restoration. The resort has three championship courses in all, plus a beach and a marina.
Jamaica. Montego Bay has a strong golf scene. Half Moon is a Robert Trent Jones Sr. design, and White Witch sits just minutes away with big views over the Caribbean Sea.
Los Cabos. The tip of Baja is one of the best winter golf destinations in the hemisphere, with desert golf that runs right to the ocean. Cabo del Sol has two layouts, and Quivira is a Jack Nicklaus design, with Diamante nearby too.
Cancun. Cancun is mostly a beach trip with golf on the side. For a serious round, head south to El Camaleón at Mayakoba, a Greg Norman design that hosted a PGA Tour event for years.
Travel companies like Golfbreaks sell all-inclusive Caribbean golf packages that bundle your room, meals, and rounds, which takes a lot of math off the table.
How to make a winter golf vacation work
- Book flights first. Holiday travel and peak desert season eat up airfare. Lock it in before you lock in tee times.
- Book tee times early. Winter is high season for most of these golf destinations, and the best morning times go fast.
- Look at golf packages. Bundling the golf resort with your rounds usually beats booking each piece yourself. Here are more budget golf trip moves.
- Bring a foursome. Splitting a rental house four ways makes even a peak-season Scottsdale trip easier to swallow. Here's how to pick your crew.
If you're deciding whether a winter trip deserves a full week of PTO, run it through our bucket list test.
The winter trip that's already planned
Or there's the version where somebody else books it. The Monterey Slam sends four of you to five Monterey Peninsula courses, including Pebble Beach, with seven nights at The Inn at Spanish Bay. There's also a full set of clubs, premium apparel, and $30,000 cash, which buys a lot of hand warmers. (Here's how Pebble tee times work if you're curious.)
Tap In for this round, and start planning your escape from January.
No purchase necessary to enter or win. See Official Rules for eligibility and free entry details.
