Trip guides & budget tiers
Where to take the crew —
and what it'll actually cost.
Eighteen buddies-trip destinations, each broken into three honest budget tiers — Splurge, Balanced, and Value — with signature courses, getting-there notes, and ideas for the spouse and kids if they're coming along. Pick the destination, pick the tier, then build the trip in FairwayAway.
Prices are typical planning estimates — always verify current rates. FairwayAway is a planning and tracking tool; it never books rounds or moves money.
The marquee twelve
12 destinationsThe classic golf-buddies trips — the ones the crew keeps talking about.
Myrtle Beach, SC
Grand Strand — South Carolina Lowcountry
The birthplace of the golf package: dozens of quality courses inside an hour, built end-to-end around cheap multi-round stay-and-play buddies trips. The dollar-for-dollar default for a big group.
Budget tiers
$75–$400+ / person / day (verify)
Las Vegas, NV
Mojave Desert — Southern Nevada
The ultimate golf-buddies playground: designer desert courses minutes from a Strip that never sleeps, so a marquee morning round chases into pools, dining, and nightlife the same day.
Budget tiers
$120–$1,000+ / person / day (verify)
Orlando, FL
Central Florida
One of golf's most diverse destinations: run a Palmer/Nicklaus/Norman circuit out of big villa resorts, add a bucket-list Streamsong day, and it's the family trip too — the theme-park capital of the world.
Budget tiers
$80–$500+ / person / day (verify)
Branson, MO
Ozarks / Table Rock Lake — Southwest Missouri
The great budget-spread destination: splurge on lakeside Big Cedar Lodge's designer-royalty courses, or play the exact same golf out of chain/timeshare hotels off the 76 Strip — same tracks, wildly different price. A family town, so it doubles as a couples/family trip.
Budget tiers
$90–$700+ / person / day (verify)
Scottsdale, AZ
Sonoran Desert — Greater Phoenix
The desert-golf capital: a dense stack of championship target-golf courses paired with Old Town nightlife, spring-training baseball, and resort spas — a buddies-and-couples machine built for a long weekend.
Budget tiers
$120–$600+ / person / day (verify)
Pinehurst / Sandhills, NC
Sandhills — Central North Carolina
'The Home of American Golf': a walkable village wrapped around Donald Ross history and a resort of ten-plus courses. The pilgrimage buddies trip that still fits a couples add-on.
Budget tiers
$130–$600+ / person / day (verify)
Bandon Dunes, OR
Southern Oregon Coast
The links purist's pilgrimage: five world-top walking-only courses on Pacific bluffs, caddies and push-carts only, phones-down camaraderie. A pure-buddies bucket-list trip — the remoteness is the whole point.
Budget tiers
$200–$900+ / person / day (verify)
Hilton Head Island, SC
Lowcountry — South Carolina coast
An iconic-golf island that's genuinely family-friendly: play Harbour Town under the lighthouse, then the spouse and kids get beaches, bike trails, and dolphin tours steps away.
Budget tiers
$110–$550+ / person / day (verify)
Greater Palm Springs, CA
Coachella Valley — Southern California desert
Winter desert-golf paradise with a pool-and-patio social scene: PGA West and a valley full of championship courses, mid-century-modern style, and spas — a buddies-plus-couples escape when the rest of the country is frozen.
Budget tiers
$120–$600+ / person / day (verify)
Destination Kohler, WI
Lake Michigan shore — Eastern Wisconsin
A short-season bucket-list pilgrimage: two Pete Dye complexes (Whistling Straits + Blackwolf Run) that have hosted Ryder Cups, PGA Championships, and US Women's Opens, anchored by a five-star inn. A serious-golf buddies-and-couples trip.
Budget tiers
$180–$800+ / person / day (verify)
San Antonio / Hill Country, TX
Texas Hill Country — South-Central Texas
Resort golf on the edge of the Hill Country with a big-city family engine attached: TPC courses at the JW Marriott, plus the River Walk, the Alamo, and theme parks that keep everyone happy.
Budget tiers
$90–$500+ / person / day (verify)
Williamsburg, VA
Historic Triangle — Coastal Virginia
Early-American history collides with Robert Trent Jones golf: play the Gold Course RTJ Sr. called his 'finest design' and Pete Dye's Kingsmill River, while the family does Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens.
Budget tiers
$80–$450+ / person / day (verify)
The dark-horse six
The value nuggets — same-quality golf that undercuts a marquee destination, for the crew watching the budget.
Mesquite, NV
Virgin River Valley — Southern Nevada
The Vegas alternative locals drive to: nine courses within 30 minutes of a 20k town, headlined by Wolf Creek's jaw-dropping canyon layout — bucket-list scenery at green fees well under the Strip.
Value tier; markedly cheaper than marquee Strip courses (typical mid-range resort-golf $ — verify).
Southern Pines / Aberdeen, NC
Sandhills — Central North Carolina
Same Sandhills sand and Donald Ross pedigree as Pinehurst Resort, minus the resort premium: a cluster of restored Ross classics plus a Strantz cult favorite for a fraction of the marquee green fee.
Value tier; the same golf region as No. 2 at clearly lower stay-and-play cost (typical value-Sandhills $ — verify).
Gulf Shores / Orange Beach, AL
Alabama Gulf Coast
Beach-and-golf value on the Gulf: nine signature courses by big-name architects paired with white-sand beaches and stay-and-play packages, at a fraction of marquee-beach-golf prices.
Value tier; beach + golf well under Hilton Head/Florida-beach pricing via Coastal Alabama Golf packages (typical value $ — verify).
French Lick, IN
Southern Indiana hills
A Midwest hidden gem: the only resort on earth with both a Pete Dye course (his favorite inland design) and a Donald Ross course, wrapped around two grand historic hotels including the domed-atrium West Baden Springs.
Value-to-mid tier; bucket-list architecture at drive-market Midwest pricing (typical resort $ — verify).
RTJ Golf Trail — Prattville / Capitol Hill, AL
Central Alabama (statewide trail)
The legendary public-golf bang-for-buck play: 11 sites and 26 championship courses across Alabama built by the state pension fund, letting a buddies group stack marquee-quality rounds for a fraction of resort-destination cost.
Deep Value tier; among the best quality-per-dollar public golf in the US (typical trail $ — verify).
Reunion / ChampionsGate, FL
Davenport / Kissimmee corridor — Central Florida
The Orlando value play ~20 min from Disney: big villa/vacation-home communities far cheaper for a group than Disney-area hotels, with signature resort golf right on-property.
Value tier vs Orlando marquees; vacation-home rentals split cheaply across a group (typical value $ — verify).
Got the destination? Build the trip.
Set up the roster, vote on where and when, lock the itinerary, and keep the money board — all free on your device. Add a destination and FairwayAway surfaces its budget tiers as planning context.
Start your trip