Rocky Mountain way
The Front Range of the Rockies is a mile high, the better to boom tee shots, but below the snowy peaks to the west, so it's playable from early spring well into fall. Pine-lined fairways in Colorado Springs and Castle Rock give way to gravity-defying red-rock formations towering above Arrowhead. At the north end are wind-swept layouts at Riverdale and Buffalo Run, both just over the hill from Denver International Airport.
Lake Effect
On any Northern Michigan golf trail, the problem isn't filling your itinerary with top courses. It's deciding which ones to leave off. From Bay Harbor on the far eastern edge of Lake Michigan to Lakewood Shores on the northern coast of Lake Huron, the top edge of Michigan's Lower Peninsula has styles for every taste. You're only limited by the relatively short playing season: early May to mid-October.
The Yankee Clipper
OK, so a couple of stops in New York's Adirondack Mountains make this not strictly a New England affair. This is not a geography quiz. It is, however, a test of your ability to focus on handiwork of architects like Donald Ross (The Sagamore) while taking in some of the most commanding views in the East: Lake George, The Berkshires and the Green Mountains. Consider this trail in August, when you can build in side trips to watch the ponies at Saratoga and summer stock in Williamstown.
Southern Comfort
You could fly to Myrtle Beach, but playing your way down by car is much more fun. Whether you opt for highways or back roads, the golf reflects the same diversity your destination has made famous. There's quirky (Royal New Kent) to go along with the linksy (Sea Scape and Bay Creek) and the toney (Fazio, Palmer, and Strantz).
It's the perfect adventure, provided you've got two weeks to kill—and why not, with an itinerary like this?
Star Rating Explanation
Course ratings are derived from the exclusive 5-star Golf Digest
Places to Play scale. A single star represents "basic golf." Five stars
indicates "golf at its absolute best." Golf Digest's Best Places to Play
guide, based upon the ratings of tens of thousands of readers, is available for $24.95.
Basic golf.
Good, but not great.
Very good. Tell a friend it's worth getting off the highway to play.
Outstanding. Plan your next vacation around it.
Superb. Golf at its absolute best. Pay any price to play at least once in your life.
The equivalent of one-half star.
If a course has no star rating, it means that the course did not receive a minimum of 10 ballots, either because it is very new or simply was not visited by a sufficient number of Golf Digest readers. If you've played one of these courses and would like to rate it, click here.
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