The best places to gather with kindred spirits for the ultimate golf experience



By Topsy Siderowf
Golf Digest Index
Winter 2006-'07

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FLINT HILLS NATIONAL: The clubhouse at sunset (top of page); golfers head from the 15th tee to the fairway.

"Our aim is to develop a golf course and a retreat of such nature and of such excellence that men of some means and devoted to the game of golf may find the club worthwhile as an extra luxury where they may visit and play with kindred spirits from other parts of the nation."

So wrote Bobby Jones in 1930, describing his vision for the new Augusta National Golf Club. It was an unusual idea back then--and, it turns out, a good one. Today, golf is bursting with private clubs that can be used as retreats, many of them patterned after the Augusta model.

These are private escapes where groups of members and guests can gather for the ultimate golf experience. The centerpiece is always a grand course worthy of national competition. But there's also superb food, exceptional service and a comfortable place to bed down at night, all without leaving the premises.

Golf Digest Index has identified the finest examples of these clubs--America's 50 Greatest Golf Retreats: Naturally, no two are alike. But all offer a heady few days for members and their guests: dining with friends, brandies at the bar, stories and laughter; waking up to the sound of lawn mowers and the smell of freshly cut grass; hitting balls on a range where better golfers have sharpened their skills, then heading to the course with new resolve; leaving with an increased reverence for the game and its traditions.

To arrive at this new ranking, we polled Golf Digest's Course Ranking Panel, a group of more than 800 low-handicappers (for more details, see sidebar on right, "How We Ranked the Retreats"). Perhaps it is no surprise that Augusta National emerged as No. 1. Except for the frenzy of Masters week, the club remains the haven Jones imagined. Indeed, Augusta National is so beloved that when we asked panelists to rate individual features of the best retreats, it was No. 1 in each of these categories except one (and in that one, accommodations, it came in second). "Augusta is in a class by itself," observes panelist Richard Higginbotham, a financial-services executive.

The club whose course is ranked No. 1 in America, Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey, finishes just behind Augusta National in our retreats ranking. Pine Valley garners exceptional scores in every category including accommodations. Last summer the club's old dormitory--loved by many guests but considered Spartan by even its greatest fans--were torn down. In their place the club built the 24-room Pine Valley Lodge, which overlooks the fourth and fifth holes and offers a far more upscale alternative. Pine Valley also has five well-appointed four-bedroom cottages on the property.

The youngest club on our list, the Alotian in Little Rock, has made a huge impression in a short time. Heralded as Golf Digest's Best New Private Course in 2005, it was recognized then for its fine Tom Fazio design. But the architecture of the course is only one of its attributes. The Alotian finished near the top of every category and first in accommodations. "Everything at Alotian is first-rate," says panelist Steve Gilbert, a private equity investor. "It appears to be that lucky combination of an unlimited budget and good taste." Three white-shingle-and-brick cottages, miniatures of the elegant clubhouse, sit on the highest point of the property overlooking the course and Lake Maumelle. Each has eight bedrooms.

Developer Weldon Wyatt aimed for a "double-wow" reaction from visitors to his Sage Valley Golf Club--first when they set foot on the Graniteville, S.C., property and again after they experience the service, amenities and attention to detail. It seems to be working. Our No. 6-ranked retreat is "the most complete experience, with a hunting lodge, trap and dove shooting, horseback riding, full-service spa, as well as great food and excellent cottages," reports panelist Richard B. Heise, a retired venture capitalist.

Because a certain Georgia club sets the bar so high, it elevates everyone's game. "We can't all be Augusta," says Tom Devlin, founder of Rent-A-Center and the man behind Flint Hills National Golf Club in Kansas, our No. 10 retreat, "so we have to give better service, and the course must be in the best condition. Our goal is to outdo everybody." The fact is, the best clubs never sit still. At Mayacama Golf Club, in the heart of California wine country in Santa Rosa, where there are conceivably more bottles in its wine cave than balls on the range, more casitas will be ready for visitors next summer. Even the classic Alister Mackenzie/Robert Hunter design at Santa Barbara's Valley Club of Montecito gets a periodic review. Next June many greens will be restored to their original shape and size. The club also redecorated the guest cottages overlooking its 15th fairway.

Caves Valley Golf Club (T-17 in our ranking) in Owings Mills, Md., opened in 1991, is looking for ways to improve. It's turning its original 32 overnight rooms, which started as doubles, into luxurious single rooms. Several years ago it added a state-of-the-art learning center. "We're new, so we need to work hard," says director of golf Dennis Satyshur. "We earn our stripes with good food, service and great golf."

Our panelists agree. "The overall experience" of Caves Valley, says panelist Scott Seymour, senior vice president of a sports agency, "makes the golf course seem that much better than it might be on its own."

For a golf retreat, there may be no higher compliment.

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Additional research by Mary Jane McGirr and Jeff Patterson