Best-Buddies Golf Trips
Golf has never truly suffered an image problem. After all, it’s long been the sport of power brokers and rainmakers. But it hasn’t always been cool. That is, until a tidal wave of Gen Z and Millennial creators washed over the world’s fairways, bringing with them a diverse audience of golfers, fashion obsessives and jet-setters.
Partly thanks to this newfound cool factor, golf is no longer the slightly staid stuff of corporate retreats but increasingly a fresh inspiration for best‑buddies golf trips, closer in spirit to travelling for tennis or padel. Before you pack your tees and ship your clubs, our guide takes you to some of the world's most desirable golfing destinations, both established and green.
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Playing nice Down Under
When in Europe: courses old, new and timeless
The Asian swing
The unicorns: Dubai, Oman, Argentina
FAQs
best golf vacation destinations
Playing nice Down Under
Even though the early arrivals to the Lucky Country came from the land that invented golf, Australians and New Zealanders didn’t take to the greens en masse. Many transplants from England didn’t feel so lucky to begin with, while others were busy building a colony, which left little room for leisurely pursuits. The game eventually took hold, and today it’s played widely and with real passion. The enviable lifestyle brings those fairways to life in beverage carts overflowing with crisp Aussie lagers and supremely quaffable New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
Golf Trips to Melbourne
Her Royal Highness, Melbourne
The capital of Victoria is one of the world’s most livable cities according to people who study such things. While it’s hard to say how much weight (if any) is assigned to golf, it probably doesn’t hurt that eight of Australia’s most storied championship courses are only 20 minutes away from the city.
Everyone who is anyone plays at the Royal Melbourne’s West Course. Unusually for a private club, occasionally it lifts the velvet rope for non‑members. Terms and conditions apply, but with luck and determination you too can find yourself on these hallowed grounds. The club’s culture is famously discreet, with a dress code that puts tradition over whatever happens to be trending on TikTok.
Visitors can’t usually dine at Royal Melbourne unless they’re guests of a member, so most post‑round meals happen just outside the gates. Fortunately, several neighbourhoods in the area offer genuinely good food. For unpretentious bayside fare try Black Rock and Beaumaris; for a plate of chicken parma somewhere smart, head to Brighton’s pubs and bistros.
With top fairways being so close to the city, choosing where to stay has more to do with your interests beyond the greens than with logistics. In fact, Melbourne’s reputation as one of the best golf vacation destinations reflects its broad appeal. For art and design, base yourself in the cultured and calm South Yarra or St Kilda Road; or stay in the city centre, where the energy is bubblier and lifestyle more vertical. Home comforts await at Avani Melbourne Central Residences and Avani Melbourne Jazz Corner Residences.
Golfing in Hunter Valley
Wine and Golf in Australia
Hunter Valley: wining and golfing
The Hunter Valley is where Sydneysiders go to drink in the scenery, and everything else. As Australia’s OG wine region, weekenders can simply arrive and pick up a bottle of semillon or shiraz from one of the many cellar doors. With more than 150 wineries offering everything from breakfast in the bushland to fine dining beside grazing kangaroos, the region has wine tourism down to an art form.
For extended best‑buddies golf trips, the Hunter Valley covers most of a typical group’s interests with visits to artisanal cheesemakers and boutique distilleries for the epicureans, sculpture trails for the urban sophisticates and hot‑air ballooning for those with deep pockets.
But the main draw is the novelty of playing among vineyards. As you breathe in the clean, medicinal scent of eucalyptus and stretch your eyes across the lively par‑72 championship Cypress Lakes course, a gang‑gang cockatoo mimics the pop of a cork and everything feels right with the world. Sitting in the heart of the valley, with excellent conditions year-round, it is ranked among Australia’s top resort layouts, with on-site lodging at Oaks Cypress Lakes Resort.
Golf Trips in New Zealand
New Zealand: greener pastures
Persuading your golf buddies to tack a New Zealand weekend onto your Down Under itinerary is no mean feat. But it can be done. Leading with better value for money is your best bet. First, splurge on a few bucket list games on Australia’s marquee courses, then cross the Tasman Sea to work on your swing in settings no less lush and with tee times that are far more affordable.
The inland Auckland’s Titirangi Golf Club has an atmosphere of a remote retreat, even though it’s only 25 minutes from the CBD, home to Avani Auckland Metropolis Residences. Feeling confident? Take on the Titirangi Back Tee Challenge, open to non‑members every last Friday of the month. Those left humbled by seasoned Aussie golfers can sign up for coaching at the club. Once everyone has caught a birdie, take a well-earned break with a road‑trip through the region.
When in Europe: courses old, new and timeless
Europe’s golfing story is full of colourful characters. In 1457, Scotland’s King James II famously banned it so his golf-mad soldiers could practice that more relevant skill, archery. The royal ban didn’t stick. James IV caught the bug, and so did Mary, Queen of Scots, who popularised terms like caddie, giving Scotland its reputation as the Home of Golf.
From there, the sport spread across the British heartlands, then the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, and eventually throughout Europe’s spa towns and imperial capitals. Today, Europe remains the best golf vacation destination for traditionalists.
Golf Trips in Marbella
Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort
Living the high life in Marbella
Democratisation has done golf a world of good. But sometimes it does feel nice to be pampered like royalty. To fast-track yourself into this rarefied world, check into the stately Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort, Spain’s leading golf resort.
Three championship‑level courses sit right on your doorstep. The delightfully named Flamingos, the resort’s original layout, treats you to views stretching from Gibraltar to the coast of Africa. For a big, beautiful walk you can’t beat the par‑73 Alferini where a valley is framed by mountains to the best possible effect. Beginners often take their first tentative steps at the Michael Campbell Golf Academy at Tramores.
It will be years, however, before their skills are sharp enough for Real Club Valderrama, arguably Europe’s most prestigious venue, about 40 kilometres away from Villa Padierna. The club is avowedly proud of its immaculately kept greens and if your footwear doesn’t measure up to exacting standards, even your mastery with a putter won’t save you. In other words, this is not a relaxed round but hard work.
Other options in the area include Real Club de Golf Sotogrande and Finca Cortesin, both roughly 30–60 minutes from Marbella.
Golf courses in the Algarve
Tivoli Estela Golf & Lodges
Finding Scotland in Portugal
After the pleasing softness of Costa del Sol’s valleys, Portugal’s Atlantic coast can feel stark in comparison. But for many, the unvarnished nature of Porto’s golf courses is the main attraction. At Tivoli Estela Golf & Lodges, a true links‑style course set right against the ocean, you’re soundtracked by crashing surf and kept on your toes by shifting winds.
While the fairways running parallel to the beach give every round a bracing, almost Scottish feel, along the Douro River the historic wine cellars of Porto wrap you in a warm embrace. Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Resort, cleverly built atop one, lies within easy reach of Golfe da Quinta do Fojo, Miramar Golf Club and CityGolf’s driving‑range facilities, making it a convenient base for exploring Porto’s emerging golf scene.
Further south, in Algarve, golfing culture is more relaxed and the limestone cliffs, pine forests and tamed beaches are friendly and inviting. The all-inclusive Tivoli Alvor Algarve - All Inclusive Resort has several golf courses close by, as does Tivoli Lagos Algarve Resort, keeping your group close to the next tee box at all times.
Golfing in Croatia
A breath of fresh air in Croatia
A serious golfer who has played the major courses across Europe may reasonably say that the Old Continent holds few surprises. Not if you cast your net wider, all the way to Golf Club Adriatic on Croatia’s Istrian coast.
There is truly nothing else like it in Istria. For Croatia, a golfing latecomer, this 18‑hole, par‑72, award-winning course is rightfully a source of pride. Every tee, fairway and green offers a horizon‑to‑horizon view of the Adriatic Sea, with Italy shimmering in the distance on clear days. Visa-wise, the country is part of the Schengen area and is well connected to the rest of the continent.
Whether you’re driven by bragging rights, the love of the game or simply want Europe without the crowds, Istria won’t disappoint. The beaches of Adriatic are lovely, Roman ruins well preserved and guided truffle hunting is a thing.
Right next door to Golf Club Adriatic, Anantara Adriatic Istria Resort injects your best‑buddies golf trip with a dose of local culture, from Istrian‑inspired spa sessions to olive‑oil tastings.
Best Golf Vacation Destinations
The Asian swing
Like cricket and polo, golf arrived in Asia along with the British fleet. It’s not hard to see why it took root here. Sport has been part of local culture for millenia. China was playing chuiwan, a golf-like stick‑and‑ball game, long before pith-helmeted colonial officers arrived with their clubs and tees. Rising from this foundation is one of the world’s most dynamic golf landscapes.
All smiles in Thailand
Thailand, never colonised, came to golf through royal patronage. In Hua Hin, the country’s long‑time royal playground, golf courses feel entirely at home next to muay thai stadiums, night markets and that other enduring western import, vineyards.
Just outside the centre of Hua Hin sits the slick Black Mountain Golf Club. The winner of Asia’s Best Golf Course looks as if it’s been lifted straight from Jurassic World, its sculpted valleys and granite outcrops patrolled by the most dangerous apex predator of all: Homo sapiens brandishing a golf club.
Golf Trips in Hua Hin
Off the course, Hua Hin’s hospitality is as legendary as the hot crullers at the Chat Chai market. Beachside, bright and breezy Anantara Hua Hin Resort is widely regarded as the blueprint for the brand’s global portfolio. At the youthful Avani+ Hua Hin Resort, with an onsite wellness clinic, vitamin drips between games are par for the course, while the newly opened NH Hua Hin is all about clean modernist lines.
In Phuket, Blue Canyon Country Club stuns nature lovers with water-based natural hazards, while the signature Tiger Hole remains an irresistible 390‑yard challenge for those who never pass up an opportunity to push themselves. Over at green-thumbed and eco-credentialled Red Mountain Golf Club, golf carts take you past extravagant tropical flora alive with birdsong where a tin mine once stood, with designated ornithological trails for an even deeper immersion.
Fans of HBO’s The White Lotus franchise will find all the luxe and none of the drama at Anantara Mai Khao Phuket Villas; wellness takes top billing at Anantara Layan Phuket Resort; and NH Boat Lagoon is good for best‑buddies golf trips in search of a marina.
Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas
Malaysia: start them young
When those first Singaporean families vacationed on Desaru Coast, there were no golf courses and no ferry service – just miles of unspoilt coastline. Today, as one of the best golf vacation destinations, the holiday hotspot boasts Els Club Desaru Coast, efficient transport links and, miraculously, the same pristine beaches.
At the tony Els Club, Privilege Pass holders tuck into excellent local seafood next to visitors on day passes and novices exhausted by their morning practice at Els Performance Academy.
Five minutes from the clubhouse is Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas with its multi‑bedroom residences, butler service and muscle-melting massages that make the soreness of those endless power swings go away as if by magic.
Golf courses in Dubai
The unicorns: Dubai, Oman, Argentina
Thanks to Dubai’s sizeable British expat community and high billionaire count, the tiny emirate is a golfing hothouse. More unexpected is the excellent golf found in Oman and Argentina.
In the UAE, the name of the game is ambition. Dubai’s fairways, manicured within the inch of their lives, sit next to a thicket of high‑rises and shopping malls, where indoor waterfalls, shark‑filled aquariums and indoor skiing ensure you never run out of things to write home about.
At Jumeirah Golf Estates, a day pass includes apparel credit to get you kitted out at the on‑site shop. The venerable Emirates Golf Club balances tradition at the Majlis Course with laid‑back Aussie dining at Jones the Grocer. For a bird’s-eye panorama of Dubai, check into Avani+ Palm View Dubai; for a taste of the city’s most prestigious address, try NH Collection Dubai The Palm; and for easy access to the metro line that runs the length of Sheikh Zayed Road, the city’s main artery, Avani Ibn Battuta Dubai Hotel is hard to beat.
Across the border in Oman, golfers exhausted by Dubai’s always-on attitude will find a much more relaxed pace. Golf resort Tivoli LA VIE Muscat Hotel & Residences sits on La Vie Country Club Golf Course, home to Oman’s first TopTracer Range and a state‑of‑the‑art Golf Academy.
In Argentina, historic and highly-ranked golf clubs like Olivos, San Andrés and The Jockey can be reached from central Buenos Aires in about 45 minutes, if you stay at NH Collection Buenos Aires Centro Histórico, NH Buenos Aires City or NH Buenos Aires 9 de Julio.
Best-Buddies Golf Trips
Whether you’re only dipping your toes into best‑buddies golf trip planning or have a PhD in mining travelogues for gold, destinations that combine world-class golf with interests that appeal to your whole group are your safest bet.
