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Scary season is upon us. And no, I’m not talking about Halloween, although that holiday is certainly the launching pad for simple Sunday Scaries turning into daily Spookies.
What I’m talking about is the time of year when you can’t go more than a few days without a festive function tempting you with celebratory cocktails, seasonal treats and enough calories to make you ditch your New Year’s resolutions well before you’ve even made them.
As the season of culinary excess descends upon us, allow me to offer a few of my favorite dining experiences from around the golf globe. While some are gloriously indulgent, others are wonderfully unpretentious. But they share one thing: all have left an impression.
Golf travel is no longer just about the 18 holes you play. The experience extends well beyond the course itself, from the architecture of the clubhouse and the hospitality of the staff to, increasingly, what’s waiting for you at the table. In other words, when it comes to golf travel, it’s not just about the courses. It’s about the courses, too.
I have been fortunate to play some of the world’s most celebrated venues and experience the hospitality that comes with them. And while a memorable meal certainly helps, the best dining experiences are about more than what’s on the plate. You may eventually forget exactly how a dish tasted, but you won’t forget how the experience made you feel.
One caveat: Many of these clubhouses are gloriously cell-phone-unfriendly zones. What I lack in accompanying imagery, I’ll try to make up for in descriptors. Consider this your invitation to put the phone away and pick up a fork.
The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers - Muirfield, Scotland
I appreciate that there are still places and occasions that require a certain level of decorum. Muirfield is one of them. A jacket and tie for men, with equivalent formal attire for women, might strike some as archaic. I find it part of the charm. There’s something refreshing about a place that asks you to leave the golf shirt and shoes in the locker and dress for the occasion.
That sense of tradition carries right through to lunch.
I’ve been fortunate to dine at Muirfield twice: once after a round and once before one. Both were memorable, but my favorite was my first luncheon in 2022. After playing foursomes in the morning, my group showered, changed and made our way into the dining hall, where the scene was less a conventional restaurant service than a glorious feast fit for Robert the Bruce after a victorious battle.
The offerings were in excess. Meats galore - roast beef, pork, lamb. Vegetables, charcuterie and desserts. Food stations seemingly designed to make restraint an impossible proposition. The spread was abundant without being fussy, and the atmosphere felt every bit as much a part of the Muirfield experience as the golf.
But my favorite part wasn't the food. It was the table. We sat at long, rectangular communal tables alongside members and guests, whether we knew our neighbors or not. Everyone was welcome to kibitz over shared misery: an errant shot, a bunker you couldn't escape or a gust of wind that sent your ball sailing 50 yards right.
At that Muirfield lunch table, titles and degrees don't matter. Humanity and humility do. In a world increasingly consumed by screens rather than the moment, it's a beautiful experience — and one I wish on everyone.
National Golf Links of America - Southampton, New York
When you sit down to lunch at National Golf Links of America, the lobster arrives immediately, whether you've asked for it or not.
As someone who is admittedly only lukewarm on lobster in general, let me confirm that this is precisely how life should work. At least at National.
But the lobster is only the beginning. The waiter soon arrives to recite the day's menu: a soup or two, a starter, a handful of mains and dessert. Pay attention. The lobster may have arrived without your input, but the rest of the meal is still yours to choose.
There's something about the ritual that makes you feel as though you've surrendered control to National's considerable wisdom. Take the wheel, lead me to something I don't yet know I want but will eventually discover I needed.
I was the only woman in my group and was deferred to when it came time to order. As I stumbled and hesitated, my host graciously went first, giving me a moment to collect my thoughts.
I honestly don't remember what I ordered. I do remember that it was something I wouldn't normally eat, and that I loved every single bite.
Suffice it to say, it remains one of my favorite dining experiences ever — not just at a golf club. And I can't even remember the meal. You do the math.
Sage Valley Golf Club - Graniteville, South Carolina
At Sage Valley, forget saving room for dessert. You'll want to save room for the wine.
The club's wine cellar dining experience is in a category of its own: a multi-course dinner with wine pairings that puts the bottles, rather than the food, at center stage. Think of it as the closest thing to a French Laundry-style experience I've encountered in a golf-club setting, with each course playing a supporting role to the wine.
This isn't simply a matter of matching a red with beef or a white with fish. It's about exploring how a wine evolves alongside food, how its nuances emerge and how a pairing can reveal something you might otherwise miss in the glass.
Plenty of clubs can deliver a terrific meal and an impressive wine list. The Sage Valley cellar takes a more deliberate approach, turning the collection itself into the occasion.
A girlfriend of mine who joined me on the trip filmed the maître d’ as he introduced each course and its accompanying wine. Not because she needed to post it on social media, but because she recognized just how extraordinary — and potentially once-in-a-lifetime — the opportunity was. She didn't want to take a moment of it for granted.
Of course, she may also have known that by the end of the evening, she'd consumed enough wine to make the finer details a little hazy.
For anyone who appreciates wine, this is an experience worth seeking out. Golf may be the reason you arrive at Sage Valley, but the cellar gives you an entirely different reason to remember the visit.
Congaree Golf Club - Ridgeland, South Carolina
At Congaree, the hospitality extends well beyond the golf course. The accommodations, the service and the food all contribute to an experience that feels thoughtfully considered from beginning to end.
Executive Chef Bryan Martin leads the culinary side of that equation, and dining is every bit as much a part of the experience as the golf.
You dress up for dinner here not because you have to, but because you want to. It's elevated and elegant without any of the pretense. The atmosphere is convivial and welcoming, and the food makes you wish you could move in and start paying rent.
The cocktails are superb, the wine list is a pleasure to explore and the culinary offerings deliver from morning through night. There's no need to choose between exceptional golf and exceptional hospitality here. Congaree makes a convincing case for both.
Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews - St. Andrews, Scotland
Much like Muirfield, lunch at the Royal & Ancient is one of the truly sacred experiences in golf.
I had the privilege of experiencing it last summer, on my birthday, July 5, after a round on the Old Course. There's something surreal about walking off one of the most storied golf courses in the world and into a clubhouse that has been part of the game's history for generations.
The occasion calls for formal attire, much like Muirfield. But the dining experience has its own character. Rather than gathering at long communal tables, our foursome sat together at a traditional dining table of our own.
At Muirfield, the shared table is part of the magic. At the R&A, it's the setting itself that makes the meal feel extraordinary. The clubhouse sits just behind the Old Course's first tee, placing you in the middle of golf history while you sit down to eat.
And perhaps that's the point. Some meals are memorable because of what's served. Others are memorable because of the people you're with, the occasion you're celebrating or the place you're lucky enough to be.
A birthday round on the Old Course followed by lunch inside the R&A clubhouse? That's a pretty good recipe for a memorable day.
An aperitif
The beauty of dining around the golf globe is that there isn't one formula for getting it right. At Muirfield, it's the communal feast and the conversations shared across the table. At National, it's a surprise lobster and the pleasure of discovering a dish you didn't know you wanted. At Sage Valley, it's the wine that commands your attention. At Congaree, it's the effortless hospitality. And at the R&A, it's the privilege of sitting down to lunch in a place woven into the fabric of the game.
The golf may get you there. But sometimes, the meal is what stays with you.
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