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I'm already in planning mode about 2026 golf trips.
You should be, too. One of the main things that's new to golfers post-pandemic is they cannot procrastinate. Wait until lunch on Monday to ask your spouse if you can play golf this weekend? Kiss that tee time goodbye. Slow-playing the planning of your buddies trip next year? Sorry but Bandon Dunes, Pinehurst, Landmand, Sand Valley and the Old Course in St. Andrews, among others, are already booked up at least a year in advance.
The game - especially for avid traveling golfers - has changed. You need to be organized, efficient and ready to spend if you want to stay and play at the world's best golf destinations.
These popular places are in high demand, and their resorts are in high competition with one another to make sure they stay that way. These five travel brands, companies and developers are driving the market to new heights. They are the five leaders changing the way golfers travel.
Have you experienced any of these resorts and courses? I'd love to hear your comments below.
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The Keiser family of resorts
![Rodeo Dunes - hole 14]()
A trio of bunkers ring the 158-yard 14th hole at Rodeo Dunes. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass The tastes of today's traveling golfer have been heavily influenced by Mike Keiser and his development of Bandon Dunes, which forever changed the industry in 1999. His son, Michael Keiser Jr., is driving that legacy forward by continuing to search for and build other developing golf outposts previously undiscovered in the remote, sandy zip codes of backwoods America.
Sand Valley, the Midwest's version of Bandon Dunes, has exceeded all expectations 90 minutes north of Madison, Wis., and will open its sixth course, The Commons, in 2026. Rumors are that the seventh course could be announced soon.
Next up are multi-course resorts at Rodeo Dunes on the front range of eastern Colorado, where a Coore & Crenshaw course will welcome preview play for its founders next year, and Wild Spring Dunes in Texas, where a new Tom Doak design two hours from Dallas and Houston welcomes preview play to the public on eight holes starting Nov. 12.
The next project, Old Shores in Florida, waits on the horizon as well. The Keisers seem to build courses faster than golfers can keep pace with playing them. That thirst to play the latest, greatest new course remains insatiable within all of us.
![Bandon Dunes: #9]()
![Pacific Dunes: #14]()
![Bandon Trails: #3]()
![Old Macdonald: #4]()
![Sheep Ranch: #5]()
![Sand Valley Golf Resort - Lido]()
![Sand Valley Golf Resort - Mammoth Dunes]()
![Sand Valley Golf Resort: #12]()
![Sand Valley Golf Resort - Sedge Valley: #5]()
![Shorty's at Bandon Dunes]()
![Shorty's at Bandon Dunes Practice Center: #2]()
![Sand Valley Golf Resort - The Sandbox: Aerial]()
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Marine & Lawn Hotels
![Dornoch Station - hole 18 at Royal Dornoch]()
Dornoch Station, a Marine & Lawn hotel, sits within ear shot of the 18th green at Royal Dornoch. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass Anytime someone renovates and restores an old hotel, my heart sings. I love staying in golf's oldest buildings. They're so charming and the vibe is totally different than today's modern, soulless hotels. What Marine & Lawn Hotels, a subsidiary of Adventurous Journeys (AJ) Capital Partners, has done, spending millions to upgrade and update the United Kingdom's best links golf hotels has forever changed the bucket-list golf trip overseas. These hotels have kept their local and historic flavor but are suddenly more functional and enjoyable stays for guests. Luxurious even. I've stayed in five of the seven in the past 16 months. They're just as good as the famous links courses outside. Learn more about them in the article below.
* Rusacks St Andrews, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Dornoch Station, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Portrush Adelphi, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Slieve Donard, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Marine North Berwick, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Marine Troon, a Marine & Lawn Hotel
* Greywalls Hotel![St. Andrews Links - Old Course]()
![Muirfield - 12th hole]()
![Royal Dornoch: #16]()
![The North Berwick GC: #14]()
![Royal Portrush GC]()
![Royal County Down GC]()
Newcastle, County DownPublicMore good news is that Marine & Lawn is coming to America. The company purchased Mid Pines and Pine Needles to bring their deft touch and experience to improve those historic places next.
![Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club]()
![Mid Pines Golf Course]()
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The Cabot Collection
![Cabot Cape Breton - Cabot Cliffs - hole 15]()
The 15th hole at Cabot Cape Breton's Cabot Cliffs takes golfers toward the water. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass Under the leadership of golf architecture nut Ben Cowan-Dewar, the Canadian-based Cabot Collection has become a global force over the past decade as a developer and operator of luxury golf resorts and private club communities. It all started at Canada's No. 1 golf destination, Cabot Cape Breton in Nova Scotia (which I fell hard for in August), eventually expanding to the exclusively private and stunning Cabot Saint Lucia in the Caribbean, the modernized and rebranded Cabot Citrus Farms in Florida, the expanding Cabot Highlands in Scotland, Cabot Bordeaux in France, Lofoten Links in Norway and the developing Cabot Revelstoke in British Columbia. Cabot-Managed Properties includes four highly regarded U.S. golf courses across the United States - Cascata and Serket in greater Las Vegas, Grand Bear in Mississippi and Chariot Run in Indiana.
![Cabot Links: #16]()
![Cabot Cliffs]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - Karoo:]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Roost: #18]()
![Cabot Citrus Farms - The Wedge]()
![Cabot Highlands - Old Petty]()
![Castle Stuart Golf: #11]()
![Lofoten Links: #1]()
Le Pian-Médoc, GirondeResortLe Pian-Médoc, AquitaniaResort![Point Hardy GC]()
With sustainability at its core, Cabot is the first multi-property brand to enroll every golf course and surrounding environment into Audubon International's comprehensive, all-inclusive Platinum Signature Sanctuary certification program.
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Omni Hotels and Resorts
![Omni Homestead Resort - hotel]()
Dusk settles in at the Omni Homestead Resort. Jason Scott Deegan/GolfPass Omni doesn't get enough credit for being a major player in the golf travel game. The Omni Golf Collection consists of the 13 golf-focused resorts throughout its portfolio. Two of them host major tournaments - Omni PGA Frisco Resort, the new home of the PGA of America in Texas, and the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, which was recently announced as the venue for the PGA Tour's Good Good Open next year.
With 28 different golf courses and 25 award-winning spas, Omni can satisfy couples, families or buddy trips on and off the course. The hotels range from the most historic - the Omni Homestead Resort (Hot Springs, Va.); Omni Mount Washington Resort (New Hampshire); Omni Bedford Springs Resort (Bedford, Pa.) and The Omni Grove Park Inn (Asheville, N.C.) are all at least a century old - to several of the most modern golf resorts like PGA Frisco. Click on the images below to learn more about each Omni from our U.S. Golf Resort Guide.
Millions of dollars have been spent updating the Homestead's hotel; redesigning the North Course at Omni La Costa, the host of the Division I NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, Calif.; and refreshing the Omni Amelia Island Resort in Amelia Island, Fla. GolfPass has reviewed all three properties since the recent upgrades. Read about those investments below.
None of the other properties I haven't mentioned yet - including the Omni Tucson National Resort (former home of the Cologuard Classic in Tucson, Ariz.); Omni Interlocken Hotel (Broomfield, Colo.); Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate (Orlando) and Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa (Palm Springs, Calif.) - should be considered sub par. Any of them would deliver a fine golf vacation.
GolfPass can take you to three different Omni destinations with our golf packages.![Omni Amelia Island Resort]()
Fernandina Beach, Florida![Omni Orlando Resort At Championsgate]()
Championsgate, Florida![OMNI La Costa – Champions Course]()
Carlsbad, CA -
Pinehurst Resorts
![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 10: #8]()
View from the 8th fairway at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club - No. 10 Pinehurst Resort & Country Club It took vision, brains, guts and a heavy dose of capital for Pinehurst - already the largest golf resort in America and second largest in the world - to expand and invest heavily in a second campus, the new Sandmines site. Opening the new No. 10 by Tom Doak last year is already paying dividends, attracting modern travelers who seek those walking-with-a-caddie experiences on wide, yet compelling modern landscapes. In many ways, No. 10 is the antithesis of No. 2 - fun, wonderfully scenic and wildly playable for all. As a mid-handicap who gets pummeled by No. 2, No. 10 might be my favorite course at the entire resort.
The stone clubhouse, surrounded by outdoor fire pits, and the adjacent Station 21 restaurant, already one of the best at the resort, give Pinehurst a modern look and appeal its older buildings can't. Whenever the accommodations and No. 11 by Coore & Crenshaw are added, could a stay at Sandmines become more coveted than the historic Carolina or Holly Inn in the village? For certain groups, absolutely.
![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 1: #4]()
![Pinehurst No. 2 - Hole 5]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 3: #11]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 4 - #3, #14]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 5: #15]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 6: #4]()
![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 7: #7]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 8: #1]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & Country Club - No. 9: #18]()
Pinehurst, North CarolinaResort![Pinehurst Resort & CC - No. 10: #17]()
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