Somebody has to turn “we should do a golf trip” into actual tee times. If that somebody is you, here’s how to plan a golf trip in the right order so the whole group has a great week.
Planning a golf trip comes down to six decisions, made in this order:
- Pick your crew and the kind of trip you want.
- Agree a per-person budget.
- Choose the destination and dates.
- Book tee times and lodging early.
- Build an itinerary with room for fun.
- Confirm the details the week before.
Get them in the wrong order and you end up with a resort nobody can afford or tee times for a group that doubled overnight. Packing gets its own guide, which we’ll hand you at the end.
Step 1: Pick your crew and the kind of trip you want
Settle who’s going and what kind of trip it is before anyone mentions a place or a price. Every other decision depends on those two answers.
Start with the headcount, and think in fours. Many courses cap each tee time at four players (a foursome), as Phoenix’s city courses do, so a crew of four, eight or twelve fills every tee time without anyone getting paired with strangers or left out. If you land on six, that’s fine. Just plan on splitting into two threesomes.
Next, decide what kind of trip this is. A golf-first trip means 36 holes a day and early nights. A golf-plus trip means 18 in the morning and a pool, a ballgame or a long dinner after. Neither is wrong, but a group that wanted one and booked the other will let you know about it.
Expect a mix of skill levels. Your crew will probably include at least one strong player and at least one golfer who picked up the game last spring. Plan the courses and the pace around the newer golfers. The strong players will still get their rounds in.
Last, name the planner. One person owns the decisions, or you split the job: one handles golf and lodging, the other handles food and fun. Two organizers are much easier to work with than eight opinions in a group chat.
Step 2: Set a golf trip budget everyone agrees to
Agree a per-person budget range before anyone books a thing. Money is the awkward conversation, so have it early and out in the open.
Spell out what the number covers so nobody gets surprised later:
- Green fees and carts
- Lodging
- Flights or gas
- Food and drinks
- Tips for caddies and bag staff
Ask for budgets privately, by text or a quick poll, rather than in the group chat. Nobody wants to be the one who says “that’s too much” in front of everyone, and a quiet ask gets you a real number.
Once you’ve agreed on a range, collect a deposit from each person before you book. A deposit turns “I’m in” into “I’m actually in.” Pick one payment app for the whole trip and keep a running tally in the group’s shared doc.
If the number comes in tight, you have options. Price out driving against flying for the whole group, and check weekday rates against weekend rates. Stay-and-play packages (where a resort bundles lodging and golf into one price) can help, and so can going in the shoulder season which we’ll get to next.
Step 3: Choose the destination and dates
Pick a place your group can reach easily, in a season when the golf is good and the rates are fair. The best destination on paper is the wrong one if half the crew can’t get there.
Start with travel time. A four-hour drive can beat a two-flight trip once you count the airport, the connections and the bag carousel. Count total travel time against rounds played. If getting there eats a full day each way, a three-day trip turns into one day of golf.
Then match the destination to the season. Warm-weather spots shine in winter, and northern courses are at their best in summer. Popular golf destinations also have a shoulder season, which is typically the stretch just before or after peak season. Ask about shoulder-season rates when you price lodging and golf, since the weather can still be great.
Cluster your courses. Pick a home base with two or three courses within a short drive of each other, so the drive between rounds stays short.
Before you lock in your courses, search the Gurdy Map around your destination. It shows the golf courses we sent Gurdy to, and the green “Gurdy In Play” pins mark the ones that have joined the Great Gurdy Chase. Each course decides how and when it introduces Gurdy to its golfers, so follow their socials before you go and see what they have planned.
Step 4: Book tee times and lodging early
Lock in lodging and tee times as soon as your dates are set because the best times go first. A group of eight needs back-to-back tee times, and those are harder to find than a single open slot.
Every course sets its own booking window or the date when tee times open for reservations. Check each course’s window, put the open date in your calendar, and book the morning it opens. If you’re staying at a resort or buying a stay-and-play package, ask whether guests get to book earlier than the public. Some resorts give guests a big head start. Kiawah Island Golf Resort, for example, lets guests with a confirmed stay book tee times at any time while everyone else waits until 60 days out.
Before you pay a deposit on anything, read the fine print:
- The cancellation policy, and how far out you can cancel without losing money
- The rain policy, and whether you get a credit or a refund for a washed-out round
- Whether carts are included, required or optional
- Any rules on group size or pace of play
While you’re at it, check each course’s dress code. Private and resort courses can be stricter than your home course, and our guide to course dress codes covers what to expect.
Step 5: Plan a golf trip itinerary with room for fun
Plan the rounds and the downtime, then add a few games, so every golfer in the group has a good week. A trip that’s all golf and no breathing room feels like a grind by day three.
Go easy on the first day. After a flight or a long drive, one relaxed round or a range session beats a rushed 36. Save the marquee course for the middle of the trip, when everybody’s swing has woken up.
Next, pick formats that level the field. These four let a mixed-skill group play together and all stay in it:
- Scramble: everyone tees off, the team picks the best shot, and everyone plays from there. Beginners contribute without the pressure.
- Best ball: everyone plays their own ball, and the team counts the lowest score on each hole.
- Stableford: you earn points per hole (a par is worth 2) instead of counting every stroke, so one blowup hole doesn’t sink your round.
- Skins: each hole is worth a prize, and ties carry over to the next hole.
If the group wants a refresher, our guide on how scoring formats like Stableford and skins work breaks each one down.
Rotate the pairings each round so everyone plays with everyone. Add a running trip trophy, or crown the week’s champion with a hat they have to wear to dinner. Keep the pace moving on courses you don’t know, too. Being ready to hit when it’s your turn matters more on a crowded resort tee sheet (the course’s schedule of tee times) than it does at home.
Step 6: Confirm the details the week before
One shared doc and one confirmation pass the week before keeps the trip on track. The classic trip headache is a detail everyone assumed someone else had checked.
Put everything in one place, whether that’s a shared doc or a pinned message in the group chat:
- Tee times, course addresses and confirmation numbers
- Lodging address and check-in time
- Who’s driving, who’s flying and when they land
- The payment tally
Then, five to seven days out, call or email to reconfirm every tee time and your lodging. Check the forecast, and decide how everyone’s getting their clubs there: checking them, shipping them or renting at the course.
Once the plan is locked, it’s time to pack. Our golf trip packing list walks through what goes in the bag, the suitcase and the cart, with quantities for weekend and week-long trips.
Gear up the crew before you go
Matching hats turn a group of golfers into a crew. Pick out golf hats for the whole group, or hand out Gurdy ball markers and towels as trip gifts on night one. Browse the Pro Shop and get your crew kitted out before the first tee.