Where to Stay and Play Unlimited Golf
One of the best golf vacations to treat yourself on is when they offer you accommodations and unlimited golf. Make sure the accommodations is onsite or near the courses. Some resorts will provide free transportation to and from the course while others will store your clubs and deliver them to the course where you will play your next round.
Where to find these deals?
If you are looking for a great stay and play vacation, look for the words 'Stay and Play Unlimited' when searching for hotels. Most of these deals are offered by an on-course hotel such as the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, CA. On occasions, the 'Stay and Play Unlimited' package is offered for as low as $249 from Sunday to Thursday and $349 from Friday to Saturday. It includes the accommodation and golf for two.
The package at the Temecula Creek Inn is designed for guests to arrive and stay the night before playing unlimited golf. Call ahead and check with the reservation desk to see if they would let you play practice rounds on the arrival day. Some packages let you play both days, when you arrive and when you check out. The resort down the street, Pala Mesa Resort in Fallbrook allow guests to tee off on the day you check in and the day you check out. |
To get more than 2 rounds in, make sure you check the sunrise and sunset times. You should be able to play a morning round followed by lunch then an afternoon round at your leisure. For die hards, you can quickly go through a third round if there is enough daylight left in the day. If not, go to the driving range and work out the kinks.
Unlimited means Free Golf
Some resorts allow you to book advance tee times. This was the case when I was staying at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa on their Stay and Play Unlimited package. I booked 8:00am and 12:30pm for two. When we finished the first round, we had enough time to stop at the snack bar for a sandwich to-go. The starter stopped us on the way to the first tee and let us check in for our second round of the day.
It was different at the Temecula Creek Inn where they did not allow multiple tee times to be booked on the same day. After the first round, we had to check in and see if they could fit us in for the second round. This was quite a restriction for the Unlimited Play package but luckily, there were 27 holes for the starter to pick from. |
At the Pala Mesa Resort, it was first-come-first-served on subsequent rounds which was fair for guests as well as for the public.
Another occasion was when I stayed at the Makena Golf Resort in Maui. Every morning, I waited in the lobby for a shuttle ride to the Makena Golf Resort which was 5 minutes down the road. After checking in and showing my hotel key, they showed me the way to the first tee. They did not allow subsequent tee times but because of 2 championship courses, they allowed you to play through without checking back with the pro shop. This was the best Stay and Play package that I've experienced.
Another occasion was when I stayed at the Makena Golf Resort in Maui. Every morning, I waited in the lobby for a shuttle ride to the Makena Golf Resort which was 5 minutes down the road. After checking in and showing my hotel key, they showed me the way to the first tee. They did not allow subsequent tee times but because of 2 championship courses, they allowed you to play through without checking back with the pro shop. This was the best Stay and Play package that I've experienced.