The Denver area's Raven Golf Club is one of a handful of all-inclusive golf courses.
Today, I want to tell you about a golf concept that few people know about, but it’s one I hope catches on.
You’ve undoubtedly heard of all-inclusive golf vacations, whereby a resort bundles together golf, accommodations, meals, drinks, etc., for one price.
But did you know there are all-inclusive golf courses, those that cater to daily-fee play? It’s true, and here’s why you may want to seek them out on your next golf vacation.
At Cowboys Golf Club (cowboysgolfclub.com), for example, a Dallas, Texas course built as a tribute to the NFL team, you pay one fee when you check-in and it covers virtually everything you could need or want all day: 18 holes of golf, cart, range balls, non-alcoholic beverages and food, thus eliminating the hassle of constantly dipping into your pocket for these things.
About an hour outside of Denver, Colo., Raven Golf Club at Three Peaks (ravenatthreepeaks.com) takes the concept a step further, packaging together everything mentioned above plus a yardage book and all gratuities for bag drop attendants, club cleaners and the like. (You won’t find this on the course’s website, but rates are discounted 20 percent until the end of June.)
Does this all-inclusive golf concept result in significant discounts? Not necessarily. And in some cases, you may even pay a bit more, particularly if you don’t take advantage of all the extras.
Regardless, I’d gladly pay a few dollars more for the convenience of not having to hand over my credit card multiple times or fumble around for cash to grease palms all day long. How about you? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.
For those of you who don’t need any more convincing, here are other areas where you can find all-inclusive golf courses to play on golf vacations:
Austin, Texas
The Golf Club at Star Ranch (starranchgolf.com): All-inclusive golf fee covers 18 holes of golf, cart, unlimited range balls, breakfast and lunch
Columbus, Ohio
Chapel Hill Course Course (chapelhillgolfcourse.com): All-inclusive golf fee covers unlimited golf, cart, and driving range for the day, plus three sandwiches, four snacks and six beverages of your choice
Riviera Maya, Mexico
Playa Paraiso Golf Club (iberostar.com): All-inclusive golf fee covers 18 holes of golf and unlimited food and drinks
Know of any good, all-inclusive golf courses (not all-inclusive golf resorts) that I missed? Reply to this message and I’ll share your picks with the group next week.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Coming from a guy who purposely avoids the bag drop and who already puts his bag cover on to avoid the useless club cleaning, I would welcome the simplicity of an all inclusive golf vacation. Short rant: Golf courses have become to busy (bag drops, starter speeches, beverage carts, club cleaners, etc.) with everything except speeding up play.
I am not generally interested in eating on the course or after the round and I’d prefer to tip as I see fit. Oftentimes there is no one at bag drops, no one to clean clubs, etc. so I’d prefer the staff doesn’t have a built in tip.
ANOTHER ALL INCLUSIVE IS FARMLINKS,$125 NEAR BIRMINGHAM ALA. DAILY FEE COVERS ALL THE GOLF YOU WANT TO PLAY, RANGE BALLS,GOURMET LUNCH,COOLERS FILLED WITH SODA,WATER AND GATORADE,COLD APPLES,AND ON HOT DAYS THE RANGER BRINGS OUT COLD MANGO SCENTED TOWELS. GREAT WELL MAINTAINED COURSE.
My son and I golfed at the Playacar Resort in the Riviera Maya south of Cancun a couple weeks ago. This was another all inclusive as mentioned in the article. It included transportation to/from your hotel (we didn’t use this because we were in a hotel across the street from the clubhouse), range balls, 10 balls to use on the course, cart with GPS, any food/drink you want from the food cart, and food at the restaurant. I don’t know if this was supposed to include all gratuities or not, but we did tip $20 after our round because everyone we dealt with was incredibly accommodating. It was a great experience and a beautiful course. The twilight rate was also a bargain at $65. If we ever go back, we are golfing there again!