The best golf cottages you can stay in on your golf vacation

Last week, we ran down the key traits and features we look for in cottage-style golf vacation accommodations.

This week, we're showing you some of our favorite examples:

East Coast

The Greenbrier - White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
This iconic West Virginia resort is best known for its majestic Old White hotel, but other accommodations on site include a number of "Legacy Cottages," some of which are more than 200 years old. But these multi-bedroom affairs may be perfect for a visiting golf group, especially one that includes some history buffs, as a visit with resort historian Dr. Robert Conte is included with cottage stays on a complimentary basis.

Bay Creek Resort - Cape Charles, Va.
This two-course (Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer) resort in Cape Charles, Virginia is a gorgeous spot for an out-of-the-way Mid-Atlantic golf vacation. I have particularly fond memories of staying with my college golf team in an on-site cottage at the resort's Fairways Village during our annual conference championship. It was wonderful to just walk to the course in the morning, clubs on back.

Reynolds Lake Oconee - Greensboro, Ga.
The new group of National Club Cottages at this hybrid residential/resort complex's Tom Fazio designed National Course has raised its profile as a buddy trip destination. These eight 4-bedroom, 4.5-bath standalone structures are just steps from the practice facility and first tee at the 27-hole National Course, as well as the National Tavern, with a dynamite New-Southern menu and excellent vibe.

Villas of Grand Cypress - Orlando, Fla.
These four-bedroom beauties are incredibly convenient to the original 27-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature layout at this Orlando resort, with most of them just a short stroll from the clubhouse and The Club restaurant, with its beloved circular bar area. They blend a Spanish-style outward aesthetic with a chic, modern interior vibe, with huge central common areas complete with comfy couches and a big-screen TV.

Midwest

Forest Dunes - Roscommon, Mich.
This northern Michigan retreat recently tripled its golf complement when Tom Doak's reversible Loop course(s) opened last year as a compliment to the original Tom Weiskopf/Jay Morrish-designed original course. In addition to the on-site, 11-room Lake AuSable Lodge, there are villas and three- to five-bedroom "cottages" on site that cater to larger traveling groups beautifully.

Erin Hills - Erin, Wisc.
Staying and playing at Erin Hills is like spending time at a sort of sleep-away golf camp for adults. The Lodge is terrific for smaller groups, but if you want a self-contained space for your group during your visit, it doesn't get much better than the property's five four-bedroom cottages, each named after a famous Irish golf course.

Sand Valley Golf Resort - Rome, Wisc.
Mike Keiser's new central Wisconsin golf mecca has it all: awesome courses (18 hole by Coore & Crenshaw are online, and the David Kidd-designed Mammoth Dunes layout has 9 holes open currently, with a 17-hole Coore/Crenshaw short course rapidly taking shape). And the first on-site accommodations that opened last year, the Lake Leopold Cottages, are top-notch as well, with summer-camp-cabin good looks and a great Midcentury Modern interior design sensibility. Oh, and let's not forget the fire pits where buddy groups gather to swap stories in the calm, cool Wisconsin nights.

The Prairie Club - Valentine, Neb.
This rustic getaway in rural northern Nebraska has two grand-scale 18-hole courses, a fun short layout by Gil Hanse and a few different styles of accommodation. For buddy groups, the four four-bedroom Cabins are perfect. They're right next door to the main clubhouse and lodge, with each unit perched on the edge of the Snake River gorge that defines the eastern edge of the property.

Southwest

The Boulders - Scottsdale, Ariz.
This upscale retreat has long been a Scottsdale icon, thanks in part to its tremendous accommodations. These include a clutch of one-, two- and three-bedroom Villas, as well as the super-luxe Haciendas and the six-bedroom Villa Retreat, a 5,700-square-foot stunner.

Sand Hollow Resort - St. George, Utah
The top-ranked public course in the state of Utah has a solid variety of on-site accommodations, including a number of standalone houses that provide the golf cottage experience for traveling golf groups. One of these, called Red Desert Oasis, sleeps as many as 24 golfers comfortably and has its own private pool.

Lajitas Golf Resort - Lajitas, Texas
This out-of-the-way resort on the Texas/Mexico border outside the chili-famous town of Terlingua has an outstanding golf course in Black Jack's Crossing and an eclectic mix of accommodations. For groups of golfers, the Boardwalk Condos and Villas at Lajitas offer the best cottage-style setups. They are a bit on the smaller side, at two or three bedrooms, each.

West Coast

The Club At Kukui'ula - Koloa, Kauai, Hawaii
Nominally a private club, Kukui'ula does accept a limited amount of non-member stay-and-play visitors. If you've been looking for an excuse to visit Kauai, come for the Tom Weiskopf-designed course, but stay for the luxurious outdoor showers at the club's on-site cottages.

Bandon Dunes - Bandon, Ore.
This southwest Oregon pilgrimage site has a lot going for it, including ideal accommodations for the buddy groups that come year after year. The Grove Cottages, each with four bedrooms, stand out in particular here.

Pebble Beach - Pebble Beach, Calif.
Known primarily on the accommodations side for the sumptuous Lodge and the nearby Inn at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach Resorts will soon debut the new Fairway One cottages, named after Arnold Palmer and Clint Eastwood, respectively - along the first hole of the world-famous course. These four-bedroom affairs also come equipped with a 1,000-square-foot common area, two big TVs and a well-appointed, open-plan kitchen and wet bar. There's also a terrace out back overlooking the first tee. There won't be many better places to sip coffee in the morning in anticipation of a round.

International

Castle Stuart - Inverness, Scotland, U.K.
The Mark Parsinen/Gil Hanse design near Dornoch is known as one of the best modern courses in the British Isles, and now it is home to two sterling cottages of its own - the Farmhouse and the Castle Cottage - which can each sleep between four and eight golfers.

Trump International Links Doonbeg - Doonbeg, Co. Clare, Ireland
The Links Cottages at this Irish resort are a pleasant few-minutes walk from the first tee, and can be enjoyed as up to four-bedroom units. Or, for a traveling couple, one bedroom can suffice and still offer the common-area amenities that define the golf cottage experience.

Cabot Links - Inverness, Nova Scotia, Canada
This development by Mike Keiser and Ben Cowan-Dewar has vaulted to the top of many golfers' bucket lists among resorts in Canada, and with the new Beach Cottages adjacent to the seventh hole of the original Cabot Links course, there's even more to look forward to in the Maritimes.

Diamante Los Cabos - Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico
The residential community, site of Tiger Woods' first solo course design, is technically private, but it does take a limited amount of stay-and-play traffic to play not just the Woods-designed El Cardonal (and the new Oasis Short Course) but the spectacular, seaside Dunes layout. Vacation visitors stay in some seriously over-the-top four- to six-bedroom villas that are each between 4,000 and 5,000 square feet in size, with Pacific Ocean views, huge kitchens and media rooms and, of course, a tranquil swimming pool.

Have you stayed in any of the cottages above or others you really liked (or disliked)?

Please share your thoughts or read what others are saying below.

Tim Gavrich is a Senior Writer for GolfPass. Follow him on Twitter @TimGavrich and on Instagram @TimGavrich.
9 Comments
Default User Avatar

These are great places and Cabot is truly beautiful. However just two hours north of Toronto is Muskoka. There are over a dozen spectacular courses to play and during the next month or so you get the bonus of fall colors, amazing.

Stayed & played at the Gamble Sands Golf Course & Inn in Sept. 2016. Very fine experience.

I stayed at the cottages on La Purisima, a golf course, between Buellton and Lompoc on highway 246 close to Santa Barbara, CA. The accomodations were excellent, plenty of comfy rooms, kitchen, wide screen TV, BBQ, hot tub. The facility is located a few steps from the first tee. The golfing and the views are specatular. Also, if you like wine tasting there are several great wineries within a few miles (Melville & Foley). We had some excellent food at Industrial Eats & AJ Spurs in Buellton and & American Host in Lompoc.
We can't wait to get back to check out Solvang and all its tourist attractions.

Great List.

GreatHorse was a gigantic surprise and although I didn't stay in one of the cottages I thoroughly enjoyed my day on the golf course, bar/restaurant and the entire property. Brian Silva along with the Antonacci family hit a home run with this project and the culture is a breath of fresh air!!!!!!

The Cottages at Bay Hill are very nice and a great value.

Default User Avatar

We've stayed at both Cabot Links and Diamante. The latter is as described - over-the-top, luxurious. The Dunes course is spectacular, but the Woods course is surprisingly fun to play. Cabot Links has all of its cottages overlooking the Links course and St Lawrance Bay. Ours was very nicely appointed and comfortable. And the golf is awesome there.

Erin Hills accommodations in the lodge are fabulous. What a great place. What a great course. We're going back there every year for as long as we can.

Just stayed at the Carriage House at Greathorse in Massachusettes - course is spectacular and accommodations too -

Now Reading
The best golf cottages you can stay in on your golf vacation