7 Hotels that Offer Access to Exclusive Golf Courses

Booking a stay at a luxury hotel guarantees a number of experiences, among them a high level of dedicated service, plush accommodations, and stellar dining. Occasionally, however, checking into a five-star hotel offers unexpected—or at least lesser-known—perks, including rounds of golf on courses otherwise off-limits to the public.

The following seven properties are among the best in that regard, making a golf-obsessed guest’s stay all the more special.

 

Bellagio Las VegasLas Vegas, Nev.

Even if you’re not a golfer, it’s hard to argue that booking a stay at the Bellagio isn’t the savviest play that you can make along the Las Vegas strip. After all, the resort’s already elegant Spa Tower guestrooms and suites recently benefited from a $110 million renovation. If you are a golfer, then staying at the Bellagio (or any MGM Resorts property in Vegas) is a must, as that’s the only way you can potentially secure a tee time to play Shadow Creek Golf Club.

The uber-exclusive club enjoyed its initial foray in the national spotlight back in 2018, when the first televised “match” between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lasted 22 holes and extended into near darkness. The Tom Fazio-designed layout was first built in 1990 and reportedly cost $47 million—an astronomical amount of money but a price that Fazio once attributed to “total site manipulation.” In other words, all the rolling hills, the contours, and the mounding that you’ll see are manmade. “The course is unbelievable—it’s an amazing facility and in great shape,” says PGA Tour pro Ryan Moore, who lives in Las Vegas. “If you get the chance to play Shadow Creek, you have to go. It will be one of the best golfing experiences you’ll ever have.”

one course
Shadow Creek (photo courtesy Shadow Creek Golf Club)

 

Montage Palmetto BluffBluffton, S.C.

With its quaint village-like square—one that feels transported from the early 20th century—not to mention thousands of acres of tranquil Carolina Lowcountry landscape, the Montage resort at Palmetto Bluff might have you daydreaming of eventual retirement. Until then, the sophisticated hotel and its various distinctive accommodations (including standalone homes within the village) can offer you a temporary reprieve from everyday life. It can also provide access to two stellar golf courses.

Built in 2005, the May River Golf Course is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course creation that meanders through the May River Forest and around majestic ancient live oaks. Certified by Audubon International as a Cooperative Sanctuary, the 7,171-yard course is managed not only to provide pristine playing conditions but also to protect the natural habitats of numerous species of wildlife that live on or adjacent to the course. Conversely, the property’s newest course, Crossroads, is a reversible 9-hole track conceived by King-Collins Golf Course Design that was built not only with match play in mind, but also to encourage golfers to embrace the adventure of playing cross-country, in the process discovering new holes that aren’t formally presented on the scorecard.

may river
May River Golf Club (photo courtesy Montage Palmetto Bluff)

 

Omni Barton Creek Resort & SpaAustin, Texas

What began as a country club in the mid 1980s has evolved into an expansive resort that covers a footprint of 4,000 acres of rolling hills and woodlands in Texas Hill Country just along the edge of Austin’s city limits. The resort, complete with a destination spa, recently benefited from a significant renovation. While that alone makes it worthy of a visit, the property’s access to four exceptional golf courses is an even more alluring siren’s call—especially for those with a penchant for the game.

Guests at Omni Barton Creek can test their shotmaking at Fazio Foothills, a 7,125-yard championship layout that features numerous elevated tee shots; small putting surfaces guarded by grass bunkers and undulating aprons; and the presence of several creeks and waterfalls. Fazio Canyons, on the other hand, stretches more than 300 yards longer, boasts several fully mature Red Oak and Sycamore trees, and was Texas’s first resort course to earn certification as an Audubon International Signature Sanctuary. Barton Creek’s third course, Cliffside, is an early Coore & Crenshaw gem that offers generously wide, sweeping fairways—although they’re densely lined with trees—and expansive greens defined by bold undulations. And if guests are still hungry for more after playing those three tracks, they can venture 45 minutes northwest to the Palmer Lakeside course, where panoramic views of Lake Travis are as satisfying as well-struck drives hit from several elevated tee boxes.

austin
Omni Barton Creek (photo courtesy Omni Barton Creek)

 

San Ysidro RanchSanta Barbara, Calif.

Set in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains and boasting dramatic views of the Montecito coastline, San Ysidro Ranch has attracted discerning travelers for the better part of a century. Under a quaint and charming canopy of gnarled oaks and striking sycamores, the luxury resort’s 38 cottages (each with their own gated entry) are discreetly tucked within manicured gardens. The boutique luxury resort is owned by Ty Warner, who also owns the nearby Montecito Club—formerly the Montecito Country Club—which means guests can gain access to the otherwise private club during their stays.

Much like San Ysidro Ranch, the golf club is nestled into the hills of Santa Barbara County and offers dramatic views of the Pacific. Although the club originally opened more than a century ago with a course designed by Max Behr, it’s now home to a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course that comprised one facet of a $119 million renovation completed in 2019. The Golden Bear was careful to preserve as much of the historical character of the original Golden Age course as he could, while at the same time building a new layout that he describes as “sporty,” and one that embraces the property’s natural elevation changes, not to mention a plethora of coastal and mountain views.

hotels exclusive courses
Putting course at San Ysidro Ranch

 

Arizona BiltmorePhoenix, Ariz.

For more than four decades after its grand opening in 1929, the Arizona Biltmore was a luxuriously appointed desert oasis accessible by invitation only. Originally outfitted with 235 rooms, the resort has since tripled in size and is now open to the public. The chance to live it up in a desert oasis that once attracted the likes of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe is reason enough to book a trip, but it’s made even sweeter by getting the chance to play the duo of courses that comprise the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club.

The Links Course, built in 1979, offers an approachable par-71 round of golf that stretches no more than 6,300 yards. The golf club describes the course as “a bit rambunctious,” which is to say it bounces around from high points to low, referring to the site’s elevation changes. More recently, however, Tom Lehman redesigned the old Adobe Course, wiping the slate clean and creating an entirely new venue. Lehman implemented sweeping bunkers with raised faces to inject much-needed character into the otherwise flat parcel of land. The resulting Estates Course now forces golfers to think strategically from tee to green. Boldly contoured greens serve as the primary defense against low scores, and because almost all the site’s 94 acres are grassed, players can be creative with their shotmaking. “You only have a forced carry when you choose to have one,” Lehman says.

arizona biltmore
The Links Course (photo courtesy Arizona Biltmore Golf Club)

 

Rosewood Castiglion del BoscoTuscany, Italy

Up until recently, exclusive membership was the only way you could tee it up at Castiglion del Bosco, Italy’s only private golf club. Although the course first opened for play more than a decade ago, a recent arrangement with the prestigious Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco now allows guests staying in one of the resort’s 42 suites or 11 villas—the latter of which are restored 17th- or 18th-century farmhouses—to make advanced tee times during their stays.

Designed by the late Tom Weiskopf and set in the Tuscan hills about 65 miles south of Florence, this collection of golf holes blends into the gentle contours of the land, making the course look much older than it is. “The best ingredients that we have here were around the golf course—these long-distance vistas,” Weiskopf once said. “We had to play down certain valleys; we had to play on ridges; we had great green locations, great changes of elevation here, and we tried to utilize those features into the golf course to make some of the holes pretty dramatic.”

hotels exclusive courses
Castiglion del Bosco (photo courtesy Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco)

 

Adare ManorAdare, Co. Limerick, Ireland

It goes without saying that a visit to Adare Manor is captivating. Spread out across 840 acres, the historic estate, with its restored gothic manor house, is like a step back in time—but one that still offers a Michelin-starred restaurant and a sumptuously appointed destination spa. And then there’s the golf course, accessible only to guests, which serves as its own unique transportation of sorts.

The lush parkland layout—and the entire resort—benefited from a multi-year, multi-million-dollar renovation orchestrated by Tom Fazio in 2016–17. The result is a painstakingly manicured inland course—set to host the 2027 Ryder Cup, the competition’s second ever playing in Ireland following The K Club in 2006—that boldly swims against the current of Ireland’s acclaimed links. “It’s a rare experience to play a golf course like this,” says Tom Marzolf, a senior design associate with Fazio Golf Course Designers who lived on site for more than a year during the course’s extensive renovation. “The first time you play a round of golf there, it’s overwhelming.” More specifically, thanks to its artfully shaped bunkers; low-cut turf even off the fairways; and plenty of babbling brooks, creeks, and small water hazards scattered across its 170 acres, Adare Manor’s golf course draws parallels to Augusta National.

adare manor
Adare Manor (photo courtesy Adare Manor)

 

What hotels with access to exclusive golf courses did we miss?

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x