Golf Trips with Water Sports
The best golf trips don't end at the 18th. Water Sports is the part your crew still argues about on the drive home. We tracked down 33 destinations across America where the golf is worth the flight and the water sports is worth the day off the course — so nobody has to pick one.
Every destination below includes detailed course breakdowns, lodging options for groups, restaurant picks, and nightlife — plus specific water sports venues with pricing, duration, and what to expect. Hit the planner to build a complete itinerary around your group's priorities in a couple of minutes.
These 33 destinations span 17 states across 8 regions of the country, so there's a golf-plus-water sports option within a short flight of most major cities. Water Sports runs from around $0 per person at the most affordable spot on the list, with plenty of upgrade options if the group wants to splurge on one big activity for the trip.
The best group trips usually pencil in water sports for a half-day between rounds — morning tee time, afternoon activity, dinner after — rather than trying to squeeze it in around a full 36-hole day. If your crew wants water sports to be the centerpiece rather than a side quest, several of the destinations below are built around it, with courses close enough to town that the golf doesn't have to compete for calendar space.
Best Destinations for Golf + Water Sports
Scottsdale, AZ
Desert golf royalty meets Old Town nightlife
Phoenix / Mesa, AZ
Massive metro, massive course list, zero pretense
Lake Havasu City, AZ
Spring break energy meets desert golf on the Colorado River
Laughlin, NV
Cheap casino town on the Colorado with sneaky good golf
Coeur d'Alene, ID
Lake town golf with a floating green
Hood River, OR
Columbia Gorge views, craft beer, and sneaky-good golf
Portland, OR
Craft beer capital meets surprisingly great urban golf
Spokane, WA
Affordable Inland NW golf with a punchy downtown bar scene
Steamboat Springs, CO
Mountain town golf with hot springs and real cowboy culture
Lake Geneva, WI
Chicago's escape — resorts, lake life, and championship golf
Gulf Shores, AL
Beach golf on a budget
Asheville, NC
Mountain golf and more breweries than you can handle
Destin, FL
Beach, nightlife, and golf on the Emerald Coast
Naples, FL
Upscale Southwest Florida golf with pristine courses
Sarasota, FL
Gulf Coast golf with world-class beaches
Orlando, FL
Theme park capital with championship golf to match
Biloxi, MS
Casino nightlife meets championship Gulf Coast golf
Virginia Beach, VA
Beach town golf with serious course depth
Pawleys Island, SC
Lowcountry golf perfection without the Myrtle crowds
Outer Banks, NC
Barrier island golf with ocean winds and beach house living
Catskills, NY
Mountain resort revival golf just 2 hours from NYC
Horseshoe Bay, TX
Four championship courses on Lake LBJ in the Texas Hill Country
Lake of the Ozarks, MO
Lake life, party coves, and resort golf in the Missouri Ozarks
Galveston, TX
Coastal golf, beach bars, and Gulf breezes on a historic island
San Diego, CA
Torrey Pines, perfect weather, and Gaslamp nightlife
Los Angeles, CA
Cliffside Trump National, sneaky-good munis, and big-city nights
Carlsbad, CA
North County beaches, resort golf, and the Omni La Costa
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Tee it up where the pros do at TPC Sawgrass' island green
Lake George, NY
Donald Ross lakeside golf in the Adirondacks
New Braunfels, TX
Tubing, beer halls, and Hill Country golf between Austin and San Antonio
Corpus Christi, TX
Coastal Texas golf, deep-sea fishing, and beach-bar nights
Aptos, CA
MacKenzie's finest work and beach-town golf above Monterey Bay
Lompoc, CA
One of California's toughest public tests in quiet wine country