Has your weekend golf game shown a distinct lack of improvement? Do you have some vacation time coming? If this is you, a golf school vacation might just be the answer you are looking for. Spend some time on a beautiful vacation, get in-depth golf instruction and come back with a new swing in your step and three-wood.
Pinehurst Golf Academy: Learning the Game in the Lap of Luxury
One Carolina Vista Drive
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(866) 245-4105
If resort accommodations are as important as expert club-fitting sessions, then Pinehurst Golf Academy in North Carolina is your golf travel destination of choice. Stay for the week, arrive for a weekend, bring the kids or enroll in a parent and child school. This is the golf school for the novice who needs instruction in fundamental play. It is also for the weekend warrior who has a mean short game but cannot get out of a bunker.
Instruction takes place on the course. With eight courses to choose from, there is plenty of time for situational instruction. For a weeklong stay, arrive on Sunday and stay until Friday. If you do not mind spending between $2,300 and $3,500, you can enjoy a four to one student to teacher ratio, gorgeous accommodations, access to indoor hitting bays, video swing analysis and a covered range. Meals are included in the package prices.
Marriott Golf Academy: Three-day Golf Instruction in Palm Desert
9002 Shadow Ridge Road
Palm Desert, CA 92211
(760) 674-2700
If you have a fall, winter or spring weekend that you would like to dedicate to the improvement of your golf swing, then the Marriott Golf Academy can help. Sessions are only three hours long. There is private as well as on-course instruction. A club-fitting session is designed to ensure that your hardware actually works with you and not against you. Costs vary between $200 and $500 per night.
Choosing this weekend golf school vacation is a good option when you are traveling with a non-golfing spouse. While your better half soaks in the pool, enjoys a day at the spa or explores the area via the many hiking trails, you head for the fairways and some much-needed training. Do not attempt this vacation in summer; temperatures in Palm Desert are not conducive for athletic activity at high noon.
Palmetto Dunes Golf Academy: Intensive Instruction for Three Days
4 Queens Folly Road
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
(866) 380-1778
As an aspiring elite player, you probably do not need an instructor to hold your hand. With a four to one student to teacher ratio, the Palmetto Dunes Golf Academy caters to the golfer who needs to hone and refine a play obstacle that has been insurmountable thus far. Headed by Doug Weaver, who used to be a respected PGA Tour player, you receive four hours of instruction per day, play 18 holes daily and enjoy unlimited use of the practice range.
The cost starts at about $1,300 per player. For a more intensive experience, opt for the six-hour-day at $2,200 per student. This latter option not only focuses on the physical aspects of the game but on the mental conditioning as well.
If attendance at one of these three golf school vacations does not turn you from a weekend duffer into a respectable golfer, then it might be time to consider a different sport.
