Golf holidays for couples and groups: how to plan a trip that works for everyone

Most couples who book with us fall into one of two camps. Either both of you play, in which case the questions are whether the courses justify the trip and whether a day off is built in. Or one of you plays and one does not, in which case the hotel matters more than the golf, because the non-golfing partner has to want to be there too.

For the both-play couple, the recipe is walkable golf, a hotel you do not have to leave between rounds, and dinner that does not involve a 40-minute drive. For the one-plays couple, it is a spa, a pool or a beach within reach, a town worth a wander, and golf you can finish at roughly the same time the other half finishes their afternoon, so the day still feels shared. Tell us honestly which of you plays, and how much. It changes the recommendation completely.

For a both-play couple wanting warmth and a short hop, the Western Algarve is hard to beat. The golf is concentrated, the standard is high, and you are never far from the sea. Quinta do Lago – North Course is the sort of course both halves of a golfing couple come home talking about, and there is plenty around it for an easy day off. If you would rather build the trip around Lisbon instead, Penha Longa Resort in Sintra, from £660 (≈ €785) (≈ $875) (≈ CA$1,245) (≈ AU$1,275) (≈ NZ$1,565) (≈ CHF 725) (≈ kr 8,365) (≈ kr 8,725) (≈ kr 5,895) pp, puts the golf on your doorstep and keeps the city within reach for the rest day.

For the couple where one plays and one wants a spa, a pool and somewhere beautiful to do nothing, we point people at the South of France. Terre Blanche Hotel Spa Golf Resort is built for exactly this: serious golf for one of you, a full spa for the other, and a resort neither of you minds being stuck at. Other ways of doing it cost less, but where the non-golfer has to be looked after, this one earns its keep. If the flight itself is the sticking point, Le Manoir Hotel at Le Touquet Golf Resort, from £345 (≈ €405) (≈ $455) (≈ CA$645) (≈ AU$665) (≈ NZ$815) (≈ CHF 375) (≈ kr 4,375) (≈ kr 4,555) (≈ kr 3,075) pp, does a shorter-haul version of the same job: a proper golf hotel by the fairways and a seaside town worth the evening. Pack a windproof, though. The Channel does not read the forecast, and spring rounds at Le Touquet can be a battle.

Group golf is a logistics problem dressed up as a holiday. The golf is the easy bit. The hard bits are consecutive tee times for 8, 12 or 16 players so nobody stands around for two hours, rooms that match what people paid for (so the man in twin number four does not feel short-changed), transfers that actually turn up, and a single person who knows the whole plan when something moves.

That is the part organisers underestimate. Book direct with a resort for a group and you become the switchboard. Every change, every dietary request, every late flight comes to you. Societies use a tour operator not for the price but so that one named specialist holds the whole thing, and you get to play in your own trip instead of running it.

For a buddies trip built around volume of golf in the sun, Spain and specifically the Costa Del Sol are the workhorses. Courses sit close together, there is range across budgets, and you can put a marquee name like Finca Cortesín in as the trip’s big day while keeping the rest sensible. Our pick of the bases is the Barcelo Occidental Fuengirola, where £345 (≈ €405) (≈ $455) (≈ CA$645) (≈ AU$665) (≈ NZ$815) (≈ CHF 375) (≈ kr 4,375) (≈ kr 4,555) (≈ kr 3,075) pp gets a group started: four stars in Fuengirola itself, courses a short drive away in every direction, and evenings that look after themselves. For 12 to 16 players that density is what makes consecutive tee times realistic rather than a scramble.

For a society that wants the trip to feel like an event, Belek in Turkey is our pick. The resorts are large enough to hold a big group under one roof, courses such as Cornelia Faldo Golf Course are championship standard, and all-inclusive board removes the nightly who-paid-for-what conversation that drags on group trips. It is further afield, so it suits a week rather than a weekend, and the flight is long enough that you will not want to do it for three nights.

For a group, the three things to get right early are the tee sheet, the rooming list and the shape of the big day. On tee times: tell us the group size and we block consecutive slots so the field goes out together and finishes together, which matters as much for the bar afterwards as for the golf. Leave it late and the good morning slots are gone.

On rooming: decide your singles, twins and doubles before we price, and decide how you are splitting the single supplements. Groups that sort the money rules up front never fall out over rooms. We give you one rooming list to fill in and we hold it.

Most groups make one round the big one, with their own competition and a presentation back at the bar. That side stays in your hands. Our job is to set the day up around it: a centrepiece course on the tee sheet, the slots held together so the group plays as one, and transfers timed so it runs smoothly. If the big day is the whole point of the trip, consider building it at home. The Belfry Hotel and Resort, from £180 (≈ €215) (≈ $235) (≈ CA$335) (≈ AU$345) (≈ NZ$425) (≈ CHF 195) (≈ kr 2,275) (≈ kr 2,375) (≈ kr 1,605) pp, gives an English society the Brabazon as its centrepiece with no flight and no coach in sight. There is no way round this one: the bigger the group, the earlier you need to commit, because resorts release group space well ahead and the best of it goes first.

Not every couple or group wants a flight. For a serious golfing pair, Scotland is the obvious call, and resort hotels such as The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews handle couples and groups with equal ease. In England, a couple who want golf, sea air and a quiet dinner should look to the Suffolk shore, and a coastal weekend at Thorpeness Golf Club & Hotel, from £235 (≈ €275) (≈ $305) (≈ CA$435) (≈ AU$455) (≈ NZ$555) (≈ CHF 255) (≈ kr 2,975) (≈ kr 3,105) (≈ kr 2,095) pp. For a drivable society trip we would take Belton Woods Hotel near Grantham, from £245 (≈ €285) (≈ $325) (≈ CA$455) (≈ AU$475) (≈ NZ$575) (≈ CHF 265) (≈ kr 3,105) (≈ kr 3,235) (≈ kr 2,185) pp, over the smaller options: golf on site means nobody has to move all weekend. A more compact group heading south does well in East Sussex, where Dale Hill Hotel & Golf Club, from £175 (≈ €205) (≈ $225) (≈ CA$325) (≈ AU$335) (≈ NZ$415) (≈ CHF 185) (≈ kr 2,215) (≈ kr 2,305) (≈ kr 1,555) pp, sits an easy run from London and the M25.

Whichever way you go, the same thing holds for couples and groups alike: one named specialist, a real golfer, handles your trip from first enquiry to your last round. We are a UK tour operator: your money is protected by PTS, we are an IATA-accredited agent, and when we add flights to your trip it is ATOL protected with your money safe until you travel. You pay nothing to enquire, our Google reviews sit at 4.9, and we reply promptly. Tell us who is playing, how many of you there are, and what the non-golfers need, and we will come back with a plan built around your dates.