These Next-Gen Golf Resorts Aren't Just for Old White Men
During the pandemic, golf noticed an upswing when new gamers took up the sport as a secure socially distanced exercise. Since then, curiosity has continued to extend—and appeal to a complete new demo. Once the area of the middle-aged white man, golf programs are actually seeing unprecedented exercise from juniors, folks of color and girls.
With international golf-tourism projected to develop to a market worth of almost US$6 billion within the subsequent two years, savvy opportunists are opening golf resorts to satisfy the demand. But they aren’t simply your conventional hyperlinks: The new sizzling spots go massive on luxe facilities, stylish lodging and distinctive après-golf experiences. Here are 5 notable properties at house and throughout the globe that will help you tee off your summer time journey plans.
Black Bear Ridge
Childhood pals Alex Sharpe and Cale Fair bought Black Bear Ridge in Belleville, Ont., in 2021 and spent the following two years remodeling it right into a hip all-season resort to draw Millennial golfers.
In addition to 2 programs and a driving vary, the property has a singular “bocce golf” course, which mixes parts of mini-putt and bocce ball. Black Bear Ridge additionally provides actions like yoga and fishing, and it’s located on 365 hectares with trails for snowshoeing, biking and climbing.
“Black Bear Ridge is not your dad’s golf course,” says Sharpe. Next up as a part of the $1.54 billion redevelopment: Fair and Sharpe plan so as to add a spa, outside occasion areas and residential housing. blackbearridge.ca
Terras da Comporta
Located an hour south of Lisbon on the Alentejo coast, this golf vacation spot in Carvalhal, Portugal, options bioclimatic structure and makes use of inexperienced vitality, making it a distinctly eco-conscious vacation spot. “We prove that luxury and sustainability are compatible,” says golf director Rodrigo Ulrich.
Terras da Comporta’s award-winning Dunas Golf Course opened in October, and a second 18-hole course is within the works to open this yr. Development plans additionally embrace the whole lot from a racquet membership to a co-working house to equestrian amenities. comporta.com
Cabot Saint Lucia
“When I first saw the site, I knew it was truly spectacular,” says Ben Cowan-Dewar, CEO and co-founder of The Cabot Collection, builders and operators of 5 luxurious golf resorts. Cabot Saint Lucia, perched on the northern tip of the Caribbean island, began welcoming company in December and is a jewel within the crown for the Toronto-based firm, which has properties in Canada, the U.S. and the U.Okay.
In addition to its coastal hyperlinks, the resort provides tennis, pickleball and basketball and can quickly add a Scandi-inspired hydro-circuit spa. Its three-storey clubhouse hosts a restaurant specializing in native cuisines, which rounds out the extra informal eating choices: a course-side wood-fired-pizza meals truck and toes-in-sand seashore eating. cabotsaintlucia.com
Inness
This resort in Accord, N.Y., was named after American panorama painter George Inness and designed as a pastoral escape for weary metropolis dwellers.
Opened in 2021, the 91-hectare property’s lodging embrace 28 cabins and a 12-room farmhouse. Its restaurant, which has panoramic views of the Hudson Valley, serves seasonal dishes impressed by the on-site natural farm. It additionally has tennis courts, two saltwater swimming pools and an archery vary. And in June, it should add a spa and health club.
Inness’s nine-hole golf course is nestled in a bucolic valley between the Catskill and Shawangunk mountain ranges. The expertise right here is purposefully unpretentious: Walking the course is inspired, and preserving rating and correct golf apparel are non-compulsory. inness.co
Black Desert Resort
Black Desert Resort, in Ivins, Utah, minimize the ribbon on its 19-hole championship course final spring. The 255-hectare resort, set on the convergence of three main ecosystems—the Mojave Desert, the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau—is punctuated by red-rock cliffs and black lava fields.
This fall, a sprawling leisure advanced will open in time for the Black Desert Championship PGA event. Shopping, a spa, live-music venues, a water park and greater than 20 eating places are a handful of the various facilities within the works. blackdesertresort.com
