The Golf Getaway
Plenty of courses available and only a drive away
There are two kinds of weekend golf getaways: the couple's trip and the buddy trip.
The buddy trip is all about the guys or gals getting away from it all, breathing in the fresh air while taking in the scenery on a challenging golf course, then communing in the evening for some adult beverages and conversation.
The couple's trip involves you and your significant other treating yourselves to some golf, some pampering, some fine dining and a romantic night or two in a really nice resort.
Which trip is more worthwhile? We wouldn't touch that with a 10-foot ball retriever.
Regardless of traveling companions, any Western New Yorker looking for a weekend golf getaway has an abundance of choices, all within easy driving distance.
You might be able to find a different course in upstate New York for every day of the summer. And that doesn't even count Southern Ontario, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
But we don't have the space (or the expense account) to cover 500 courses, so we've narrowed it down to 10, based primarily on their popularity with golfers in our region.
First there is the in-state triumvirate of Peek'n Peak, Holiday Valley and Byrncliff.
Then there's the Canadian swing, with Loch Ness, Thundering Waters, Grand Niagara and the Niagara Parks Commission trio of Whirlpool and the two Legends courses. (We're combining Loch Ness and Thundering Waters, and counting the parks commission courses as two, as they are grouped together in several travel packages. Each is outstanding in its own right.)
Then there is Cross Creek in Titusville, Pa., a favorite with many Western New Yorkers.
Finally, two resorts that are farther afield and involve a bit more of a spending spree, Turning Stone in Verona and the Otesaga in Cooperstown.
Here's what you need to know about our Top 10 golf getaways, Peek 'n Peak, Holiday Valley, Byrncliff, Cross Creek, Otesaga/Leatherstocking, Turning Stone, Grand Niagara, Legends on the Niagara, Whirlpool and LochNess Links:
Peek'n Peak
If you're making the trek to Findley Lake, you might as well pay the $30 or so extra to play Peek'n Peak's Upper Course, which features spectacular views from high above the surrounding valley and lake. The Upper Course, designed by John Exley, opened in 1996 and the mountain vistas alone are worth the price of admission.
The golf itself doesn't disappoint, either. Peek'n Peak received national recognition when it hosted a stop a few years ago on the Nationwide Tour, the PGA Tour's top developmental circuit. It is a well-conditioned and a challenging test.
The signature hole is No.‚14, a 563-yard par 5 from elevated tees. The second shot must clear a massive ravine and there's a large bunker in the center of the fairway.
View Golf Places in a larger map
The Lower Course gets less publicity, but it's also worth a round.
Packages: For the summer season, starting May 22, a Friday-Saturday night stay, including two rounds of golf on the Lower Course and a $20 dining credit, is $258 per person, based on double occupancy. An equivalent deal on the Upper Course starts at $298 per person during summer. There are other options and price points too numerous to list here.
Location: 1405 Olde Road (off I-86), Findley Lake. The resort is an hour and 40 minutes from Buffalo, between Erie, Pa., and Jamestown.
Phone: 355-4141.
Web: pknpk.com
Holiday Valley
Holiday Valley is a thriving ski resort in the winter that seamlessly flips the switch into an interesting golf course in the warm-weather months.
Several holes on the Double Black Diamond course, measuring 6,500 yards, are carved into the ski slopes and wooded settings, making for very picturesque scenery surrounding a well-conditioned course.
Then, of course, there's the fact that you're in Ellicottville, the so-called Aspen of the East. There is enough night life in town to tempt you into forgoing a morning tee time the next day. (We'll leave you and your conscience alone to work out that one.)
Golf packages include a stay at the Inn at Holiday Valley. Guests may use the year-round indoor-outdoor pool, outdoor hot tub and sauna. Massage and spa services are also available, as are mountain bike rentals, for additional charges.
Packages: During summer season, Holiday Valley has several different packages, some for midweek, some for weekends, with various prices depending on the number of nights booked and the number of rounds of golf. For two people wishing to make a weekend trip, there is a deluxe golf package at $318 per person, a couples package at $310 per person, and a summer/fall golf package at $266 per person.
Location: 6557 Holiday Valley Road (at Route 219), Ellicottville.
Phone: 699-2345.
Web: holidayvalley.com
Byrncliff
Byrncliff Resort and Conference Center has been around for more than 40 years, attracting a loyal clientele of golfers in search of fresh mountain air in Wyoming County. Uphill, downhill and sidehill lies … you'll experience all of them on the golf course's hilly terrain. After golf patrons can enjoy amenities including a heated pool and hot tub, and a miniature golf course that's lighted at night.
Packages: A Friday-Saturday night stay for two in the summer starts at $305 (plus tax) per person for a traditional room, $360 for a suite. Those include three days of greens fees with cart, plus two breakfasts and two dinners. Midweek packages start at $165 per person for a one-night stay with two rounds of golf. There are numerous other deals for different seasons, different days of the week, etc.
Location: 2357 Humphrey Road (off Route 20A), Varysburg.
Phone: (585) 535-7300.
Web: byrncliff.com
Cross Creek
Cross Creek is not the fanciest place, but a lot of Western New Yorkers flock to it each year because it gives the people what they want: golf, good food, golf, cocktails, and more golf.
It's the kind of place where weekend warriors park their car upon arrival Friday, then head out to start playing their way around one of Cross Creek's three nine-hole layouts. They don't get back into their car until many rounds, meals and sunburns later, when the weekend is done.
The resort also features a heated outdoor pool, meals at the Fayrway dining room and the Terrace on the Green (which overlooks part of the Allegheny mountains), and two cocktail lounges … one of which includes a rotating bar.
Packages: A three-day, two-night package starts at $325 per person on weekdays, $345 on offseason weekends (through May 1 and after Sept. 7), and $370 for in-season weekends. The package includes unlimited golf for three days, a shared electric cart for 18 holes per day, two nights' lodging, and two buffet dinners and two buffet breakfasts.
Location: 3815 State Route 8, Titusville, Pa.
Phone: (800) 461-3173.
Web: crosscreekresort.com
Otesaga/Leatherstocking
The Otesaga Resort Hotel is a luxurious retreat in Cooperstown that has much to offer besides golf. Several U.S. presidents stayed at this five-star resort on the shore of Lake Otsego. And it is the hotel of choice for baseball luminaries who come for the annual induction ceremonies at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
But the Otesaga should not be sold short as a golf destination. The course, called Leatherstocking, has a century of history behind it, having been designed in 1909 by Devereux Emmet. (Emmet's other East Coast creations include the Blue and Gold courses at Congressional Country Club.)
Leatherstocking, named one of the 10 best public courses in New York State by Golfweek magazine, takes the scenic route around the western shore of Lake Otsego. The signature hole is the 18th, a 505-yard par 5 that starts with an island tee box on the lake. Many golf balls get sent to watery graves before reaching the green, which is located in front of the hotel veranda.
Packages: Leatherstocking's Golf Mini-Package includes unlimited golf on the course, with an electric cart for one round per each night's stay. It is $80 per person, per day, with a two-night minimum, just for the golf course. A two-night stay at the Otesaga during the summer season runs from $445 to $650 a night for two people, two nights minimum. Dinners and breakfasts are included. So a two-night summer stay with two rounds of golf starts at $382.50 per person, double occupancy. Adding a third round of golf pushes it to $462.50 per person.
Location: 60 Lake St., Cooperstown.
Phone: (607) 547-9931.
Web: otesaga.com
Turning Stone
This major casino resort caters to high rollers with three courses designed by renowned golf architects.
Robert Trent Jones. Jr. designed the Kaluhyat course, which opened in 2003. Kaluhyat is an Oneida word that means "other side of the sky.‘ The course winds through pine trees and wetlands. Many of Jones' elevated tees and greens create optical illusions that make this more of a thinking person's course than a place to play cave man golf.
Rick Smith, a renowned golf coach from Michigan, designed Shenendoah Golf Club, which opened in 2000.
Tom Fazio is the creator of the Atunyote Golf Club, which opened in 2004.
Packages: A deluxe weekend at Turning Stone will set you back some big green before you even enter the casino. A two-night stay in a suite, plus a round on each of the three courses, runs $640 per person, based on double occupancy. There are also more affordable deals for one night of staying and one day of playing.
Location: 5218 Patrick Road, Verona.
Phone: (800) 771-7711.
Web: turningstone.com
Grand Niagara
Designed by Rees Jones, who is famed for his work redesigning old courses to prepare them for hosting major championships (he reworked the venues for seven U.S. Opens, six PGAs and three Ryder Cups).
A signature of the course is its deep bunkers, which Jones has referred to as "the personality of the course.‘ The bunkers are reminiscent of those on some classic East Coast courses designed by A.W. Tillinghast, including Bethpage Black and Baltusrol.
Jones' holes tempt players with various risk-reward options. There's not a lot of trickery, but golfers who think will enjoy playing Grand Niagara.
Packages: Like other Falls courses, Grand Niagara has stay-and-play deals with many hotels in the area. We checked with the Marriott Niagara Fallsview, which has a one-night golf deal with the course. A deluxe room with a view of the Falls and a whirlpool, plus a round for a twosome at Grand Niagara, plus dinner and other amenities, runs from approximately $420 midweek to $540 on a weekend, during the summer season. Prices fluctuate based on day of the week and date, and there are many, many more at the other participating hotels. Grand Niagara's Web site has the full list of places to stay.
Location: 8547 Grassy Brook Road, Niagara Falls, Ont.
Phone: (905) 384-4653.
Legends on the Niagara
The Legends complex comprises two jewels in the Niagara Parks Commission's triple crown (Whirlpool is the other).
Legends, consisting of the Battlefield and Ussher's Creek courses, was built at a cost of some $25 million Canadian on a massive 700-acre property. It opened in 2002 and in '04 the LPGA Canadian Open was held on the Battlefield course, a major endorsement by a major league circuit.
Buffalo News sportswriter Mark Gaughan calls Battlefield "a second shot-course."
"The tee shots tend to be pretty wide open. The challenge is the second shot [to the green]," Gaughan said.
Gaughan said he prefers to play Ussher's Creek.
"The fairways aren't so massive and the course is a little more interesting," he said. "The green complexes are awesome and the bunkering is better. But it's splitting hairs" between the two courses, he said.
Packages: Niagaraparks.com offers a one-night stay at the Best Western Cairn Croft Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., along with one round at a Legends course and one round at Whirlpool, along with buffet lunch, for about $220 U.S. for a summer weekend stay, about $174 U.S. for midweek. There are several different packages available, including ones with a round on both Battlefield and Ussher's Creek.
Location: 9651 Niagara Parkway, Niagara Falls, Ont.
Phone: (866) 465-3642 or (905) 295-9595, ext. 200.
Whirlpool
Whirlpool is just over the bridge in Canada, but it shouldn't be punished for its proximity. Whirlpool earns a spot on our list because it is included in stay-and-play packages with many Falls-area hotels, and also because it's such an appealing golf venue. Some of us had our first Ontario golf experience on Whirlpool's lush and well-manicured course, which is operated by the Niagara Parks Commission.
The course, designed by Canada's Stanley Thompson, opened in 1951 with an international exhibition match featuring golf luminaries Jimmy Demaret and Dr. Cary Middlecoff, who defeated a Canadian twosome.
Despite the heavy traffic the public course receives each year, the parks commission keeps everything in impeccable shape.
Packages: There are several different hotels that offer packages that feature a round at Whirlpool. One of them, from Niagara Falls Tours, is called the Niagara Parks Classic and includes one round each at Whirlpool and one of the Legends on the Niagara courses, and one night in a hotel, plus breakfast. That deal at the Best Western Fallsview ranges from $309 per person, double occupancy, for a midweek stay up to June 26 and after Labor Day, up to $395 for a stay on a weekend night in the summer.
Location: 3351 Niagara Parkway, Niagara Falls, Ont.
Phone: (866) 465-3642.
LochNess Links
The course formerly known as Hunters Pointe is a treat for golfers who want to experience a Canadian version of Scottish links golf.
The course features picturesque rolling dunes and Scottish-style fescue, along with undulating tiered greens. It's an aesthetic treat and a chance to play something different from the standard 18 holes.
Packages: Niagara Golf and Wine Vacations has a deal featuring two nights' accommodation at Michael's Inn across from Casino Niagara, two breakfasts, one round at LochNess and one round at John Daly's Thundering Waters course, for $335 per person U.S. Other hotels have LochNess deals, too, at various price points.
Location: 289 Daimler Parkway, Welland, Ont.
Phone: (905) 714-4659.
Web: lochnesslinks.com
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Reader comments