If you play golf, you likely love the idea of a golf trip.  There are so many variables that go into an ideal golf trip and ideal is in the eye of the beholder so I won’t even go there.  Instead, I’m going to share insights and reflections on my best golf trip – 10 courses over 6 days in Prince Edward Island.  You’ve probably seen commercials or advertisements on TV for golfing on Prince Edward Island.  For three friends and I, a few years back now, add travel days and it added up a seven-night golf getaway at my favourite golf destination in Canada.  Memo to self: I’m overdue for a return visit.

 

 

Research

GolfPEI really allows for one-stop shopping here.  You can check their website, call their travel and sales associates, and from there book as little or as much as you’d like to support the trip.  The Island is small, so my contact went so far as to recommend a local seafood shop near our rental home and prearranged an order of fresh seafood so once we arrived at our rental it was a 2-minute drive (literally) to grab lobsters, mussels, scallops, buns and potato salad for dinner the first day. Full value.  But do your own research.  Golf Advisor just featured PEIand there’s a growing number of resources to help make an informed and balanced decision around your itinerary.  SCOREGolf has also featured PEI in past shows and information is available online.  I’m detail oriented, almost to the point of nerdiness.  But my travel companions appreciated the fact the trip was basically set, with few decisions we needed to make while there.

Courses

Managing days of 36 is not difficult, but requires some coordination around the logistics and travel time from course to course.  Do your homework.  Within Canada, use my 36aday Bucket List Course Map to explore the distances from one course to another.  Again, GolfPEI can answer questions and help make the bookings for you.  If you’re staying near Cavendish, for example (as we did), you’re only about 75 minutes to the eastern most courses you’d want to play as well as Mill River on the western side of the Island. The courses?  Here’s my Course Ranking Lists(s) along with links to my course reviews.  I made my own determinations on the top 10 courses I wanted to experience there.  Whether it’s PEI or elsewhere, look for resources that can show course options.  Balance it out.  Playing Stanhope on our second day, after some tough weather and tough courses, was most welcome.  It was relaxed, and that back nine was most unexpected in terms of its beauty.

Our group on the first tee at Dundarave.

Itinerary

I wouldn’t change a thing about our itinerary:

Day 1 – Arrival day.  Shopping for supplies, check in to rental home, quick jaunt to get seafood, dinner and back for some hot tub time (yes, we rented a home with a hot tub, thanks to The Gables of PEI in Stanley Bridge, simply amazing)

Day 2 – morning – Brudenell River; afternoon – Crowbush Cove

Day 3 – morning – Dundarave; afternoon – Stanhope

Day 4 – Mill River

Day 5 – morning – Eagles Glenn; afternoon – Glasgow Hills

Day 6 – morning – Green Gables; afternoon – Andersons Creek

Day 7 – morning – Fox Meadow; afternoon – Brewery Tour at PEI Brewing Company

Day 8 – Departure Day

Notes and Recommendations

• When to go? We went the week before Canadian Thanksgiving and had an array of weather – fabulous and less so.  Generally, it was really good.  When it wasn’t it made for great stories.  Fall is an exceptional season in the maritime Canada.  This provided exceptional value and less of a demand on course access.
• Comfort and space matters. Our rental home had 5 bedrooms and a hot tub.  The hot tub was the true value proposition after four days of 36.  We stayed in Stanley Bridge and found it central to all we needed.
• Mix it up. We ate at our rental home most nights but succumbed to New Glasgow Lobster Supper on a couple occasions.  The brewery tour was an extra-curricular that made sense to our group given the time of year and given our golf focus.  We weren’t exactly an Anne of Green Gables kind of group, but many are.  PEI offers history, scenic drives, great beaches, an emerging food scene and a nice comfortable vibe throughout the province.
• Explore Value Options. If you plan ahead you can save considerably by purchasing a PEI Green Card, available through GolfPEI which allows you one round at each of their member courses (usually available in December/January).  The value is exceptional.  Other jurisdictions offer something similar.  Click here for some other Canadian ‘golf trail’ value options.

What I love is that every province in the country could host amazing golf getaways.  Like I have written before on the blog, this is a fabulous country to play golf!