Make Your Own Trip -- An Alternative to Golf Destinations

Living in western New York, I am well aware that our region is not recognized as a “golf destination” or anything of a similar ilk. We have our attractions, in the form of two great lakes, a pair of waterfalls, the Grand Canyon of the East, wineries and many other natural and unnatural places and spaces. We also have seven new golf courses, built between 2000 and 2010, all of which offer legitimate golfing tests and serious enjoyment (oxymoron?) for a green fee much lower than the ones found along the eastern and western seaboards.

I’m not going to detail those courses for you. With a simple engine search, more than enough information can be acquired to familiarize you with the golf and non-golf allure of the area. I am, however, going to encourage you to consider creating your own golfing itinerary, in a section of this grand world that you might not have previously considered “golfable.”

Why now? Part of it coincides with the opening of Cape Breton Island’s Cabot Links. True it is that Stan Thompson built Highland Links over 75 years ago up yonder, and true it is that no one has built anything of true substance there since. And yet, a trip up Nova Scotia and Canadian Maritimes way has always intrigued me (and now more so.) If you wait until around 2016, perhaps the rumored second course at Cabot Links will be up and running (or is it down and running?) In any case, you don’t have to wait to go on that trip, nor do you have to wait to go to western Wyoming, eastern Idaho, southern Iowa or northern West Virginia.

There is certainly golf to be had everywhere, so get together with your brood and build an itinerary.