The top golf resorts in the country have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. With revenues tied to accommodations and food services as well as to their golf courses, even the resorts that have been able to keep their courses operational have sustained more than a month of lost bookings throughout the properties.
Most states have reopened their golf courses – only Vermont, Maryland and Massachusetts have remained closed to golf with no announced plans to reopen. And now that many states are trying to restart businesses, several top resorts have announced reopening dates of at least some non-golf operations as they plan a return to normalcy.
As examples of how resorts around the country are trying to get things started as governors allow businesses to open, we offer the following look at Golfweek’s Best top resort courses and proposed timelines for the full resort operations to open. Each resort has stressed its efforts to provide sanitary playing opportunities with social distancing and other modifications such as leaving the flags in the hole while putting and using modified cups to prevent players from having to reach too deeply into the holes.
No. 1 Pebble Beach Golf Links
The famed course in Pebble Beach, California – host to six U.S. Opens – reopened Monday. Hotel operations are slated to begin June 1. Spyglass Hill at the resort, No. 11 on the Golfweek’s Best list, also reopened Monday. Tee times are typically reserved for resort guests with only limited non-resort public access, but during May the golf courses will be open for public-access bookings with reduced green fees: $495 for Pebble Beach, down from the normal $575, and $325 for Spyglass Hill, down from the normal $415.
No. 2. Pacific Dunes, No. 5 Old MacDonald, No. 6 Bandon Dunes and No. 9 Bandon Trails
All four 18-hole courses at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon are in the Golfweek’s Best top 10, and they alongside the accommodations will reopen May 11 after having been closed since March. A fifth highly anticipated course, the Sheep Ranch, will open for the first time June 1. The U.S. Amateur is scheduled to be played on Bandon Dunes and Pacific Trails in August.
No. 3 Pinehurst No. 2
The famed Donald Ross design in North Carolina, host to three U.S. Opens, didn’t close during the pandemic, but the accommodations at the resort were shuttered and food services were greatly modified. The course will remain open, and the accommodations are scheduled to begin reopening May 22. The resort is home to 10 courses, each of which remained open. Last year’s U.S. Amateur was played on No. 2 and the recently redesigned No. 4.
No. 4 Whistling Straits (Straits Course)
Host to this year’s Ryder Cup in September, the Straits Course – and the American Club’s other three courses: the Irish at Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run’s River and Meadows Valley courses – reopened April 24 after their normal winter break and were not closed because of the pandemic. However, much of the lodging was shut down. The resort in Wisconsin is evaluating when to open the American Club and the neighboring Carriage House accommodations, while the Inn on Woodlake as well as the cabins at Sandhill and Red Fox are now open. All spa, retail and dine-in options remain closed.
No. 7 Shadow Creek
With the Las Vegas Strip mandated to close, MGM Resorts – the owner of Shadow Creek in North Las Vegas – has temporarily ceased all casino and entertainment options. Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak has not announced a date when the casinos may reopen.
No. 8 Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course
The Ocean Course will reopen May 16, while two other of the coastal South Carolina resort’s courses – Oak Point and Turtle Point – are currently open. Villas and home rentals will begin accepting guests May 16, and the Sanctuary hotel is scheduled to reopen June 4. All dining options currently are to-go. The Ocean Course was site of the 1991 Ryder Cup and the 2012 PGA Championship, and it is slated to host the PGA Championship again in 2021.
No. 10 TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course
The annual home of the Players Championship, which was canceled in March because of coronavirus concerns, has remained open to member and guest play. However, the 17th hole is temporarily closed as workers install drainage improvements to the green.
