The best golf trips for couples aren’t necessarily the ones with the most famous courses. They’re the destinations where great golf is just one part of a holiday that both of you will genuinely enjoy.
That might mean playing a championship course before spending the afternoon on the beach, exploring wine country after a morning round, or combining world-class golf with a spa, fine dining and a beautiful setting. The key is finding places where the golf adds to the experience rather than taking it over completely.
Top100 has chosen 10 destinations that offer two excellent courses alongside plenty to do away from the fairways, from the beaches of Hawaii and Mauritius to the vineyards of Napa Valley and the restaurants and sunshine of the Mediterranean. These are the golf trips where you don’t have to compromise.
Two good courses: Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Ocean course) & Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Osprey Point course)
Couples activities: Beach day on Kiawah & day/evening in Charleston
Kiawah Island is an ideal destination for couples who want serious golf without sacrificing the wider holiday experience. The headline act is the legendary Ocean Course, Pete Dye’s spectacular seaside layout that hosted the infamous 1991 Ryder Cup, the 2012 PGA Championship and Phil Mickelson’s record-breaking victory at the 2021 PGA Championship. With panoramic Atlantic views and more seaside holes than almost any other course in the Northern Hemisphere, it is a genuine bucket-list round.
For a second round, Osprey Point, designed by Tom Fazio, offers a contrasting experience. Rather than following the coastline, the course winds across the island, with ponds and water hazards providing much of the challenge.
Away from the golf, Kiawah offers miles of beach, nature and outdoor activities, while historic Charleston is close enough for a day or evening out. The result is a destination where championship golf can be combined with beach days, great food and time spent exploring Charleston together.
Best for: Golf and beach
Two good courses: Gleneagles (King’s course) & Gleneagles (Queen’s course)
Couples activities: Spa day & falconry/country pursuits
Gleneagles is one of those rare golf resorts where the golf is only part of the appeal. Set in the Perthshire countryside, it has three championship courses, with the King’s Course and Queen’s Course providing a superb combination for a couples getaway. Designed by James Braid and C.K. Hutchison, the King’s is the more testing of the two and has hosted the Scottish Open, while the Queen’s is shorter and more intimate, winding through woodland and undulating moorland.
The resort’s credentials away from golf are just as compelling. Gleneagles offers five-star accommodation, a state-of-the-art spa and fine dining, including two-Michelin-starred Andrew Fairlie. Couples can also choose from activities including horse riding, falconry, fishing and off-road driving.
That variety is what makes Gleneagles work so well for couples. Days can be built around championship golf, long lunches, spa treatments and country pursuits, while the spectacular Perthshire setting gives the whole trip a sense of occasion.
Best for: Luxury country living
Two good courses: Sea Island Resort (Seaside course) & Sea Island Resort (Plantation course)
Couples activities: Beach/pool day & kayaking or boating
Sea Island is one of America’s great golf resorts, combining exceptional courses with a luxurious coastal setting and an impressive range of activities. The Seaside Course is the standout, with roots stretching back to the 1920s when C.H. Alison of Colt & Alison created the original layout. Tom Fazio later updated the course, retaining its bold carries across tidal marshland and its spectacular coastal character. The result is a strategic seaside course where water, wind and wetlands are constant companions.
The Plantation Course offers a contrasting experience. Originally laid out by Walter Travis in 1926, it was comprehensively redesigned by Love Golf Design in 2018, restoring elements of the original routing and introducing Golden Age-inspired features, including chocolate drops and a Principal’s Nose bunker.
Beyond the golf, Sea Island delivers the kind of setting that makes a couples trip feel like a proper escape, with beaches, a spa, fine dining, boating and other outdoor activities. The combination of world-class golf, coastal scenery and resort comforts makes it an easy place to spend several days without ever feeling short of things to do.
Best for: Coastal luxury
Two good courses: Costa Navarino (Dunes course) & Costa Navarino (Bay course)
Couples activities: Anazoe Spa & explore the Messinian coast/local food and culture
Costa Navarino has evolved into one of Europe’s most complete golf destinations, combining four championship courses with five-star hotels, beaches, restaurants and the spectacular coastline of Greece’s Peloponnese.
For a couples trip, the Dunes Course and Bay Course make an excellent pairing. The Dunes, designed by Bernhard Langer with European Golf Design, was the first signature course to open at the resort and combines wide fairways and large greens with links-style dunes, olive groves and views towards the sea. The Bay Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., provides a contrasting coastal layout with holes overlooking the historic Bay of Navarino.
Away from the golf, Costa Navarino stretches across 13 kilometres of Messinian coastline and offers four five-star hotels, more than 40 food and drink outlets, beaches, the Anazoe Spa and a host of activities.
The combination makes Costa Navarino feel like a genuine Mediterranean holiday rather than simply a golf resort: exceptional courses, beautiful scenery, outstanding food and plenty of opportunities to relax and explore together.
Best for: A Mediterranean escape
Two good courses: Quinta do Lago Golf Resort (South course) & Quinta do Lago Golf Resort (Laranjal course)
Couples activities: Beach day & boat trip through the Ria Formosa
The Algarve is one of Europe’s easiest golf destinations to combine with a proper couples holiday, and Quinta do Lago Resort provides an excellent base. The South Course is the resort’s original and most famous layout, opening in 1974 and subsequently hosting the Portuguese Open eight times. Designed by William Mitchell, its umbrella-pine-lined fairways, bold bunkering and water features create an attractive championship course that remains accessible to a broad range of golfers. A major renovation in 2021 refreshed everything from the playing surfaces to the bunkers and lakes.
For a second round, Laranjal offers a very different experience. Opened in 2009 and designed by Jorge Santana da Silva, it winds through orange groves and features an unusual layout of five par fives and five par threes, giving the course a distinctive rhythm.
Away from the golf, Quinta do Lago has the ingredients for a relaxed couples escape, with beaches, restaurants, cycling and the natural surroundings of the Ria Formosa. Its proximity to the Algarve’s historic capital city, Faro, also makes it remarkably easy to reach from the UK. The result is a destination where excellent golf sits comfortably alongside sunshine, good food and plenty of time to enjoy the Algarve together.
Best for: An easy European escape
Two good courses: Silverado Resort (North course) & Silverado Resort (South course)
Couples activities: Wine tasting & Napa Valley restaurant/countryside day
Napa Valley is an ideal destination for couples who want great golf without making the entire holiday about golf. At its heart is Silverado Resort, whose North course has a history stretching back to 1955, when Ben Harmon created the original layout. Robert Trent Jones later modernised the course and built the South Course, while Johnny Miller subsequently renovated the North before Silverado became host of the PGA Tour’s Safeway Open in 2014. Today, the course combines a strong championship pedigree with the scenery of the Napa Valley.
For a second round, the South Course provides a natural companion to the North, giving golfers two contrasting layouts without having to leave the resort.
But golf is only one reason to visit Napa. The valley’s vineyards and wineries provide an obvious couples activity, while its exceptional restaurants make lingering over lunch or dinner part of the experience. Add in scenic drives, spas and the relaxed atmosphere of California wine country, and Napa becomes a destination where golf can comfortably sit alongside a wider romantic getaway. Few places make it easier to combine a morning round with an afternoon of wine tasting and an excellent dinner.
Best for: Golf and wine
Two good courses: Anahita Golf Club & Ile aux Cerfs Golf Club
Couples activities: Lagoon/boat trip & beach and spa day
Mauritius is an obvious choice for couples who want a golf trip to feel like a proper tropical escape. The Anahita Golf Club, designed by Ernie Els, occupies a spectacular setting between the island’s mountains and the Indian Ocean. Built on a former sugar plantation, the course features generous fairways, natural stone walls and six oceanfront holes, with the closing stretch following the rugged coastline back towards the clubhouse. It has also hosted the AfrAsia Mauritius Open.
For a second round, Île aux Cerfs Golf Club provides an entirely different experience. Designed by Bernhard Langer, the course occupies a small island in Mauritius’s largest lagoon, with holes winding through former sugar plantation, mangroves, volcanic rock and along white-sand beaches. The setting is as memorable as the golf.
That combination makes Mauritius particularly appealing for couples. Golf can be combined with lazy beach days, boat trips across the Indian Ocean, spa treatments and long lunches overlooking the water. With spectacular scenery surrounding both courses, even the golf feels like part of the wider tropical holiday rather than a reason to leave it.
Best for: A tropical escape
Two good courses: Finca Cortesin Golf Club & La Reserva Club
Couples activities: Beach clubs & dinner/shopping in Marbella
Marbella and the Costa del Sol offer an effortless combination of exceptional golf, Mediterranean sunshine and a glamorous couples getaway. La Reserva Club is one of the region’s newer courses, designed by Cabell B. Robinson and opened in 2004. Set across two valleys, its long, generous layout is capable of championship golf, having hosted the NH Collection Open, La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational and Aramco Team Series.
Finca Cortesin provides an equally impressive second round. Also designed by Robinson, the course winds through a dramatic valley close to the Mediterranean and stretches to almost 7,000 metres from the back tees. Its championship credentials include hosting the World Match Play Championship and, in 2023, the Solheim Cup. A relaxed atmosphere, five-star hotel and spa add to its appeal.
Away from the golf, Marbella provides beautiful beaches, stylish beach clubs, excellent restaurants and a lively social scene, while the surrounding Costa del Sol offers plenty to explore. It is a destination that combines two outstanding courses with the pleasures of a luxurious Mediterranean holiday, making it particularly well-suited to couples looking for golf with a little glamour.
Best for: Golf, nightlife and glamour
Two good courses: Terre Blanche (Château course) & Terre Blanche (Le Riou course)
Couples activities: Spa day & explore Provençal villages and markets
Terre Blanche is a superb choice for couples looking for a luxurious golf escape in the south of France. Tucked into the hills of Provence, close to Cannes and the Côte d’Azur, the resort combines spectacular golf with sunshine, fine dining, a five-star hotel and an exceptional spa.
The headline course, Le Château, was designed by Dave Thomas and opened in 2000. Measuring 6,616 metres, it winds through the hilly landscape in a setting that feels both secluded and spectacular, with immaculate conditioning and a layout capable of testing the very best golfers.
The second course, Le Riou, is shorter at 6,005 metres but no less demanding. Also designed by Thomas, its tree-lined fairways climb into the higher reaches of the property, with water hazards featuring prominently on the closing holes of both nines.
Beyond the golf, Terre Blanche is perfectly positioned for exploring Provence and the Côte d’Azur, with Cannes only around 30 minutes away. Add the resort’s spa, restaurants and beautiful countryside setting, and it becomes a destination where golf forms part of a genuinely indulgent French holiday.
Best for: Golf and the French good life
Two good courses: Wailea Golf Club (Gold course) & Wailea Golf Club (Emerald course)
Couples activities: Sunset/whale-watching cruise & explore the Road to Hana
Wailea is one of Hawaii’s most appealing golf destinations for couples, combining excellent courses with the beaches, scenery and relaxed atmosphere of Maui’s southwest coast. The Gold Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., is the longest and most challenging of Wailea’s three layouts. Built across volcanic terrain, it incorporates natural lava outcrops and ancient stone walls, while dramatic elevation changes and ocean views add to the experience. The course hosted the Champions Skins Game between 2001 and 2007.
For a second round, the Emerald Course provides a more forgiving and visually spectacular contrast. Also designed by Jones Jr., it features colourful landscaping, ocean views and a number of memorable holes, including the downhill 6th and the water-influenced 10th and 17th.
Away from the golf, Wailea offers some of Maui’s finest beaches, restaurants, resorts and spas, with the island’s volcanic landscapes and Pacific coastline providing a spectacular backdrop. It is the kind of destination where golf naturally fits into a wider tropical escape, with plenty of opportunities to enjoy Maui together.
Best for: The big romantic getaway
