Don’t want to haul your golf clubs on your next trip? Try renting. Top resorts are your allies in the fight against baggage fees, offering top-brand rentals – at prices on par with, or less than, the cost of an extra checked bag.
So grab the chance for a personalized “demo day” on your next golf getaway to test-drive the hottest new equipment. Here’s a look at what’s out there:
Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana Point, Calif., offers a “flex set” that lets you mix and match brands in the same bag. Want to try a Scotty Cameron Squareback putter, Ping I20 irons, Rockballz driver and Callaway Razr fairway woods all in the same bag? Cost: $75 a set per day. The Raven in Phoenix offers the same deal.
The Maui Golf Shop in Kahului, an early adopter of deeply discounted club rentals for vacationers, lets you choose from 150 brand-name sets for as little as $25 a day. Rent for three days and get four days free. They deliver to South Maui.
Rental clubs are part of the Princeville Resort’s stay-and-play packages on Kauai. Deals include a an island-view room at The Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, two rounds of golf, cart, practice balls and personalized bag tag for $300 a night through Dec.25.
Sign up for any golf package at Maui’s Kapalua Resort that includes a half-day golf school, and they’ll throw in a round, cart, lunch and rental clubs.
Four courses in Las Vegas – Angel Park, Painted Desert, Las Vegas, Stallion Mountain and Legacy — offer rental clubs in what they’re calling their “All In” package, which includes transportation to and from hotels on The Strip.
Troon Golf, which operates courses in 29 states and 26 countries, features Callaway rental clubs. At certain properties, including Troon North in Scottsdale, Callaway Performance Centers feature swing analysis and club fitting. Troon recently announced that professional caddie services have returned to Troon North and to another Troon property in Scottsdale, The Phoenician.
TPC Scottsdale, a PGA Tour-managed facility, offers Taylor Made, Nike, Callaway, and Titleist rental clubs and comps you two sleeves of balls. The real deal, though, is in the packages. Through Dec. 30, a three-night TPC stay-and-play package at the Fairmont Princess Resort gets a round at the TPC Stadium Course, a round at the TPC Champions Course, and an arrival-day twilight round at the Champions Course, plus cart and range balls, all for $455.
PGA Golf Club at PGA Village in Port St. Lucie, Fla., offers Titleist rentals for $40 in peak season and $25 in the off-season on its three Fazio and Dye designs. Rentals are free for the six-hole practice course. Check out their world-class PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance, where Olympic golf teams from around the world are preparing for Rio in 2016. Sign up for instruction and rentals are free.
— Dan Vukelich
