Golf Trips — California

Five courses on the Monterey Peninsula, anchored by Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill in the Del Monte Forest, and The Links at Spanish Bay for the links-style round. The Hay short course handles evenings or warmup sessions, and Poppy Hills fills out a longer rotation. Budget carefully -- this is among the most expensive golf corridors in the country.

Over 100 courses in the Coachella Valley, ranging from public access to PGA Tour-level layouts at PGA West. The trip rewards a focused shortlist over trying to cover volume -- the Nicklaus Tournament, Stadium, and Mountain courses give PGA West alone enough rotation for two days. Desert season runs October through May; summer heat makes golf impractical.

Torrey Pines South Course is one of the most remarkable public golf facilities in the country -- a US Open venue operated as a municipal course on ocean bluffs above La Jolla. The North Course is the more accessible companion, and Aviara, Coronado, and La Costa North round out a five-course San Diego rotation within 35 minutes of each other. The city infrastructure handles everything else.

Edgewood Tahoe on the South Shore is the anchor -- a lakefront course with views across Lake Tahoe from a back nine that's been on every TV golf broadcast for 30 years. Old Greenwood in Truckee provides the Nicklaus-design companion a 20-minute drive north, and Coyote Moon and Gray's Crossing add strong options for groups staying longer. The elevation rewards mid-summer visits when lower-altitude courses are less appealing.

Sandpiper Golf Club sits above Pacific Ocean cliffs, with a back nine that plays along the bluff edge with unobstructed water views. La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, 40 minutes north, provides the canyon terrain contrast -- a more demanding track in a completely different setting. And Santa Barbara's restaurant and hotel scene handles everything between tee times.

Wine country golf works as a one-round-per-day trip, not a volume play. Silverado Resort's North Course is the anchor -- a design that hosts the Fortinet Championship and plays at a legitimate Tour length. Northwood Golf Club in Monte Rio, a nine-hole Alister MacKenzie design in the redwoods, is the round that becomes the memory.