Golf Trips — New England

A Northeast golf circuit built on courses with genuine character -- Pinehills in Plymouth, Red Tail in Devens, Newport National's Orchard layout in Rhode Island, and George Wright in Hyde Park cover four distinctly different settings within 90 minutes of Boston. None are marquee national names, but the combination rewards golfers who do the homework. Works best as a longer trip with a flexible daily schedule.

A multi-stop golf road trip through three different Maine settings -- Belgrade Lakes Golf Club inland, Sugarloaf Golf Club in the western mountains, and Samoset Resort on Penobscot Bay. Each course has a different character, and the drives between them add to the experience rather than detract from it. A four-to-five night loop from Portland covers all three with reasonable daily mileage.

Four municipal courses within 20 minutes of each othergive this trip its rotation -- Captains Port Course anchors the schedule, Cranberry Valley is the value play, and Dennis Pines or Highlands fills a fourth round. Cape Cod National is accessible via Wequassett stay-and-play for groups that want the peninsula's best design.

Vermont's ski corridor is a legitimate golf destination -- six mountain courses running from Jay Peak near the Canadian border south to Woodstock, anchored by Spruce Peak resort at Stowe and draped in the same ridge-and-valley terrain that fills the ski brochures, hiding behind a reputation most golfers never think to look past.

Bretton Woods pairs one of the Northeast's most atmospheric historic resorts -- the Mount Washington Hotel, White Mountains backdrop, presidential-era grandeur -- with a Donald Ross layout that earns its place in the schedule rather than playing like a resort afterthought. The trip sells itself on setting and delivers on golf.