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Golf Meetings

Scottsdale, Arizona

Scottsdale, Arizona, has 51 golf courses, and the Greater Phoenix area boasts about 200. With 330 days of sun every year, weather is key in the city’s popularity as a golf destination, but so are accessibility, pricing and the huge range of golf options, said Erika Pumphrey, national sales manager for the Scottsdale Convention and Visitors Bureau.

TPC Scottsdale, home of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, underwent a $10 million renovation last year that “changed the look and feel” of the course, Pumphrey said. Projects included redoing holes and bunkers, renovating the clubhouse and debuting a new restaurant.

Kierland Golf Club at Westin Kierland Resort and Spa offers the Fore-Max Golf Fitness training program and the Scottish Golf Experience, complete with kilts and a bagpiper. The club also has a fleet of Segways, golf bikes and GolfBoards, electric-powered, standup boards that are similar to scooters or skateboards.

Scottsdale is also known for its desert courses. A century ago, courses didn’t have grass; crews oiled the dirt. Today, desert courses showcase the Sonoran Desert’s native flora and fauna. One of The Phoenician’s three nine-hole courses goes up the side of Camelback Mountain, and We-Ko-Pa Golf Club is the “epitome” of desert courses. The We-Ko-Pa Resort and Conference Center is home to the 25,000-square-foot Wassaja Conference Center.

For planners that want to get away from the standard scramble, Topgolf driving range opened last year with more than 100 shooting bays and a full-service bar and rooftop terrace. Boccieri Golf recently introduced RoboGolfPro, a swing-training system where the equipment moves the golfers to let them feel the perfect swing.

www.experiencescottsdale.com

 

Birmingham, Alabama

Alabama boasts something no other state can: It is home to the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of 11 golf destinations designed by the famous architect, two of which are found in Birmingham.

“It’s a big draw,” said Mike Gunn, senior vice president of convention sales for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. “There are a lot of people who come here just to play the trail course.”

The two Jones-designed golf spots are the 18-hole course at Ross Bridge and the 54-hole Oxmoor Valley. There, golfers find three 18-hole courses — the Ridge, the Valley and the Short Course — so, “in essence, if you were doing a golf tournament, you could play three different courses at one location,” Gunn said.

Many conferences that come to Birmingham arrive early or stay late to incorporate a golf tournament or a golf fundraiser, he said. Most golf clubs have some type of function space and on-site planners who can help put together events.

The Ross Bridge course is part of the Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa, which underwent a major renovation last year. The 259-room hotel also has 21,000 square feet of meeting space, including the flexible 9,800-square-foot Hoover Ballroom. Oxmoor Valley staff can put together events for more than 300 players and help with food, event space, contests and scoring.

The city-owned Highland Park Golf Course in downtown Birmingham is good for meeting groups because it’s near downtown hotels and can be played in about three and a half hours, Gunn said.

www.birminghamal.org

 

Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Hilton Head Island is 12 miles long by 6 miles wide, but it has managed to squeeze a lot of golf into that relatively small area. The island is home to more than 20 courses, including the one that has hosted the PGA’s RBC Heritage every April since 1969: Harbour Town Golf Links at the Sea Pines resort is “the iconic golf course that people see played on TV,” said Jack Reed, director of sales for the Hilton Head Island Visitor and Convention Bureau.

The 36-hole Sea Pines Plantation Golf Club is also home to the Ocean Course and the Pete Dye-designed Heron Point course. The resort has invested millions over the past few years tearing down and rebuilding various facilities. The new 55,000-square-foot Harbour Town Clubhouse reopened in time for the 2015 RBC Heritage with an expanded pro shop and restaurant, wraparound terraces and a 2,200-square-foot top-floor ballroom. In September, the resort also opened the new 25,000-square-foot Beach Club, which has an upstairs event room overlooking the Atlantic.

Three famous golf architects designed each of Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort’s golf courses, and each bears its creator’s name: Robert Trent Jones, George Fazio and Arthur Hills. Palmetto Dunes is also introducing new features to entice younger golfers, among them golf bikes, carts with USB ports and its own golf app with electronic scorecards. The resort has several event venues; they include the 800-square-foot Dunes House, with its 1,000-square-foot, ocean-view deck, and the 1,600-square-foot Centre Court Conference Center, with an open-air dining pavilion.

www.hiltonheadisland.org