If you time your vacation just right, either three weeks to a month ahead of a PGA tour stop or right after an event, you can experience a course all dolled up in its tournament finery. The grandstands will be set up framing the green complexes for a full on simulation of the inside-the-ropes experience\u2014the only thing missing will be the galleries of fans whooping it up when you nail that 20-foot birdie.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve rounded up eight courses on the PGA TOUR that are prime prospects for your next golf getaway. Don\u2019t let Justin Thomas, DJ, Spieth, Tiger and crew hog the finest fairways of them all. Let the pros follow you for a change.<\/p>\n
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Photo courtesy of The Old White TPC | The Old White TPC at Greenbrier Resort<\/p><\/div>\n
Tournament: <\/strong>The Greenbrier Classic, July 5\u20138<\/strong><\/p>\n A golden oldie, Old White opened in White White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia<\/a> at the base of the Allegheny Mountains back in 1914. That\u2019s when men wore plus-four pants and toted hickory-shafted clubs and ladies golfed in long sleeved blouses and ankle length skirts. Course architect Charles Blair Macdonald\u2019s design takes its cues from European masterworks. The 8th<\/sup> hole was inspired by \u201cRedan\u201d at North Berwick, the 13th<\/sup> by \u201cAlps\u201d at Prestwick and the 15th<\/sup> pays homage to \u201cEden\u201d at St. Andrews.\u00a0 Re-enact that time when Robert Streb broke his putter on the Sunday of the Greenbrier Classic and was forced to use his sand wedge on the greens for the remaining nine holes. At the Greenbrier<\/a>, you can arrange to take in the final round of the tournament and then the next morning tee off with the scoreboards still up and the pins in the exact placement they just were for the pros!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Photo courtesy of the DeereRun | TPC Deere Run<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: The John Deere Classic, July 12\u201315<\/strong><\/p>\n Deere family descendants once raised Arabian horses on this gorgeous tract of rolling Midwestern farmland in Silvis, Illinois<\/a>, before donating it to the PGA TOUR. Nestled against the ravines of the Rock River, this is where Jordan Spieth\u2019s legend was born in 2012 when he was still a college student at U of Texas; he returned the following year as a pro and won the big check. With green fees starting at $76, less than half what many other big name championship golf courses of its caliber will run you, Deere Run is a sweet deal. If you score a tee time at this Quad Cities institution ahead of the tourney, the only thing missing will be the smoke wafting by No. 17 on pork chop hill and those cute miniature John Deere tractors they use as tee boxes during the event.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Kapalua Plantation Course | The Plantation Course at Kapalua<\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: Sentry Tournament of Champions, Jan 3-6, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Pure Aloha golf is on display at Maui<\/a>‘s immaculately kept 7,411-yard par 73 Coore-Crenshaw design, the home of the PGA\u2019s first tournament of the year. You’ve got the majestic West Maui Mountains and the lapping waves of the Pacific Ocean providing a relaxing soundtrack to every shot you hit. There are a plenty of downhill slopes on the fairways so golfers often need to swing to the high side of \u2018em to stay in play.\u00a0 When you get to No. 12, a 433-yard par 4, unleash your inner Dustin Johnson and attempt to rocket your tee shot all the way to the green. DJ belted one at the 2018 Sentry Tournament of Champions that rolled a foot shy of the cup.\u00a0 The course will undergo an extensive multi-million dollar enhancement beginning in February of 2019 which calls for the resurfacing all greens, renovating every bunker, and re-grassing fairways and roughs.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Dojc | TPC Scottsdale Stadium Course<\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: The Waste Management Open, Jan 31\u2013 Feb 3,<\/sup> 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Designed by Jay Morrish and Tom Weiskopf, the Scottsdale<\/a> Princess Resort\u2019s beguiling neighbor unfolds over primo Sonoran Desert real estate at the base of the McDowell Mountain range. Tell a buddy to crank up their wireless speaker when you get to the par-3 16th<\/sup>, the loudest hole in golf. It takes crews two months to set up the triple decker grandstand that holds 20,000 raucous golf fans that whoop it up all tourney long\u2014forget polite golf claps and \u2018atta boy fist pumps: In this dialed up golf thunder dome, fans are encouraged to scream, howl, shout and even boo to their hearts delight (even during backswings). Rehash your round\u2019s highlights at the rum bar at Toro in the clubhouse. They carry the largest collection of the spirit in the valley with over a hundred varieties to sip. If the selection proves daunting, the establishment\u2019s Rum Princesa can hook you up with a tasting flight. The restaurant\u2019s swanky patio also offers views of the action on the 18th<\/sup> green.<\/p>\n ALSO:<\/strong> Swing a better vacation when you join Orbitz Rewards\u2014it’s fast and it’s free!<\/a><\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Pebble Beach Company | Pebble Beach<\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Feb 7\u201310; and the U.S. Open, <\/strong>June 13\u201316,<\/strong><\/p>\n This is hallowed golf ground, a slice of California heaven whose manicured green carpets have been walked by not just the game legends, but also every Hollywood star with a handicap. The green fee at Pebble<\/a> will set you back $525, but the sticker shock doesn\u2019t stop the crowds of golfers who dream of playing this storied course at least once before they hit that 19th<\/sup> hole in the sky. Pebble Beach has hosted a PGA Championship, five U.S. Amateurs, and five U.S. Opens with number six coming in 2019. There\u2019s seven seaside holes including No. 7, one of the most quintessential short par 3\u2019s in golf, playing a mere 106 yard. The ole \u201ceverything breaks to the ocean\u201d rule of thumb is hard to apply on this famous green where crashing waves are all around you.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Dojc | Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: Players Championship, March 14\u201317, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Golfers of all stripes brace with trepidation when they settle into the tee box on No. 17 at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass<\/a> near Jacksonville, Florida. This is it, the island green that routinely thrashes leaderboard topping dreams\u2014at this past year\u2019s tourney, 53 balls sunk into the surrounding waters. It\u2019s the Freddy Krueger of golf holes where double bogeys are easy to honestly come by. From the moment you tee off your round, the countdown begins and the dastardly island looms as large as the inevitable twist in an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Pro golfer Mark Calcavecchia once compared the Players Championship\u2019s<\/a> serial round killer to an afternoon appointment for a root canal.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Dojc | Copperhead at Innisbrook<\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: Valspar Championship, March 21\u201324, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n A staple of the TOUR\u2019s Florida Swing, you really need to uncoil off the tee to score well on this pine-framed beauty near Tampa<\/a>. A giant copper colored snake rattles golfers nerves as they approach the course\u2019s famous trio of finishing holes, \u201cThe Moccasin,\u201d \u201cThe Rattler,\u201d and the namesake \u201cCopperhead.\u201d Your scorecard may need a shot of anti-venom after braving this coldblooded stretch that even plays havoc with the pros\u2019 games. No. 16 is particularly terror inducing.\u00a0 The 475-yard par 4 is often shortlisted as one of the PGA Tour\u2019s most dastardly holes. From the tee box you shoot towards a tight fairway that curls around a lake to the right with trees on the left. It then constricts and gains elevation toward the green. Long hitters can carry the water, but the rest of us will have to muster a controlled fade to keep the ball on the turf.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of ATT Oaks Course | AT&T Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio<\/p><\/div>\n Tournament: Valero Texas Open, April 4\u20137, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Everything\u2019s bigger in Texas including their championship golf courses. This buckaroo\u2019s generous fairways, cavernous bunkers and fast rolling greens, some with condo sized square footage, sprawl over 7,522-yards of San Antonio<\/a> Hill Country splendor. The Greg Norman design with Sergio Garcia chipping in as a consultant is pretty swale heavy with artful depressions lurking around many of the green complexes leading to plenty of thought-provoking approach shots. No. 16 gives you something you don\u2019t see every round\u2014there\u2019s a bunker smack dab in the middle of the green forcing golfers to aim at a specific section depending on the flag placement.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TPC-DeereRun16H2Compressed.jpg\")
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