What makes for a great golf vacation experience? What do you look for when you're planning a long weekend or a full week of resort golf? What do you remember most about your past trips?

Certainly, the quality of the golf courses at your destination is important. Skillful designs and spectacular settings probably top your criteria list; the highest maintenance standards should be up there, too. The variety of available golf can be a key factor, especially if you've got time to play two or more rounds. Excellent customer service is always a reasonable expectation, whether it's in the pro shop and the clubhouse or out on the practice tee and the golf course.

The complete golf vacation experience also includes the same quality and variety in your accommodations options. For an all-golf getaway, your next highest priority is probably a choice of fine restaurants and evening entertainments. If you've got the whole family along, specific on-site amenities, nearby attractions or special events might be vital to ensuring that everyone has fun. Of course, you expect a high quality of personal service at all of the resort facilities and, if your host can put it together in a package for a fair price, so much the better.

Where do you find the Western golf vacation that's right for you? Here are our choices for "The Best of The West":

OREGON

Having set the standard for oceanside golf, the resort’s third course—Bandon Trails—takes the inland route through dense coastal forests. Towering fir and spruce trees protect the fairways and putting surfaces, while the native landscaping and wildflower meadows make the course feel mature beyond its three years.

The Golf Academy at Bandon Dunes is the resort’s premier learning facility, offering professional instruction at the 32-acre practice center. Luxury accommodations at Bandon Dunes range from single rooms at The Lodge to lakeside suites and four-bedroom cottages. A quartet of on-site restaurants offer distinctive menus with hearty steaks and fresh seafood, while after-hours relaxation is always on tap at McKee’s Pub and The Bunker Bar.

What you won’t find here are any nearby amusement parks or similar whoop-tee-do distractions. But if your vacation plan this season is focused on sharing an unparalleled golf experience with your best playing partners, then set your sights on Bandon Dunes.

Running Y Ranch Resort (888-850-0275,  runningy.com)  offers a different vacation experience, with both outstanding golf and a variety of other outdoor activities to delight the entire family. Located near Klamath Falls in the shadow of the Cascade Mountains, Running Y is home to Oregon’s only Arnold Palmer-designed golf course. A member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary System, The Running Y layout meanders through restored wetlands and refreshing woodlands in an elegant natural landscape. Forward tees enhance the enjoyment for average players, but scratch golfers find 7,133 yards of total challenge from the Palmer tees.

As its name suggests, Running Y was a working ranch before it was a vacation resort. Not surprisingly then, the equestrian facilities and services here are absolutely top-flight. From riding lessons and trail adventures to the hands-on “Cowboy for a Day” program, Running Y is a horse lover’s heaven and a sure-fire hit with the kids. And there are guided ATV excursions for families who want to safely enjoy an outing with even more horsepower.

Sports and fitness facilities, canoe and kayak rentals, spa and salon services, daytrips to Klamath Falls and Crater Lake—there’s no time for boredom at Running Y. Best of all for families and groups, Running Y offers an excellent choice of fully furnished and equipped town homes, chalets and two-to-five bedroom custom homes. If you’re looking for an all-inclusive vacation package at a great golf destination with plenty of family-fun extras, check out Running Y.

Place Your Bets

Wildhorse Resort & Casino (800-654-9453  wildhorseresort.com) near Pendleton, Oregon, also welcomes families with an on-site video arcade and entertainment center for the kids, but might be an even better destination of choice for adults who want to swing all day and play all night.

Located in the Blue Mountain foothills, Wildhorse golf facilities include a scenic 18-hole resort course and instruction center. Senior rates and complete packages with unlimited play are offered. The Wildhorse Casino is the hub of off-course activities, with poker, keno and all your favorite table games, plus cabaret shows and music concerts. Stay in the newly renovated hotel next door or the resort’s unique Tipi Village, but the late-night attractions at Wildhorse are what make this destination special.

CALIFORNIA

The Dream 36

Pelican Hill Golf Club (877-735-4226,  pelicanhill.com) in Newport Coast is like Bandon Dunes in that they both have a pair of brilliantly crafted golf courses in spectacular oceanfront settings. The difference is that master architect Tom Fazio returned to his original Pelican Hill designs from the early 1990s and has completely refurbished all 36 holes to 21st-century standards. The result is an even grander golf experience at the same unrivalled location.

On the North Ocean Course that plays up into the coastal hills and the South Ocean Course that hugs the Pacific, Fazio installed new hybrid Bermuda on the fairways to enhance year-round consistency and lower-growing native plants to improve the views. He also added 200 yards to both courses and wider collars around most of the greens. Smoother rolls, bigger views, more challenging drives and more forgiving approaches: that’s a pretty good formula for a better round of golf.

Great customer service from the bag drop to the clubhouse restaurant is one Pelican Hill tradition that hasn’t changed. Also the same is the club’s convenient location, just an hour from Los Angeles and 45 minutes from LAX. And the cool seaside towns of Newport Beach and Laguna Beach are right next door. Whether you live in Southern California or plan to visit on vacation or business, you really should treat yourself to a day at Pelican Hill. 

Desert Willow Golf Resort (800-320-3323,  desertwillow.com ) is home to the top-rated Firecliff and Mountain View courses and your first-choice headquarters for every special event in California’s Palm Desert. From private outings and corporate meetings to school tournaments, banquets and even weddings, Desert Willow delivers the right facilities, atmosphere and golf-event format on two 18-hole courses that are immaculately groomed and environmentally certified. Complete packages can include lodging at four nearby resort-and-spa destinations. For a single round or a sublime event in the Palm Desert area, Desert Willow is a winner.

Stay, Stroll, Swing (Repeat)

Indian Wells Golf Resort (760-346-4653,  indianwellsgolfresort.com) may be the freshest and most convenient vacation destination in California. Both the Celebrity Course and the Players Course have opened in just the past three years, along with a new practice facility and enormous clubhouse. That’s the fresh. The convenience is found at four luxurious resort hotels that are located within walking distance of the golf courses. So are 57 tennis courts, 11 pools, three spas and much more. Pack your sandals and park your car for your entire golf getaway at Indian Wells.

NEVADA

What Plays in Vegas

Walters Golf (866-861-9767; waltersgolf.com) is your local connection that’s in the right place at the right tee time. The place is The Strip in Las Vegas, where Walters Golf packages include rooms or suites at Bellagio, Mirage, MGM Grand, Luxor and just about every other famous casino hotel.

The right tee time in Vegas is the one that fits your schedule and doesn’t waste your precious time in transit. Walters Golf books you at the tropical-themed Bali Hai Golf Club, just nine miles from the heart of The Strip. Dinner at the award-winning Cili Restaurant is the perfect way to start your night on the town. Tee times at Royal Links and Desert Pines are also available and they’ll even reserve your Calloway club and FootJoy shoe rentals. Contact Walters Golf, pack a carry-on, hop the next flight and tee it up in Vegas. It doesn’t get any better than that.

COLORADO

Keystone Resort (877-753-9786,  keystoneresort.com) near Vail is a renowned ski destination in winter that distinguishes itself during the rest of the year with unparalleled golf in the Rockies, meeting facilities of the highest order and the best mountain bike trails you’ll ever ride.

Golf at Keystone is 36 holes of pure splendor. The Ranch Course offers a links-style layout that winds through refreshing pine forests and valleys filled with wildflowers. The River Course enjoys a very different setting, with lots of water and sharp elevation changes in play. The views are sweeping and wildlife abounds on both of the resort’s naturally beautiful and Audubon-certified courses.

Keystone has been a major conference destination for nearly 40 years and the experienced staff is ready to handle every need for groups from 20 to 2,000. The technology is state-of-the-art, but traditional “can-do” hospitality is why Keystone has won every major award in the meeting industry. Having more that 1,200 available resort rooms, suites and condominiums probably impressed the judges, too.

What else can you do at Keystone? Well, if you don’t spend a day at the world-class Keystone Bike Park, then you might as well have skipped learning how to ride as a kid. More than 60 miles of trails include everything from scenic excursions for the young at heart to world-class mountain circuits for serious athletes. A little sore after all that biking? Indulge yourself with a therapeutic massage at the luxurious RockResorts Spa. Break out of your sea-level doldrums with real mountain getaway at Colorado’s ultimate destination.

HAWAII

Big Island of Fun

Waikoloa Beach Resort (1-877-WAIKOLOA  waikoloabeachresort.com) is the first-choice destination for couples, families and golf groups who want the complete Hawaiian vacation experience at a single location.

Set on The Big Island’s famous Kohala Coast, Waikoloa presents you with a unique array of on-site options that let you enjoy everything that’s great about Hawaii. As to the amazing golf, the decision isn’t whether to play both championship courses, but how many extra rounds can you get in. The Beach Course is an oceanfront wonder that was literally carved from ancient lava beds. The Kings’ Course employs a Scottish-style links design in a tropical landscape dominated by volcanic peaks.

At the top of your after-golf activities list should be a visit to Waikoloa Queens’ Garden, one of Hawaii’s best cultural (and horticultural) centers that features authentic Island food and music in the evenings. Shopping? Waikoloa has its own Kings’ Shops outdoor marketplace with dozens of top-quality boutiques. Dining? Only 20 distinctive resort restaurants. Anything cool to do with the kids? Well, there’s snorkeling with dolphins, for starters.

Accommodations choices include luxury oceanfront guest rooms at the resort’s Hilton and Marriott hotels, plus five condominium villages with a variety of floor plans for any size family, travel or meeting group. Decisions, decisions…. At Waikoloa, you’ll enjoy making every one.

Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Course (1-866-PRINCE-6,  princeresortshawaii.com) offers you choices, too. The first is which of four world-class resorts on three different islands to make your vacation headquarters: the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki and Golf Club on Oahu, the only resort on that famous beach with its own golf course;  the all-oceanview Maui Prince Hotel, with 36 spectacular holes at Makena Golf Club; or The Big Island’s Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel and on-site course, plus access to the legendary Robert Trent Jones-designed layout at nearby Mauna Kea Resort, which reopens its historic hotel this fall after a $150 million renovation. The second choice is how to tell your spouse about your best-ever anniversary present.