What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, you’ll be talking about your golf trip for years to come. This region has all the ingredients for the golf getaway of a lifetime: great beaches, great gaming and great golf. Better yet, you get the Vegas experience at a much better value.

Guests of Beau Rivage can play the award-winning Fallen Oak with its monster 604-yard hole. This Tom Fazio design that winds through pecan orchards, oaks and magnolia groves has been heralded as one of the two best casino courses in the country. MGM Mirage, which operates 17 resorts including Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, has only two golf courses (the other is Shadow Creek in Las Vegas). They have made sure both are spectacular. Fallen Oak is located just 15 minutes from the resort, but its location bordering a national forest, feels like a million miles away. Fazio personally selected this naturally beautiful piece of property for the golf course.

It’s no secret that Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Shore in 2005, but what hasn’t been as widely publicized is that Biloxi has come back even better than before. There are more casinos, more golf courses and more flights in and out of the city. Beau Rivage spent $550 million to totally redo its resort.

With 1,740 guest rooms and suites, a redesigned casino floor, 12 restaurants, four lounges and bars, 12 retail venues, spa and salon, pool and convention center, the resort is both the tallest and biggest building in Mississippi. Dubbed the “Bellagio of the South,” the AAA Four-Diamond resort features a lineup of headline acts in its theater. This fall’s lineup includes Bill Cosby, B.B. King, Howie Mandel and Wayne Newton.

If like many golfers, fishing is also your passion, the fertile waters of the Gulf make this one of the top sport fishing spots in the world. Biloxi has numerous charter boats that can get you to the best fishing grounds along the coast or out into the deep waters.

GLENLAKES
» Weeki Wachee, Florida
GlenLakes.com, 800-222-9003

Surrounded by 85,000 acres of nature preserve and the sleepy little town of Weeki Wachee, the private golf community of GlenLakes enjoys an idyllic setting on the west coast of Florida about an hour north of Tampa. The clear spring waters of the Weeki Wachee River are nearby, as are the beaches of the Gulf. Life is good here. A 35,000-square-foot, clubhouse with pool, tennis courts, fitness room, restaurants and a full calendar of activities give residents plenty to keep them active, even while the community’s 1,400 secluded acres feels far from the hustle and bustle of city life.

For golfers, membership is available in a beautifully manicured Ron Garl-designed championship course framed by mature pines and oak. This summer, residents found more reason not to wander far from home as a shopping center with a grocery store and pharmacy opened on the adjacent property.  Both maintenance-free homes (starting in the $240s excluding homesite) and custom estate homes (starting at the $300s excluding homesite) are available on golf course, lakefront and wooded views homesites.

Further down Florida’s Gulf Coast in Sarasota is Sara Bay Country Club, an intimate, members-owned golf club. If you are looking for glitz and glamour, keep on driving: Sara Bay is as traditional as it gets. Beyond a beautiful old Floridian-style clubhouse, you won’t find anything to distract from the pure golf experience.

The oldest continuously operating private club in Sarasota (founded in 1926), Sara Bay has less than 300 members to ensure easy availability of tee times and an unhurried pace. Membership (individual or corporate) is by invitation only. Less than half of the membership lives here year-round and Sara Bay functions more like a national club with its members coming from well-known golf clubs around the country to play “in season,” November to April. They come to play a Donald Ross course that the course architect considered one of his finest and many agree is one of Florida’s most classic designs. For traditional golfers with an appreciation of the game and its history, this is as good as it gets.

GREY OAKS COUNTRY CLUB
» Naples, Florida 
GreyOaks.com, 800-294-2426

World famous for its beaches, dining and shopping, Naples also claims the highest ratio of golf courses to golfers in the country. Three of the city’s 35 courses can be found in the private community of Grey Oaks, just 10 minutes from downtown. Having 54 holes of championship golf in the heart of Naples puts Grey Oaks in an exceptional position that cannot be duplicated. The three courses are distinctly different in character: the Pine evokes North Carolina, the Palm is vintage Florida, and the much-awarded Bob Cupp-designed Estuary features five par-5s and five par-3s for the ultimate in risk/reward golf.

Ideally located just a few miles from Naples’ spectacular white-sand beaches, Grey Oaks boasts two clubhouses and two fitness centers. The club has taken a leadership role in integrating fitness with golf. By benchmarking golfers’ flexibility, strength and range of motion, they are able to tailor individual fitness programs to help you play longer, better and with more enjoyment. To further help improve your game, there are 11 PGA professionals on staff.

A bonus for Grey Oaks members is Collier County’s reciprocal golf program. During the May through October summer season about 30 clubs allow members to play at participating courses.  

While some non-residents memberships are available here, most members are homeowners. The luxury gated community’s newest neighborhood, Traditions, The Golf Residences of Grey Oak, came to market this year with prices starting at $895,000 including a full golf equity membership. The release of the first 60 of these maintenance-free, turn-key coach homes makes seasonal living in Naples all that much easier.

One of the first things visitors notice about Grey Oaks is its breathtakingly beautiful landscape. That’s due in large part to owner Judy Sproul’s passion for landscaping in a native palette. A member of the Collier family that gives the county its name, she has ensured an enduring elegance for both the residential areas and the golf courses.

There is no wait to enjoy the stunning water views or the amenities at the High Rises at Bonita Bay. Located between Naples and Fort Myers in Bonita Springs, the community’s five golf courses, two clubhouses, tennis and swim center, fitness center, and private beach club and marina are all complete and ready for play.

Ready, too, are the luxury condominiums of Esperia South, the fifth and newest high-rise at Bonita Bay. The first four buildings, out of an eventual total of eight, sold out. Esperia South is a magnificent building that rises 27 floors above the coastline. It’s upper floors offer views of the Gulf on the east side and Bonita Bay’s parks and golf courses on the west side. The building has its own resort-style amenity complex including a lagoon-style pool, outdoor bar, clubroom, 11-seat mini-theater, billiard room and health club.

A number of model residences are now available in Esperia South starting at $800,000 with developer incentives and membership programs being offered. Also under construction in the community is the Tavira high-rise, where the luxury residences begin at $1.6 million and some penthouses run over 5,000 square feet.

Residents here rave about the convenience (not to mention the views) of high-rise living. With Fort Myers’ airport just 14 miles away, it’s possible to land, grab your clubs and be on the golf course in an hour. The easy lifestyle in the 2,400-acre community is augmented by miles of biking and walking paths, the private beach club on the Gulf and the full-service Marina with direct access to the ocean. Over half of Bonita Bay’s acreage consists of parks, open spaces, nature preserves and lakes.

Three Arthur Hills courses inside the community and two Tom Fazio courses nearby, along with three full practice facilities and two clubhouses, add up to one sensational experience for golfers.

GULF SHORES GOLF ASSOCIATION
» Gulf Shores, Alabama
ALGolfCoast.com, 888-815-1902

The 32 miles of white-sand beaches between Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida that make up Alabama’s Gulf Coast have drawn families to its shores for generations.  Now, a new kind of family—the fraternity of golfing buddies—has discovered that the cooperative weather, mix of golf courses and affordable stay-and-play packages are as strong a draw as the shoreline.

What was once considered a hidden jewel and an emerging golf destination, Alabama’s Gulf Coast has cemented its place in recent years as a destination that has arrived. The deserved reputation has come in no small measure through the efforts of the Gulf Shores Golf Association. They customize golf trips for groups of all sizes, from buddy trips to couple getaways. By combining tee times with accommodations (beach houses to hotels), Gulf Shores Golf has added “great value” into the equation.

Fall is one of the best times to golf the Gulf. You won’t get quantity here, but you will get nine quality courses with enough variety and challenge to satisfy over even the longest of golf holidays. All the courses are within driving distance and include designs by Arnold Palmer, Jerry Pate and Bruce Devlin. The undeniable jewel of the bunch is the nationally known and Alabama’s No.1-rated course, Kiva Dunes.

If you like great golf, and lots of it, Innisbrook Resort & Golf Club outside Tampa offers the perfect foursome of championship courses in one setting. And you can play them all. The Copperhead course, a favorite among PGA Tour professionals and home to the annual Transitions Championship, is the course avid golfers come to collect. But ask Innisbrook members and they’ll tell you that they prefer the more challenging Island course. The Highlands North (similar to Copperhead, but shorter) and South (a links style design) courses round out the quartet. All of the courses take advantage of the elevation changes afforded by the Ocala sand ridge that gives the club its unique North Carolina foothills feel. This year a new fitness center and a full-service luxury spa are being added along side Copperhead as part of $25 million in property improvements.

Besides the great golf, what attracts guests most is the impeccable service at Innisbrook. Everyone is treated as if this is their country club away from home. Indeed, when you come here, you are a guest of a member and stay in a residential-style guest suite. The four-day/three-night Preferred Golf Package ($269 per person, double occupancy) that gets you onto all four courses is a popular way to experience Innisbrook. From October 2nd to January 14th, a complimentary fifth round of golf will be added to the package that includes breakfast, range balls, club storage, daily golf clinic and gift pack. Groups of nine or more even get a personal group golf concierge to handle all the details of their stay.

MAGNOLIA LANDING by Taylor Morrison
» North Fort Myers, Florida
TaylorMorrison.com, 866-232-6001

If you are looking for value without sacrificing luxury, amenities or golf in Southwest Florida, just cross the Caloosahatchee River from Fort Myers to North Fort Myers. The gated golf course community of Magnolia Landing by Taylor Morrison delivers it all. Right now, developer incentives make it possible to buy a new home starting in the mid-$100s with a golf and country club membership included.
 From the grand entrance through the beautiful neighborhoods, this community is richly appointed. The Golf Club features a Gordon Lewis design that reaches 7,265 yards at the tips, zero golf fees for members, and a 10,000-square-foot clubhouse with plans to add another 15,000 square feet. Taylor Morrison—which in 2007 joined two of the nation’s leading homebuilders, Taylor Woodrow and Morrison Homes—has used its combined talents to create a highly amenitized community at great prices points.

Think “Tampa Bay” and your thoughts most likely run to beaches and beautiful weather. But the Tampa region is also home to some of the best golf and golf communities on the Gulf. North of the city and just 10 minutes from the coast, Terra Vista of Citrus Hills will put to rest any notions that Florida is endlessly flat. The lush rolling hills bring to mind the Carolinas. Though the community is only 10 minutes from the coast, you’ll find a tee box on its flagship Skyview course that sits 250 feet above sea level.

Terra Vista’s three golf courses take full advantage of the undulating terrain and accompanying lakes to deliver three satisfyingly distinct golf experiences. Did someone say “free golf”? Right now that is exactly what is being offered to homeowners who purchase a social membership ($995 a year per household). The offer is good, with a cart rental, through 2015 on Terra Vista’s original course, The Meadows.

This past fall, the club opened the enormous and luxurious 45,000-square-foot BellaVita Spa & Fitness Center. Certainly one of the largest and most comprehensive spa facilities of its kind at a private community, it was instant hit with members. Under its roof, members enjoy racquetball courts, steam and sauna rooms, a large indoor pool and spa, and seemingly endless menu of spa services. The community’s premium amenities also include two clubhouses, two tennis centers and outdoor pools.

They have recently introduced an entirely new collection of furnished home models with 1,500- to over 4,000-square-foot living areas. Prices for detached villas and single-family homes run from the $300s to the $800s and are exclusively offered as home/homesite packages to maintain the cohesiveness of the manicured neighborhoods. Extensive home customization is available to accommodate each homeowner’s individual needs.