Notes from building tfd.golf—things we've learned researching courses and destinations, and working out how golf trips actually get planned.
Green fees and caddie costs should only ever land on the people actually golfing. Lodging and dining are different—those get split across everyone, non-golfer guests included. Most cost-splitting tools don't make this distinction, and it shows up as real friction on real trips.
A flight in the morning eats the day before it starts, and an evening flight out shortens the last one. Trips that schedule a full 18 on a travel day usually end up rushed at best, missed at worst. Build the lighter day in from the start instead of discovering it on-site.
The straight-line route isn't always the right one. Kitsap Peninsula golfers coming from Sea-Tac are often better off on the Seattle–Bremerton ferry than driving the long way around—slower on paper, better in practice. Every destination has a version of this.
A lot of golf destinations are playable well outside their best-weather window—Florida and coastal Texas are the flip side of this, with brutal summers but genuinely fine winters, and vice versa for the Pacific Northwest. We try to be specific about what actually changes with the season, rather than implying a course is closed the rest of the year.
For destination and course specifics, see the guides.