Best Golf Destinations for Labor Day Weekend

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Labor Day is the last long weekend of summer. In Canada it is Labour Day, the same Monday, and the last long weekend to play before fall. Pick a region that still feels like summer, book a couple of public or resort courses, and go. For later in the season, use the fall trips page.

Michigan, Wisconsin, and the Great Lakes

This is lake country still holding onto summer. Traverse City, Petoskey, Boyne, Door County, the Kohler lakeshore. Nights cool off, the water is still warm, and a round at Arcadia Bluffs looks straight out at Lake Michigan.

You can book Arcadia Bluffs (the Bluffs and South), Bay Harbor, or Grand Traverse if you want a hotel and three courses, The Bear, The Wolverine, and Spruce Run, in one place.

It is a cottage weekend, so book rooms first. Saturday mornings on the well-known courses go early.

Vermont, Maine, and New England

Maine if you want the coast. Vermont or the Berkshires if you want the hills. The trees are still green, the air is drier than July, and a round at Samoset looks out on Penobscot Bay.

You can book Samoset, The Equinox in Manchester, Vermont, or Sunday River in western Maine.

It can rain, and people driving for foliage start to fill the roads. Pack a rain jacket. Print the packing list and check it off.

Asheville, Virginia, and the Blue Ridge

The mountains are cooler than the Piedmont. Hot Springs, Asheville, Homestead, Greenbrier country. Cascades at the Omni Homestead is the stay-and-play that feels like a real trip.

You can book the Cascades at The Omni Homestead, Grove Park in Asheville, or Primland if you are staying on the property.

You usually have to stay at the resort to get on the main courses. Afternoon storms are common, so morning times are safer.

Pinehurst and Southern Pines

A golf town with a walkable village, still warm enough for a short-sleeve morning. Stay and play at Pinehurst. Book the room and the tee time together on pinehurst.com. Mid Pines, Pine Needles, and Tobacco Road sit right next door.

Afternoons get hot. No. 2 is not a last-minute booking.

Hilton Head, Kiawah, and the Carolina coast

Beach and a lot of golf in a small radius. Hilton Head, Kiawah, Charleston, the Grand Strand. Harbour Town is the one people picture, with the lighthouse behind the 18th.

You can book Harbour Town and the rest of Sea Pines on seapines.com, Kiawah if you stay on the island (kiawahresort.com for Ocean, Osprey, Turtle Point, and Oak Point), or Palmetto Dunes.

It is still humid, and storms happen. Holiday house rates. Myrtle Beach is the busiest of this group.

Bandon, Oregon, and the Columbia River

Oregon coast and the Columbia River. Wind, dunes, and usually less rain than later in the fall. Bandon is the trip if you can still get a room.

You can book Bandon on bandondunesgolf.com, Gamble Sands on gamblesands.com, or Chambers Bay if you are already near Seattle.

Bandon rooms and tee times for this weekend are hard if you are booking now. Expect wind.

Colorado and the mountain West

Cool mornings, playable afternoons, and golf that actually looks like the West. Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho.

You can book Arrowhead near Denver, Raven at Three Peaks in Silverthorne, or Old Works in Anaconda, Montana.

Altitude is harder if you live at sea level. Holiday lodging in the mountain towns fills up.

Scottsdale and Arizona

Desert golf. Scottsdale, north Phoenix, Fountain Hills, Fort McDowell. It is still hot, which is why you book an early tee time and play Troon North, We-Ko-Pa, or Kierland if you are staying at the Westin.

You can book Troon North (Monument and Pinnacle), We-Ko-Pa (Cholla and Saguaro), or Kierland.

It gets hot by mid-morning. Bring water. For cooler weather, use the Scottsdale winter golf page.

Canada

Labour Day is Canada’s last long weekend of summer. After that you are into fall.

Muskoka is the Ontario trip: lakes, granite, and a cottage weekend that still has golf. Book Deerhurst Highlands in Huntsville, the 18-hole course plus the 9-hole Lakeside on the bay, or Muskoka Bay in Gravenhurst. Taboo is closed for 2026 while they rebuild the course. Bigwin is not a weekend public book. Rooms go first, and Deerhurst tee times only open 90 days out.

On the East Coast, Cabot Cape Breton is the one. Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs sit on the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Inverness, Nova Scotia, and the 2026 season runs through October 25. Stay on the resort if you want tee times. Day-guest times only open 14 days out. If Cabot is gone, Cape Breton Highlands Links in Ingonish is the other public 18. It is a flight into Halifax and a drive.

Sagebrush is a public course in the Nicola Valley, above Nicola Lake. Book a tee time or stay-and-play at sagebrushgolfclub.com. Holiday Monday uses weekend rates, carts are required, and there are only a few suites on the property.

In the Rockies you can book Fairmont Banff Springs, or Kananaskis (Mount Kidd and Mount Lorette).

Muskoka is a drive from Toronto. Cabot is a flight to Halifax and a drive to Inverness. Sagebrush and Banff are a drive from Calgary. Sagebrush is the interior trip from Vancouver.

Plan the trip

Pick a region, then book tee times and rooms.

If you need help matching a trip, use the golf vacation planner. Print the packing list and check it off.

Questions: info@destination-golf.com.