Golfing Region USA

Travel information at a glance - Golf trips to the USA

• The USA as a travel destination for golf vacations
• The best time to travel
• Good to know for traveling to the USA

Golfing in the USA - thousands of golf courses from the Atlantic to the Pacific

USA as a vacation destination: diverse in nature and culture

The USA is a diverse and fascinating country, both in terms of landscape and culture. From the more European-influenced East to the French-influenced Mississippi Delta to the Hispanic influence in the Southwest and West; from the steppes of the Midwest to the Rocky Mountains, from the roaring Pacific to the Great Lakes to the stormy Atlantic, from vibrant cities like New York, San Francisco and Chicago to quiet small-town and village life - this country has something for everyone. Golfers also benefit from this diversity. On the one hand, golfing in the USA is varied due to the size and diversity of the landscape - on the other hand, each golf course also offers other breathtaking views and environments whose natural surroundings and cultural offerings can complement and enrich the golf trip.

Golf in the USA - a success story

Golf has a completely different status as a sport in the USA than in Germany, where it is only practiced by 0.66% of the population: 25 million people in the USA, or 10% of the population. The history of golf can be traced back to the late 18th century. The first advertisement for a golf club and golf ball seller can be found in 1779. However, very similar to the historical development of the sport in England, it only became more popular in the USA in the late 19th century - in 1900 there were more golf courses in the USA than in Great Britain. Especially since Walter Hagen became the first American to win the British Open Championship in 1922, golf has become increasingly popular in the USA - and this trend continues to this day. While there were 5908 clubs in the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 1980, this figure had risen to 10600 by 2013. In total, there are 17,000 golf courses in the USA, which is half of all golf courses worldwide.

Golf tourism in the USA

Like golf in general, golf tourism is also on the rise. Around 5-10% of the 56 million golfers around the world also make their sport the focus of vacation trips, for example to specially designed golf resorts. Golf cruises are also becoming increasingly popular and are particularly suitable for Florida. The best-known golf regions in the USA, where some of the top 10 golf courses in the USA are located, include the Carolinas and Florida in the south-east, Nevada, Arizona and southern California in the south-west and Hawaii.

The best time to travel to the USA for golf trips

The USA as a travel destination: practical information

Given the impressive diversity of landscape and culture, you can spend relaxing and, above all, interesting and varied vacations in the USA practically all year round. The summer months are warm and mostly sunny almost everywhere. In the Mississippi Delta region and parts of Florida, however, humidity is high during this time, while temperatures are extremely high in the desert climate of the southwest. In midsummer, mild New England is a particularly good destination. Late spring and early summer - late April to early June - is the best time to travel for all regions. Depending on the destination, the time difference to Germany is between -5 hours (east coast) and -9 hours (west coast).

Good to know for traveling to the USA

How to pay?

The local currency is the US dollar. Unlike in Germany, a lot is paid for by credit card in the USA, sometimes even the smallest amounts, such as a coffee in a coffee shop. A credit card is essential, especially when filling up with petrol: cash is generally no longer accepted or only against prepayment.

Entry formalities in the USA

As a German citizen, you do not need a visa for the USA, but are covered by the Visa Waiver Program. However, you must complete an ESTA application before departure, which costs US$ 14, must be submitted online and paid for by credit card. Only the official website of the US government https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov should be used for registration. There are countless sites that also promise to provide ESTA authorizations at inflated prices. You can find an overview of these more expensive third-party providers here.

Traveling and communicating locally in the USA

If you want to travel longer distances locally, you will not be able to avoid hiring a rental car. Public transport in the USA is very poorly developed for cultural reasons. Cabs are just as expensive as in Germany.

To stay connected to the world, you can buy a local SIM card. The latter are cheap and easy to acquire. Whether this is worthwhile depends entirely on your individual usage habits. If you want to make a lot of local calls, use the internet a lot or are planning a longer stay, a local SIM card may be worthwhile, otherwise the roaming offer from your own provider will suffice.

The lingua franca in the USA is English. As a rule, Americans do not speak any foreign languages, so a solid basic knowledge of English or a German-speaking tour guide is helpful.

Cultural peculiarities/rules of etiquette

American society is very polite; criticism is never expressed directly, but only "through the grapevine". Invitations extended by strangers usually serve as a friendly end to a conversation and do not have the character of a serious invitation.

Culinary specialties in the USA

Cuisine in the USA is considered bad. Wrongly so, because Southern cuisine in particular has produced many interesting and tasty dishes that you should definitely try - although fat is usually used sparingly. Even beyond fast food, the portions are usually huge by European standards. In some restaurants you can also order half portions.