What I spent on a luxe 4-day golf trip from NYC to Whistler

Welcome to Greens Fees, a new journey sequence from GOLF geared toward serving to you perceive the {dollars} (and sense) of your subsequent golf trip.

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Whistler, British Columbia, is a ski city. Not even the world’s most hardened golfer will argue in any other case. I know this as a result of I requested him to.

Alex Hay is Whistler’s resident golf course architect. He has lived within the space for a while now, and like many different folks dwelling in one of many world’s most sought-after locations, he loves it right here. The mountains are attractive, the individuals are glad, and the world round him is energetic.

We’re sharing a pint at Beacon Pub, a tiny watering gap tucked into the middle of city, when I marvel if folks will imagine me when I say Whistler is a golf vacation spot price visiting. He laughs.

“Good luck with that. This place will always be a ski town. That’s how the world views us,” he says, earlier than sharing the world’s worst-kept secret. “But not many people realize the middle of the summer is our busiest time of year.”

In the winter, many specialists contemplate Whistler to be the powder capital of the world — a mixture of impeccable snow, stunning vistas, and a number of the world’s finest apres ski. But within the summertime, the locals know a totally different facet of Whistler. The variety when the times stretch on perpetually, the black bears roam with out care, and vacationers come from everywhere in the world to spend a few blissful days of mountain heat, lots of them on the golf course.

It was late September by the point I arrived, and I was urgent my luck. It was the final gasp of {the golfing} 12 months in Whistler. The climate was extremely unpredictable (the 12 months’s first snowstorms have been already forecast for the next week), and the enjoying circumstances have been unsure. But I’d traveled all the way in which throughout the continent for a fast Pacific Northwest golf jaunt, and I hoped the climate would reward my efforts — to say nothing of the not-insignificant hit to my checking account.

Speaking of my checking account, my bank card payments are coming due within the subsequent few days from these wonderful few days within the Pacific Northwest. As such, it’s time to file an expense report — a public one — on the trip that was.

What it prices to spend 4 days in Whistler

Travel

A chunk of recommendation as helpful for all times as it’s for journey: if at first you don’t succeed … strive a new airport! I flew west the old school manner, from New York to Vancouver (the closest airport to Whistler, a 90-minute drive away) with a connection in Minneapolis. My return flight, nonetheless, was one thing the specialists may name a “flight hack” — a redeye direct from Seattle to New York. I’d have to discover a manner to Seattle and one thing to do whereas I was there (extra on that in a second), however I’d additionally save a bundle on the flight, which ran me $402.

Due to the timing of my trip, I determined additionally to e-book a rental automobile. I settled on a low-cost choice from an company the place I have most popular buyer standing, betting I would land myself a free improve. I did. The rental value me a little over $300. (For these hoping to save a few {dollars} in transit, lots of Whistler’s resorts run shuttles from the airport to the mountain and again. Most are much cheaper than the cost of a rental.)

With a one-day hole in my schedule between the top of my keep in Whistler and my flight residence from Seattle, I determined to e-book an Amtrak down the shoreline. That ticket value $45.

The Essentials:

Flight: $402

Car Rental: $320

Train: $45

Total: $767

Trip Total: $767

Clothing

A take a look at the forecast advised me there was rain coming, and a lot of it. Thanks to a buddy at Adidas Golf, I was ready to get my fingers on an advance model of the brand new Rain.RDY waterproof jacket, which ran me an extra $200. It was a luxurious addition, or it felt prefer it on the time, however not after I put it to use. It helped, after all, to know that the jacket was made particularly to scale back friction and noise all through the golf swing. (An apart: uncertainty is the one certainty with climate within the mountains, notably on the finish of the season; ensure to pack layers.)

Adidas Rain.RDY Full-Zip: $280

Total: $280

Trip Total: $1,047

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Day 1

My flight landed in Vancouver shortly after midday PST, and by the point I’d cleared customs, it was formally lunchtime. I drove into town and stopped at Cafe Medina, a beautiful Middle Eastern-inspired brunch spot within the coronary heart of city. I ordered a espresso, an egg-white frittata, and a waffle. The meal ran me $36.50 CAD, or round $27 U.S.

After lunch, I drove up to do some sightseeing in Vancouver’s famed Stanley Park. The flower-and-redwood-lined sanctuary, which is 20 % bigger than New York’s Central Park, was in full bloom when I arrived. I spent two hours and $8 on parking there earlier than starting the trek up to Whistler.

A brief drive later, I arrived on the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, the place I could be spending three nights at a every day fee of $260, plus $25 a day for parking. The lodge was ritzier than my typical stop-off, however got here with entry to the Gold Lounge, which supplied free breakfast and hors d’oeuvres, which helped to take a number of the sting out of the ultimate value.

From there, it was off to dinner at Portobello, a barbecue joint connected to the lodge. I ordered a brisket dinner and a native pilsener, and a brief whereas later, a mountain of meals appeared in entrance of me. I left $33 lighter … and a couple kilos heavier.

Lunch: $27

Parking: $33

Dinner: $33

Hotel: $260

Total: $353

Trip Total: $1,400

Day 2

After an early breakfast, I zipped over to the primary of two golf programs I’d play in Whistler — Nicklaus North — for my 10 a.m. tee time. We’d simply crossed previous “peak season” charges, that means my tee time was discounted down to $130.

The climate had turned for the higher the evening earlier than, and I teed off to 70-degree temperatures and clear skies — certainly a final for the enjoying season. We heeded bear warnings on the clubhouse and once more on the midway home, however the one disturbances to play have been the occasional seaplane descending into the course’s adjoining glacial lake.

Nicklaus North is a valley course, flat and largely wide-open. Its holes are separated by towering pines and small lakes, and as a entire, the course is surprisingly playable for the sometimes narrow-and-stingy Nicklaus. It was a deal with for such a excellent day, notably so on the closing stretch, the place a dramatic sequence of holes hug the glacial lake. I left round midday, spent the afternoon on the climbing path, and returned again to the lodge, the place I ate dinner within the gold lounge free of charge.

Golf: $130

Hotel: $260

Parking: $25

Total: $415

Trip complete: $1,815

Day 3

Another early morning, one other scrumptious lodge breakfast, and one other morning tee time, this one on the Fairmont resort course, which was additionally operating at past-peak charges and price $135.

It was chilly and moist after we made it to the primary tee on the Fairmont course, the form of nasty fall morning when simply feeling the chilly air is sufficient to make your joints creak. I bundled up and headed out to the primary tee, the place a sprinkling of rain bounced off my jacket. It’d been solely a few hours since yesterday’s sun-baked romp at Nicklaus North, however the climate had shifted significantly — becoming, contemplating the problem I was in for right this moment was not like something I’d seen already.

The two major golf programs in Whistler — Nicklaus North and the Fairmont course — are separated by a mile and what looks like a couple of lightyears. Nicklaus North is pleasant, forgiving, and flat. There won’t be greater than 50 ft of elevation on the entire golf course. The Fairmont course, nonetheless, feels a bit like scaling the face of Mt. Everest. The first eight holes are performed at a 45-degree angle, whereas the ultimate eight are performed at a comparable decline. The Robert Trent Jones-designed Fairmont course is a unusual sensory expertise, a “mountain course” within the truest sense of the phrase (and with a appreciable quantity extra altitude than its Nicklaus sibling).

I returned to the lodge after my spherical prepared for dinner, a meal I’d been savoring for fairly a while.

Sushi Village is a place you possibly can solely discover by on the lookout for it. Tucked away on the second flooring of a nondescript strip mall within the middle of city, you may stroll proper by the entrance door with out realizing it.

“The place is a bit of a hole in the wall, but trust me, it’s worth it,” a ski-bum buddy advised me weeks earlier than leaving for Whistler, unaware of my very own proclivity for dives.

If you’re a sane, rational particular person, “mountain sushi” seemingly lands equally to “day-old cheese” or “moldy bread.” Is it most likely okay? Yes. Does it expose you to a larger chance of foodborne sickness? Also sure!

I can affirm, nonetheless, that Sushi Village is not any mountain sushi. This tiny restaurant dishes out a number of the freshest fish I’ve ever tasted, with ruby-red slabs of tuna and salmon pinker than a Barbie-issued Corvette. I left an hour later wishing solely that I had a bigger abdomen, in order to strive extra fish. I may nicely return to the world for it alone. At $50 (together with tip), I felt compelled to report myself for stealing.

After dinner, I slipped out to the Beacon Pub for a fast nightcap with my new pals (course architect Alex Hay and Pat, Mike and Alex Forbes of The Preferred Lie). The beer ran me $7, which was nicely well worth the firm.

Golf: $135

Food and drink: $57.54

Hotel: $260

Parking: $25

Total: $477.54

Trip Total: $2,292.54

Day 4

With my tab for the week stretching dangerously shut to my most popular worth restrict of $2,500, I rose early and drove down to Vancouver, the place I was scheduled to meet my practice sure for Seattle. Soon, I realized I’d booked my practice from Vancouver, Wash. (and not Vancouver, B.C.) and was pressured to rebook myself on a bus, a slip-up that value me an extra $30.

After a $9 cappuccino-and-muffin breakfast on the bus station, I arrived in Seattle, the place I met my colleague and buddy Dylan Dethier for the afternoon. We zipped in his automobile down to Chambers Bay for my third and remaining spherical of golf on the trip.

I’ve already written extensively about my expertise at Chambers however suffice it to say, it was freaking unbelievable. I would return to Seattle simply to play the golf course. In truth, I would go so far as to say that spherical alone was price the complete journey out west (and never solely as a result of Dylan — ever the beneficiant host — paid for my tee time).

I received him again by buying our dinner; a uncommon second straight day of sushi at Tsukushinbo, one more hole-in-the-wall Pacific Northwest gem. The meal ran me $125.08, which was a steal contemplating my subsequent taxi to SEATAC airport value almost half as a lot.

By the time I realized I’d snuck my trip in a mere $22 over-budget, I was nestled comfortably into the window seat of my redeye flight residence. Regrettably, the satisfaction didn’t convey sleep with it.

Golf: $0

Transportation (bus and taxi): $94

Food: $136.08

Total: $230.08

Trip complete: $2,522.62

How I may have saved

It would have helped to journey with a buddy (or pals) who may need minimize the price of my lodge. Also, in such a walkable, accessible city, a rental automobile was altogether pointless — I may have survived simply as simply by paying half as a lot in one of many lodge shuttles.

Some different cost-cutting choices: “twilight” instances on each golf programs may have saved one other $100 or so on greens charges, whereas a fundamental understanding of Pacific Northwest geography would have netted me an extra $30 in practice/bus fares.