While it’s fly fishing that fuels our passion here at Yellow Dog, we understand that many of our clients and anglers have multiple outdoor loves, with many liking the idea of slipping in a day or two of golf during their hard-earned fishing vacation!
Spoiler alert for this story … if golf holds zero interest for you, this would be a good time to go back to your regularly scheduled daily tasks!
For the “multi-sport” angler, we do in fact offer a variety of locations and combination trips that cater that allow people to pair their love of fishing with a few rounds out on the links.
Below, we have highlighted a few regions (both salt and freshwater) throughout the world that offer solid opportunities for anglers and golfers alike. All of these destinations are perfectly suited for the hard-core fisherman as well as for families, couples, and non-anglers.
This is one of the more popular Bahamian destinations for anglers and golfers alike. Flying in and out of Freeport is simple due to numerous direct flights from some of the USA’s southeastern major airports. This makes it easy to arrange weekend excursions to week-long trips. On Grand Bahama, you will find the bonefish larger-than-average, excellent guides, and great lodging options.
Fly Fishing/Golf Options in The Bahamas
There are two championship courses on Grand Bahama Island. The Lucayan course is ranked among the world's top 100 and features include a perfectly balanced design with straight holes, left to right routings, and holes which favor the right to left shot markers. The open, breezy Reef course has 6,930 yards of expansive greens and fairways, scattered with bunkers, water hazards, and grassy rough. This links-style course has 13 of the 18 holes playing off the water and stretches almost 7,000 yards from the back tees. The close-cropped fairways are forgiving, but the bunkers will test you and the greens are large and mostly flat, with deceptive speed. You’ll be glad you played!
Pelican Bay Resort (Grand Bahama, Bahamas)
This private waterfront resort offers world-class bonefishing with all of the comforts and amenities of a high-end luxury beach resort. It sits adjacent to both the white sands of Lucaya beach and Count Bassie Square and offers the full range of fun activities varying from great food to evening entertainment and golf opportunities. This is a large-scale operation that can easily be compared to the large resorts of Hawaii or Mexico – with much better fishing!
North Riding Point Club (Grand Bahama, Bahamas)
This is one of our top destinations for overall comfort, setting, and service. The attention to detail on all the amenities is top-notch. The fishing program is diverse with guides who know where to look for bonefish, as well as places to hunt for trophy fish. Yellow Dog offers an inclusive arrival or departure day of fishing in all the package rates, as well as an inclusive bar and airport transfers. The beach, pool, and grounds are beautiful and have a very private and secluded feel. It is also very easy to head into Freeport for shopping, entertainment, or a game of golf.
fly fishing/Golf Options in the Yucatan Peninsula
While we love Ascension Bay for a diversity of flats species, the golf courses are also easy to access. Being 1 to 2 hours from the fishing areas of Ascension Bay, it is easy to create a combo package for the angling golfer. Travel in and out of Cancun is easy with numerous direct flights from most major USA airline hubs.
Just 35 miles south of Cancun International Airport, is the expansive Playacar Golf Course designed by world-renowned architect, Robert Von Hagge. It is recognized as one of the top golf courses in the world. Located in the Playa del Carmen hotel zone known as Playacar in Mexico's beautiful Mayan Riviera, this 18-hole course was built amongst the lush foliage of the Yucatan Peninsula making it not only beautiful but challenging as well. The Club provides a first-class practice area, complete with a spectacular driving range, and a large putting green. There is also the new Moon Palace outside Cancun which was designed by Jack Nicklaus and is an excellent golf resort for those looking for a challenge.
Pesca Maya (Northern Ascension Bay and Boca Pila Lagoon, Yucatan)
This fishing focused destination offers one of the best values for flats fishing in the Caribbean! The guides are very good, fun to fish with, and know the local flats very well. Ascension Bay and the Boca Pila lagoon offer anglers a wide variety of flats species and fishing scenarios. It’s an area with some of the most productive waters for large snook and baby tarpon along with being well known for bonefish. If the weather is challenging lagoons allow for the guides to fish you in protected areas. The lodge beach is a great place for swimming and relaxing as well as the post-fishing cocktail hour (with local beer and rum included in the package rates).
Grand Slam Lodge (Ascension Bay, Yucatan)
This new Yucatan lodge operation – the nicest and most modern in the area - is situated on a beautiful beach near the small fishing village of Punta Allen. You will find a lot of bonefish, and occasional opportunities for permit, tarpon, and snook. There are not many fishing-focused destinations in the Caribbean that offer a high level of comfort and accommodations that Grand Slam presents to its guests. You can start each morning by walking out your front door and stepping into your fishing boat and you’ll find all of the amenities that provide the ultimate relaxation experience.
Fly Fishing/Golf Options in Argentina, South America
If you are seeking some of the finest trout fishing and scenic golf in the world then add this destination to the bucket list! We compare Argentina to what a Montana fishing experience was like 50 years ago. You will find secluded rivers and lakes abundant with large brown, rainbow, and brook trout. The estancias are varied in price point so we can match a specific budget to your needs. You would fly into Buenos Aires and then fly to San Martin de los Andes or Bariloche.
With a unique golf course in the imposing Andes Mountain System surrounded by the Chapelco Chico Range and the Vega Maipú Valley, Chapelco Golf Club is a delight for the game and the eyes. Its golf course, co-designed by Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II, was built according to USGA regulations and is part of the Jack Nicklaus International Golf Club (JNIGC); an exclusive international club network that comprises over 100 courses conceived by Nicklaus Design.
San Martin de los Andes Outfitters (Argentina)
Guests stay in world-class comfort at private estancias (ranches) located throughout the region and enjoy gourmet meals with a local flavor. The estancias perfectly balance the comforts of Argentine hospitality while offering access to expansive wilderness waters. Patagonian estancias are huge, family-owned cattle ranches that boast incredible trout fishing within their private borders.
With the addition of first-class accommodations and gourmet food, this region has quickly become recognized as an ideal destination for breathtaking scenery, heartwarming culture, great golfing, and fantastic fly fishing. The laid-back ski town of San Martin is perfect for those seeking numerous non-angling activities, such as shopping, hiking, golf, horseback tours, rafting, sightseeing, and photo safaris.
Fly Fishing/Golf Options in New Zealand
New Zealand is considered by many to be a mainstay on any serious golfer’s international bucket list, which is not surprising for a country that has among the most golf courses per capita in the world. But what is it that makes NZ such an exceptional destination for devotees of the sport? Perhaps it’s the long summer days or the abundance of jaw-dropping landscapes that provide ideal backdrops of lush, green fairways. Regardless of what drives your interests, the pleasant climate of New Zealand represents a heavenly escape for northern hemisphere dwellers during their winter season. The fly fishing and golfing opportunities are world-renowned.
A game of golf can be easily integrated into combination itineraries that include other activities from wine touring to hiking and, of course, fly fishing. There truly aren’t many countries in the world that can offer such outstanding angling and recreation opportunities alongside (and indeed very close to) extraordinary golf courses.
Most all of the fishing lodges that Yellow Dog works with—eight in total—are actually within a 30-minute drive of a golf course! The city of Queenstown, alone, boasts six world-class courses within twenty minutes of the city center. This is great to keep in mind for the days when the fish aren’t biting.
New Zealand takes golf very seriously and this is evident in the degree to which its courses are manicured and the experiences tailored to the tastes of the world’s most discerning golfers. There is truly something for everyone in this little golfer’s nirvana in the South Pacific, and if you haven’t already swung a club on one of its spectacular courses, you should!
Call us today to talk about how to weave a round of 18 holes into your New Zealand fishing vacation!
Fly Gishing/Golf Options in the United States
Just about any fishing destination in the United States has fine golf courses and it is in the US where our most diverse golf and fishing programs are located. Here are a few of our favorites!
Montana
Let Yellow Dog customize an itinerary to Big Sky country. Montana is blessed with not only blue-ribbon trout streams, but we are also home to beautiful golf courses. We suggest lodges like Ruby Springs Lodge, Madison Valley Ranch, Stonefly Inn, the Missoula area, and Gallatin River Lodge for destinations close to excellent golf courses. And of course, our Bozeman backyard offers the most diverse fishing and golfing options in the state! All nearby courses are scenic and it is easy to make tee times.
Yellow Dog is based in Bozeman, Montana and our co-owner Ian Davis is an avid golfer who can help you customize a wonderful road trip filled with the best fishing available and some fine golf destinations all packaged together. We can also arrange for fully guided day fishing trips, multi-day fishing packages, overnights into the backcountry on horseback, overnight float trips, or customized groups casting lessons.
There is a wide range of non-angling activities that we can easily arrange for you as well by utilizing classic western lodges, B&Bs, and in-town hotels for our accommodations throughout western Montana. Checking out Yellowstone National Park, shopping, spa visits, golf, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, and numerous eco-tours are great options. Since we live in Montana we pretty much do it all!
New Orleans, Louisiana
Here at Yellow Dog, we are very excited to have teamed up with some of the finest guides working the redfish flats near New Orleans. These guides fish the most productive waters in all of Louisiana, and everything from single-day trips to multi-day packages can be arranged. The professional guides target redfish, bull reds, sea trout, and occasional tarpon in the summer months. We prefer to fish in this area from October through May.
There are dozens of golfing options in this area. They range from very reasonable municipal courses to championship-level tracks.
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