Talking GolfGetaways: Your Golf Getaways Podcast · Mitch Laurance and Darin Bunch

Is Sand Valley becoming the best golf-travel destination?

·1 hr 41 min·5 clips

The hosts say Sand Valley may be “the number one golf resort” in the United States.

1. Talking GolfGetaways: Your Golf Getaways Podcast centers on Sand Valley as a golf-travel destination and asks whether it is becoming the best one. 2. Mitch Lawrence hosts with Darren Bunch and Chris McKeown, who matter because they compare Sand Valley with Bandon Dunes, Gamble Sands, Tobacco Road, and other destination golf trips. 3. The episode’s core question is whether Sand Valley belongs in the top tier of “pilgrimage golf destinations” that justify major travel planning. 4. Mitch defines that category as places that require “actual effort and planning,” then places Sand Valley in the same conversation as Bandon Dunes. 5. The hosts recap Sand Valley’s original Coore & Crenshaw course, David McLay Kidd’s Mammoth Dunes, and the Coore & Crenshaw-designed Sandbox short course. 6. They also mention the Lido at Sand Valley, a recreated one-of-a-kind course originally designed by C.B. MacDonald on Long Island, New York. 7. Tom Doak’s Sedge Valley comes up as the next course, which the hosts say is already on the way for the next season. 8. Darren argues that Sand Valley may have “elevated itself to the number one golf resort” in the United States because of its range and setting. 9. Chris points out that the resort’s vibe and variety of golf make it stand out even after repeated visits. 10. Mitch describes sitting behind the first tee during the Ryder Cup in Europe and seeing 50,000 to 60,000 people on the course as a reference point for destination atmosphere. 11. Chris says the “best match play golf course in the Midwest” is Island Hills in Centerville, Michigan, where his annual 31-man group plays Ryder Cup-style formats. 12. Darren compares Sand Valley’s course mix to Bandon’s range, saying the property can feel different depending on which course a player chooses. 13. Mitch notes that Sand Valley’s remoteness is paired with accessibility because it is still reachable from Chicago and Milwaukee. 14. Darren and Mitch both emphasize that Sand Valley’s pricing details at Craig’s Porch, including dollar tacos and $3 beers, become part of the trip’s memory. 15. Chris says the resort’s staff makes every guest feel like “the biggest, most important person on the property.” 16. Darren adds that the house lodging on the property felt “off the charts,” with four bedrooms, a full kitchen, a screened porch, and a lake. 17. The tone stays conversational, with jokes about whiskey, bougie water, and Chris’s Venice complaint about getting lost in alleyways. 18. The format is a loose roundtable with travel updates, course comparisons, and first-hand resort details rather than a formal interview. 19. Golf travelers who like destination rankings, resort design, and group-trip logistics would likely enjoy this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a tight interview or a single-course breakdown may skip it.

As heard by us

A specific, easygoing take on a golf trip that seems to raise the bar.

Sand Valley comes across as more than a polished pitch: the golf courses, the house built around a man-made lake, kayaking, and the space for friends to spread out give it a lived-in pull.

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If you want the Sand Valley trip logic before you book it, press play.

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