Each year around this time, golf clubs are summoned from cold garages and basements into living rooms while their owners begin plotting a new season in the sun. Much wool has likely been gathered over the winter: calendars parsed, brownie points calculated, travel budgets massaged upward. To help in this process, we came up with a list of 17 of the best experiences the game has to offer. Admittedly, it’s an idiosyncratic mix, with standard picks like top caddies and quaint country retreats alongside more unexpected ones (the farthest-off-the-radar golf nation and a favorite midday feast among them). Some of these highlights can be found at new courses or clubs; others are as old as golf itself. All should someday make the leap from being a golfer’s idle daydream to well-loved memory. Why not this year?