The city’s secret power, however, is its ability to deliver world-class golfing experiences and a playing season that basically extends across the entire calendar year.

A championship-caliber golfing getaway begins on the Gold Course at Golden Horseshoe Golf Club, less than a five-minute walk from the steps of Williamsburg Lodge and a stroll of less than 10 minutes from the Williamsburg Inn. There’s history to be found across those 6,817 yards, too, as the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design effectively put Williamsburg on the golfing map when it opened in 1963. With a captivating layout, well-maintained grounds, and Augusta National-like vibes on a handful of holes, rounds of golf on the Gold Course are nothing if not memorable. Visitors with a penchant for history will also appreciate that all proceeds from rounds played on any of Golden Horseshoe’s three courses (The Gold, The Green, and The Shoe, a new 9-hole short course) support Colonial Williamsburg’s historical foundation.

Those constructing a long weekend getaway centered on golf will want to book a stay at Kingsmill Resort, set along the James River, as that’s the only way to gain entry onto the fairways of the resort’s two semi-private courses, the River Course and the Plantation Course (Kingsmill’s third layout, the Woods Course, is exclusive only to members and their guests).

Across the Plantation Course’s 6,432 yards, golfers will discover generous landing areas off the tee and large, aggressively contoured greens—two attributes that have come to characterize many of the courses designed by its lead architect, Arnold Palmer. Players here will also encounter landmarks from an 18th century plantation, a property from which the course and the resort both take their names.

On the River Course, golfers have the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of champions from both the PGA and LPGA Tours. For more than two decades (from 1981 to 2002), this Pete Dye design, circa 1974, welcomed the world’s best for an annual stop on the PGA Tour—a tournament won by notable players such as Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson, and Ben Crenshaw. For almost 20 years thereafter, from 2003 until 2021, the championship routing hosted the LPGA’s best, too. It was during that stretch that hall of famers the likes of Se Ri Pak, Karrie Webb, and Annika Sorenstam all claimed victory.

Discerning golfers visiting this historic region of Virginia won’t want to pass up a visit to Williamsburg National, either. Located about 20 minutes west of the city’s colonial roots, the semi-public golf club offers the opportunity to play two stunning tracks. The property’s flagship routing, the Jamestown Course, was conceived by Nicklaus Design 30 years ago and hosted Monday qualifiers for the PGA Tour’s tournament annually played at Kingsmill. Its younger sibling, the Yorktown Course, which opened in 2007, is the handiwork of architect Tom Clark, and offers players a unique closing 9-hole stretch comprised of three par 3s, three par 4s and three par 5s. Moreover, the newer course features greens planted with hybrid bentgrass, as opposed to the Jamestown Course’s Champion Bermuda, which provides a vastly different playing experience.

Other notable courses in the area include a mountain style course designed by Mike Strantz at Stonehouse Golf Club, and an Arthur Hills signature design that winds through forests and over and around hills and streams at Colonial Heritage Golf Club. In total, the area is home to a dozen public-accessible courses, which means your next visit can be just as unique as your last.

And you thought Williamsburg was only for history buffs!

This article was produced in partnership with Visit Williamsburg.